Mad Men creator Matt Weiner recently talked to Grantland about a variety of things in an article titled "How Mad Men will end." He didn't say anything except, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Blah, blah, blah." In the paragraph Kottke pulled out, though was this: "It's 2011. Don Draper would be 84 right now." I posted it a couple years ago, but this is weird because a commenter on AMC used this interview with Don Draper to make a convincing case that Draper was born in 1924, not 1927. Being born in 1927 would explain Don's non-participation in World War II, but not sure how to explain away the 36 in 1960 thing.

Ha. Imagine if the previous paragraph was about Twilight instead of Mad Men.

Brilliant. I mean, worth watching just for the 'Carousel' scene.



Via Urlesque / Brooklyn Mutt

86 or 87. Glad that's sorted out.

At a certain point, we've all wondered when the world of The Wire would cross with the world of Mad Men. The wait is over. Dominic West/McNulty will star in The Hour, a 6 part BBC drama about the making of television news hour set in 1956 London. The show is, be still my beating heart, being called the British equivalent to Mad Men. WOW. FUCKING WOW!

Via Jonah.

I was really happy to work with Chris Piascik on this weekly series of Mad Men drawings and recap. I'm really pleased with how they came out and I hope you enjoyed the little twist they added each week.

The big question about what would happen with the agency was actually solved last week when the partners all put money in. That bought them 6 months. The beginning of next season will have to be right around 6 months from now, or else losing Lucky Strike wasn't that big of a deal. If I recall correctly, season 2 was 6 months after season 1 and season 3 was 1 year after season 2. Maybe the pattern will be 6 months, 1 year, 6 months, etc. From the comments last week was a suggestion of Hilton (or possibly Disney saving the agency), which I thought made sense. That didn't come to pass because the agency's situation isn't as dire as we thought. I thought Sterling killing himself was another possibility based on a sequence from a couple episodes ago. That didn't happen either.

-When Joan delivers the mail to Lane, she definitely looked like she decided to keep the baby. This is confirmed later in the episode when talking to her rapey husband. "Yes, honey, they're bigger." I guess surgeons in Vietnam can make calls.
-We hadn't seen it in a while, but when Don and Pete met with the Cancer Society, he was pitching. That's always fun. At the beginning, he was subtly pitching himself, "In my heart it was an impulse because I knew what I needed to do to move forward." Before going on to pitch ideas, "Teenagers are sentimental as well. Have you heard their music?"
-The partners tried to get Ken Cosgrove to Pete Campbell his father in law. He's not willing to do it, though. "I'm not Pete, sorry about that." On the second watch, I noticed that Don's look lingered a bit on Ken when he talked about not wanting to screw stuff up with his wife/real life.
-"It's Glenn, are you decent?" Sketchy Glenn is so sketchy!
-Betty is feeling all upheaved and she's taking it out on Carla. There conversation has a strange dynamic because Carla is deferential, but not TOO deferential. In certain cases, she talks to Betty as if she's a child. A recurring theme.
-All you hedge fund dicks paying 15%? Capital Gains was 48% in 1965. Stop complaining.
-I'm extremely excited for The Walking Dead, but it's possible AMC went a little hard promoting it this week. Also, imagine how much AMC gave up in advertising during the finale of Mad Men. I wonder how much of a crossover Mad Men and The Walking Dead. On the one hand, there is definitely a set that watches all of the finely crafted cable programs (Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, etc). On the other hand, zombies are not in the ballpark, not even in the same sport as advertising in the 60s.
-Maybe Don's turning over a new leaf. He takes Faye Miller's advice and tells his kids that he's sometimes called Dick. We'll see how long it takes him to tell Megan.
-As soon as Stephanie gave Don the engagement ring, I figured he'd ask Megan to marry him. It made sense because, 1. Well, what was he going to do with an engagement ring? and 2. What was he going to do with an engagement ring in the finale of the season? After that milkshake scene, it was obvious. Other telegraphs were his lawyer suggesting he settle down and his look at Ken when Ken mentioned his wife.
-"There is no fresh start. Lives carry on." This is interesting, and probably jarring to Betty because Don actually did get a fresh start. He did and he didn't though, because Dick Whitman is still following the new Don Draper around. Also, I think Henry is continuing to realize he's made a mistake. Especially with the, "No one's ever on your side." line. No one's on her side because she always on the wrong side.
-Did you notice Don was drinking the champagne of beers right before going a-knocking on Megan's door.
-Peggy's out pitching and it's working. Way to go, Peggy.
-Don told Megan she made him, "Feel like myself. The way I want to feel." When he says myself, what do you think he means? I wonder what Megan's role will be like next year.
-After Ken told Peggy they'd won the account, Peggy jumped into Ken's arms and he lifted her up as they hugged. Then immediately after, they both fixed their hair at the same time. Pretty awesome.
-After Don told everyone about the engagement, Peggy stayed behind to discuss. It's clear Don has an affection for Peggy, but it's more father/daughter or brother/sister. Hard to say why Peggy cares, really, except maybe devotion.
-I guess Peggy and Joan are friends now? Took a long time! "Well, I learned a long time ago to not get all my satisfaction from this job." "Bullshit."
-I wonder what this means from a psychological perspective, "I hope she knows you only like the beginnings of things." Don was never going to be able to be with Faye permanently after he told her. He's not able to be who he wants to be when someone knows who he really is. You want to know when Peggy will be leaving the show? It'll be sometime very soon after she learns the truth about Don's past.
-The scene with Don and Betty in the old house was very sweet. Betty was vulnerable. I thought for a second they would do it. The shot that ended that scene with Don going out one door and Betty out the other was one of my favorites of the season. Nice work, cinematographers.
Scene with Don/Betty, great shot.
-So, this was around Labor Day, right? Strange that I think the last 3 episodes took place in a month while all the other episodes were separated by about a month. Unless this was during Columbus Day. Did they have Columbus Day in 1965?
-I don't know what Don looking out the window in the last scene signifies, but as J pointed out, the song that played the episode out was "I've Got You Babe." That was the song playing every morning in Groundhog Day. It's a stretch, and an obscure reference, but how cool would it be if that was actually a nod to the idea that Don's life is repeating itself? Very cool.

So that's it. Another season in the books. The finale didn't have the explosions of last year when the new agency was formed, but the engagement was a huge event. I enjoyed it. What did you think?

And a special bonus this week.



Each week, Chris Piascik draws one of the better quotations from the episode and we pair it with the recap I write on his site and here. If you're reading this sentence it's because I finished the recap before Chris finished the drawing and I had to go to bed. Check back in the morning.

I enjoyed this episode a lot, but I don't have a whole lot to say about it. Like last week, it seemed to move the plot forward quickly, but not touch so much on bigger (and more subtle themes). I haven't noticed if this is the first, but this episode was directed by John Slattery (Roger Sterling).

-"There's a time for beans and there's a time for ketchup." Apparently, however, the time for beans at SCDP is not now. People think the agency is dying and they don't want to be associated with it right now. "I will have an exciting idea, I know that." Doesn't mean much.
-Did you see Harry Crane's office? It had an antique desk and a replica cannon. Crane really is a ridiculous character.
-Sketchy Glenn is back giving Sally Draper an additional psychiatry appointment per day. He's really coming across as well-grounded and it's weird. Glenn's decided that if he can't have Betty, he'll have Sally instead. I loved how he turned and ran when he saw Betty.
-We're getting closer and closer to the late 60's and unfortunately Midge is the sacrificial lamb for the writers to depict the coming popularity of heroin/drugs. Her and her husband are so far gone that he's willing to whore her out for a score. Her painting did seemingly inspire Don's ad in the New York Times. Though maybe it was her obvious desperation that was the inspiration. "It's about what she sees when she shuts her eyes."
-"She doesn't care what the truth is as long as I do what she says." Sally is learning to be like Betty. Suppressing everything as a tactic to get by. Incidentally, Betty needs Sally's psychiatrist more than Sally does. The conversation between Betty and the doctor was great and when the doctor said, "I'm a child psychiatrist", the implication being that Betty is a child.
-Peggy wanted Don to change the name or the conversation, and according to Ken Cosgrove, Don at least changed the conversation. It was quite literally an ad for the agency, as Don mentioned, and it gave him the opportunity to get on his advertising genius high horse. I love when he gets on his advertising genius high horse. I don't remember the exact quote, but he's said something similar before. "This ad is genius and if you don't get it, I'm not going to bother trying to explain it, you won't get it anyway. Luddite."
-Creative is "the least important most important thing there is." Talk amongst yourselves.
-After the NYT ad, Don had to pry from Peggy what she thought of it. I feel like he has to do that quite a bit. He'll do something, and she won't tell him what she thinks. It's almost as if he's used to getting a response, positive or negative from everyone, and her not responding throws a wrench in his sense of normalcy. This conversation was a reference to the ham fight in one of the first couple episodes. Peggy said something along the lines of, "I thought you didn't go in for shenanigans like this." The NYT ad was a stunt in the same way the ham fight was. We'll see if it was as successful.
-Betty finally wants to move out of the house. Sally's bummed.
-Ted Chaough's Kennedy was pretty atrocious, very Mayor Quimbyesque, and I was curious why they got such a poor Bobby Kennedy impersonator.
-Don paid Pete Campbell's share, which I guess is Don's way of thanking Pete for carrying Don's shit. Where did Don get $150K?
-Also, did Bert Cooper really just quit? "You there, get my shoes." It would be a fitting exit for a man without an office.

Each week, Chris Piascik draws one of the better quotations from the episode and we pair it with the recap I write on his site and here.

I don't think there were many deep themes in this episode and there was very little subtlety. Things happened. Lucky Strike is gone, they left early, and Peggy is "giving it off."
-Peggy went to the beach with David Mamet's daughter and somehow they ran into Abe and agreed to give him a ride home without Peggy knowing it. That didn't make any sense, but then she took him home and they did it all night, and again in the morning. She's forgiven him for being a cad, and now she wants him all the time.
-I should have rewinded it to see what the situation was when Trudi went into labor with the future Cosgroves. Pete was golfing with his father-in-law.
-Interestingly, last we saw with Pete and Vick's Chemical, Pete's father-in-law was calling him a son of a bitch. My understanding was he said that because Pete implied he wanted the entire slate of Vick's. However, it seems to have worked out that Vick's is at CGC with Ted Chaough.
-Looks like Ken Cosgrove has his own Ted Chaough in John Floury at BBDO, who broke the news that Lucky Strike was jumping.
-Everyone showed up on Saturday (?) night at the office, including Bert Cooper in his pajamas. Does he live upstairs or something?
-Roger faked the call to Lee Garner, Jr and pretended not to know Lucky Strike was leaving. It's fun to imagine the scenes that could have been with Don pitching American Tobacco. On the other hand, we saw a Lucky Strike pitch already, "It's Toasted."
-"Everyday I tried not to think about what would happen if this happened." "You're the most hire-able man on Madison Avenue." I guess this is going to be the story arc until the end of the season. It's frustrating because most of these characters on the show for the duration. That means the agency is going to figure it out without Lucky Strike.
-I was curious which hotel Roger was in until he called Joan at the office. It just brings up the question, why not at least try? Why did he keep it a secret from the agency. He knew he would get blamed and felt like he could spin it.
-Who is Joe? Maybe the controller. Joe says, "Any questions?" and doesn't see Danny because Danny is short.
-"Be successful." Good advice, Don.
-"Every time something good happens, something bad happens." This could describe the show, right? Or at least Don's life.
-Joan takes off earring to answer the phone. It seems like she wouldn't bother wearing earrings. She's probably on the phone quite a bit, right? Also, is she wearing clip ons?
-I just wanted to tell AMC that those little factoids before a commercial? I don't read them anymore, sorry.
-Pete was going from the hospital to the office to the hospital. The "Congratulations" he got when he found out he had a daughter was maybe the funniest moment of the season. I died.
-When Glo-Coat called to cancel the account, did you notice the noise on the long distance line?
-"No, but I need a favor, make sure I don't over do it." Pay attention to this line, it becomes important later on.
-Pete Campbell doesn't drive a car. How will that be portrayed on Pete Campbell's Bitchface.
-"I'm not a solution to your problems, I'm another problem." Joan is so smart. It was sad when Roger said the thing about the night of the mugging being the last time. He really is such a child. It's apparent in practically every interaction he has.
-"My job is to present facts, if they're unhappy with the agency, it's not my problem." Interesting juxtaposition of female characters talking about problems.
-"Why do you keep making me reject you?" Peggy said this about Stan, but it could have easily been Joan from the scene before. I'm not sure why Stan didn't tell her about the lipstick on her teeth, seems like that could have hurt their chances in the presentation. Also, my guess is she'd look in a mirror before going in to the meeting. Stan really did make her less anxious, so maybe it was all good.
-"Congratulations."
-"You judge people on their work, I'm the same way. Everything else is sentimental." Is that true, Megan? I mean... Who are you the Don Draper of secretaries?
-Oh, hi Jane. For a brief moment, I was convinced Roger was going to kill himself when he got home to Jane. Him looking at the copies of his book didn't dissuade me from that notion. It was only when he cuddled with Jane on the couch that I was sure it at least wasn't going to be this episode.
-The book brings up a question, when is this episode? It's after August 15, but not much after, because Peggy was at the beach. It's before September 15 because Roger asked for 30 days, which he didn't get. But who knew Roger finished his book and that it was at a publisher?
-Megan was really going for it and then she got it. This was foreshadowed last week or the week before. Don did this when he was still mad at Faye, but it's not hard to imagine him doing it even if he wasn't. By sleeping with Don, Megan has guaranteed she'll never do what Don does, or even what Peggy does. Sorry, lady.
-"Welcome to my world, won't you come on in." The music that played the episode out hints at Faye getting to be a bigger part of Don's life. Maybe it just means he was happy she was going to help him poach a client. Maybe it means something even more, that now she's a big part of Don's life, he's going to be unfaithful to her. Every time something good happens, something bad happens.
-If I did have to nail down some themes for the episode, I guess it'd be rejection. The agency was rejected, Roger, Stan, Megan should have been. But also, renewal. Pete's daughter and what the agency will become.

Update:
-Just heard the Bill Simmons podcast with Mike Lombardi wherein Lombardi suggests the history of Lee Garner Jr and Sal could come in to play. Pretty good guess.

Every week, Chris Piascik draws a quotation from the episode to go with the recap I write.

10 episodes down and there are as many balls up in the air as usual. There is a lot going on right now.
-Roger has nothing to do except babysit Lucky Strike and try not to have another heart attack. When Joan comes in with her news, he's not even bothering with his book anymore, he's watching a perpetually drinking chicken. "These things happen, right? Would you stop being so upset?"
-Roger was pretty sleazy in this episode, which was odd, because Joan didn't really seem to want to keep the baby. It was just unnecessary. That is, he didn't need to try to convince her to get an abortion, but he tried to convince her anyway. "I'm just trying to think of what's best for you." He really did sound desperate.
-The Beatles at Shea Stadium peg this episode as mid-August, 1965. Sally Draper was excited and it was nice to see even Betty crack a smile. Well played, Don.
-I wonder how much Mad Men had to pay to license the Beatles Do You Want to Know a Secret? at the end of the episode.
-Speaking of secrets, this episode was full of them. There's Joan's pregnancy, which it's not entirely clear she ended. There's Lane's new life in the US which he proudly shows off to his father. Lane's father was abusive and likely not for the first time. Roger finds out about the loss of Lucky Strike and decides to keep it to himself for a bit. And of course Don. The episode was titled Hands and Knees, but only Roger was really begging. Don was looking for an exit, but he only really begged Pete for help, and not in so many words.
-Lane has a Mets pennant... for some reason.
-The Playboy Club makes its first appearance on the series even though they've been open for 5 years. The Wiki for the Playboy Club is actually pretty interesting. True story, I used to have one of the membership keys until I lost it in a trampoline accident. That was frustrating.
-The blacked out document in the North American Aviation meeting was a foreshadowing of Don Draper's background check. Of course, I didn't pick up on that. The conversation with Betty was funny when they both thought the phone might be bugged. Did you notice, he was instantly sweaty when she mentioned the questions?
-Trudy looks like one of those pink Hostess Sno-Balls.
-It's a little unclear what sway Lane's father would have over him, but he had no interest in talking to Lane's new girlfriend. He did say get your house in order, either here or there, so who knows.
-"We came here for your discretion, not your judgment." The doctor was pretty judgy, wasn't he?
-"And I signed it without looking because that's what I do." Don, you have got to get a better handle on the situation.
-Did you notice that the Time Life Building doesn't have elevator attendants? Bert Cooper presses his own buttons?
-If you thought Roger was desperate for Joan to get an abortion, he was even more desperate with Lee Garner, Jr. He convinced him to give them the 30 days, though. I'm really hoping that Lucky Strike isn't a cliffhanger to end the season. That would be laaaaaaaame.
-Have we seen Don get a panic attack? And why is he constantly puking this season?
-Lane was preening about his new, exotic girlfriend and his father let loose on him. That is an interesting dynamic there, huh?
-Here's a question for you. If Faye and Don are carrying on something of an illicit romance, or even one they're keeping secret, why on earth would she walk out of the bedroom if she heard a knock on the door? There are all sorts of explanations starting with maybe she didn't hear the knock on the door, but whatever... She heard it. Stay in the bedroom until Pete is gone.
-And Don told Faye... He's getting looser and looser with whom he tells.
-Mad Men's been cursing up a storm this season, but you still can't say the f word, apparently. That even made Bert demand Roger apologize. There's a storm coming, we'll see.
-"You see, everything worked out." Ah, Megan. It's Don's sort of MO. Get out of trouble and then do a little hound-dogging. That was an extra long look he gave her, wasn't it?
Anything else?

Each week, Chris Piascik draws something from the episode to go with this recap.

I think it's the middle of July and I say that as a way of introduction to this recap because I don't have anything else.
-Wow, what an opening. Don and Faye knocking boots, loudly. And just a month ago, Don couldn't go any further. "Lock the door behind you, as a courtesy." Is it discourteous to leave doors unlocked in this situation? "I'm taking everything interesting with me." It's just an apartment, Faye, my journal is in my briefcase.
-I guess we're through worrying about Don, huh? I had thought he was going to be a bad guy for longer, but he's turned it around.
-Joan's husband got called up to serve in Vietnam, which almost all of you have been looking forward to since before he even joined the army.
-"It's a business of sadists and masochists, and you know which one you are." This was truly Mrs. Blankenship's finest episode. From the "Not a chance" in the crossword puzzle scene with Bert, to this line, to dying.
-"One more drink and it will come out." The scene with Peggy and Abe was interesting. He's so earnest and sincere. Unfortunately, Peggy isn't a political person. Yet.
-"Most of the things that Negroes can't do, I can't do either and no one seems to care." I usually don't know the episode titles when watching or writing these, but I wanted to look it up today because I thought it'd be Glass Ceilings or something. Not far off, it's "The Beautiful Girls." This week was all about the ladies. The elevator shot at the end of Joan, Peggy, and Fay going down the elevator should have had the ghost of Blankenship in it. It was 3 working women at very different places in life and in the work force. Faye Miller got where she was because she made a choice to not have kids, and because as Ms. Blankenship pointed out, she opens doors without waiting to ask if it's OK. Peggy is just not starting to pay attention to human rights, but she's coming at it from a selfish perspective. Even little Sally Draper. She can't stand the way things are and ran away to make a change. It's not hard to imagine that foreshadowing future issues, but also seeing it as something all women during that time would want to do. "She died like she lived, surrounded by the people she answered phones for." From Ms. Blankenship to Sally, girls have it tough.
-Via Jessie, Faye Miller is the name Marilyn Monroe often used to check in to hotels the mental hospital.
-"Why do we have to convince him?" Don is still playing hard to get with the clients.
-"I offered you money and I said thank you." I just put this here because it reminded me of the scene 2 weeks ago when Don told Peggy "I give you money, you give me ideas." "That's what the money is for."
-"I would have my secretary do it, but she's dead." If you want to get someone to do something for you, try this line. If it's not true, everyone will get a good laugh. If it is true, it's amazingly effective.
-Normally, they're very good about this sort of thing, and this is admittedly nitpicking, but when Roger and Joan were in the diner, the ash on Joan's cigarette kept changing length...
-During the mugging, Roger kept his eyes down and didn't look the mugger in the face. And then Joan kissed Roger first. I wonder where this will go. Probably nowhere. Was this a Sal at the park moment?
-The french toast with rum was funny, but the punchline was telegraphed when Don kept eating. I chuckled.
-When Bert Cooper said he'd call Ms. Blankenship's niece, did that remind any of you of Don having to call Stephanie? Is Ms. Blankenship the only one who really knew Bert Cooper?
-I didn't realize this until Bert said something about it, but he doesn't have an office. That's why he always seems to be sitting around. I wonder where his art is.
-"Our job is to make men like Fillmore Auto, not make Fillmore Auto like Negroes." Being from Boston, I sometimes have a hard time picking up on accents that are supposed to be Boston accents. I didn't realize this until just now. I didn't know the Fillmore Auto dudes were from Boston, but I suppose it makes sense.
-"It feels like it was a test and I failed it." Nah, Faye, you did fine. Is everything a test to you? It obviously concerned you, if you were up all night. She seemed to do OK with the babysitting, though.
-"Jesus, what a mess." I believe this will be the subtitle for the comprehensive 25 DVD box set when it comes out after the series ends. Mad Men: Jesus, What a Mess.

And this week a bonus.


Each week, Chris Piascik draws something from the episode to go with this recap.

Last week's episode would have been difficult to top, so they went introspective this week. They just went through the spring, the traditional time of rebirth, but now it's about to be the beginning of summer and things are changing.
-Don's writing a journal. Getting introspective, swimming, and cutting down on the drinking. The dark downtrodden Don of the beginning of the season is apparently gone, last week was the rock bottom it seemed, and Don is on the path to digging his way out. "I should have finished High School. Everything could have been different." Well, if you say so.
-"I'm kidding around here." There's really no reason Ida Blankenship is on the show. As far as I can tell, she doesn't serve any purpose. I imagine something will happen with her at some point, but then again, maybe it won't.
-Did you notice? No racial or ethnic slurs this week. 2 in the first 2 minutes last week and none this week? Just rampant sexism is all... Er...
-Joey and Joanie... Joey's mother issues wouldn't let him be bullied by Joan, but mostly it was a way to show that Joan is of the Dr. Faye Miller School of Catching More Flies With Honey. Peggy thinks she was doing Joan a favor for firing Joey, and she was, but Joan just thinks it'll reinforce their respective stereotypes. Not really a situation Peggy could win, or would want to. Nice reference by Joey to Joan being raped and then in the next scene she goes home to her rapist husband. She bursts into tears when he suggests she talk to her work friends.
-Seriously? A Budweiser product placement in one of the journal writing scene?
-Don's list of things he'd like to do is surprisingly short and to the point. Climb a mountain, or travel anywhere, and get control of his feelings. I guess he feels one Clio is enough, but I definitely expected that list to be a little bit longer.
-"Every date feels like a first date with you." "Don't you want to be close with anyone?" Get used to it, sister, this is Don the Drape we're talking about. Bethany wants Don desperately, or rather she wants what he can give her. He's the right kind of guy for her, she thinks, but this new Don probably isn't going to end up with her. In fact, going down on Don in the cab might be the last we see of her.
-"I bet she was thinking of that line all night" was actually a line cut out of Casablanca. Maybe not, but didn't Don's voice-over dialogue sound straight out of a noir movie? Actually, this was a pretty neat trick, aging the voice in Don's head, making it sound almost sepia. Wonder if they'll keep using it.
-"I'm working, all the time." When you're not drinking or sleeping on your couch.
-I liked the scene with Henry and Betty in the car. I've written a couple times in the past about whether was a great actor playing wooden, or just an awful actor. This was one of the first scenes I thought she was really great in. At the end of the scene when when she was pouting against the door, she really looked like a little girl.
-"People tell you who they are but we ignore it because we want them to be who we want them to be." Don has said stuff like this before. More than once.
-"You need 3 ingredients for a cocktail. Vodka and Mountain Dew is an emergency." Peggy Olson's Bartender's Bible will be out next week at booksellers all over.
-Don looked at alcohol different all episode. In the first meeting, he was going in and out, probably in some kind of withdrawal, on the date with Faye, before the date with Faye. There was a cool scene where he looked at his liquor tray, looked at his watch, and then called Ida for some coffee. You go, Don. Make a change today.
-"You want some respect, go out there and get it for yourself." "Don doesn't even know who you are." "It's just a job Joey, you'll get another one." Peggy really sounded like Don when firing Joey. It's a move away from "the guys", a group she had been moving to, up towards Don. This is a really interesting dynamic to watch this season.
-"Don has nothing to lose and you have everything." Remember when Francine wanted to shower with Don? While she's right that Don has nothing, Betty and Henry don't really have a whole lot. It was hard to tell if Don was invited to the birthday, or if he just came, but Betty was trying to make it work. We'll see how this plays out.
-"A man walks into a room, he brings his whole life with him." I don't really know what this means at all.
-"I've been a little out of sorts lately." Ya think?
-"He's a handsome 2-bit gangster like you." Faye pretty clearly sees Don for what he is, but still wanted to use him for sex. Wonder where this is going to go.
-There wasn't any music at the end. Last week the open door shot played out with Bleecker Street by Simon & Garfunkle (a sort of foreboding song to play over the idea of an open door). This week, Don playing with Gene. More uplifting, and no music at all.