Mad Men returns. Thumbs up or down?

Man, I feel like the characters got off light after "See? Not all surprises are bad." I almost audibly gasped when Roger said that. Is he trying to get everyone killed? You can't say that as a fictional character. Might as well have said "At least things can't get any worse."

I'm a pretty desensitized TV viewer, but Sylvia's reaction to being busted was hard to watch.

 

Draper, even as a fictional character, was pretty reckless.

In 1968, no cell phones and everyone had a land line. Doing that in the apartment over and over? With the threat of Arnold never just happening to come home?

Especially in that setting where Draper can't just escape through a window.

Screwing a neighbor is extremely risky but carrying on in her apartment was beyond stupid. Laugh all you will at carry cash, hotel rooms where you check in with fictional addresses or the occasional corn field but to be discovered like Draper and Sylvia was beyond reckless.

Almost a Petrino-like level of abandon.

 

I imagine Sally's going to stop hating her mother so much, or at least stop holding her responsible for the divorce.

 

Just noticed that Pete's gun is making an appearance next week.

This was a wonderful third-to-last episode of the season. Land mines being planted all over the place.

It's a measure of what an amazing jerk Pete can be (and I'm more sympathetic to him than most) in that what can be considered a "nice Pete" episode still featured him letting his dementia-addled mother wander into the city alone to try to find her way home.

 

And if he said it about this situation, you can be damn sure I believe him.

 

Got to say I've been waiting for someone to walk in on them all season for pretty much those reasons. Thought it was going to be Arnold, but this was even better.

 

The Pete/Peggy/Ted restaurant scene was one of the best of the season. To be honesty, I was way over the Don/Sylvia thing, though I guess this iteration is less about the two of them and more about Don and Sally.
And while I live the show, can't stand the way Weiner is forced to save $$$$ for AMC by keeping actors out of certain episodes. No Joan. 2 scenes with Roger? Where the hell is Ken? Or Ginsberg? Drives me a little nuts.

 

A few years ago a poster here suggested that Sally would be a 70s porn actress before all was said and done. I think walking in on a blow job and seeing her father boffing the neighbor before the age of 15 or so will clinch it.

 

Haven't seen a breath of Ken since he was shipped to Detroit for an account man to be named, later.

 

The hope, of course, is that Pete takes out suckup Bob -- and gets away with it.

But that would be asking too much.

 

Not at all subtle. An ideal short-term empathetic shelter for Joan, since he's clearly no threat.

 

And we all thought -- rightly, for several seasons -- that Roger got all the lines. Stan's getting his fair share.