Sterling Cooper David Steve

 I've been saying this a lot this season, but this is one of my favourite episodes. I really don't like Raymond from Heinz. Megan and Don pitching to Raymond is great. Peggy's mother is pretty awful. Megan's parents represent Quebec nicely. That said, her mother can't speak French really.... How was the city?  Dirty. mp3 download

Happy New Year! Damn this is a great bit of TV. It's non linear storytelling in the style of Max Ophuls. It's Roger and Jane dropping acid. It's Don and Megan going to Howard Johnson's. It's some super moving backstory about Ginzo. It's Peggy finding out that she can't be Don. It's Bert telling Don to shape up. It's just generally amazing. mp3 download

OK, coming up with a 'clever' title was not an easy task here. It's made up for by the fine song Steve picked. Oh and that Romney thing from 'Tea Leaves', we're informed by a reliable source that it is not about Mittens. CYNTHIA! Oh, having a baby, that gets you going? I know cooler heads should prevail but... This is medieval. HE HAD CHEWING GUM ON HIS PUBIS! Also, this is a great episode. mp3 download

Wow, we've done 60 of these things! This one is Hitchcockian at times, I like that. Shelly from Twin Peaks is here!  Oh and Don 'kills' her. Joan ditches Captain Dr. McRapeyson. 'He Hit Me, and It Felt Like a Kiss' is a horrible song.   Steve and I both got to bring a bit of our professional lives into this one. Lots of good 1960s boxes to check this week, Vietnam, civil right protests, riots, women taking a modicum of control of their lives and probably other things I can't think of right now. Oh and we've got Richard Speck, sexual violence and just overall weirdness. mp3 download

OK, let's get this out of the way, here is the link to the 'Fat Betty' song. It's really disheartening to see how much Betty's self worth is wrapped up in her looks.  Henry's Mom is a garbage person. 'Everything is going to be OK'. Hey, TWO new characters, Dawn and Ginzo! We talked more about April Wine than you'd expect. We didn't like the Romney line. I love Ginzo's father. The Stones, playing Time is on My Side, to the bean ballet, blame Steve. mp3 download

On to part 2 of the season 5 premiere. It really does feel like a whole separate episode, if only a day later. Stan and Harry, that's when you cheer for Stan.  Harry is truly gross. Roger should stop carrying so much cash around. I spotted more dramatic irony, and then Steve taught me about a new kind of irony. That scene with Megan cleaning up, we both think it's a bit of role-play, though it's also a conversation.  It lets us know that we're at the start of a relationship. Oops, the racist funny funny joke has come back to bite them. Bert has no office. Pete needs a new one. mp3 download

On to season 5! While this episode was a two parter originally, we'll tackle it this week and next. Don is in love. Don seems, wait for it, happy. Megan throws a party. Megan swears like a Quebecer, which, well, makes sense as the character is one, as is the actress. I wouldn't want a surprise party. Hell of a performance by Jessica Paré here. Stan is still an idiot. Pete is a decent guy! That thing at the beginning, the racist thing from the jerks at Y and R, that happened.  Indeed, the dialogue was from a New York Times article about the incident. mp3 Download

We wrap up season 4 with a free wheeling discussion, including friend of the show, Cliff Dunn.  Cliff is one of the admins at 'Mad Men, Out To Lunch With Roger Sterling' (where I am now a mod) which is the finest Mad Men fan group on Facebook, nay the internet. We start with some predictions that Steve made about Season 4, did they come true? We discuss the big theses of Season 4.   We discuss the big events of Season 4. We get Steve to make predictions for Season 5. Cliff and I talk about what episodes in Season 5 we want to hear Steve's reaction to (Signal 30 anyone?) Oh and we end with a killer song. Thanks again for coming on Cliff! mp3 download

It's the season 4 finale! Don asked Megan to marry him.  I didn't see this coming (in 2010).  It actually seems like he might have thought it through. Betty is a baby in this episode, though she still seems to like that Don hid rye in her old house. Roger's line 'did you get cancer' is hilarious. Kenny seems like a normal person!   The song they sing is REALLY dark. Poor Carla, damn you Betty. Who did Megan and her friend see at the Whisky?  I'm guessing the Byrds.  I want it to be Johnny Rivers, but the times don't add up. The milkshake was the clincher, it so often is. mp3 download

I prefer clever titles that don't really just have 'Dave and Steve and the title of the episode' but here we are. This one is another caper really, and it's directed by John Slattery, which follows. Watching people lose their jobs sucks. Watching Don have the New York Times publish what was, in essence, an ad for SCDP is pretty great. I love Bert fake quitting. As much as I find Teddy grating, I'll admit that the RFK bit was inspired.  The Easter Egg in there that 'someone named Emerson Foote called' is great. I've seen someone take Heroin, I imagine Midge's description is not too far off. My discipline, psychology, gets a really great representation this week with Dr. Edna, and a shitty one with Atherton.  Screw him.  Roger is right. What's with Glen and the football stuff? mp3 download