Mad Men 7x01 Reaction
Added 2026-03-12 00:35:02 +0000 UTC
Comments
Barnes, the Butler Footwear new hire, precedes enshittification, but carries its essence. His role is not to foster quality work nor boldness. No, his role is to cut costs, to increase profits. The Four Ps? One P. Profit. Always more profit. The rest is illusion to make the confounding system seem reasonable. So, the new hire sets out to fire SC&P and manage in-house advertising. The truth lies in, as Ken explains, the idea that if you have no underlings, then you're useless. In other words, someone that can be cut to increase profit. Ken asks Joan, "this is a hierarchy, do you understand that?", and she responds, and later confirms, "certainly." Joan works with the fugazi-ness in advertising, and Peggy struggles against it. Stan warns her, "you're telling your boss you think he's stupid" after repeatedly advocating for superior work. She believes the work speaks for itself. However, her efforts are fruitless against a misogynist whose response to being soundly questioned is a pithy, infuriating, "I guess I'm immune to your charms." With this comment, Lou makes clear to Peggy that hierarchy matters more than quality. Accordingly, Ken avoids meeting with Barnes to maintain his position in the SC&P hierarchy, and sends Joan, who, in turn, threatens the hierarchical position of Barnes. In response, he cuts their meeting short, but not before throwing jabs implying that Joan's value is in her sexual appeal, and a belief that women exist to be housewives. Although Joan is momentarily intimidated by the jargon wielding, microaggressing, young new hire, after meeting with a business academic who disparages the utility of a fancy MBA, lacks her specific domain knowledge, and offers her useful advice, she quickly regains her composure. Ultimately, Joan successfully navigates the hierarchy, and has the new hire so shook, he asks her, "so what am I supposed to do?" after she reframes the firing of SC&P to be risking his position at Butler Footwear. In contrast, Peggy alienates her co-workers, lamenting their acceptance of shoddy work and refusal to go forward with superior work. Peggy falls apart at the end of the episode, a culmination of losing her position of creative authority with the merger, losing her relationship with Ted, and losing to the nonsense hierarchy of advertising. Probably my favorite aspect of exploration in the show, revealing the gatekeeping of male white-collar employment to be nowhere near a system of meritocracy, instead a bogus system rewarding fraternity, nepotism, inheritance, sustained through intersectional hierarchies
on crip ...
2026-03-15 00:50:06 +0000 UTCI actually don't mind him, his bitchiness amuses me. Plus without Lou we wouldn't get one of the funniest exchanges in the entire show. ("Lbh xabj jub ryfr unq n qernz naq rirelbar ynhturq ng uvz?" "Lbh?")
Taya
2026-03-13 13:53:41 +0000 UTCYeah, I really hate Lou, and still hate the general decision to add him as a character after all these years. Needlessly cruel.
Scott
2026-03-12 21:37:15 +0000 UTCRegarding S4, S5, and 7A: Gur gurzr urer orvat gung Qba’f fgbel, naq gurersber gur fubj, vf zbfg pbzcryyvat jura vg qbrfa’g eribyir nebhaq nssnvef.
Jamie
2026-03-12 14:26:45 +0000 UTCIn the same time frame (2014-2015), Starz Outlander S1 was split into two parts: S1 Part 1 (8 episodes) and S1 Part 2 (8 episodes) separated by 6 months. Was not really frustrating for me, but I simply thought of it as two shorter seasons.
Clay F
2026-03-12 14:22:22 +0000 UTCIt was funny seeing them try to remember his name last episode knowing he's the first thing you see in this episode!
Kev
2026-03-12 14:12:05 +0000 UTCLou was bought in by Duck Phillips, so he follows Duck's philosophy of 'creative not running the show', as Duck said in S2. He's not going to give you anything brilliant, but he's also not going to break down in a meeting or take an impromptu vacation. I love seeing Freddie back, one of my favourite of the non-main cast of characters.
Mark M
2026-03-12 10:55:36 +0000 UTCAnother comment here to say that S7 could be thought of as 7A (or part one) and 7B (or part two). I watched Mad Men after it concluded, and always saw it as just S7, but they aired a whole year apart. Remember, 7 episodes per half and 14 in total.
Kev
2026-03-12 09:08:03 +0000 UTCThere is no way Don would approve of that, he goes on a whole rant in the S2 premiere about people who think that advertising is simple. To him it's an artform. He's hollow but he doesn't want to be, in fact he loves advertising because it tries to reflect the human condition, which he wants to learn about so he can feel like an ordinary person and fit into society.
Kev
2026-03-12 09:02:19 +0000 UTCThe man is her brother-in-law, Gerry. He was lying on the sofa with a bad back in season 2 when the priest visited and at the restaurant with Peggy's family in 'The Suitcase'.
Erik D
2026-03-12 07:57:21 +0000 UTCThis season was around the time of Breaking Bad's final season when AMC were breaking the final seasons into two galf seasons and calling them Season 7 part 1 and part 2, but the break between both was a year, so I'm reality it was two extremely short seasons just claimed to be under one "season 7" label. Very frustrating time for television viewers.
Śéáń
2026-03-12 07:35:05 +0000 UTCCalling Roger a sperm donor !!! Was funny as hell! 💀💀
Omar
2026-03-12 04:27:19 +0000 UTCThe sliding door being broken at the end reminds me of when Bert said “a man is whatever room he is in”. We are always opening and closing doors in this show. Don is whoever the room needs him to be, though the door to Dick Whitman is usually shut. But this specific door is stuck in the middle at a time when Don is just off the heels of being the most honest he’s ever been in public, while simultaneously losing his job and his family. The apartment is open to the outside now. Who is he if he can’t shut the door?
Jamie
2026-03-12 03:19:35 +0000 UTCA few months ago, I saw somebody ask the question "Would Don Draper approve of using AI for marketing?" My first instinctive thought was 'yes' since he's a hollow, empty person and he wouldn't care. But then once I got past that knee-jerk reaction I realized that no, he would HATE using AI in advertising, and I thought back specifically to this episode. Don craves being INVOLVED in the creative process. Even if he's not getting the credit or the money, he still wants to feel that connection with the consumer, that exploration of "What do they want? How can I get them to think it's what I have?" That's when he feels the most fulfilled and human. I LOVE Freddy, and it's always good to see him. I love that he's still sober, and he's settled enough that he's even comfortable hanging out with Don and not slipping. Last episode I saw a comment from somebody saying they couldn't wait to see you two blown away by California Pete, and even I had forgotten just how strongly he hits us across the face right away. He dresses differently, he talks differently, he even CARRIES himself differently. He speaks to Don like an equal (or at least closer to being an equal), without any of the transparent ego of trying to PRESENT himself as an equal. It seemed like you picked it up, but just in case, moving the marketing "in house" means that that company was planning to fire SC&P and would hire their own advertising people who worked for them directly. It's hard to fight against that, because it's not a question of another advertising firm coming in with a lower price or offering a new idea. There is no other firm that you're competing against, you're competing against "I'll do it myself". So that's why Joan had to learn a whole bunch of business-jargon to try and reframe the whole conversation and convince that guy to keep hiring an outside firm. I hate Lou Avery as much as the next guy, but he's not 100% wrong. He's the living embodiment of that old saying "They don't want it perfect, they want it on time and under budget". For a lot of businesses -- maybe even MOST businesses -- that's more important than brilliance or talent. As long as the clients are happy and keep buying more ad space, why should they care about making The Best advertising out there?
JBK405
2026-03-12 03:16:45 +0000 UTCMad Men is a gorgeous show, but it usually doesn't stray away from visual storytelling into pure aesthetics. This scene is... an exception lol
Mike
2026-03-12 02:59:19 +0000 UTCI have to admit, I've watched this episode many times and I have NEVER noticed the car. My eyes are always on Megan lol. But damn it is a nice car too now that you mention it.
Taya
2026-03-12 02:55:48 +0000 UTCStanding on the people-mover in front of the mosaic at LAX. That's a reference to The Graduate (and Jackie Brown), which has an identical moment. In The Graduate, it's a metaphor to establish how Ben's life is on rails, dragging him along. The sequence with Don arriving in LA is as exuberant as Mad Men gets, but there's a similar comment hiding there, foreshadowing that Don's life isn't as exciting and dynamic as it appears on the surface. Lane Pryce watch: Speaking of LAX, the dark green convertible brings to mind the Jaguar that Lane's wife bought him before his suicide. And the commissions vs. fees debate that Joan references in her meeting with the business professor is exactly the issue Lane was preoccupied with in his final episode. You can always tell which character the show is most excited to show off after a time jump. This time, it's California Pete! (It's usually Pete, if we're being honest.) It might be something funky with the rear projection in that final scene, but there's a zolly effect going on that gives a brief impression that Don is falling backwards off the balcony. I'm sure that doesn't meaning anything. Really great ending, really great premiere. It's (mostly) a consensus that Seasons 4 & 5 are the best of the best for Mad Men, but for my money, Season 7A is damn close to that level. Incredible stretch of episodes coming up here. I've only watched 7B twice... Very interested to give it another go-around.
Mike
2026-03-12 02:49:27 +0000 UTC
