Mad Men 5x05 Reaction
Added 2025-12-26 00:31:34 +0000 UTCmerry christmas if you’re celebrating today, otherwise happy holidays ❤️
Comments
"Clog in the machine" might be my new favourite phrase.
TooBad59
2025-12-30 19:28:08 +0000 UTCMy favourite LM-ism is when they say 'Gouge' something instead of 'Gauge' - which makes it seem much more violent!
Jay Craig
2025-12-27 08:36:19 +0000 UTCBy the way, Lane does say "Your activities last night have cost us this account"
Kev
2025-12-27 04:54:34 +0000 UTC"I know cooler heads should prevail but..." in a series of fine moments, one of Roger Sterling's finest. That and lighting his cigarette before the fight started lol\
jerry
2025-12-27 01:54:14 +0000 UTCJust an fyi coz Lola has been saying it a lot recently, the phrase is ‘cog in the machine’, as in a small piece of machinery part of a larger whole, not ‘clog in the machine’, which would imply being a blockage or something stopping a machine from functioning.
Darrach
2025-12-26 20:11:48 +0000 UTCA lot of people miss the correlation made between Ad Agencies and Brothels that kind of informs the whole “mystic” of Donald Draper the Creative Director. In the end one of the main reasons he’s so good at selling things is because he grew up seeing the rawest, most foundational form of transaction human-naturally speaking. Totally agree that more of that interaction would have been fascinating to see especially once the Madam started picking Don’s brain.
Isaiah Bryant
2025-12-26 16:46:51 +0000 UTC"Gurer ner ab tbbq avtug abvfrf!"
Taya
2025-12-26 16:13:48 +0000 UTClol It IS Michael Scott. And that little shake of the head from Don, "he just never gets it".
PIG
2025-12-26 14:57:04 +0000 UTC"Still, Coe thought, it might have been living in the country that was making him cry. It was killing him with its silence and loneliness – making everything ordinary, too beautiful to bear." - Dave Algonquin
JC
2025-12-26 14:41:23 +0000 UTCA GRIMY LITTLE PIMP
Isaiah Bryant
2025-12-26 13:16:16 +0000 UTCThis episode reminds me of The Office or Peep Show for how much it just drills into Pete's insecurities and humiliates him. Even the 'this is an office, we're supposed to be friends' line is very Michael Scott. He can't see how much he has because he's unfulfilled, jealous of shallow things, oily and spiteful. Ken being encouraged to give up on writing is also kind of like Pam and her art in The Office. There's an almost vindictive nature to it. I've always found this episode hard to watch, bar the fight, but it's a great one.
Mark M
2025-12-26 10:52:02 +0000 UTCThey were probably thinking of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Biberius Caldius Mero
2025-12-26 10:14:24 +0000 UTCThe Speck murders, the World Cup final, and the Chrles Whitman shooting all occurred within 19 days of each other. Kind of mirrors the 25 days in the Summer of 69, when the moon landing, Chappaquidick, the Manson murders and Woodstock all took place.
tilden katz
2025-12-26 07:01:18 +0000 UTCim reading about space, bodies, familiarity. there's a bit on how our "bodies" can extend out all over our rooms, houses, etc., and how we shape those spaces (decorations, pictures, furniture), but also those spaces shape us anyways, through that line, Don feels comfortable enough to share bc of his strong familiarity with the brothel as a space, even if his childhood 'whorehouse' didn't look as nice, it's still functionally similar, and inhabited by 'familiar' people such as the madam wish i could elaborate. i need to hit the books this thought is even more incomplete: growing up in the country adds to the masculine aura + grants an ability to be authentic while not disclosing his identity
on crip ...
2025-12-26 06:55:14 +0000 UTCI think the Ginsberg in this case is probably Allen Ginsberg, a poet and writer who was very famous in the 50's and 60's. He kickstarted the Beatnik movement in the 50's and early 60's, which were a kind of proto-hippies. Not as popular as the actual hippy movement of the late 60's, but it did pave the way for it.
Alexandru Tudosie
2025-12-26 06:22:05 +0000 UTC" ... he needs to just like accept Dick" ayoo pause 😭😭😭
on crip ...
2025-12-26 05:57:50 +0000 UTCI like how Don didn't have anything to say at the dinner party until the countryside came up and he immediately got more enthusiastic and started talking, there's this need in him to share his experiences and find common ground with others, which is stifled by his fear of revealing his secret. It's the same in the brothel, he absolutely didn't need to share that he grew up in such a place but he wanted to share it.
Nina
2025-12-26 05:34:07 +0000 UTCHave to be that person and point out how unrealistic it is. No matter how handsome someone is, their high-school peers are never giving them the nickname "Handsome". I mean, it's worth it for Pete's incredulous "Your name is Handsome?" delivery.
Kev
2025-12-26 05:28:02 +0000 UTCImagining what size my ego would inflate to if people gave me the nickname "Handsome".
Nina
2025-12-26 05:11:32 +0000 UTCLove how casual Pete getting his face battered is treated. He easily could've suffered a broken jaw, or even lost an eye, to a perfectly placed shot in the right/wrong spot. Ahh, it doesn't matter, cause Pete's a pieceashit anyway so he'd deserve whatever happens.
tilden katz
2025-12-26 05:00:10 +0000 UTCFor the rest of us?
tilden katz
2025-12-26 04:55:27 +0000 UTCTilden Katz, don’t let the haters get you down. I love your “this show is brilliant, the writing is excellent, my disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined” comments. “Relentless Mendacity” sounds like what you get when Mad Men airs in another country, then you translate the title back to English. Thank you.
Jamie
2025-12-26 04:41:50 +0000 UTCThis brilliant episode, Top 10 episode IMHO, is the reason I wanted to stop watching Mad Men. Relentless mendacity from all the guys except Ken. Don doesn't count cause hes been ABSENT this season. Cruelty for cruelty's sake. As if Matt Weiner was like, 'let's see if I can tilt the Asshole Meter to 11 on this one'. Uggghhh. Don't care how brilliant a show is, if it actually makes you depressed just watching it, why even bother? The real title of this episode should be The Demolition of Peter Satan Campbell. How that guy doesn't commit suicide by the end of the hour is surprising. I guess his little girl would keep him from doing that. He fails at EVERYTHING here, while being the worst version of himself every step of the way. Someone referenced Edgar Allan Poe in regards to Kenny's writing. At the end, with the water torture sounding louder and louder, Pete becomes a character in Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." Where a body has been placed under the floorboards, but its heart is still beating. Made me think that Pete and his rifle is a ticking time bomb, Chekov's gun, literally waiting to go off. I have never felt worse watching an episode.
tilden katz
2025-12-26 04:24:50 +0000 UTCTWOP… a thing like that.. I can’t imagine there’s a person watching this who believes Don’s delusions, is there? Being full of shit is kind of his thing.
Jamie
2025-12-26 04:18:51 +0000 UTCBack when this episode aired, the Mad Men forum on Television Without Pity (a great TV discussion site, one of many when the Internet was more diverse before reddit and social media swallowed up everything) was dominated by women for some reason. They *hated* what Don told Pete in the cab. Basically, Don made it sound like "if I had found happiness (Megan!) back then I wouldn't have been a man-whore and eventually divorced." They felt that he was full a shit and essentially threw Betty under the bus, when the fact is that the unhappiness of his first marriage was largely his own doing. I tend to agree. Don was implying that he would have been a virtuous man if he had found and married Megan back then is some funny and delusional shit.
Julien
2025-12-26 04:00:24 +0000 UTCMechanized Death was a better movie. Coincidentally, the last episode of The Wire was -30-, witch reporters use to signal the end of a story.
Thomas Fahey
2025-12-26 03:55:09 +0000 UTCMakes sense!
Julien
2025-12-26 03:53:03 +0000 UTCI like that they didn't find it crushing, which I actually found surprising from people whose hackles normally get raised at the merest hint of inappropriate behavior toward women (or not even, such as the overreaction to Freddy sitting in Peggy's chair). It's all the more surprising because it's Joan. Instead they actually saw the humanity in Lane and understood that it was a vulnerable and desperate impulse rather than an assertion of male entitlement and dominance. Lane shot his shot, got shut down, and everyone moved on. That's how it works (or should) between adults and that's entirely fine. One last thing: Joan is a bombshell. She oozes confident sexuality and she knows it. She is an avatar of traditional femininity. Very few men are gonna be indifferent to her charms - and importantly, she wouldn't want it any other way. That's the character. It is what it is.
Julien
2025-12-26 03:40:39 +0000 UTCSure, for us, but I do not trust the YouTube recommendation algorithm for anyone who hasn't seen the show
Kev
2025-12-26 03:40:35 +0000 UTCI wonder if there is something to the fact that the sex worker offers three fantasies to Pete: first, a loving wife (Trudy, who he has), then a bashful virgin (the highschool girl, or at least his perception of her, who he is pursuing), then finally a sexual worshipper (who he feels satisfied with).
Kev
2025-12-26 03:39:11 +0000 UTCV npghnyyl nterr jvgu gur tveyf gung V qba'g frr vg, rira gubhtu boivbhfyl gurl jrer vafgvghgvat vg ng guvf cbvag. V bayl abgvprq vg va F7, fb Wnar'f yvar nobhg uvz tbvat onyq jbjrq zr nf sberfunqbjvat ba n erjngpu. Gurl jvyy qrsvavgryl erzrzore Ynar fnlvat gung yvar jura vg unccraf. V hfrq gb zvferzrzore gur abbfr nf orvat qenja va F6, gur frnfba jurer qrngu yvatref va gur nve naq Qba unf n snfpvangvba jvgu vg.
Kev
2025-12-26 03:30:31 +0000 UTCI love the scene with Don and the brothel owner, I wish we had more of their conversation because I bet it was just as interesting as what we saw. She goes from trying to crack a tough customer, even offering a male prostitute (who may not even be in her service; I always interpreted it as her just being kind and understanding, seeing him left out), to asking for business advice and then paying for his drinks even though he's made it clear he isn't interested in purchasing.
Kev
2025-12-26 03:27:29 +0000 UTCI think this appropriate for today (it's a scene from a past episode): https://youtu.be/d91dmiEs240?si=6uDPGPVwTKKLv-PA
Julien
2025-12-26 03:25:47 +0000 UTCI am surprised they didn't find Lane kissing Joan as crushing of a scene as I did. She tells him that she likes him for not being like other men, and then he proves he is exactly like all of them by hitting on her and not being able to see her platonically. Joan handled it with grace but it's another scene demonstrating the limitations of how men view her. As I think Lola noted, there are frequent private scenes between them and I think it's intentional for the audience to hope it stays platonic, only for Lane to ruin it.
Kev
2025-12-26 03:24:04 +0000 UTCI love Pete so much, easily my top 3 in the show because of this episode specifically.
Sami
2025-12-26 02:28:22 +0000 UTCWhere the hell have you been. Lol. Welcome back!
Julien
2025-12-26 02:27:47 +0000 UTCRoger's convo with Ken reflects an attitude typical of this kind of business (big law, finance, and apparently advertising): You get paid very well but the partners basically own your time. Today, this conversation wouldn't have taken place in those terms and in fact, big law firms and other similar businesses go out of their way to indicate that they want associates to have lives and pursue their hobbies etc. That's entirely because they want to attract the best talent. So they would never talk to you like this. But it's bullshit. Make no mistake about it: they actually want as much of your time as possible and would look at a time consuming hobby like writing as a distraction. I've been in that world (law, not ads) and speak from personal experience. Remember what Peggy said last season: it doesn't seem like anything matters as much as what happens in here. She abandoned her family and boyfriend on her birthday so she can keep working (even though she didn't really want to, that's a choice she made - AFTER Don let her go). The people who rise to the top in this type of job are not the smartest people or the hardest-working people. It's the people for who love the job so much that it's not a job, but a life. That's Peggy. And Pete, Don, Roger, Cooper. Maybe even Joan. Being an author on the side, having a true passion that's not work, is the opposite of that. The only way you rise in places like these is if they can tell that this job is not just a job for you but it's your life. Because that's how *they* are (the partners). That's how they got where they are and that's how they think that you should be if you hope to rise at the firm. Anyone who has worked at a place like this understands this. It's just another aspect of naked capitalism, which is something the show obviously explores.
Julien
2025-12-26 02:15:57 +0000 UTCWhat I say about Don at this point, with regards to his marriage, is that he's TRYING. Is he a good husband? I'll still say "no". But he's making more of an effort than we ever saw him make with Betty, which is why he avoids cheating, he shows up to the party, etc. He knows that he has to put in SOME effort to keep Megan around, while he used to just take Betty for granted and never even imagined that she would ever leave him. Yes, the brothel madame was offering to arrange a man for Don to sleep with, since she assumed that he was gay and that's why he wasn't sleeping with any of the women there. It was in an off-location apartment to separate it from her operation and prevent police action against the whole organization. Lane laying Pete flat on the ground is one the highlights that always sticks in our collective memory. We've all wanted to do it at one time or another, and Lane got to live our dreams for us. The title of this episode is "Signal 30". That is the name of the real-life educational video that Pete watches in drivers' ed. The film takes its name from the radio code used by the Ohio State Highway Patrol for a fatal traffic accident.
JBK405
2025-12-26 02:05:41 +0000 UTCWhat should Don do to be at peace, particularly with who he is? "Accept Dick" - Lola (Dec 2025)
Infode
2025-12-26 01:52:40 +0000 UTCJung n erprqvat unveyvar qbrf gb n zs also Ynar fnlvat ur'yy or urer sbe gur erfg bs uvf yvsr, naq Qba syng bhg qenjvat n abbfr vf penml yby
Jamie
2025-12-26 01:27:19 +0000 UTCLove this episode. It does an amazing job distilling Pete's general feeling of inadequacy and insecurity we've seen throughout the show.
Sid
2025-12-26 01:20:03 +0000 UTCmy vocal ticks for the past ten years: MISTER CAMPBELL, YOU AND I ARE GOING TO ADDRESS THAT INSULT. NOOO, YOU'RE A GRIMY LITTLE PIMP. AS SOON AS I RAISE MY HANDS I WARN YOU IT SHALL BE TOO LATE TO RUN. CONSIDER THAT MY LAST PIECE OF ADVICE.
Kara
2025-12-26 01:13:31 +0000 UTCHappy Holidays to all! ✨
Infode
2025-12-26 01:03:20 +0000 UTCMerry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone 🎄
Alex
2025-12-26 00:48:04 +0000 UTCwell not everyone celebrates christmas today, ours is for example in 2 weeks
LM Reactions
2025-12-26 00:46:09 +0000 UTC"if youre celebrating today" is so lame... merry christmas everybody
Josip
2025-12-26 00:43:24 +0000 UTCIt's a festivus miracle!
Erik D
2025-12-26 00:38:47 +0000 UTCA Mad Men reaction dropping on Christmas Day. A thing like that!
Taya
2025-12-26 00:37:21 +0000 UTCAlso this episode was very good
Virgil Hawkins
2025-12-26 00:35:56 +0000 UTCMerry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
Virgil Hawkins
2025-12-26 00:35:41 +0000 UTCHappy Holidays! 🎄
mundanelotus
2025-12-26 00:33:26 +0000 UTC
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