Mad Men 2x13 Reaction
Added 2025-09-07 22:16:38 +0000 UTC
Comments
For some reason, and I have no idea why, I would have bet good money that that conversation between Peggy and Pete happened in like season 4. Weird how the memory works.
Patrick
2025-09-15 23:37:50 +0000 UTCGRIMY LITTLE PIMP watch begins NOW!
Kara
2025-09-10 07:13:00 +0000 UTClane pryce gang assemble
cheech
2025-09-09 15:06:06 +0000 UTCIt's amusing how "the writers' room sometimes/often had more women than men - to an unusual degree in this industry" somehow became "Mad Men was written by women."
Julien
2025-09-08 21:54:57 +0000 UTCI’m surprised you guys didn’t have a reaction/say anything about the letter. Aside from it maybe being the final thing that gets Betty to take Don back (on top of everything else), I thought it was quite significant for Don who barely *talks* to Betty let alone honestly, to write such a heartfelt letter. I agree Don wasn’t thinking of Pete at all when he ditched him, but I don’t think he’s lying when he says he thought Pete could handle it. If you recall it was supposed to be Paul on that trip instead of Don, and Pete was the one who was going to be doing the talking. Cuban Missile Crisis. Other comments have mentioned it but it really is crucial context to the episode. The “nuclear” word might get thrown around a lot these days, but no time in the last 30+ years did people or the world at large *actually* think it was going to happen. This wasn’t that. I agree with all your thoughts on Peggy at the end except her situation in relation to Don’s. She is definitely beating him in the mental health department and I know there are parallels and you are linking them because of the “how much it never happened” moment, but they really are in completely different situations. Don’s is… just so singular by nature. Peggy might feel guilt and shame because of the times and her religious beliefs, but she has literally done nothing wrong. This show really is just too good. And I think the biggest testament to that is that you will probably get “this is the episode that..” type comments on 50+ episodes of the show.
JJ
2025-09-08 21:25:41 +0000 UTCI had the same thought when watching yesterday.
Kara
2025-09-08 19:32:29 +0000 UTCSee the thing is, it was the 60's so you'd be absolutely shocked about what was allowed back in the day or how business was conducted so I'd actually not entirely call bs on it.
bondbond53
2025-09-08 16:50:39 +0000 UTCsame in french lol
petitcorbeau
2025-09-08 15:17:57 +0000 UTCLike most, I adore this episode. But in terms of realism, that boardroom scene could never have happened. It's completely impossible that PPL would acquire S&C without doing the most basic due diligence, which includes reviewing the partners contracts. It's 100% impossible. Yes, 100%. I'm using absolute language on purpose because it is that absolute. But most people don't know this (nor did I when I first watched the show). So it makes for a wonderful bit of television and storytelling.
Julien
2025-09-08 13:57:42 +0000 UTCI dont know why but youtubes auto-translator tries to make the Title German and calls the series "Food Man"
Nik
2025-09-08 13:16:34 +0000 UTCI got the same feeling. I'm sure they know about the Cuban Missile Crisis but I don't think they realized that this was it. It's a shame because that event is literally the opposite of routine, and knowing that is critical to fully understanding our characters behavior in this episode. People in this episode are facing the very real possibility of a nuclear holocaust. And they are acting accordingly. For example, it's very possible that Betty wouldn't have cheated otherwise. It's almost certain that she wouldn't have called Don home that night (maybe later, maybe never). And it is 100% certain that Pete wouldn't have confessed love to Peggy. And maybe she wouldn't have made her own confession either. All these are the actions of people who are staring at the very real possibility of the world ending, and acting accordinly.
Julien
2025-09-08 13:14:57 +0000 UTCNot everyone agrees with your narrow view of what type of Abortion is ok.
Jay Craig
2025-09-08 12:28:55 +0000 UTCThis is actually where I officially started hating Betty haha. She waits until Don gives her what she wants and apologizes, rejoins the family pretty much and has his child inside of her...THEN she decides to go and fuck some random guy in a bathroom. Truly disgusting behavior. She stooped lower than Don's level imo.
TylerNorCal
2025-09-08 11:55:06 +0000 UTCWhen I watched Succession's Tom & Shiv's final scene, it always reminded me of MM S2's final shot with neither partner wanting to be there but had to, due to circumstance
Infode
2025-09-08 11:50:17 +0000 UTCI get the impression Lola and Milena aren’t familiar with the unique historical context this episode took place within, as Lola said that threats of nuclear missiles are just standard fare these days. The 13-day ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’ is widely considered to be the closest humanity ever came to a full-scale nuclear war. It remains a uniquely dangerous moment in history where people truly thought that the world was about to end, and not without good reason.
Darrach
2025-09-08 11:46:45 +0000 UTCIdk why you got annoyed by the doctor, he is completely right...unless you're just a completely selfish person. She is already a mother/married and has plenty of money, it was her decision to have sex with Don that night. It should be a last option.
TylerNorCal
2025-09-08 11:39:27 +0000 UTCI think your summary is missing a key element - that all 3 storylines are about being "saved" but thrust into a world where this devastation is possible and an active thought. On the macro level - the threat of nuclear war looming for decades - on the micro level, the knowledge that your marriage or workplace is now on new terms where everyone knows what happened and can happen. It's less about the saving and more about what comes after being saved: the bombs may be defused for now, but everyone now knows the bombs are there and ready to explode. I think you're underrating Don's active participation - he's obviously active when he pulls together his plan/speech for the meeting (using info that Pete gave him because he chose not to fire Pete, and to make him feel trusted over California, all conscious actions). And when Betty is truly unsure of what to do regarding her pregnancy to the point of legitimately considering illegal abortion, Don takes all his California experiences, mixed with the chaos of work and the world, and he returns home. He asks Betty what she wants, does what she says re: visiting the kids, gives her space, then writes a really good letter that essentially wins her over (or more realistically, gives her a slight push off the fence). You can't get more active than that, he literally wrote his way out - if he doesn't return home and act that doesn't happen, and it might have worked even if Betty wasn't pregnant (plenty of marriages have). tbf it is probably my least favourite finale but only by default since every other finale is so good 😅
Kara
2025-09-08 07:19:44 +0000 UTC"I will honour the founders of Sterling Cooper" while looking at Roger and Bert + ignoring Don is extra funny when you remember Roger isn't even a founder, his Dad was (the original Sterling).
Kara
2025-09-08 07:02:14 +0000 UTCI love the parallels with this episode and episode 12. Pete comes to Don's office blackmailing him for head of accounts vs Pete comes to Don's office giving him info to blow up a deal that would make him head of accounts. Just a nice confirmation of what he really wants. Glad you had some sympathy for Duck too. He reminds me a bit of Chuck McGill. Tries to lawyer his way through a personal beef and ends up losing his temper and embarrassing himself when he gets exposed. Not surprising when his pitch was just 'fuck Don, fuck Don, also fuck Don'. I Iike how he says 'I will honour the founders of Sterling Cooper.' Very subtle Duck. The final comment of him being unable to hold his liquor is quite sad.
Mark M
2025-09-08 06:47:32 +0000 UTCEnjoying the best America has to offer.
Nazım Metin
2025-09-08 05:11:38 +0000 UTCI guess I'll go against the grain and say I don't love this episode. It's still a good hour of TV -- the Peggy & Pete scene is stunning -- but it doesn't work as well for me as other season finales, and can't help feeling like a comedown after that terrific California two-parter. I think of the show as operating on three axes -- the personal (in these past few episodes, Don & Betty's separation), the professional (the merger), and the historical (the missile crisis). When Mad Men is at its best, all three elements are resonating with each other. The past few episodes have had Don running away from "the end of the world" in all three spheres, though he wasn't actually aware that Duck was running this merger end-around on him. Interestingly, all three stories end in anti-climax: His marriage is "saved" by Betty's pregnancy. The merger situation is saved by Pete confiding in him. And the world is saved from nuclear holocaust by... well, it just kind of doesn't happen. None of these stories are what I'd call a dramatic conclusion. Don is barely an active participant in some of those climaxes. On a thematic level, I guess I appreciate the symmetry. But on a dramatic level, "protagonist is in triple jeopardy and survives because of... outside factors" doesn't exactly make for compelling television.
Mike
2025-09-08 04:49:32 +0000 UTCMad Men was primarily written by its creator, Matthew Weiner, he previously worked on Sopranos
Josip
2025-09-08 03:04:32 +0000 UTCWe'll have Manhattan The Bronx and Staten Island too...
Kara
2025-09-08 00:38:38 +0000 UTCIf I'm going to die, I want to die in Manhattan.
cheech
2025-09-08 00:32:31 +0000 UTCwow the way peggy just don'd (son'd) pete
on crip ...
2025-09-08 00:25:57 +0000 UTCI think many of us have experienced something where after it feels like there's less of us somehow. She's talking about the baby but she's talking about.... everything.
Kara
2025-09-08 00:19:23 +0000 UTCyou know betty is the goat because she finds out she can't get pregnant (again) + immediately goes to a bar for the first time in 10 years, takes 5 paid-for gimlets to the dome then stumbles to the bathroom while STARING at a man until he follows her. call that the Housecat Rizz 😌🙌 A phenomenal episode and a phenomenal reaction. Choosing to set the chaos of the office politics and Don's family life against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis, where people in major population hubs like NYC literally thought they were going to die like Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is genius writing. It's such a "well-crafted" show, and this only becomes more apparent when you re-watch and know the 'twists' so can focus on the specific choices. Holyyyy. Every week I'm legit stunned we're witnessing this live lol and the "two episodes a week" format really makes you stop and appreciate each episode... usually I'm binging like a season a week minimum oop 😳 In season 1, Bert Cooper says to Don (about Pete) "One never knows how loyalty is born". 2 years later it pays off massively when Pete gives Don the key info he needs to 'take a stand' against Duck's new regime. I've seen people in the past misunderstand this, but you both outlined it: knowing in advance allowed Don to come up with a plan that leveraged his power in the agency, rather than being taken by surprise + not saying the right thing. Funnily enough I had a similar situation early in my career and I remembered this ep and did the same thing Pete did. I'm still friends with that person today. Thanks Mad Men! I've been looking forward to the Peggy/Pete scene for weeks. You're both spot on - she internalizes the priest's advice about telling the truth to free herself, but chooses to tell Pete a truth instead. In Mad Men everything is connected to everything else, sometimes directly, sometimes thematically. In the end montage we see she's still religious - she's accepted what she views as her sins and come to terms with her Catholic Christianity, she's incorporating it into her work (the popsicle ad), she's using its lessons with people she cares about. She's found a version of belief that works for her, with her desires + past etc. That's what all the religious stuff this season was about IMO. Bonus thoughts: IMO Lola is right, Betty was riding so much cuz she was hoping for an 'accidental' miscarriage that makes things a lot "easier". Pete knows how devestating nuclear missiles are cuz he met so many missile companies in California. Don says 1 thing to Roger after a 3 week absence + Roger immediately feels better about everything, Don is his bestie. Harry the head of the television department breaks his own television. Paul Kinsey has an earnest loyalty to the company Sterling Cooper has been for 2 seasons + 3 years of time, he doesn't want the format to change. Joan is simply pretending like Greg's rape never happened, so it goes. Don is if nothing else a great writer, and he writes a great letter.
Kara
2025-09-08 00:18:24 +0000 UTCI love Peggy's monologue because it has multiple meanings. On the surface she's talking about the baby. But I think she's also talking about loss of a different kind: loss of innocence, youth, the loss of certain hopes and dreams for the future, the irrevocable loss of a previous version of yourself through a traumatic event or perhaps just by the slow daily grind of real life. I think it's something we can all relate to as time passes and we get older and become jaded. "And you keep thinking maybe I'll get it back. And then you realize... it's just gone."
Taya
2025-09-08 00:13:01 +0000 UTCwhich is an insane thing to say about an alcoholic who imploded at your company due to alcoholism, who you sent a full crate of gin bottles to as a gift. me when I give the alcohol problem man alcohol and he becomes a problem: wtf????
Kara
2025-09-08 00:01:16 +0000 UTC"Mr. Campbell, who cares?" was where I thought Mad Men could be an all timer. The conversation between Peggy and Pete in this one cemented it.
Eric (Rec B.)
2025-09-07 23:52:45 +0000 UTCDon & Betty's reconciliation set against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis... damn. It's not a fresh new start. There's nothing happy or hopeful about it. It's heavy, oppressive. It feels doomed, just like the world felt at that moment in history. Such an incredible ending.
Taya
2025-09-07 23:41:47 +0000 UTCChauncey fucking deserved it. You see the way he looked at Duck? You don't judge a man in his most vulnerable moments like that and not expect retaliation fr
Epileptic Trees
2025-09-07 23:31:35 +0000 UTCAgreed. The first two seasons are REALLY good, but... we haven't even begun to peak
Taya
2025-09-07 23:17:25 +0000 UTCI hold no compassion for Duck after what he did to Chauncey 💔
Jenny D
2025-09-07 22:59:03 +0000 UTCThe guy from Putnam, Powell and Lowe said Duck “never could hold his liquor”, a phrase meaning he can’t drink without becoming a mess.
Darrach
2025-09-07 22:49:31 +0000 UTCIt just keeps getting better too. Season 4 my God.
Jay Craig
2025-09-07 22:33:38 +0000 UTCjust in time for dinner!! great episode and a really excellent season (just like the first one) but from S3 onwards was when I realized I was watching the best TV Show ever made, I can't wait to see your reactions
Bernardo
2025-09-07 22:28:13 +0000 UTCThis is the first episode on my rewatch that always makes me think "Ah this is why Mad Men is my favourite TV Show"
bondbond53
2025-09-07 22:18:21 +0000 UTC
