Mad Men 2x12 Reaction
Added 2025-09-05 00:04:43 +0000 UTC
Comments
I just noticed upon watching the reaction that Roger and Greg are also contrasted in dialogue with Greg disapproving of Joan being aggressive while Roger appreciating Peggy for being aggressive. Different circumstances yes, one professional, the other personal but still it's an interesting tidbit
Infode
2025-09-07 05:57:42 +0000 UTCHe didn't win until right at the end, after Breaking Bad ended. BB basically swept every Emmys once it got hot lolll.
Kara
2025-09-06 22:26:31 +0000 UTCSometimes all you need is someone to tell you that everything’s going to be okay. And that they understand and love you. Every don/anna scene I see that way. It’s hard not to get teary eyed watching them together. The way they tease “in the hall of the mountain king” as don walks up to the door nervous. Then bring it back after the flashback. You can see him transform into Dick as Anna greets him. It’s mesmerizing. Jon Hamm def deserved to win an Emmy for these earlier seasons at least once. He kept losing to Walter lol. I feel I say this every other episode but that’s gotta be one of my fav endings of the whole show. I used to think sopranos was far and away the best at ending/song choice but MM can be just as good. Personally I couldn’t give a show a higher compliment.
cheech
2025-09-06 15:54:42 +0000 UTCHamm has won some awards for his acting, but I still think he is very underrated.
JayFi
2025-09-06 14:07:08 +0000 UTC"I am the least difficult of men. All I want is boundless love."
Mike
2025-09-05 19:09:59 +0000 UTCI can't put into words how much I love Anna Draper
Bernardo
2025-09-05 18:46:57 +0000 UTCQbaf fcrrpu nobhg orvat ba gur bhgfvqr bs uvf yvsr fpengpuvat, gelvat gb trg va vf n irefvba bs jung Yrbaneq fnlf va gur tebhc gurencl frffvba va gur svanyr. Nobhg orvat na hacvpxrq vgrz va gur sevqtr, jngpuvat lbhe yvsr sebz n qvfgnapr. Naq gur raqvat vf nofbyhgryl jung Naan fnvq nobhg pbaarpgvba gb gur jbeyq, funevat gur fnzr nve naq jbeyq fbhy rgp, gur zrqvgngvba vafgehpgbe zvtug rira fnl fvavyne jbeqf.
Kara
2025-09-05 16:30:55 +0000 UTCThis is one of the most important episodes of the show imo, so good.
TylerNorCal
2025-09-05 12:17:45 +0000 UTCDon doesn’t tell Anna about important things he doesn’t tell her about the exact way her husband died and he doesn’t tell her about the cheating. It’s great that he can get unconditional love from her of course.
Mark Lowe
2025-09-05 08:47:26 +0000 UTCReally enjoyed the reaction here. I love this episode. M&L were talking about 'favourite relationships' a while back - Dick and Anna is definitely mine. There's an unconditional love there that he never got from his parents, and that he can't get from his family. Watching this again after Sopranos, the scene with the cars reminded me of the Kevin Finnerty episodes. It's hard to imagine Don being so eager to casually chat to strangers and geek out over a car. He's so guarded that you don't notice it until he isn't. It is very emotional to watch. I love the actress for Anna, she radiates kindness. Seeing her reminds Don of Adam, and realising how badly he hurt someone he could've had a similar relationship with. The tarot card for judgement has a flag of St George on it, which is funny to me considering it's an English company buying Sterling Cooper, not sure if that was intentional. Gur svany pneq orvat gur jbeyq frrzf yvxr n sberfunqbjvat bs Qba'f svany fprar, srryvat pbaarpgrq gb gur jbeyq, naq gur pbxr nq nobhg 'ohlvat gur jbeyq n pbxr', pbaarpgvba. Abg fher vs gung jnf vagragvbany ng guvf rneyl fgntr bs gur fubj.
Mark M
2025-09-05 08:19:37 +0000 UTCPete is being an ass about it -- to Trudy, to her roast chicken, and to the poor people walking on the sidewalk outside their apartment -- but his feelings about adoption, while warped by his poor relationship with his own parents, are still valid. He has been clear that he doesn't want to adopt a child. Trudy scheduling an appointment anyway was uncool.
Mike
2025-09-05 04:38:47 +0000 UTCHave to think that Freddy would be thrilled to see Peggy taking over his office. He's the one who pulled her out of the lipstick brainstorm, after all.
Mike
2025-09-05 04:37:07 +0000 UTCwe shouldn't joke about this, my great-grandmother (bless her soul) was tragically killed in NYC Uptown when a full juicy roast chicken fell on her head!
Kara
2025-09-05 03:34:47 +0000 UTCHad to pause the video immediately after that conversation about Pete being a king lmao Mad Men didn't invent the idea of California/the West as a mythic, restorative paradise -- I'm thinking of Kerouac, Steinbeck, Tolkien, Led Zeppelin, even Katy Perry knows there's a special something about the west coast -- but the switch up between last episode's perverted hedonism and this episode's genuine, almost naive peacefulness is really striking. (And so much of it is down to Hamm's incredible performance -- and the hair styling! -- as L&M rightly note.) *This* is what Don was looking for when he ran away to California. That run in with Joy was a temptation along the road. For a show that, on the surface, glamorizes New York and Madison Avenue so much, it's fascinating to see how much more at ease Don/Dick is here, and what that says about New York by proxy. I mean, he wants to give up being a high-powered ad man to sell hot rod cars. Put him in a Beach Boys music video already. He is happy here, and that final beat of him in the ocean -- as west as west can get -- communing with air and water and everything from Anna's tarot reading... Throw in that incredible George Jones song and it really does feel holy. I guess the question is whether it can last. I also have to shout out Melinda Hamilton who is so instantly welcoming as Anna Draper. From the second she opens the door on the porch, you believe that Don would feel safe and at home with her. Great performance. OK, one more thought: It seems... significant that Don ran away from the convention after the presentation about nuclear warheads and the potential) annihilation of mankind (just like he ran away from Betty & New York and the potential end of his marriage), and then reads Anna's "Judgement" tarot card as "the end of the world" and tells her he doesn't want to know what it means. Now I'll just take a big sip of water and look at when this episode takes place, and what major geopolitical event is right around the corner...
Mike
2025-09-05 03:29:37 +0000 UTCImagine being angry at your spouse and your first instinct is to grab the roast chicken they just cooked and toss it out the window of your high rise ... just Peter Campbell things!
Taya
2025-09-05 03:09:09 +0000 UTCI thought it was her hair because Smitty gave her that same "modern cut" in the last episode (or maybe the one before). But maybe not, since Peggy was standing right next to the pic and the client was obviously referencing something more distant. So you're probably right.
Julien
2025-09-05 02:55:55 +0000 UTCIt's because she looks like depictions of the virgin mary (+ other figures) with her hands outstretched and the halo behind her head: https://t4.ftcdn.net/jpg/04/50/22/67/360_F_450226741_L23bIcAwrdvaY5AsNLR6r2NPdZhyKXgE.jpg
Kara
2025-09-05 02:40:54 +0000 UTCThe reason they said the mother in the popsicle commercial looked familiar is because she had the same haircut as Peggy -- basically representing Peggy and what she gave away
dandelions2
2025-09-05 02:31:22 +0000 UTCso happy! Been waiting for you to see this episode!!! The free man that couldn't exist in either world, with the one person who knows him
pb24rf19
2025-09-05 02:21:46 +0000 UTCLola: "I want to meet Joan's fiance" us: NO YOU DONT 😭😭😭
Kara
2025-09-05 02:16:20 +0000 UTCPartner rape is so incredibly disgusting it's insane it was ever accepted. I say that but we all know why, women were seen as the property of the men they were with.
Nina
2025-09-05 02:12:47 +0000 UTCMilena almost crying just from the way Anna looked at Don (Dick???), god. I felt that 😭 the love you have for Don and other characters at this point is so amazing, it's still literally only been 2 seasons, 2 irl years of television production. every week I'm shocked how much there is left to discover + develop. Don is so calm in California. He seems born to fix up hot rods near the beach, hanging out with Anna. The show uses California as a sunny antidote to its portrayal of NYC as a bustling, looming, grimy "center of the universe" city. 100% agree that Jon Hamm's acting sells all the flashbacks in the show, they also do a good job with makeup and lighting to make him look younger. Don's dialogue about feeling like he's scratching at his life trying to get in is how I've felt a lot especially during more dissociative periods. Like you're on the outisde looking in, and you want in so bad, but you literally don't know how, you're just not built that way. imo he has a sibling-type relationship with Anna this episode, she seems like his older sister almost. The real Don was ~8 years older than our Don, so Anna might be closer to his age if they got together young. I've been dreading the Joan scene for weeks every since you latched onto the character so much. It's still so hard to sit thru even after all these rewatches. I think you had really good reads on this. A good time to remember that the series is written by women and this episode was co-written by a woman (Robin Veith) based somewhat on their own experiences. Yes, to confirm what Lola said: 'Spousal / Partner Rape' wasn't even illegal everywhere in the US until 1993 (was fully legal in the 60s) and to this day many people struggle to believe victims, as if choosing being in a relationship with someone is permanent consent to have sex with them. We get a few timelines this episode. Roger has been at the firm 20 years. Joan has been there 9 as of 1962, so she started in 1953, which we could guess already but makes sense (maybe Paul joined in like 1955 hence their bad relationship). The Popsicle advert was religious, that's what the guy was remembering - the woman handing out popsicles looks like an angel or a saint with the orange halo behind her head. Peggie is semi-consciously using her background/life + religion in her work, like how Don uses elements of his life. Roger automatically covering for Don's absense is interesting, maybe he senses Don would do the same if the situation was reversed. Betty is soooo funny like, "we're all trying to find the woman who arranged this affair"... girl!
Kara
2025-09-05 02:04:09 +0000 UTCOooooooh, THIS episode. This is like turning over the apple cart: nothing stays right-side up. I agree that Jon Hamm's performance as "Dick" is so shockingly different than his normal demeanor, even though he's not really DOING anything different. This episode is one of the perfect examples of how he's not just handsome, he's actually ridiculously talented as an actor. I think the whole thing boils down to Don being ABLE to relax here. In New York he is ALWAYS acting. Even when he's alone. In the shower, buying gas, going to the movies, he Always has to be Don Draper. But here he can finally stop. So even when he's just sitting down, it's infinitely more relaxing than anything he can do 'back home'. And Jon Hamm manages to SELL that. I love Peggy claiming Freddy's office. She definitely earned it, but it's also only available because Freddy was unjustly turned out a few episodes ago, when Pete even mentioned that she might get his office. She didn't turn on Freddy, she's got nothing to feel ashamed over, but she's still (metaphorically) stepping over his body just like she worried other people would do. Greg.....ugh, Greg. You knew you were going to hate him even before It happened, and then he lived down to EVERY ill thought we had.
JBK405
2025-09-05 02:04:08 +0000 UTCAnna Draper the GOAT
Chris B
2025-09-05 01:39:49 +0000 UTCPete's refusal to adopt has nothing to do with masculinity or wanting to appear a certain way. What an odd take. It is entirely normal and ok to not want to adopt, and it's not an gendered sentiment. Tons of women in this world would want their kid to be only biological - and that's obviously ok. If you are a person like Pete who is not particularly into having a child, adoption is an absurdity. He doesn't even really want to reproduce and be a parent but he should go out and get some random kid? How does that even make sense? Adoption is a wonderful thing and people who do it deserve praise. But people who don't want it should not be judged because again, this sentiment is most normal and natural thing in the world. Not everything Pete does or feels is about performing masculinity. His feelings about adoption are 100% valid and shared by billions of women then and now. Put some respect on my boy! ;)
Julien
2025-09-05 01:14:50 +0000 UTCAround 14:00 the joke with the mom's pose being familiar is because it's similar to a pose of the Virgin Mary. Peggy figured it would work
Cobalt
2025-09-05 01:08:21 +0000 UTCIt's working now.
JBK405
2025-09-05 01:01:42 +0000 UTCgoat episode of television
T0ast
2025-09-05 00:57:58 +0000 UTCIt looks like this a problem on the YouTube side instead of Patreon, but I'm unable to play this video. It presents an error with the message "Sign in to confirm you're not a bot". (BTW I'm not a bot). Has there been a settings update?
JBK405
2025-09-05 00:55:55 +0000 UTCLet's gooo! Except for THAT scene, let's NOT goooo!
Nina
2025-09-05 00:55:29 +0000 UTCDamn it I forgot THAT scene was in this episode... Joan my girl...
bondbond53
2025-09-05 00:54:53 +0000 UTCI've been so excited for this one! (and dreading it at the same time tbh)
Taya
2025-09-05 00:16:44 +0000 UTC
