Mad Men 1x12 Reaction
Added 2025-07-20 23:36:20 +0000 UTC
Comments
I'm intrigued and I like Rhea Seehorn and the ABQ crew have earned my trust but I'm surprised its a sci-fi show. Feels like a big departure, very interested to see what its like tonally.
Kara
2025-07-23 11:42:27 +0000 UTCSterling Cooper is a known, respected firm and Bert Cooper alone can basically end Petes career if he leaks anything. That's why he told Don "fire him if you want". If Pete says anything then Bert refuses to give him a reference and makes it known in the industry that Pete won't keep your company's secrets, when the job involves leasing with clients who are cheating on their spouses and trying to undermine US government regulation re cigarettes etc. E.g nobody will hire a senior accounts person who is known to leak damaging secrets. Basically Pete doesnt have as much power as you think, he can kill Don but its a suicide blast that kills his career (or kills momentum at least).
Kara
2025-07-23 11:40:09 +0000 UTCI feel Pete did the right thing because he wanted the job now, first and foremost. And Don had no choice but to call the bluff if he wasn't going to run. Pete still holds the advantage because if they fire him, he can still destroy Don and hurt the company by spreading the word to other clients and the Army because nobody is going to hire/work with a known deserter in 1960. Don has to worry now that Pete and Bert will keep his secret.
INFJ-T Tyrone
2025-07-23 08:18:06 +0000 UTCOn an unrelated to Mad Men but related to quality AMC showrunners, Vince Gilligan’s new show is finally gonna have a trailer dropping in a couple days. Kim Wexler is gonna be the lead, so stoked. https://www.youtube.com/live/2LCmtPdN_ps?si=mbuZxRKgF7EDIKMu
Truemeathead
2025-07-22 20:04:13 +0000 UTCIt’s kind of hilarious seeing Bert talking about Nixon throwing in the towel because of the optics. Now when certain Presidents don’t win they have their followers storm the Capitol, calling for the death of the vice president as a literal gallows is erected to hang him. People die as a result. Assault police & when that that man gets reelected he pardons them all. Yep. What fun.
Stan the Man
2025-07-22 06:06:19 +0000 UTCThe weakest season? Wow. I definitely think that’s a minority opinion. Or maybe I’m crazy. How would u rank them? Personally I’d say 4, 3, 1, 5, 2, 6, 7. I find the last 2.5 seasons to be a steep decline. Granted the show is so strong that even those weak seasons are above every other non Sopranos, Deadwood, Wire show. I’ve always thought season 5 would’ve made the perfect series finale.
Stan the Man
2025-07-22 05:59:08 +0000 UTCIt speaks to the insanely high quality of this show that this is arguably the WEAKEST season. Also, love how much the girls are into Pete as a character already. A lot of people are too distracted by hating him to appreciate what an incredible, ridiculous character he is on the first watch. Best character in the best show.
Sebastian
2025-07-21 16:36:06 +0000 UTC"When you threaten someone in this manner, you should be aware of the fact that if your information is powerful enough to make them do what you want, what else can it make them do?" “If that's true... If you don't know who I am, then... maybe your best course would be to tread lightly.” 😮💨
cheech
2025-07-21 16:25:30 +0000 UTCThey really are so far above other reaction channels. It's real time, high level tv criticism, not just "Oh wow that's crazy".
Sebastian
2025-07-21 10:56:03 +0000 UTCMy other favourite episode of the season, tied with Shoot. Really enjoyed the commentary, great understanding of Don and Pete. Makes me more excited for future episodes, including the next one.
Mark M
2025-07-21 07:29:15 +0000 UTCLoved the Nixon/Kennedy metaphor in this episode. Through the season, Don saw himself, like Nixon, a "self-made man", while Pete hinting a likeness towards and supporting Kennedy, probably because he was younger and JFK had a similarly wealthy, blue blood background. As Pete is pleading with Don to make him head of accounts right before he's about to go into Cooper's office, there's a TV with Kennedy delivering a passionate address. Kennedy is described by Cooper/Sterling as "a boy" and that's exactly what Pete looks like as he trails behind Don. By the final scene, as Nixon gives his concession speech, you get the sense that even though Don outlasted Pete, Don does not emerge unscathed.
Eric Viola
2025-07-21 06:58:03 +0000 UTCI feel the part that is not discussed enough about what happened in Korea was that Don's CO is killed because he dropped his lighter after trying to brush off that he pissed himself in the middle of combat. It wasn't just an accident, it stemmed completely from how scared he was. That aspect had to weigh heavily on Don, it wasn't just his fault, it was directly related to how (understandably) cowardly he was being in that moment. A whole identity built on "I got a clean slate because I killed a man while shitting myself in combat" is an insane burden especially in that world.
Eric Viola
2025-07-21 06:36:13 +0000 UTCAgree that Pete is just ok at his job to this point. He’s not bringing in accounts, he’s gleeful when Dr Scholls leaves because of creative, and he’s not really selling Don’s ideas (Bethlehem Steel) which makes him a bad match for Don.
JojoPotato
2025-07-21 02:45:17 +0000 UTCYou two are SO fucking adept at analyzing these shows...bravo.
Scott
2025-07-21 02:24:08 +0000 UTCAbout the edits, this is the rare show where I'd prefer to watch the full reaction but have been significantly struggling with those: the volume is too low and things get out of sync after a while. Am I the only one?
Julien
2025-07-21 02:00:24 +0000 UTCTo answer one question you asked in the outro, so far Pete has been presented as being generally okay at his job. Good enough to be kept employed, but nothing more than that. He hasn't shown himself as being better than any of his co-workers, or having any unique talents. To be blunt, he hasn't earned this new job. So for him to think he deserves this promotion is the epitome of entitlement, and that's why Don is so particularly hostile to him. Even leaving aside the way Don dislikes him anyway. I absolutely love the scene between Don and Rachel, and the way she pegged him EXACTLY. She saw his panic and his moral cowardice, and she realized exactly how she figured into that for him. She shows that she has all of the character which he lacks. The election happening in the background is fascinating all on its own. To tie back what Bert Cooper said to organized crime and some things that were referenced in "The Sopranos", there were allegations at the time (and still happening now) that Kennedy used connections with the Mafia to rig the election in Illinois. There has never been any evidence to support these stories. Evidence has been found of minor, individual instances of fraud in Illinois during this election, but even if ALL of them were "stealing" votes from Nixon the state STILL would have gone for Kennedy. And even if somehow the state as a whole was stolen and really should have gone for Nixon, the election overall still would have gone for Kennedy. So all of the conspiracy theories ultimately come to nothing. But they're a good way to shift the blame.
JBK405
2025-07-21 01:59:55 +0000 UTCyou can take the theater kid out of high school but......
Kara
2025-07-21 01:50:47 +0000 UTCLove Sal's face right after kissing Joan. Smiling at the crowd all proud of himself like "Look at me everyone, I just kissed a woman! I'm so totally straight and masculine!"
Taya
2025-07-21 01:39:29 +0000 UTCi loved the season already but this is the first episode where i was like "what tha fuck am i watching" and it permanently changed my brain chemistry
Kara
2025-07-21 01:23:51 +0000 UTCFor me, this is THE EPISODE.
Sami
2025-07-21 01:22:51 +0000 UTCYour outline of the company is accurate (bearing in mind there's a Media team too, its more like 3 teams) but Don does "bring in accounts" because to quote a previous episode "Half the clients at this firm came for Draper". I think that's what the girls mean / are referencing. Lots of clients come to stuffy old fashioned Sterling Cooper solely because they have Don Draper and/or his creative work (even if they don't know his name, they know the work).
Kara
2025-07-21 01:22:27 +0000 UTCThe parallels here to, uhh, more recent elections were pretty striking. It reminds me of Tony Gilroy saying that he wasn't writing Andor to comment specifically on the current political climate so much as he was simply pulling inspiration from history, and that it would inevitably resonate with whichever fascist shitstorm happened to arise when it was airing. (Don't know if it still needs saying at this point, but count this as another vote for them watching Andor, which rocks.)
Mike
2025-07-21 01:17:24 +0000 UTCWhen I was reading the episode descriptions for S1 to remember what happened + I got to this one I was shocked. what do you mean the election + pete revealing don + korea flashbacks + rachel showdown all happen in the same episode??? I'll say it again: Mad Men accomplishes so much within a 44-minute, 4-act 'old' TV show structure. With every reaction I am more and more vindicated by secretly thinking this would become one of your fav shows 🥺 and we're not even at peak yet!!! "Mr Campbell, who cares?" is an all-time TV moment and something I think about constantly. A worse show would string along the "Pete knows Don's secret" storyline for 3 seasons, teasing you, "when will they find out oooohhhh". Not Mad Men. like the girls here you think there's nooo way they'll reveal this, its career ending... and then they just do. "oh my god, he admit it!". this is what "subverting expectations" is supposed to be like - when the end result is something you didn't expect that somehow makes the show + its characters BETTER. holyyyy Lots of good side stuff here too. Rachel reading Don 'to filth' to quote Lola, absolutely. Peggy trying to play office cop and getting 2 innocent Black (? one at least) workers fired with no way to stop it, that's a hard lesson you learn only once. Don being led away on the train from his past by an attractive women who wants to buy him a drink... the tight 1960 election between a (flawed) beacon of progress and the conservative who will later win and be impeached, so much subtext. I forgot that Bert alleges the democrats got dead people to vote, some things never change 💀 I've said before that I thought Mad Men was perfect for the "project" of this channel, and episodes like this are why. There are many more to come. bonus: Lola being a Vonnegut fan is like the least surprising development ever. so it goes.
Kara
2025-07-21 01:11:59 +0000 UTCMilena’s smile after “who cares” that’s what it’s all about folks 👍
cheech
2025-07-21 01:11:24 +0000 UTCNot always easy to discern at this stage but I think it's important to clarify the following: there are broadly two main teams in SC that work together: Accounts and Creative. Accounts folks are responsible for finding and bringing clients, and well as maintaining those relationships. It's a job that requires extraversion and knowing how to handle people. Roger was Head of Accounts. His surbornates in Accounts are Pete, Harry, Ken, and some others. Creative is exactly what it sounds like: they are the idea people. They are the ones that actually come up with the ads. Don is Creative Director. Reporting to him are Freddy, Kinsey, Sal (not an idea man but an illustrator), some others, and increasingly in this context, Peggy. The reason Pete nearly got fired earlier this season is that he, an Accounts man, independently pitched an IDEA to a client without the approval of Don, the Creative Director. That's a no-no. With Roger out, Don was given the task of hiring a new Head of Accounts - and brought in Duck Phillips. Pete feels he should have that job. I write this because you suggested Pete doesn't do anything or that Don brings in clients. But that's not really true. Pete's Accounts work is invisible to us but also Don's job isn't to bring in clients (of course, the company will take a client regardless of who brings it in). Hope this makes sense.
Julien
2025-07-21 01:10:05 +0000 UTC"...dog biscuits." 🥵
Mike
2025-07-21 01:07:18 +0000 UTCi was lowkey thinking "Dick" Nixon does have kind of a don draper-ish look to him in black and white on the TV too
Kara
2025-07-21 01:05:45 +0000 UTCThere's so many important and deep moments worthy of insightful discussion this episode. But Joan listing all the alcohol in the storage room is one of sexiest moments on TV. And women aren't even my thing
Zosko1
2025-07-21 00:57:08 +0000 UTC"Nixon, a self-made man, the Abe Lincoln of California... Kennedy, I see a silver spoon; Nixon, I see myself". Knowing this, with the closing shot being Don watching Nixon give his concession speech mirroring how both men are dishonest as we the audience know Nixon in the future will be associated with being a "crook"
Infode
2025-07-21 00:54:02 +0000 UTCWhy do fans of other shows disrespect reactors and debase themselves in this fashion? GTFO here and go post in Monster threads.
Julien
2025-07-21 00:23:28 +0000 UTCS-tier episode, easily the best of the series so far. (Until next week!) Man, I love everything about this one. The creme de menthe in the water coolers, Kinsey's play and his conversation with Joan, Sally getting to stay up late to watch the election returns, Pete's hamfisted blackmail attempt, and Cooper's *legendary* shrug at (we thought) the series-defining mystery. "Mr. Campbell... Who cares?" The show is at its strongest when the real-world history is working alongside the personal stories at SC to tell something greater, and using the election -- a coin-flip for the fate of the world, and all the knife's edge anticipation that comes with it -- while Don is literally in fight or flight mode, until that coin flip over his future in Cooper's office... *Chef's kiss* It didn't make the edit, but I love the woman on the train who gives Don his new mantra: "You've got your whole life ahead of you. Forget that boy in the box." He's trying, lady, but it isn't easy! (Speaking of not making the edit, it should be a crime to cut Trudy Campbell out of these things!) Edit: Coming back after watching the post-ep discussion. I think the question of whether Don is a "coward" is an interesting one. On one hand, when he goes to Rachel, he is running away from his "problems" -- a beautiful wife, two loving children, a high-paying job, a house in the suburbs... you know, the usual problems -- which yeah, that's cowardly. But he is also running away from (potentially) criminal prosecution as an army deserter, if Pete goes that way with the information he has. Don trading his life for a dead man's as a means to escape the tragedy of his own childhood -- is that a cowardly act? Or, like Cooper suggests, is it a heroic reinvention in the mold of other men who helped forge America? Is running away from the consequences of that act cowardly? Or is it natural self-preservation? Marching Pete into Cooper's office to call his bluff certainly wasn't a cowardly act. So yeah, like L&M said, a fascinating, complicated character. (And HOF performance by Jon Hamm, of course.)
Mike
2025-07-21 00:21:21 +0000 UTC12 and 13 are absolute bangers.
Erik D
2025-07-21 00:10:43 +0000 UTCGalt's a thug
cheech
2025-07-20 23:45:28 +0000 UTCдерьмовое шоу! где монстр?!?
fionan franklin
2025-07-20 23:39:47 +0000 UTC
