Ok. Sorry, guys. It's not that they are not good, but the workforce is rather homogenous.

It's so true.

I think that's kind of the point, erika-- that they were kind of homogeneous, especially in the first season, to give that impression of drones, as it were, yet as they get further into this season, you see the differences coming to light as they all try to distinguish themselves.

Paul's trying to be the literary breakout, the one who's only killing time at the ad agency while he writes the Great American Novel

Harry's looking to the future, both personally, with his wife being pregnant and professionally, as he sees television making more of an impact with advertising.

And Kenny may be the most talented of the three, especially with respect to actual advertising, which is why he might be receiving the highest paycheck and he's also the one who can see the future of the workforce, in that he's the one who's been most willing to work with Peggy as an equal.

Ok. Sorry, guys. It's not that they are not good, but the workforce is rather homogenous.

a bit of the point, I think.

I just realized, no Pete this week.

Well, it makes it hard to keep them straight, is all I'm saying. And I didn't really remember Kenny till y'all pointed him out. Now I do.

Mad Men is hitting on all cylinders now. As good as last year was, these episodes are better. Everything's got so many layers now. They're really digging in to each of these characters and finding complex, ambiguous, revealing moments.

If HBO had kept this and Deadwood and Rome they'd be sitting pretty.

Everything's got so many layers now.

"It's like everything he says means something else."

"It's like everything he says means something else."

Definition of irony, no? It's all sophisticated and shit.

I just get the feeling that Weiner is feeling so confident in his storytelling right now. Last year he was creating that world and that in itself was fascinating. This year he's got this fabulous structure in which to explore a lot of really interesting stories and he knows it and he's absolutely hitting every bell note true.

In the last couple episodes I've had several scenes where I've thought, "I have never seen that moment on television before." And they're subtle, little moments. Complicated little betrayals and vulnerabilities.

Don's backstory turned out to be a little broader and more melodramatic than I expected, but it had a core metaphorical strength for that world. But now everything's playing like Chekhov. Stories turn on a ripped envelope.

And they're subtle, little moments.

subtle, crotch-grabbing moments.

subtle, crotch-grabbing moments.

Balanced artfully with a subtle hair yank.