Mad Men:

The actress who plays Sally Draper is now listed in the opening credits.

Both Peggy and Betty are sporting post-Jackie bouffant bobs. Joan's wearing sixties eyeliner.

Love the new offices. It's getting sixties now.

"Who is Don Draper?" I think we have a Theme.

He's: the subject of "Tobacco Road," a dick (as well as a Dick), a good father, an advertising star, a difficult mentor to Peggy, somebody who wants to conceal his past, somebody who chooses to tell his own story, somebody who spends Thanksgiving with a whore, somebody who wants to be slapped, somebody who has more money than intimacy.

Sterling Cooper Draper Price (SCDR) is struggling, and are going to have to aggressively move into the changing decade. Don's making that choice. They're finishing '64 and moving into '65. This is the period when the Beatles happen, the California sound (Beach Boys) happens, Motown explodes. It's the beginning of the post-Kennedy sixties. The mod part. I think they have to go to London during this season or next.

In 1966, the Velvet Underground form in Manhattan. The Warhol, media-driven sixties, advertising-as-art is coming soon.

Leverage: Were we supposed to fully understand how Hardison set that fuse, because I sure as hell didn't.

Yeah, the flashback explained nothing.

It was like,

Step 1: Acquire cigarette.
Step 2: ...
Step 3: Explosion!

Mad Men:

I've been thinking about the use of "John and Marsha" near the start of this episode. I don't think it's insignificant.

"John and Marsha" was the first single (released in 1951) by Stan Freberg. It was a goof on soap operas and consisted of two actors saying each other's names over and over in different tones of voice in a way that created a melodrama. Later in the 50's Freberg revolutionized advertising by injecting humor into what until then had been all about the hard sell. I think this ties into what David said above. Using Freberg was a signal that SCDR needs to change in order to survive. They're "going to have to aggressively move into the changing decade."

Excellent article on Freberg's role in advertising here: [link]

I think it's significant that Peggy is more in command. She has a collaborator that she's sympatico with (much more than the milquetoast "fiancee") and can casually order off to rough up a sketch in charcoal without a loss of respect. She's owning her failures, too, and pushing back at Don.

Don's a jerk, especially now... but Betty is a double-plus-jerk.

It was like,

Step 1: Acquire cigarette.
Step 2: ...
Step 3: Explosion!

So the underpants gnomes set the fuse!

Theo: Yeah, Peggy's self-confidence has grown by an order of magnitude.

Frank: Exactly!

I suspect Rogers will get called on the fuse in his blog Q&A and give some kind of rationale. Hopefully someone will bring up the Sophie name thing too.

SHOW SHOW SHOW SHOW SHOW.

I really can't believe I'm going to be in a log cabin in Canada for the next 3 eps. Good thing I'm taking that Monday off to decompress - I can mainline 'em before I go back to work.

I loved the slow reveal of Joan's position in the firm, with the initial shot of her office leading into the scene where we see it's kind of a converted hallway.

How long are they going to keep pulling off that "2nd floor" gag? Also loved the conference room with no table.

Poor Don, always wanting to have everything both ways. Last year we saw how hollow his desire for marriage/kids/suburbs was - will this year be the same for his desire to be a named partner? He's lost his protective bubble of being just Creative - being the firm's secret weapon was always his comfort zone.

Henry's mom = TEH AWESOME. "I know what you see in her, and you could have got it without getting married."