Oh, yeah, the acting was incredible.

Concur, they both were spectacular.

Jess called it a bottle episode and I'd agree. But it was also an old fashioned two-hander.

I don't think Don has bottomed out yet. I want to see him bounce back but I don't think that'll happen for a few more episodes yet.

On the AVCLub review and comments a few people noted that one of the great things about the first fight between Don and Peggy is that they're both right.

I'm reminded of some scenes on Buffy where they were arguing about killing Angel (S2 then) where the tension between Xander and Giles was just boiling hot as they made their arguments. But they were both right.

Anyway, I would love to see Peggy fill some of Anna's role in Don's life. I think she already does and that's what this episode was about.

I'm sort of reminded of the Mary Tyler Moore show where the work friendships were so deep and complex and evolved over time.

On the AVCLub review and comments a few people noted that one of the great things about the first fight between Don and Peggy is that they're both right.

Oh yeah. But he was more right. I guess that means I'm The Man now, huh? But really, just because she's more successful than most people in her position doesn't mean she's not still a kid with a lot to learn about work. "You never say thank you!"/"That's what the money is for!" was brilliant.

But he was more right.

Yeah, though it's hard to hear since he has been purposefully hard on Peggy. And he's making her stay late on her birthday because he doesn't want to be alone facing Anna's death.

But I also like that her "less rightness" in the episode is so in character and also points to her strengths. She wants and feels like she deserves recognition. She has a sense of her own value and won't be deterred by the increasingly stupid frat boy antics around her.

"You never say thank you!"/"That's what the money is for!" was brilliant.

That is a badass line and worthy of Glengarry Glen Ross.

"Coffee's for closers!"

And though it's become debased through becoming a catchphrase, that was the original point of the "Show me the money" line in Jerry Maguire. That in America money is respect.

::checks bank account. fails at American::

Mrs. Blankenship slept with Roger!!!

Really puts a new spin on his "Where did Joan dig HER out of?" comment when she was first brought in, doesn't it?

On the AVCLub review and comments a few people noted that one of the great things about the first fight between Don and Peggy is that they're both right.

What's interesting there is that the kind of management style Peggy wants from Don is not going to be something she gets from a male supervisor in 1965 unless (like Duck) he also wants to sleep with her. And she doesn't really want that either. She thinks she ought to be flirted with, but deep down she's more proud of Don's respect for her work than any romantic attention she's had from anyone.

I would love to see Peggy fill some of Anna's role in Don's life. I think she already does and that's what this episode was about.

Allowing that kind of intimacy from someone he sees every day (vs someone on the opposite side of the country) would require a huge leap forward for his character. I'd love to see it happen, but it's a long road to get there.

Really puts a new spin on his "Where did Joan dig HER out of?" comment when she was first brought in, doesn't it?

Oh, my. I'd forgotten that.

I was amazed that (a) Don broke down in front of Peggy - he didn't start crying until he looked up and saw her watching him, and (b) Don had a picture of Anna on his desk

You know it's not so much that Don has a work wife as Peggy has a work husband now.

The Queen of Perversions - Miss Blankenship - in her youth.

I'm not sure, but I think things happened on Rubicon. I have no idea what, though.