I loved the way that she just calmly got up and opened the door, then sat back down.

I loved the interchange at the whorehouse bar with Don and the madam.

Victor Kartheiser did some great work tonight, from his desperate need to impress Don at dinner, to the exchange with the hooker, to the conversation in the cab.

Great writing tonight as well. loved the scene where Don calmly and efficiently fixed the sink while Pete was still screwing around with the toolbox.

I loved the interchange at the whorehouse bar with Don and the madam.

Yeah. What's up with Don accepting his past? Weird.

So much good stuff in this one.

ION: I think I like The Killing again. The more it's focused on Linden and Holder the better it works for me.

"I read the one in Galaxy about the girl who lays eggs? Wow."

Heh!

I saw a little spark building between Lane and Joan but I didn't think anything would happen for years. Bam.

Trudy handling Don was just as much fun as watching Peggy handle Roger last week.

I loved the interchange at the whorehouse bar with Don and the madam.

I could watch a whole movie of that.

to the exchange with the hooker,

"Nope. Nope. Yeah, that'll work."

Galaxy is one of the more literary-minded SF magazines. I'm not sure if Damon Knight was editing it back in '66, but 'Ben Hargrove' is rubbing shoulders with the like of Theodore Sturgeon, Harlan Ellison, et al.

Joan is my favorite.

"Ben Hargrove" is a great SF pen name - I had to do a mental check to see if they'd stolen a real pseud because it sounded so much like someone I ought to have heard of.

Also, the internet has answered all our prayers for a GIF of Pete getting punched in the face.

Nice display of pack dominance, Lane!

Poor Pete, all the entitlement(s) in the world can't fill the hole in his soul.

That look on Don's face when Pete said, "I have nothing" was perfect.

I find it interesting that Peggy & Ken have a pact that she goes with him if he leaves.

"Ben Hargrove" is a great SF pen name - I had to do a mental check to see if they'd stolen a real pseud because it sounded so much like someone I ought to have heard of.

Right? I liked his second pseud, too, though, of course, now I can't remember it

I find it interesting that Peggy & Ken have a pact that she goes with him if he leaves.

Alan Sepinwall noted that they worked well together as far back as S1 on the radio commercial.

I really liked the development with Ken, and learning more about his wife (Cynthia! In publishing).

Don seemed to have affection/respect for Trudy.

I've seen some reviews saying that Joan rejected Lane - which she did. But it sure looked to me like she was responding to that kiss. She was leaning into it before she broke it off.

I've seen some complaints that say that this season has gotten too on-the-nose with its motifs and parallels and symbols. I'm wondering if the long layoff gave Weiner too much time to weave things together. The last couple episodes have all hit a little hard on their thematic interests.

They've always had episodes like "Maidenform" where they link the parallel storylines, but this one underscored everything with Ken's story about building bridges between worlds (everybody got into a "car wreck" for reaching beyond their assigned role in this episode).

There was also (as Tom and Lorenzo noted) a strong theme of a fear of emasculation in this episode. (They also pointed out that of course Don would know how to spell the last name of the University of Texas sniper.)

That said, I enjoyed this episode more than any other this season.

I wonder if the crisis of this season won't center around Don, but possibly Peggy leaving the firm.