Mad Men 6x11 Reaction
Added 2026-02-28 19:27:30 +0000 UTC
Comments
Man, James Wolk acts his ass off here. That scene with Pete is incredible.
Mike
2026-03-02 03:13:58 +0000 UTCFinally, some good fuckin food.
Aj
2026-03-01 09:31:42 +0000 UTC2 more episodes to go! A pre-emptive note that S7, unlike the previous two seasons, does not have a double-length premiere (not that it would change anything as we've seen), *however* it is split into two halves of 7 episodes each. (Spoilers for next episode) V pna frr gurz pbafvqrevat guvf rcvfbqr'f snyybhg univat n fvyire yvavat, fvapr Orggl naq Fnyyl obaq va n fhogyr jnl arkg rcvfbqr.
Kev
2026-03-01 05:36:48 +0000 UTCI always took it as "We aren't talking about this" which, honestly Sally kind of seems to agree to in the end. She isn't happy about it but she doesn't really have any fight in her either. I'm not defending Don, but I did find it funny in the discussion when they basically said "Do the bare minimum and own up to what you admit and say you fucked up", as if that isn't literally the hardest part for people. Don clearly has no idea how to talk to his daughter, and that's on him, and he has forever changed how his daughter views him, but I don't think he was confidently lying either.
Kev
2026-03-01 05:19:01 +0000 UTCThis is another moment that S6 has been building to. It feels like an inevitable tragedy, like the Titanic hitting the iceberg, and on a rewatch it's one of the only things I can think about in the premiere. It's all there, all the key elements: teenage Sally gossiping with her friend in a car, Sylvia and Don's affair, the friendly doorman. That apartment lobby stinks of death, when we get all the scenes there in the premiere it feels so foreboding, like Sally creeping into the apartment. Then the tone once Don staggers into the lobby and just sort of circles around is so cataclysmic, like the world just ended and he doesn't know what to do. To me that visceral feeling of the illusion being shattered is even worse than Betty finding out about Dick Whitman. Sally's world feels like it's over too, her innocence certainly is. As other comments have pointed out she used to look at him like he was a hero, and even though (despite Betty's snarky retort this episode) she is older and more cynical now, what she saw this episode must have dashed the last of that childhood innocence. I love that we've seen that whole journey and it's one of the things that makes Mad Men truly unique.
Kev
2026-03-01 05:00:32 +0000 UTCI do think Bob's action here was more of a strategic move than most people interpret it as, but that's a conversation for another episode.
Kev
2026-03-01 04:52:23 +0000 UTCI think it's obvious when Don talks to Sally at the end he pretty much did nothing to assuage her from what she saw or make amends in any way. But that this is also 1968. Men of the time are just generally not honest, emotionally available, and definitely did not like to talk about their feelings. That just didn't happen then. Him essentially saying "you didn't see what you saw" felt like what a man in 1968 drunk out of his mind after being caught in that situation would say to his kid. Then when Sally reluctantly agrees even though she knows her Dad is lying to her is so, so heartbreaking. Kiernan Shipka is amazing in this episode. Also, goes without saying that this is devastating for Don. Weiner said that scandalizing his kid is "one of the worst things that ever happens to him".
Eric Viola
2026-03-01 03:21:01 +0000 UTC"She doesn't know that loving you is the worst way to get to you." Don is incapable of maintaining healthy, functional sexual/romantic relationships with women. I think his past trauma broke that part of his brain. But I don't think he dislikes women in general (at least not consciously)... he does much better when it stays platonic. It's clear he deeply loves Anna and Peggy (as fraught as their dynamic may be at times).
Taya
2026-03-01 02:42:58 +0000 UTCI think that joint worked on Pete.
Taya
2026-03-01 02:34:51 +0000 UTCI think the conversation with Peggy and Pete at the dinner is actually Pete at his most likeable and understandable for the entire series so far. Because he's so relaxed, and he's not putting on an act or a performance with Peggy like he does for everybody else. Neither is taking his mother's words too seriously just yet since they think it's dementia. They're both shocked by what Pete's mother said, but they laugh together and it's a HUMAN laughter. Even his self-pity at being sidelined at work comes across as a normal human emotion instead of wallowing. If he could relax like this with other people, he could be an endearing person. His mother's words also explain a lot about why Pete has such a strong need for outside approval. She probably called him "unloveable" (or words to that effect) all throughout his childhood. Probably worse things as well. So it's no surprise that he works so hard at being Respected As A Man. Like Tony Soprano said about Janice and Livia, what kind of chance did he have with her as a mother? I agree with the other comments that say Don's intentions originally were noble (so to speak) in this circumstance. He wanted to do a favor for Arnold Rosen and also metaphorically save HIMSELF by keeping one dumb kid out of the war. Once he realized this was a way to get back into Sylvia's bedroom he grabbed that opportunity with both hands, but he didn't have that plan from the beginning. Mitchell was talking to Megan in the first place because he was considering fleeing to Canada to avoid the military draft (Remember, Megan is Canadian). This was a way out for people who couldn't find another way to avoid the draft, generally speaking those without the money or connections to evade it some other way. It was illegal under USA law, but technically NOT illegal under Canadian law, so they couldn't be extradited back for prosecution, but also couldn't return. Hence running 'for the rest of his life'. After the Vietnam War, I believe there was a general pardon for draft dodgers in the mid-70s.
JBK405
2026-03-01 01:44:18 +0000 UTCWe know Pete as very straight but because the idea is funny to me, I choose to read Bob’s boldness as him picking up on Pete’s over-the-top masculinity performance around the office, paired with his theatrics, and pegging him as closeted. Let’s be for real, there is no campier character on this show than Pete. It’s why I love him.
Jamie
2026-03-01 00:38:24 +0000 UTCDon being raped as a child is often neglected when people discuss his character; that rape combined with the beating he received has destroyed his ability to perceive women. He genuinely does not like women in my honest opinion.
dandelions2
2026-03-01 00:38:11 +0000 UTCI've always liked Pete's relationship with Peggy and Joan at this point of the show. As horrible as he often is the fact that Joan says he's always kept his word with her and that he has a fun friendship with Peggy is nice.
Justin Schneider
2026-03-01 00:21:32 +0000 UTCSeeing Peggy with the cat, I’m reminded of her last conversation with her horrible mom when she found out Abe and her were moving in together. Saying that she’ll have no one, “you’ll get a cat, and then another, and then another, and then you’ll be done.”
My Toasty Toast
2026-02-28 23:40:18 +0000 UTC
