Mad Men 6x04 Reaction
Added 2026-02-05 01:05:55 +0000 UTC
Comments
*look
Mack
2026-03-04 02:58:38 +0000 UTCYou may not like Harry (who does) but he’s running a valuable department for the company mostly on his own and it is a fact that Joan got partnership with her body (no fault of her own)…. So thats exactly why they didn’t fire Harry for his outburst, cuz despite not liking him, they know his value. Got to loom beyond how you feel about a character
Mack
2026-03-04 02:53:55 +0000 UTCJust wanted to point out something. I work in advertising and Don's campaign is considered one of the all time great campaign lines. It was so good that Heinz actually used this campaign post the release of the episode. Fantastic fantastic line. Don's campaign was better than Peggy's.
Karan Verma
2026-02-09 18:10:04 +0000 UTCit's basically like now 2026 so characters' apathy is even worse contextually; no real algos, or echo chambers realizing this has drastically reduced my ability to look past the characters' apathy to the world around them. to have bare minimum empathy towards them
on crip ...
2026-02-07 10:58:33 +0000 UTC1968 was a year of living dangerously for people everywhere in the world, and it was all on TV. (Well placed ad there, Harry) We saw the world (literally for the first time) on the telly. Don's children (the grandparents of most people today) are soaking it up like little sponges. In this atmosphere only a few characters in the show observe the rules in more than name only.
Thomas Fahey
2026-02-06 18:28:04 +0000 UTCHarry is not useless, but I doubt he's particularly valuable. We see he's worth a bonus, not a partnership to SCDP. And, I wouldn't be surprised if he's still underpaid at 22K. In my view, they keep him because he's a bargain, malleable, and adequate at his job. In that order. He's not special and not useless. Additionally, your comparison is not appropriate. Harry's role doesn't have a rigorous barrier to entry. It's presented as an emerging role that he's learned on the job. Remember, he hired someone with no experience to help him in the early stages. Not to mention, he hired them after Joan had shown competency and interest in the role. I 100% believe Joan would've been better as head of the TV department. It'd be in line with what Don and Peggy's success in advertising reveals: the entry barriers to these 'prestigious' ad roles have less to do with skill, and more to do with class and gender gatekeeping practices. All this leads to another thought: 'prestige' jobs must gatekeep to maintain their status/high-salary. It's why "AI" is devastating the tech market imo
on crip ...
2026-02-06 08:39:03 +0000 UTCJoan runs a tight ship, she doesn't take it lightly. Stealing company time at any job is a fireable offense. If you give her no reason to jump on you, she won't. That isn't even close to being a bully. The way she reacts might seem harsh, but she is fair.
tilden katz
2026-02-06 05:51:17 +0000 UTCThey just did. I've only watched season 1 and their reactions to it. I'll get into the rest at some point. But the mentions of Andor here tell me that ep 8 of S2 is a pivotal episode! 😂👍
Julien
2026-02-06 00:42:20 +0000 UTCCompanies don't hand out an employee's yearly salary as a BONUS (about $250K today) to useless employees. You don't have to like Harry to recognize his value to SCDP. In fact, the tension between his shittiness and his value is what makes the character interesting. Nobody likes Harry. If he were useless, they would have gotten rid of him years ago. Joan is good at running the place but she is not an ad person anymore than the office managers at the law firms I worked at were lawyers.
Julien
2026-02-05 23:57:02 +0000 UTCI agree with much of this. Thanks for digging into it. Joan trusted Dawn with a responsibility. She delegates to her. It was definitely a promotion of sorts. It's a mark of trust. And Dawn's reaction should dispell any idea that it was a punishment. She gets it.
Julien
2026-02-05 23:42:02 +0000 UTCI might faint when they drop andor
Scared Cannon
2026-02-05 23:17:54 +0000 UTCRira bhe fvyrapr vf n fcbvyre yby.
Taya
2026-02-05 22:58:47 +0000 UTCAs much as I love Joan, that discussion at one point was a lot of dancing around calling her what she actually is towards the secretaries which is a bully. The word for someone who picks on people beneath them to make themselves feel better is a bully. You can just say it.
Jay Craig
2026-02-05 21:52:19 +0000 UTCI've been at work passing the time by yapping in here all day but really i'm just waiting for that sweet sweet Andor drop.
Jamie
2026-02-05 20:08:35 +0000 UTCNot caught up on Mad Men, but here I am refreshing for Andor…
SwampFox95
2026-02-05 19:55:47 +0000 UTCLet's start an argument. Top 10 episodes of MM so far. 1. Shut the Door. Have a Seat. 2. The Suitcase 3. Meditations in an Emergency 4. Nixon v. Kennedy 5. Signal 30 6. The Other Woman 7. The Wheel 8. Seven Twenty Three 9. Far Away Places 10. The Gypsy and the Hobo
tilden katz
2026-02-05 17:55:33 +0000 UTCHarry is carrying the entire firm with his media buys. Pete is carrying by signing new accounts with his charm. And Harry knows how important he is. "You are to do whatever I think is best" and in the few scenes we see her: he seems to have great professional relationship with his secretary Scarlett "Harry has great ideas"
Subwoolfer
2026-02-05 17:21:29 +0000 UTCJoan pays the price for having a "I'm not bad, Im just drawn that way" body, and sex appeal. People are envious of that power she has, and quietly love to see her knocked down, a peg or 2, or 3. I think she's accepted that a certain portion of people will never look past that, (Hi, Harry) and she will continue to roll on, without support if she has to. Maybe she retroactively realizes how much she limited herself with her 1950's thinking. How opportunities slipped away, caused she quietly accepted defeat, or didnt think it was her place to reach for more, or what she deserved at work. She could be sad about it, just like her dumpster fire marriage. She isn't. She soldiers on, with a little bit of a chip on her shoulder, and her very quotable sharp tongue. She's the hero she was looking for. I think Joanie is most satisfied, even though at work she's still just a 'secretary'.
tilden katz
2026-02-05 16:25:03 +0000 UTCI always found the Joan & friend (Kate? I think her name is Kate) subplot charming (The way Joan awkwardly third-wheels) if not a little confusing, but this reaction gave me a deeper appreciation for it. It's uplifting, even healing, how it ends. Yes, on the surface, it's usual Joan tragedy: Joan tries to assert herself and self-actualize, she is shot down and undermined as just a secretary, she retreats to being in the background and accepts her role as a woman who's only good for one thing. Personally, I find those episodes more crushing than Betty ones. It's the self-fulfilling prophecy of it all. Moreover, despite her position as a partner, she is really back in the same place that she was 3 seasons ago. Remember her on the verge of tears, telling Greg that no one at her job respects or likes her and she can't talk to anyone? Here she is doing the same thing to her friend this time. No progress. Except it feels, and ends, differently. Notably, Joan's dual subplots this episode are unrelated, unlike previous seasons where any scene out of the office would directly pertain to issues with work. That breathing room is a much-needed relief, and that scene in the bed after a night of letting off steam defines how it's different. Instead of confiding to a rapist she's stuck in a marriage with, she's slouched in a bed next to her friend, in the same clothes as the night before, like she's in college (or high school, as she jokes). She's relaxed instead of uptight. Her slightly overbearing mother who lives with her keeps bursting in, urging her to wake up already and take care of her son. It's chaotic and messy, and not at all the life Joan envisioned for herself, but it's comfortable. Compared to the stable yet frigid plan she was living out 3 seasons ago, she actually has a support network of sorts and isn't so isolated. It's bittersweet, for sure, as Joan laments. She didn't end up having the perfect traditional life she was raised to want ("And I never will, how did that happen?"). Receiving an unintentional pep talk from an envious friend reminds her that she has made progress, and it's a step up from a husband who can't alleviate any of those concerns with anything of substance, because he doesn't think his wife has any substance. It's not so inescapably awful, and despite the failure in the workplace she is able to keep her head high and maintain a sense of self. And I love the power strut she does into the office (where are the people who point out the fashion in this show to talk about the black she wears at the end? it looks so good), casually saying good morning to Harry and Scarlett instead of cowering away.
Kev
2026-02-05 14:52:30 +0000 UTCFor all the talk of wanting Dawn to be a prominent character when she was first introduced, there was surprisingly little discussion of her scenes here despite it being a great deal of information. Firstly, we learn Dawn is pretty conservative and upfront about not wanting to date without serious commitment, which is seeming to be a bit of an obstacle for her, ending relationships before they start. She even says she won't find a man at church because all of the girls there are harlots, so it's safe to say the sexual revolution isn't one that she approves of. There's another general reminder of both the limitations and rewards of femininity: you can get married and not work, or you can work and have no dating life. Work and be free but busy, or get married and be comfortable but bored. Or you can marry for love ("I'm not sure people do that anymore"). Of course, Dawn's friend doesn't have to ask to know the other secretary she's talking about is white. It's an otherwise unspoken dynamic that for once is spoken about, Scarlett goes to Dawn because she knows there is a power imbalance so Dawn can't say no, and if someone gets the blame it won't be the white one (little do they both know that, as Pete points out, an equal rights commission means it'd be awkward if SCDP fired the one black employee, whose name is not even uttered in that exchange (despite Don vouching for her job performance), who is only there to cover a mistake of caused by a petty jab at their competitor; another reminder that our main characters aren't the good guys, in fact the good guys are getting in their way here). But I think the more noteworthy aspect of Dawn here is that we see the quiet, meek outsider finally get to speak her mind. She couldn't be more matter-of-fact about it: the miserable alcoholic sobfest of white Madison Avenue isn't anything more to her than a job. She keeps her head down and works, but has no qualms about what it is. It's not glamorous, and she doesn't hesitate in declining Scarlett's invitation to attending one of the other white secretary's birthday where she will be hanging out with the rest of the other white secretaries. We see how outsiders must be talking about things like Lane's suicide, at this point diminished to an unimportant piece of gossip (Did you hear about the adman who hanged himself in his own office?). Dawn's friend scoffs at the idea of taking pity, but Dawn in turn scoffs at the idea of resistance. She also boldly but smartly goes to Joan to clear the air, in return getting punished? Rewarded? ("Congratulations, more work and more responsibility"). We get no indication that Dawn likes Joan, so I think I realized her rather jarring display of connection ("I don't care if everyone hates me here as long as you don't") is likely actually a display of respect, essentially saying that she recognizes Joan as holding the cards and feels she has job security if she is on Joan's good side (which makes me wonder if, to the "smallfolk" of this office, Joan's "petty dictatorship" was actually a successful show of force, or if Dawn simply wants to get on Joan's good side either way).
Kev
2026-02-05 12:24:42 +0000 UTCNeither company landed the account, you are correct.
Kev
2026-02-05 11:27:46 +0000 UTC
