Mad Men 5x12 Reaction
Added 2026-01-16 23:19:59 +0000 UTC
Comments
The weekly wait for episode reactions is absolutely excruciating, I can't lie lol
Richard Huynh
2026-01-20 22:15:55 +0000 UTCCurrently, I would prefer the Monster 66 upload more than the Frieren upload :D
Robert Dirk H.
2026-01-19 21:54:12 +0000 UTCmonday frieren is hereeee
Vicente de Paulo Guimaraes Priante
2026-01-19 11:00:07 +0000 UTCI actually think he only fired him because Bert yelled at him. If Don had found out about the money himself I think he would have been a lot more gracious.
Luis
2026-01-18 19:06:52 +0000 UTCDon fired Lane for forging his signature, when Don himself always forges his own signature.
PartyKitteh
2026-01-18 14:34:39 +0000 UTCHis actor could be better but Glen is great. Have known plenty awkward teens like him with that cadence. And he's playing against Kiernan Shipka who was probably the best child actor on TV in the 21st century (or well up there), so he looks relatively worse.
Kara
2026-01-18 14:07:37 +0000 UTCYes and that's the ironic part of the situation but without getting into the legal aspects, the real Don Draper is dead and technically he's not harming anyone by signing using his name, unlike what Lane did
Bernardo
2026-01-18 02:52:43 +0000 UTCSo far in this season we've seen Harry, Peggy and Ginsberg all be asked for favours from Roger and their immediate response was to make him get his wallet out. A much wealthier man is asking them to do something, of course they're going to capitalise on it. It's a huge contrast to the way Lane views money. If Roger had pulled out his wallet and started counting out cash in front of Lane, he probably would have wanted to kill himself right there and then. Doing something like that would be seen as extremely socially inappropriate in upper-class British society, and that's the culture Lane was raised in. Don would not have thought twice about giving him a loan, but to Lane it would have been deeply embarrassing. Telling people you have a financial problem or asking for help goes against everything he's been raised to believe about how a proper British gentleman is meant to behave.
Rynsen
2026-01-17 23:51:50 +0000 UTC"Hey everybody, look at me!!"
Dk
2026-01-17 23:40:58 +0000 UTCI think LM watched Chernobyl. I had seen MM before Chernobyl and suffered disproportionately in the Chernobyl first scene/sequence for the echoes here
pb24rf19
2026-01-17 22:59:41 +0000 UTCTis a shame Jared harris superior acting skills were wasted on such a subpar bore of a show
fionan franklin
2026-01-17 21:03:51 +0000 UTCLane should've asked. Pete asked for time, or pledged to have salary, bonus withdrawn, when his partnership stake called for him to contribute money he didn't have.
tilden katz
2026-01-17 20:20:27 +0000 UTCWhat you have to consider here is the fact that Don commits fraud every time he signs as Don Draper.
Juanma88
2026-01-17 18:34:02 +0000 UTCMy upbringing: "Hey (parent), I have this problem." "No you don't." "Actually, I do because (reasons)." "NO YOU DON'T AND EVEN IF YOU DID IT'S NOT BAD!" Also Parent: "WhY dOnT yOu EvEr TAlK to ME??!?!"
Michael M
2026-01-17 18:18:26 +0000 UTCThe dead body acting (that sounds funny to say) by Jared Harris had me thinking it was a dummy originally. The makeup is really good.
Jamie
2026-01-17 15:23:14 +0000 UTCA couple episodes ago we saw Don cut a check at the Jaguar dealership as collateral in case anything went wrong in his joyride with Joan. He wrote the check without a second thought. Less than half the amount of that check saves Lane's life.
Luis
2026-01-17 14:34:05 +0000 UTCI had the same thought as Milena, the scene when they show Lane's body feels like seeing an actual dead body. It was a little more bearable watching as a reaction but this episode is just pure dread for me leading up to that moment. I also think Don's immediate guilt is very palpable, the way the camera lingers on him and we know exactly what he's feeling. Vg erzvaqrq zr bs gur arkg frnfba svanyr, Qba qbrf gur fnzr nyzbfg qrsrngrq trfgher nsgre oernxvat qbja va gur Urefurl'f zrrgvat.
Kev
2026-01-17 14:30:14 +0000 UTCLooking forward to Mad Men and Andor.
Clay F
2026-01-17 13:15:06 +0000 UTCThe sudden cut to a random casual scene of Betty and Sally calls back to Adam in Season 1, with Peggy on the phone talking to her mom. Come to think of it, that's two scenes of a mother and a daughter immediately following a scene of a man hanging himself. Two nickels for me. I also love how LM both clocked Betty's pettiness and were both amused and endeared by it, while not denying what her intentions were. I feel like they have settled into pretty much exactly how I experience Betty's character, though the journey took longer for me.
Kev
2026-01-17 12:53:06 +0000 UTCDon't suffer in silence, gentlemen. Talk to someone when the going gets tough. A phenomenal episode. A tragic way for Lane to depart. Another suicide and death of someone close to Don.
Chidi.
2026-01-17 11:54:24 +0000 UTCThe caption is apt for my comment here because it also feels wrong writing this for this episode, but since the next time you watch may be the next season: just another FYI that Season 6 opens with a two-parter, its first two episodes are kinda linked like S5.
Kev
2026-01-17 11:12:25 +0000 UTCNo Andor until Thursday.......Y'all killing me here.
Saifu
2026-01-17 06:04:07 +0000 UTC2 episodes in a row whereby the end of it, they're left speechless
Infode
2026-01-17 05:30:30 +0000 UTCThere are entire multi-episode plotlines of Mad Men I had forgotten about until this rewatch, but the image of Sally and Glen standing in front of the dioramas is burned into my brain forever, on the level of Zou Bisou (rot13: Naq gur vpbavp cnegare fubg va gur arkg rc). Beautiful stuff.
Jamie
2026-01-17 04:03:47 +0000 UTCWhen you lot said you were embarking on this journey this was the very first episode I thought of. The actor, Jared Harris is legit. Just recently did a rewatch of fringe and he had a rough go of it there too lol.
Truemeathead
2026-01-17 03:55:53 +0000 UTCJust gonna post this screenshot from 4x6 for your consideration: https://i.imgur.com/rbaPx7m.png
Michael M
2026-01-17 02:26:59 +0000 UTCIt's a beautiful scene. We don't have much info on Glen's home-life since Ossining (his mom is remarried, and her relationship with his dad seemed Not Good in S1) but I don't get the impression he has much of a father-figure to lean on. Alright, here's Don teaching him to drive. A nice parallel to Sally running to Betty when she gets her period earlier in the episode. Edit: Something else I found interesting on rewatch -- when Don is firing Lane, there is a moment where he stands up and we get an *extreme* high/low angle between the two men. Don is telling Lane that it's over, and that he needs to move on. There's no more argument. Lane reluctantly stands up to level the dynamic, shakes his hand, and that's that. Contrast that with the moment in the elevator, when Glen is complaining about how unfair life is, and Don slides down to his level to speak to him as an equal.
Mike
2026-01-17 02:07:11 +0000 UTC1x1: “Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. It’s freedom from fear. It’s a billboard on the side of the road that screams with reassurance that whatever you’re doing.. it’s okay. You are okay.” 5x12: “What is happiness? It’s a moment before you need more happiness!”
Jamie
2026-01-17 02:01:44 +0000 UTCWhich is so crazy to me like Don literally shared prostitutes with him, he clearly would have helped. Really shows how his perception killed him more than anything
Isaiah Bryant
2026-01-17 01:58:00 +0000 UTCIIRC, Jaguar was a long-standing advertiser for the show on AMC, so there was already a relationship when they hatched this storyline. And I think they were careful not to cut to a Jaguar commercial after Lane's first (failed) suicide attempt. Edit: Or I am remembering wrong! (Though I do think they advertised on AMC while the show aired.) Here's a Jaguar executive talking about their real-time reactions to this storyline: "Love the testosterone-fueled images of the red Jaguar E-Type. Parked outside hotel on the curb, side view, tailpipes showing... We are elated because we know Jaguar storyline continues at least through end of the season... "For the first time, we go into a Mad Men episode with a Jaguar storyline, prepared for action. Our team of Tweeters is on call to discuss how to react. Excitement quickly turns to revulsion when Jaguar dealer has his own sordid extra-curricular interests for the account-hungry agency to entertain. Prostitution? Cleopatra? Ugg... "Going into second to last episode of season, we're truly ready for ANYTHING to happen. As soon as we see the tailpipe with cloth in it, we know this is going to be bad." https://www.jalopnik.com/how-it-feels-to-watch-mad-men-total-your-car-company-5915516/
Mike
2026-01-17 01:42:03 +0000 UTCThat scene is so tough. I love how the show feints at first, with the partners in the art room. Maybe it isn't going to put us through *seeing* Lane's corpse. But no -- we get that excruciating business where Don & Roger are fully struggling with the actual physicality of his corpse while we're forced to watch (or forced to look away from) the poor man hanging there. Because yeah, it isn't supposed to be *easy* to watch. (Shout out to the makeup department.)
Mike
2026-01-17 01:36:55 +0000 UTCShe’s perhaps a little slimmer, but she clearly is still heavier than last season
Darrach
2026-01-17 01:33:37 +0000 UTCI'm very sorry to say it but Lane's Jaguar stalling is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Some great writing advice I heard one time: In an argument, characters have a quiver of arrows on their back. Each arrow is a different way of advancing their argument. They can try being angry, or lying, or employing guilt, or sympathy... And at the end of the scene, their quiver should be empty. They should use up every possible arrow. I don't know if I've ever seen a better example of this than Lane's confession scene with Don. He tries everything -- he denies it, gaslights Don, flatters him, invokes their friendship, breaks down crying, everything -- until he's all out of arrows. On a totally different note, boy do I love the cinematography in that sequence where Sally and Glen visit the museum. And the snow falling outside the window of Lane's office. Really gorgeous stuff. I guess that's what happens when you let the DP direct an episode.
Mike
2026-01-17 01:22:44 +0000 UTC"Uh hey, is this Actual Jaguar PR? Yeah, Matthew Weiner with Mad Men here. Yeah, we're gonna portray your executive as a scumbag sleazeball needing sex as a payoff to close a deal, your cars as temperamental shit cans, and a main character is going to try to kill himself with one, but it won't start. Have a good day." Actual Jaguar PR: "Fuck"
Michael M
2026-01-17 01:19:59 +0000 UTCYo, did Betty lose the weight in 2 months? It was Thanksgiving when she went to her weight meeting. The story is now in January/February, and the weight is poof, gone????? Or, am I blind?
tilden katz
2026-01-17 01:19:16 +0000 UTC"They're lemons, they dont start" - Bert Cooper, S5 E5 (but also callback to S1 E3 & S4 E6 re. the Volkswagen Lemon ad)
Infode
2026-01-17 01:12:31 +0000 UTCPete is just a punching bag. Jeez.
tilden katz
2026-01-17 01:10:11 +0000 UTCOh, Megan...poor you!
Scott
2026-01-17 01:08:19 +0000 UTCI thought LM said that they were GOING TO SIT on The Other Woman for about 10 days. And, here we are with another reaction. YAY!!!!! They thought they were out.......but MM pulled them back in.
tilden katz
2026-01-17 01:05:16 +0000 UTCSo striking that Lane clearly felt that asking for help would be SO humiliating that he'd rather lie and steal from people who trusted him, it says so much about how he was raised.
Nina
2026-01-17 01:02:28 +0000 UTCThat final scene with don and glen kills me
Virgil Hawkins
2026-01-17 00:55:14 +0000 UTCGlen gets a lot of flak as a character, with a lot of the blame put on his actor's performance, but I honestly love his relationship with Sally here. It's cute, and it gives both of them a healthy, safe outlet to talk and get the support and friendship which they can't get at home. A great little point which the episode doesn't dwell on much is that Sally says she wishes that Henry would leave Betty. Not that Betty would leave Henry, but that HE would leave HER. Sally's relationship with her mother is just so broken that she wishes her step-father would 'get away' and hurt her mother on the way out. I think Betty dealing with Sally's first period is her best demonstration of motherhood so far in the entire series. She's kind, and understanding, and supportive. She stops shouting and doesn't blame Sally for leaving NYC or taking a cab. In a better world, she was this kind of mother all the time. _______________________________________________________ I wrote this next part a few years ago when I first watched this series (copied verbatim): I do have to applaud Mad Men for the way they laid out the Responsibility for Lane Pryce in season 5. It would be very easy to say that Don is To Blame because of the way he dismissed Lane instead of sweeping it under the rug or giving him another chance. Don is already a truly despicable person, who has abused and betrayed everybody he claims to hold dear, so it would not have been untoward to say that he overreacted here. To say that this is another example of his villainy and callousness, and to view Lane as just another victim. Except that what Lane did was illegal AND unethical (Both). It’s the kind of thing that can singlehandedly take down the entire company because if word gets out it can lead to financial investigations, and that can stop work completely in and of itself as the investigation proceeds. To say nothing of the way the loss of reputation would also stop everything, just like the news of them losing Lucky Stripe caused several other clients to walk away as well. Lane jeopardized the livelihood of everybody working at SCDP, and all over his own pride. Don was extremely gracious in giving him the chance to resign without any exposure, and with a clear head Lane could have used his position to get another job at another firm. It might have even -- theoretically -- been better for him, because if he got a non-partner position with a signing bonus he might actually take home more cash with less expenses. He’s got a sterling reputation and he actually is very competent in his field, so truth be told he’s probably in the best job-seeking position he’s ever been in. However, though Don’s actions in that one scene were very kind and forgiving, everything that lead up to it throughout the season helped contribute to what happened. Lane and Pete Campbell were the only partners who didn’t come into this venture previously wealthy, and Don paid Pete’s share himself when things got tight and they needed another investment. Yet Don expected Lane to shoulder it all himself despite knowing that he wasn’t in much better shape than Pete. He might not have known just how desperate Lane was, but he definitely knew that things weren’t rosy and yet he never offered to help. Oh, sure, he would have agreed to help if Lane had asked, but Lane absolutely had to have asked. Don didn’t care enough to find out for himself how tightly strapped Lane was. He took Lane for granted as a business manager and didn’t think of anything more beyond it. He knew that Lane was good with money, because he was good with Agency’s money, and he never considered that that didn’t extend to personal money. Because a $1 million check written to SCDP is spent by SCDP, it doesn’t just fall into Lane Pryce’s pocket. And that casual disregard, that habit of not even noticing what’s going on, is what set Lane up for his downfall.
JBK405
2026-01-17 00:50:48 +0000 UTCLA GUERA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im in love with you!!!!!!!!!!!!
tilden katz
2026-01-17 00:43:27 +0000 UTCTheir reaction when they see Don letting Glen drive at the end❤️. Love that scene so, so much. In episode 7 while on the phone with Sally, Glen actually mentions the band ('The Lovin' Spoonful') that's playing in that scene.
Eric Viola
2026-01-17 00:41:27 +0000 UTCOhhhh, I love you for this...and before I even watch I feel the pain of your premonitions coming to pass
Scott
2026-01-17 00:37:39 +0000 UTCThey're beautiful, but not reliable.
tilden katz
2026-01-17 00:32:50 +0000 UTCI find it fitting that roger and don the two men still in a way plagued by things they saw and experienced in their respective wars are the ones able to handle taking down lanes body
Jude G
2026-01-17 00:32:40 +0000 UTCLane ❤️ 💙
Kim Wexler's ponytail
2026-01-17 00:22:08 +0000 UTCTbf, someone lying to save their own life is very different to a CFO committing financial fraud.
HeyJohnnyItsMe
2026-01-17 00:12:26 +0000 UTCLane was too decent to deal with these hooligans. He's a METS fan for chrissakes. We need all the Mets fans we can get.
tilden katz
2026-01-17 00:09:19 +0000 UTCDon's "this never happened" attitude and the idea of abandoning an old life to reinvent yourself and start over fresh comes so naturally to Don, I don't think he realizes that not everyone else functions that way or views life like that.
Taya
2026-01-17 00:09:00 +0000 UTCI wouldn't be surprised if Don had a weight hit him when he was told about Lang's suicide, and it being another death he can put on himself, after the real Don and his brother Adam.
wwesvrfan215
2026-01-17 00:07:47 +0000 UTCThis is paraphrasing, but I've seen it said the green Jaguar can represent Lane in the season. English, ill-suited to America, and broken down.
wwesvrfan215
2026-01-16 23:57:54 +0000 UTC"Who's signing this anyway?" THAT GUY is questioning someone forging something. Okay.
tilden katz
2026-01-16 23:45:16 +0000 UTCI'm fine with Frieren on Monday, but with that posted schedule we should get Monster today and Mad Men tomorrow. We already skipped the short anime this week :( (I also really want the next Monster Reactions :D)
Robert Dirk H.
2026-01-16 23:44:28 +0000 UTCCertainly didn't expect mad men today! Not complaining though sorry frieren fans
petitcorbeau
2026-01-16 23:44:27 +0000 UTCEverytime I hear your pre-episode predictions, the phrase i keep hearing in my mind is "Honey, you got a big storm coming".
Griffen Rosado
2026-01-16 23:43:37 +0000 UTCCan we get this Saturday a Monster Reaction as replacement? 🥲
Robert Dirk H.
2026-01-16 23:35:40 +0000 UTCI've seen debates about this but I think Don was very fair and lenient in his dealing with Lane. He couldn't keep him in the company because of the fundamental breakdown of trust, but Don also could have called the police and told the other partners, thus destroying his reputation, ending his career, and leading to likely jail time. He didn't do that and basically tried to get Lane to see some positivity by saying that starting over is the hardest part, implying that this is just a hurdle that he will have to overcome. Maybe subconsciously, Don is thinking about the misdeeds he committed as Dick and how starting over lead to a better life.
Damien Fenton
2026-01-16 23:34:31 +0000 UTCWe should honestly make it Mad Men Mondays and demand the girls work like MAPPA to get Frieren out on the same Friday. I think it’s a completely reasonable and realistic goal given that Frieren will negate any mental anguish of such a stressful turnaround time
My Toasty Toast
2026-01-16 23:34:04 +0000 UTCLane breaking his glasses is a huge flag for anyone wanting to kill their self. Destroying or giving away personal possession as if they're depleting their own identity. But... the jaguar not turning on and poor Lane trying to fix it with one half of his eye glasses is probably the funniest dark comedy I've seen in a very long time.
PIG
2026-01-16 23:32:19 +0000 UTCHappy Mad Men Friday!... Or is it?
bondbond53
2026-01-16 23:30:23 +0000 UTCThese last two episodes are like two punches in the gut, sorry guys. Mad Men will never be the same after Lane is gone.
PIG
2026-01-16 23:29:12 +0000 UTCUnfortunately with it being a short season we don’t get to an “M” sounding character that we could use for the slogan
My Toasty Toast
2026-01-16 23:28:56 +0000 UTCKeep losing people :( I really liked Lane
mundanelotus
2026-01-16 23:28:38 +0000 UTCFrieren Mondays... doesn't have the same ring to it :(
HenryM
2026-01-16 23:25:42 +0000 UTCI'm sorry you guys lol
Taya
2026-01-16 23:23:24 +0000 UTCYes I just realized that this was the episode
My Toasty Toast
2026-01-16 23:23:17 +0000 UTCFrieren + Haikyuu Fridays? We are so back?
T T T
2026-01-16 23:22:52 +0000 UTCAh yes. This one. Jared Harris is an actor who, if I know he's in it, I will want to watch it. He is just exceptional in everything.
Śéáń
2026-01-16 23:22:37 +0000 UTCTruly some Saturday Sadness having to wait for Frieren and longer for Andor. I blame Pete for this
My Toasty Toast
2026-01-16 23:22:03 +0000 UTC
