Mad Men 2x06 Reaction
Added 2025-08-14 23:41:17 +0000 UTC
Comments
Something you'll notice: the camera always lingers on the actors after their last line, there you see their true self, the facade of the role break for a moment
Owen Cornec
2025-09-29 07:09:20 +0000 UTCI adore how extensive your post-episode talks are. I tried to share this show with so many people but "it's boring", "nothing happens" and it's disheartening.
Owen Cornec
2025-09-29 07:08:44 +0000 UTCIt's not even really something the show explores subtextually here, but I like how we get the "Duck is an alcoholic" storyline in the episode that takes place over Memorial Day. (He even briefly mentions his military history to Don.) I'm not excusing what he did to Chauncey, but a lot of these guys are carrying around some pretty scary demons from their time in the service. It's not a surprise to see them struggle with substance abuse. Also: Pete shaming Peggy for her showing up at the strip club is an interesting mirror of the "I don't like you like this" scene in S1. It was a gross move by him on both occasions... but here, Peggy also realizes that sitting in a client's lap probably isn't the "right" way for her to be acting if she wants to be taken seriously as a creative.
Mike
2025-08-18 00:28:48 +0000 UTCThe irony of the Jackie/Marilyn discourse on this channel is just 🤌
Julien
2025-08-16 22:12:18 +0000 UTCLrnu vg'f vagrerfgvat. Fur qbrfa'g xabj rabhtu nobhg Gehql be gur fbeg bs 1940f/1950f hcoevatvat fur unq. Fur frrf Gehql'f fgeratgu, erfvyvrapr, pbhentr rgp nf n genqvgvbany fgnl ng ubzr ubhfrjvsr naq vf cebwrpgvat gung fur jbhyqag "chg hc jvgu vg" - fur'f jebat sbe gur evtug ernfbaf onfvpnyyl. Gehql'f fgeratgu znavsrfgf va ure "ershfvat gb or n snvyher" naq ynlvat qbja rkgerzr tebhaq ehyrf sbe Crgr frrvat uvf qnhtugre. N fvqrjnlf ivpgbel V'z fher gur tveyf jvyy haqrefgnaq jura gurl trg gurer.
Kara
2025-08-15 21:14:26 +0000 UTCI don’t think who Pete is as a person is entirely attributable to his dad being dismissive of him and his job & wanting him to be a lawyer, or not giving him money for an apartment (because he was broke/spending it). This is a show with tons of subtext, but I think that (1) interaction we see with his father is carrying a looot of weight in how you’re perceiving him. And not that it shouldn’t, but I think in many ways Pete is what you see… He’s definitely a man of his times and shaped by his environment (and being a Dyckman), but I don’t think he’s necessarily “acting” more than anyone else. At least some part of his personality, ambition, entitlement etc. is just *him*. Besides the fact we spend so much time with him, I think it’s so easy to empathize with him because he’s so cartoonishly pathetic/pitiful that it’s almost impossible to take anything he does at face value. Because if we did…. yeah. While I love him as a character, it’s honestly impressive how awful he manages to be in some way in almost every scene he’s in up to this point. Oftentimes in the very same scene you sympathize with him, which is a testament to the great writing.
JJ
2025-08-15 21:07:05 +0000 UTCI think Chauncey represents Chauncey. He just doesn't want to be seen drinking by an innocent, trusting creature. It kinda mirrors the scene with Don and Sally at the end actually.
Sebastian
2025-08-15 18:19:16 +0000 UTCA thought device someone told me to defuse this thinking was "If you were the last person on earth, would you still XYZ?" A lot of people say yes to things like beauty, plastic surgery, body-changing medicines etc. E.g if you were the last person on Earth you might still wear makeup, shave, cut your hair, because its for you primarily
Kara
2025-08-15 18:03:53 +0000 UTCAnd we get a lingering shot of him drinking milk, which in S1 he claimed he doesnt like drinking when he was getting martini drunk with Roger (reminds him of his father maybe?) "I hate cows"
Kara
2025-08-15 18:00:59 +0000 UTCFunny you say that because we've seen Peggy be like that too, when shes being super awkward or oblivious. Something they have in common perhaps.
Kara
2025-08-15 17:57:18 +0000 UTCJackie....Marilyn 😂
TylerNorCal
2025-08-15 17:39:44 +0000 UTCAside from when he's being insecure or petty, Pete always gives me the impression that he only just arrived on Earth a few weeks ago and is doing his best impression of a human
windyMelon
2025-08-15 16:51:52 +0000 UTCThe girl Pete has an affair with seemed familiar to me but it took some googling to find out from where. Turns out she's one of Jerry's daughters in Parks and Rec! (She was also in quintuplets but that's a more distant memory).
Nina
2025-08-15 13:28:18 +0000 UTCROT-13 Spoilers Vg'f snfpvangvat ubj Ybyn'f ivrj bs Gehql vf evtug va fbzr jnlf ohg jebat va bguref. Fnlvat gung vs Gehql sbhaq bhg Crgr jnf purngvat fur jbhyq yrnir uvz vafgnagyl, zrnajuvyr jr xabj vg'f gur pbzcyrgr bccbfvgr: fur orpbzrf njner naq bayl pnerf jura vg vzcnpgf gurve qbzrfgvp yvsr ohg pubbfrf gb fgnl zneevrq. Ybyn vf evtug gung Gehql unf zber sver va ure guna Orggl naq jvyy fgnaq ure tebhaq, ohg gurl qba'g lrg xabj ubj centzngvp Gehql vf va trggvat jung fur jnagf. Gubhtu fur'f ba gur evtug genpx, jr qrsvavgryl frr Gehql chg Crgr va uvf cynpr jura ur pebffrf gur yvar.
Kev
2025-08-15 12:43:21 +0000 UTCI think Don finding out Bobby has kids is just the moment it dawns on him that she's more like him than he thought, which he doesn't like, and then it spirals from there.
Jay Craig
2025-08-15 09:59:16 +0000 UTClol @ Don trying to get away from the country club to see Bobbie and instead of going back to be with his family when she's unavailable he just goes home lol
Eric Viola
2025-08-15 05:50:16 +0000 UTCI always feel like Pete is one episode off of becoming Patrick Bateman (American Psycho), he's slightly out of whack.
Nina
2025-08-15 05:11:25 +0000 UTCNever seen such a quick turnaround from love to disgust with that Duck scene lol, the betrayal in your eyes. Watching your reactions as they said "bras are for men" was so funny too. Sadly still not a rare sentiment nowadays, with people claiming lipstick has the goal of seducing men for example. It speaks volumes that some dudes just can't imagine that women would want to work on their appearance for themselves or other women. Thinking women do it all for them explains some of their awful behavior, not to mention the victim blaming when it comes to how women dress.
Nina
2025-08-15 05:09:50 +0000 UTCI always thought that Chauncey represented Duck's family? He quit drinking because it screwed up his family life and now pressured with having to improve his standing at SC he was giving up on that part of himself (as his family was moving on in many ways from him).
Eric Viola
2025-08-15 03:41:04 +0000 UTCJust a fun-fact in regards to your comment on Matthew Weiner's writing credit at the beginning: Matthew Weiner wrote the pilot for Mad Men in the late 90s, just as a passion project. When he applied to be a writer for The Sopranos, David Chase (creator of The Sopranos) read his Mad Men pilot from his portforlia and immediately hired him on as a writer/showrunner for season 5. Matthew Weiner immediately followed-up The Sopranos with the creation of Mad Men -- the time between The Sopranos' finale and Mad Men's premier was just 39 DAYS. Can't think of a better transition in the history of TV showrunners.
cc
2025-08-15 03:36:51 +0000 UTC"I thought he was sweeter than the rest" - Lola about Freddy, also Freddy: "It was like watching a dog playing the piano"
Infode
2025-08-15 03:35:07 +0000 UTCThe Duck whiplash was so good lmao
Chris B
2025-08-15 03:16:02 +0000 UTCSpeaking of Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan's new sci-fi show "Pluribus" starring Rhea Seehorn airs Nov 7. I wonder if that'll be an insta-watch for the girls.
Michael M
2025-08-15 02:16:24 +0000 UTC"Bra" is short for "Brassiere", bra = brassiere. The timing for the Chauncey reaction couldn't be better, I was cackling how quickly y'all switched. It's incredible how much Mad Men can make you care about something/something and then rip it away from you, or vice versa. And how much our perception of a character is shaped by how much time we spend with them. I'm not surprised you thought Duck was gonna be a non-entity character to oppose Don but the writers do a really good job at avoiding that cliche. Don finding out from Bobby that he has a reputation as a ho in Manhattan is so funny to me, like he thinks because he would never "kiss and tell" that nobody else will despite shagging like idk a dozen+ women in NYC. You fuck around, you find out, literally. I think Don was confused because Bobby never once mentioned having kids, whereas he did, so he's thinking like... she never once mentioned them, that's odd. She also might be the first woman with kids he has an extended affair with, we don't know, but Midge and Rachel didn't. Totally agree with all your thoughts on Don/Betty/Bobby re kids... Don is whatever room he is in, when he's in the sordid hotel room he's a dominating sexual partner, when he's in the suburban home he's a vanilla bean 50s husband telling his wife to cover up. I always see Pete as trying to be Don except he can't even do it right, Don is having sex with a successful woman in her hotel room, Pete is having sex with a rejected model while her Mom tries to block out the noise in the next room, ugh. The ending of this episode has really stuck with me, I wasn't expecting it here at all, it's just so real... I think Don suffers from dissociation because I've been there. I love the comparison of Peggy to Sal in the club scene, I was thinking the same thing, they're both performing a role for career/survival reasons. A lot of story is told thru costuming and when Joan tells Peggy to "stop dressing like a little girl" she means to stop wearing these really kinda old fashioned ~50s twee schoolgirl outfits, the Jackie/Kennedy plotline kinda mirrors this, its a massive generalization but if most women are styling themselves like "a Jackie or a Marylyn", Peggy is doing neither, I think this is the most modern outfit we've seen her wear (it's still a somewhat dated dress). Speaking of which, while the premise is incredibly reductive, Paul did create a really good ad... there's a reason Don keeps him around 💀 The biggest thing Matthew Weiner has created since Mad Men is an anthology series called The Romanovs, it got mixed reviews. Mad Men was really his magnum opus, there's no "Better Call Saul" to his "Breaking Bad" here. I sort of think, sadly, he was built to create the sort of slow burn late 2000s/early 2010s TV that has been almost completely eradicated by streaming. If Mad Men were created in 2025 it'd be 8 episodes and Don would shoot someone.
Kara
2025-08-15 02:06:04 +0000 UTCnobody told duck that none of the 12 steps are releasing your dog onto the manhatten streets 😭 The Blowback podcast did a really good season on Cuba if anyone wants to find out more. The whole podcast is great, each season takes a different country/situation where the 'US Empire' interfered and takes you through the whole story, I learned a ton (and was gagged)
Kara
2025-08-15 01:59:30 +0000 UTCDon: cover yourself up you indecent slut [later] Bobbie: you're such a ho that people in our industries talk about getting Don Drapered
Kara
2025-08-15 01:56:57 +0000 UTCChauncey is running around on a hill, overlooking a little river, with pine cones all around
Kara
2025-08-15 01:55:16 +0000 UTCExactly 💯
Edin Burak
2025-08-15 01:13:44 +0000 UTCDon freezes in the mirror because Sally says "Im not gonna talk" which reminds him of Bobby, who he told to "stop talking" in the previous scene. Reminding Don of his "reputation" and confronting it in the presence of his daughter.
DNice
2025-08-15 01:12:04 +0000 UTCChauncey and Tony Soprano, both emotionally scarred because Ducks flew away.
Michael M
2025-08-15 01:10:37 +0000 UTCDon saying that to Betty in that yellow swimsuit gives Sal a run for his money in terms of being gay
bondbond53
2025-08-15 01:08:01 +0000 UTChttps://youtu.be/GPEfB7jNUN8?si=FrYH5R59ax7tdGcG
fionan franklin
2025-08-15 01:05:39 +0000 UTCI feel like I should pour myself a glass of wine and look through that. Out of curiosity I just skimmed the beginning of his article for this episode and it’s about how much he hates Peggy
My Toasty Toast
2025-08-15 01:02:15 +0000 UTCCool kids call this the “Duck 360!”
My Toasty Toast
2025-08-15 01:01:28 +0000 UTCYes, they've established that Duck has a drinking problem, but he's been sober for a while now. He's one of the few people we've never seen drunk in the office, while all of the other men are constantly drinking. I find that shot of him holding the bottle and wrestling with the urge to drink one of the Great Single Moments of the show. I don't even like Duck that much, but I felt THAT moment. The country club event at the beginning was for Memorial Day. It's a Federal holiday in the USA specifically to honor those who died while serving in the armed forces. Technically speaking, it's NOT intended to honor people who served and are still alive, so the way they had veterans stand up is actually inappropriate. That's Veterans Day. This is a very common mistake people make in real life. Although....I'm just realizing as I write this that honoring "Don Draper" is appropriate since he actually DID die in Korea....whoa... Memorial Day is in the end of May and is regarded as the unofficial start to "summer" in the USA. Pools open for swimming, amusement parks open on the weekends, etc. Most people regard it as a summer holiday instead of having anything to do with the military, and here we see most of the characters going to the beach and and having family dinners instead of anything else. The Bay of Pigs that they talked about was a political/military operation in 1961 where the USA trained and armed exiles from Cuba and tried to instigate a counter-revolution against Fidel Castro and the Cuban government. It was a DISASTER in almost every conceivable way. It's regarded as one of the key factors that drove Cuba into a closer alliance with the USSR and the Cuban Missile Crisis the next year. The Jackie/Marilyn thing is just a repackaging of the "Madonna–whore complex" and all related theories and male perspective. Always trying to fit women into a simple binary, and always trying to say that's how it "really" is even if women don't want to admit it.
JBK405
2025-08-15 00:54:09 +0000 UTCThe TV writer for Slant had an amazing ability to read every scene of this show incorrectly, but his magnum opus was the recap where he said Duck abandoning Chauncey was a hilarious scene.
Mike Conlin
2025-08-15 00:40:10 +0000 UTC"Aww I love Duck now!" *five seconds later* "I WILL MURDER YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS"
Taya
2025-08-15 00:35:15 +0000 UTCThe emotional whiplash about Duck lmao
Wojo
2025-08-15 00:33:04 +0000 UTCChauncey!!! NOOOOO!!!!!!
Taya
2025-08-15 00:05:33 +0000 UTC
