Nefarious

I suspect for Don it is about trying to break the cycle. Going to California and starting over is almost the easy route at this point. He's essentially put everything at risk to prove he can be a better and productive person. His marriage, his wealth (via the partnership shares), and his professional credibility if he gets fired after working under Lou are all on the line. His marriage may not last but it has never been as important to him as his work. He wants a legacy...and not the one he's got at the moment.

Everyone that matters is disenchanted with him. Roger is the furthest along on the forgiveness path. Cutler & Peggy blame him for Ted's state. Joan blames him for the loss of Jaguar and SCDP missing out on going public and her having financial security, Cooper blames him for shitting the bed on the Hershey situation and still believes he falsely paid a bonus to Lane. Megan knows he doesn't know her or give two shits about what might be important to her. Sally has witnessed his dishonesty and unfaithfulness.

He's chosen the harder road. The question is whether he can get anywhere on it.

mphtrilogy

saw this blurb somwhere else, but ep played around how everyone handled rejection

peggy with ted/lou
don with meghan and the firm
bobby with his mother
and betty with just about everyone

don has taken the hard road, but I think its all about his redemption story right now.. starting to fess up to the truth of who he is, and now he has to get back to work.

hes ready for the new era in some ways, dude has watched a lot of tv commercials while on the couch on suspension and looks like harry was fired so....

zekeburger1979

Kandis Erickson

JasonF

I just watched the entire run of Mad Men (to date) over the course of the last few weeks, and now I'm caught up to real time. It feels weird not to have another episode to watch RIGHT NOW!!!

Anyway, in terms of Don's conditions, Don has always been portrayed as a creative genius, and also as someone who knows exactly what to say to clients (Hershey debacle notwithstanding).

So I see a couple of ways the conditions can come back to bite SC&P.

First, Lou is a dumb-ass. Moreover, all the other creatives know he's a dumb-ass, and all the other creatives (except maybe Peggy) love Don. So there is a lot of potential for situations where Lou is backing the terrible idea, Don is backing (and helped shape) the good idea, and the partners need to figure out what to do. Roger probably recognizes that Don can run rings around Lou, Jim probably backs Lou just because he's not Don, and Bert probably heads off to the club. Should make for some interesting possibilities.

Second, sooner rather than later, Don is going to be in a pitch that goes south -- not because of anything Don says or does wrong, but because the client just doesn't like the pitch. The old Don would have read the room and immediately jettisoned the old pitch, come up with a new approach on the fly, and salvaged the meeting. The new Don has been expressly forbidden from doing that. So what happens when Don and Roger are sitting in a room with a client and that happens? What happens when Don and Jim are sitting in a room with a client and that happens?

Also, I can't wait to see Ted's and (especially) Pete's reaction to this. My guess is that Ted is on board with Don returning and Pete isn't, though Pete should really recognize that Don is a natural ally at this juncture. But if he hasn't recognized that fact over the course of 6 seasons, I doubt he'll recognize it now.

OldBoy

the last shot of Don and then fade into music was absolutely incredible and one of the indelible shots of the entire series.

Decker

Thanks! She also played someone names "Pam" on Masters of Sex - another period piece. Crossover perhaps?
I wonder if she was the babysitter that Virginia hired to watch the kids late at night -- her first appearance was on that episode so I bet that was her.

Coral

Crossover is possible... if you include a time-machine in the storyline.