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Mad Men 4x01 Reaction (Patreon)

Published:
2025-10-27 00:49:05
Edited:
2025-12-10 23:08:52
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Files

Mad Men 4x01

________________________ patreon - https://www.patreon.com/LMreactions twitter - https://twitter.com/LMreaction tv time - lola - skysstillblue, milena - oneofthe100

Comments

PIG

As crazy as it sounds, Mad Men begins on this season for me. I have no idea why. Sopranos was the same way. Perhaps it’s where the great writing really finds its own stride and measure.

Taya

Agreed. When someone says "Mad Men", I think of the SCDP office, the 60's style/culture (which is just now taking shape), and scenes, episodes and characters from seasons 4-7. Don't get me wrong, I love the first three seasons as well, but this is when the 'main' show starts for me.

Taya

Don's secretary is the same one from season 3, Allison. Her hairstyle & fashion has changed.

Mike

Lol poor Allison... She's been on the show since season one!

Kev

You know, as I was thinking about this Episode and what could be in the thumbnail for some reason Joan at a desk never crossed my mind as a standout moment, but I should've known better

Chidi.

Yep, "acclimatised" - understood. Or, as we prefer to say in English: aklimatizovati.

Taya

Don & Bethany have negative chemistry. It's cringe. But kind of interesting to see him go on a traditional date for once. Btw, the woman who was slapping Don was a prostitute, not sure if you caught that. Seasons 4 & 5 are my personal favorites (can't decide between them tbh) so I'm happy to be at this point. There are so many INCREDIBLE episodes ahead, on par with 3x13 or even better.

Eric Viola

Henry was turned off from having sex with Betty that night because of Don. When Betty confronted Sally when she tried to call her dad, it showed that Don is still ever-present in Betty's mind. Only when Don/kids were out of sight out of mind did he feel more comfortable being intimate with Betty. You could see at the end he was frustrated by how much real estate Don is taking up in Betty's mind when she's refusing to move to spite him. She is still defining herself in relation to Don.

Kev (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-19 14:00 Vg vf abg bxnl gung V unir gb jnvg guerr jrrxf gb trg gb Gur Fhvgpnfr... naq gura nsgre gung Gur Ornhgvshy Jbzra... naq gura Gbzbeebjynaq, jbj!
2025-10-27 03:14

Kev (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-19 14:00 Guvf rcvfbqr cvpxf hc ol gur raq ohg vg'f zber qhyy guna V erzrzore vg orvat. Gb or snve, F2 naq F3 jrer n yvggyr yvxr gung gbb. Abj jura jr trg gb F5 naq F6, GUNG'F ubj lbh qb n frnfba cerzvrer. Naq bs pbhefr gur cvybg vf synjyrff.
2025-10-27 03:14

Kara

Vg'f bxnl, rirel rcvfbqr vf sver yznb. vg'f npghnyyl qvfthfgvat ubj tbbq guvf eha vf.

Kara

Yrff unccraf ba gur erjngpu ohg gur rc qbrf n tbbq wbo frggvat hc gur jubyr frnfba, guvax nobhg ubj zhpu urnil yvsgvat vf nppbzcyvfurq: jr haqrefgnaq gur fgngr bs Qba, FPQC arj bssvpr + phygher + ivor + svanapvny fgnghf, Qba/Orggl'f qvibepr naq Orggl/Urael'f arj yvivat fvghngvba, jr xabj Crttl vf qngvat fbzrbar, jr trg Orgunal Ina Arlf frghc naq vg gryyf n pbtrag fgbel nobhg orvat gur "fpenccl haqreqbt ntrapl" naq jr fgneg gb ohvyq qba'f onpurybe yvfgyrffarff. Lbh unir gb erzrzore rirel gvzr FPQC vf ba fperra vgf arj vasbezngvba gb gur svefg gvzr jngpure, vg'f nyzbfg gbb zhpu gb cebprff.

Kara

"I know you don't want to hear this right now, but he's right" Henry is right imo. It's been almost a year and Betty isn't even looking at cool new houses to move to. Their current Ossining house was always intended as a 'starter home', Henry can almost certainly afford somewhere nicer + bigger for 2 parents 3 kids.

Kara

Don pays a woman to fuck and slap him. It clearly gives him some sort of gratification. This is something he could never ask Betty to do maybe? He's almost always the dominant partner in his sexual hookups, as is expected of men in the time (and now mostly tbh).

Kara

I'm always aklimatizovating myself to new situations.

Kara

Haha. It's subtle storytelling but it shows Don rehired her as his secretary at some point, when they could afford to.

Kara

I love seeing the younger women characters style change over the years. Other characters too but the younger women in the office are obviously chasing high street fashion/workwear trends more actively. And in contrast, it's also fun seeing whose styles are more locked-in (they know what they like, or what looks good on them, resist trends etc).

Taya

@Kev, how is that implied?

Kara

Girlies let me edit movie reactions! I have nothing going on! This is not a joke! 😩🥰 Unrelated but lesbians love Pedro Pascal because if you squint, he looks like a butch lesbian 🙂 The ending is one of my favs in the show, when the music kicks in holyyyy! It's mostly a setup episode but it sets up so well! For years Don has been cosplaying the mysterious stranger and now he has a job where he needs to self-promote, oof, Don "I hate talking about my traumatic past" Draper's worst nightmare! Funnily enough, Peggy also sucked at advertising herself as a roommate in S2. Lola mentions it but when Don retells the story of 3x13 he's already editing it to sound event better. "I walked into Lane Pryce's office..." no you didn't babe "Holster up my guns"... What did Don say on all the way back in 1x2? "You think they want a cowboy... he's quiet and strong... he always brings the cattle home safe." yeehaw? I LOVE the new hip 1964 SCDP offices. The clean stark white is a visual punch in the face after 3 seasons of SCDP's dank mid-century carpets stained with liquour, blood + urine. In 1x1 we arrived at a Sterling Cooper 40 years in the making... while I LOVED it, this is NEW new. It feels like ANYTHING could happen, especially on the imaginary second floor 😭 "I never saw myself working in a place like this", is this new office the sort of place Don imagined working in? Did he use his interior design skills to help create it? I don't know. Roger fits in so well, it's like he was born in that white corner office. Eric Viola spoke about Henry/Betty below, but I don't think anyone has mentioned that Henry didn't want to have sex in Don's house (his "dirt", according to Henry's severe mother) but was comfortable having sex in his car, a space which belongs to him. Careful listeners may be interested in the lyrics to the ending song 'Tobacco Road': https://genius.com/Edgar-winter-tobacco-road-lyrics Bonus Thoughts: Don pays a sex worker to slap him in the face during sex, is this something he always wanted but could never ask Betty? I'll never understand older men going for younger women they have nothing in common with... what is Don gonna yap with Bethany about, Dress to Impress on Roblox? The Joan Economy needs no more inflation buuuut they placed her right in the center of the new office, SCDP literally revolves around her. The new office is in the former Time Life building, a real skyscraper in NYC you can visit today: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1271_Avenue_of_the_Americas

Alex Bernier

On Jon Hamm's attractiveness. He had a few episode arc on a great sitcom called 30 Rock, where the whole story of his character is that he's so beautiful that people never want to hurt his feelings or correct his mistake. He thinks he's a super interesting and capable guy, when he's really just completely sheltered from consequences and therefore learning when he's wrong. He's a dctor who knows nothing about medicine and he thinks he can speak other languages that he actually can't. It was pretty funny

Alex Bernier

The "John, Marsha" thing was from a comedy spoof record from the 1950's by Stan Freberg. I don't understand it, but it's just a recording of two people saying John and Marsha like that over and over. It's on YouTube.

Kara

I forgot to talk about that. The joke is that it's like they're playing out an entire married couple's breakdown and reconciliation but just by saying each other's names with different inflections, like they're happy, they have an argument, they break up, they get back together, just by saying "jooohn" and "maaarsha".

Alex Bernier

Ah, that makes sense. The comments on the video weren't much help lol

La Baanga

Tobacco Road is a top 10 needle drop on this show.

Mark M

I always thought Don was handsome. But my radar for that kind of thing is not well attuned. It's funny that Milena thought Roger was handsome even when they didn't like him. Stupid sexy Sterling... It's definitely easier to buy Don being a ladies man than Tony Soprano though for sure, even with Gandolfini's charisma. This episode definitely feels like a split in the show - the divorce has happened, the new office, new name. This is my favourite season overall, but I do miss the earlier stuff. There's a cosiness to their house and the old offices that isn't there now. One random observation - Henry's mother says about Betty 'she's a silly woman', which is the same phrase Betty uses about Gloria, her father's new partner.

PartyKitteh

If you don’t like what they’re saying, change the conversation

windyMelon

The most shocking behaviour this episode: What kind of monster makes the dog stay outdoors overnight?? 😟

TylerNorCal

Lmao Milena's list of guys she thinks are attractive explains why she prefers women 😂

Taya

Don is objectively very handsome (I know beauty is subjective but he's as close to objectively good looking as you can get). But I would say Roger is more attractive even if he's not as handsome; his charm, personality and sense of humor do a lot to enhance his overall appeal. A night with Roger is guaranteed to be a lot of fun whereas Don would probably speak less than 20 words all evening and you'd catch him at 2am sitting on the side of the bed smoking and staring pensively off into space

PIG

Oh no, I don’t think it stagnates. It’s just when I think of the show I tend to think about the later seasons. I did read, however that people feel that it does start to repeat its self. I know the creators were asked by AMC to extend the show so they wrote more in than they had planned on. I do notice that it’s a bit off beat later but it never through me off too much.

Julien

Don is the stereotypical "tall dark and handsome man with a troubled past" that is the mainstay of romance novels and frankly western culture. Whether that makes him more attractive than Roger is something I'll leave to others, while nothing that this romance/sexual archetype exists and pervades for a reason.

Julien

Lots of great storytelling ahead. I’d never say what’s before is better than what’s ahead. Yet when I think of Mad Men, I’m most nostalgic about what’s before. It’s like a sort of… dark, yet whimsical infancy, best felt thru this score, for example: https://youtu.be/jTs3BP3fzD8?si=9UTnvocuodo9RfVI (Had accidentally posted this in response to a comment below)

Eric Viola

I'm with you. Can't wait for what's ahead, I love every season but for whatever reason I am most drawn to 1-3.

La Baanga

To be fair, it took me rewatching the show to even realize she was the secretary Ken tackled during the party in Season 1. She really didn't have enough screentime back then for me to remember her.

Julien

Even if Betty would be into this (she wouldn't), Don would never want her to be into this. That behavior is for the "whores," not the Madonna. I think it's fair to assume that he only recently began engaging in this kink, likely as an expression/outlet for his deep self-loathing (now made more acute by the desintegration of his personal life).

Julien

Sopranos is the king of peripheral characters that have been around forever but that somehow you never really notice until like season 5. And they have full story arcs too that you only fully appreciate after multiple rewatches (and more honestly, by watching Borko's compilations on YT).

JBK405

Ah frik, I accidentally closed my window in the middle of writing my thoughts. The re-write to recapture those thoughts is never as good as the original... The reporter in the opening scene is using "shorthand", a writing system for taking notes very quickly using a specialized alphabet of extremely small writing marks. It used to be extremely prevalent amongst secretaries, note takers, stenographers, doctors, etc. it fell out of use in the late 20th century after the rise of recording devices, text-to-speech, etc. Don's had a drinking problem for the entire show, but having somebody tell him to "eat something" is an easy way for the show to really draw attention to it. He's spiraling hard and it's having real physical symptoms. When it comes to raising their kids, Betty and Don each THINK that they're personally doing a great job, and they honestly don't see how they're messing it up so badly. Betty doesn't understand that she's making her children terrified of her with no outlet for their feelings and a constant element of fear in every interaction. Don never understood that absent neglect is damaging all on its own. I agree that Betty's staying in the house because she feels that she is "owed" this house -- this LIFE -- and she doesn't want to give it up. Even though Henry can offer her an equally nice house elsewhere (or a better house). She doesn't want a that OTHER life. She wants HER life. And that includes THIS house.

liminal rinds

the space/time between episodes gets more difficult to bear...

Kev (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-19 14:00 [Spoilers as always] V qvq jnag gb fnl bar zber guvat, juvpu vf gung V svaq F4+ Orggl zhpu zber vagrerfgvat naq gung jnf vzzrqvngryl nccnerag gb zr va guvf rcvfbqr. V jbaqre vs gung vf n pbagebirefvny bcvavba? V abgvprq gung V sryg guvf jnl ba zl svefg jngpu bs Znq Zra, gbb. Gur tveyf fnvq "Guvf jvyy or ebhtu frnfba sbe hf jvgu Orggl" ohg rira whfg guvf rcvfbqr V nz fb snfpvangrq ol ure cerfrapr. Ure fgbel jnf fb grgurerq gb Qba gur svefg guerr frnfbaf, naq lrf fur unf vzzrqvngryl frggyrq vagb n eryngvbafuvc gung znvagnvaf ure ebyr nf n ubhfrjvsr, ohg gb zr gurer vf fbzrguvat qvssrerag va ure. Fur rira ybbxf qvssrerag, ohg vg'f znlor rira gur jnl fur pneevrf urefrys? Gur fprar bs ure naq Urael gnyxvat gb Qba rzcunfvmrf guvf, vg'f whfg fhpu n arj qlanzvp naq V srry gung vg gryyf hf jnl zber nobhg Orggl orpnhfr abj jr pna npghnyyl frr ubj fur rkvfgf jura fur unf zber serrqbz. Guvf vf pyrneyl abg F1 Orggl, nf vagrerfgvat bs n plpyvpny/erterffvir punenpgre nep gung jbhyq or. Nethnoyl, gubhtu, fur vf fgvyy irel fvzvyne orpnhfr fur vf n punenpgre zber vzcrqrq ol ure cnfg pvephzfgnaprf naq fgehttyrf guna ure cerfrag barf. Zber yvxr Qba va n jnl (juvpu gur tveyf unir fnvq), naq hayvxr Crttl naq Wbna. V fgvyy guvax ure qrirybczrag vf na haqreengrq bar npebff gur frnfbaf (naq irel ynlrerq, vagrerfgvat ba n zrgn-yriry gbb, yvxr jul gur jevgref znxr ure vapernfvatyl hayvxrnoyr). V nz bayl chggvat guvf nf n 'EBG' pbzzrag orpnhfr V srry gung vg uvagf ng Orggl'f shgher qrirybczrag (naq orpnzr zber nobhg fhpu bapr V znqr gung qrpvfvba). Juvyr jr'er ba gur gbcvp, vg vf fngvfslvat gb frr Ybyn vzzrqvngryl erirefr pbhefr ba ure ernqvat bs Urael. Frrvat gur fprar bs uvf zbgure onqzbhguvat Orggl gnxrf zr gb bar bs gur (vs abg GUR) svany fprarf bs Urael jurer ur oernxf qbja gnyxvat gb Fnyyl. Fhzf hc uvf punenpgre, nf qbrf gung jubyr fvghngvba, fgvyy fbzrjung pbagebyyvat naq frkvfg yvxr nyy gur zra, ohg hygvzngryl raqrnevat naq trahvar, vs abg n yvggyr cvgvshy.
2025-10-28 05:51

Kev
>>191680021

The ending of this episode makes me appreciate how self-aware the writers are. It's funny because there was that comment about how the S3 finale felt too fanfic-y, and while I don't think the writers were thinking at at all, there is something ironic in having this epic and cinematic and rose-tinted reframing of something we just saw, like it's being communicated that it was a dramatic and crowd-pleasing event but it could be even more stylized.

Kev
>>191748328

I think an important way to look at it is: both Don and Betty are doing better for their kids than their parents did for them. The issue is only Don actually recognizes that the way he was treated was bad, whereas Betty is not anywhere close to confronting the mistakes that her parents made. So naturally they have different goals. Gender probably has a lot to do with this. Don is encouraged to be independent (so he is more equipped to going against the grain), Betty is encouraged to be dependent (so she is geared towards accepting what she was told). And this matter extends beyond how they were raised, it was and continues to be socially enforced in every waking moment of their lives. I also think a lot of the audience genuinely believe they are being subversive or thinking critically when they criticize Betty, so their thoughts end at "She is a bad person". They don't stop for a moment to think that she may have conflicting motivations or want something for a reason they can't understand, like the house thing as you mentioned.

Mike

Orggl'f qvibepr-sebz-Qba fgbelyvar vf snfpvangvat orpnhfr vg vfa'g ernyyl dhvgr srzvavfz, be yvorengvba, be jungrire ryfr lbh zvtug rkcrpg sebz n "60f ubhfrjvsr qvgpurf purngvat uhfonaq" fgbel. Ynetryl, vg'f nobhg n jbzna jub gevrf n erqb ng n genqvgvbany zneevntr. Gur fghss nobhg gur ubhfr va guvf rcvfbqr vf evtug va gung mbar. Vg'f abg nobhg Orggl nffregvat ure qbzvanapr bire Qba, be srryvat yvxr fur "qrfreirf" gur ubhfr. Vg'f gung fur (anviryl) oryvrirq fur pbhyq rkpvfr Qba sebz gur zneevntr, ercynpr uvz jvgu Urael, naq pbagvahr ba va ure yvsr jvgu gur xvqf va Bffvavat whfg ubj vg jnf. Lrnu, gung'f abg tbvat gb jbex.

Mike

I don't think Betty thinks she is "owed" the house, at least not in the divorcee I'm-owed-half-of-what-we-had-together sense. It's that she (naively) believed she could excise Don from the marriage, replace him with Henry, and continue on in her life with the kids in Ossining without missing a beat (or moving). Betty isn't riding on the 1960s wave of feminist liberation here. She's doing a do-over marriage.

Mike

It's not the first use of electric guitar on the soundtrack, but it's the first song like *that* that we've heard, and feels like a musical harbinger for the rest of the decade -- the Beatles, the Kinks, etc.

Kara

V zbfgyl nterr ohg F3 Orggl vf nyernql rkgerzryl qvssrerag sebz F1 Orggl, fur nyernql unq n shyy punenpgre nep. Vg'f gbgnyyl svar gb svaq ure zber vagrerfgvat - vzb fur trgf zber vagrerfgvat gur zber gvzr cnffrf yvxr nyzbfg rirel punenpgre. Naq jura fur raebyyf va havirefvgl va F7 (naq jung pbzrf nsgre) vg srryf yvxr gur rnearq pbzcyrgvba bs n qrpnqr-ybat va-punenpgre nep. Gur tveyf jrer nyjnlf tbvat gb erirefr ba Urael, gung'f jul V jnfa'g rire obgurerq ol vg. Chggvat nfvqr gur vavgvny vasvqryvgl ur fubjf ur vf n 'tbbq zna' guvf frnfba naq gurl'yy svaq gurzfryirf nterrvat jvgu uvf gnxrf ba Pneyn, ba Fnyyl, ba Orggl'f eryngvbafuvc jvgu Qba rgp. Zvyran fnvq vg urefrys ohg V guvax Fbcenabf nssrpgrq ure guvaxvat n ybg orpnhfr fbzr bs ure pnyyrq ybat grez fubgf ner ernyyl qrcerffvat, gur fbeg bs guvatf gung jbhyq unccra va Fbcenabf, jurernf Orggl raqf hc zneelvat n zhpu orggre thl guna Qba naq nsgre n ebpxl fgneg gurl sbez n fbyvq cnegarefuvc gung jbhyq unir ynfgrq hagvy byq ntr vzb.

Kara

@Kev: Big agree, I haven't listened to the commentary yet but I'm sure it's textual yeah. There's also the intro: "Who is Don Draper?" the show's thesis statement up to this point, followed by: "I wanted it to be indistinguishable from the movies. I wanted people to be watching it and say, "What's happening in the story right now? Oh! It's something else.""

Kara

V jbhyq nterr jvgu gung. Vg vf fgvyy shaqnzragnyyl n 'genafvgvba frnfba' gung unf gb rfgnoyvfu n arj abezny gung jvyy ynfg sbe 4.5 zber frnfbaf.

Mike

Nterrq, juvpu vf jul V'ir nyjnlf yvxrq gur cbfg-qvibepr Orggl fghss, rira vs vg'f (eryngviryl) ybjre fgnxrf naq zber qvfpbaarpgrq sebz Qba. Gur fubj vf gryyvat n ybg bs qvssrerag fgbevrf nobhg jbzra va gur 60f. Gurl pna'g nyy ghea vagb Crttl fgehggvat vagb ZpPnaa ba ure svefg qnl bs jbex. Orggl erfrggvat ure yvsr vagb n orggre irefvba bs jung fur nyjnlf jnagrq -- naq gura fgvyy punsvat ng vg, naq gelvat gb svaq arj jnlf bs yvivat -- vf n ernyyl vagrerfgvat fgbel, rira vs vg vfa'g "rkpvgvat".