Mad Men Live Blogging - Season 4.12: Blowing Smoke

The penultimate episode of the season! Will SCDP survive? Can Roger avoid rock bottom? Will Don get busted by the Feds? And will he stick with Faye or continue the dalliance with Megan?

1:00 - Don is taking advantage of manipulating his girlfriend into betraying her ethics. That's how I like to start my week.

3:00 - "I don't know your company will be here in 6 months." Ouch! Even worse -- "I bet I could get a date with your mother right now."

4:45 - A domestic scene! Is Sally trying to set up a disaster to split up Henry & Betty? I'm hoping for the disaster!

6:15 - A powerhouse meeting! But how did Dr. Faye get involved?

7:10 - Our first Don-Faye shot, with Megan in the background, between them. It's subtle. Like an Eagles fan.

7:40 - And cut to Sally and creepy Glenn, who's apparently taken a class in the timeless art of seduction, football version.

9:00 - Wow! I don't know if I've seen her since the pilot! And she's married? "For the bread"?!? At least Don knows he'll get laid if he buys a painting!

12:30 - It's pretty cool to see Sally doing well. I like everyone else having shitty lives, not her. She's my hope for a happy future.

14:45 - "When she tracked you down." Ah, a scam. It's a sweet painting, though. The after images when I close my eyes aren't quite so busy.

16:30 - A heroin addict? I didn't expect this aspect of the 60s to come into play so soon.

17:55 - $300 goes to $120 with a cash discount? Kind of steep.

19:30 - Wow, Betty is a mess. Not even willing to get her own therapist. And is it just me, or does the kid shrink look

21:00 - Jesus, Peggy is turning into Twiggy. And Megan is also back to looking good after her mysterious metamorphosis last week.

23:00 - Wow. $100K from the partners? Roger should have to put up Pete's share.

24:00 - "Do you want the backwash?" That Glenn's a smooth talker, isn't he?

25:00 - Apparently the idea that the Girl on the Land O' Lakes butter box is also holding a box is causing Glenn some mental discomfort. I believe the term is "thinking".

27:00 - Wow! Trudy is morphing into her Annie from Community body in a hurry. "You are forbidden..." "You don't get to forbid me!" Ooof. All is not well at the Campbell household.

29:00 - Whew. I thought Don's interest in the painting was to upgrade from booze to heroin. Instead he seems to be becoming the Jerry Maguire of the 60s. This is definitely changing the conversation.

32:30 - OK, much like Jerry, this isn't going to be a lovefest at work. Except, of course, with Megan. I also think Peggy is going to have her work crush on Don renewed.

33:15 - RFK? I wish I could write a Bahstan accent that didn't involve the word "No-mah".

34:00 - Is it just me, or is everyone expecting "I'm late" or some other fallout every time Don and Megan speak for more than 2 words?

36:30 - After Cooper walks out, Rizzo has the best line of the night, "I didn't think they'd start [firing everyone] with him." He's a pig, but funny at times. Like Harry Plopper!

38:00 - The smirk after telling Don that "I didn't think you went in for those kind of shenanigans" is, to me, the best development of Season 4 -- Peggy and Don like AND respect each other. Cue horrible fight between them in the finale.

38:30 - I'm pretty sure that adult Glenn is not going to look back at dropping the Cokes without a word and running away from Betty as his proudest childhood moment.

39:30 - "They all want to kill me, but I have a bodyguard." Megan's unhappy look tells me she knows who the competition is.

40:30 - I don't think Don thinks losing Dr. Faye but gaining a public girlfriend is a fair trade.

41:00 - "Have your girl make reservations." Aaaaannnnddddd... Faye knows who the competition is, too. And I think suspects something.

42:00 - Uncool that Faye rejected Peggy's offer of a drink. Very cool* that Peggy has the world's largest collection of protractors on her wall.

43:00 - Betty has no body fat, yet her high-waisted pants designed by NASA still manage to give her a FUPA!

45:30 - Nice man moment for Don and Pete! A rye glass raised and a nod -- in the version of Mad Men set in the 2000s, they'd be hugging and crying while saying "I love you, too, bro!"

Verdict: Not a happy episode, but absolutely packed.  The pre-letter bits seem like a different show.  We didn't get to see the post-work date for Don and Faye, but it's definitely set up for a big final episode -- Betty moving, Don/Faye/Megan fallout, Joan (in control but barely seen), and the gang trying to survive leaner times. And with Bert "gone" (or just in a snit?), will it now be SDP? Or SDCP? Can they ditch Roger, too? He's great for the show, bad for business.
A-

* By "cool" I mean "nerdy".