Love the show! BUT Midge does not deserve Don Draper! I really don't like their scenes together. She has no chemistry with him- no heat-no sex appeal. It's a waste of a great-looking man! (heavy sigh) She's horribly mis-cast in this one, I think I'll skip it. Everyone else is perfectly cast. The thought of them in Paris truly makes me ill.

can't wait to see it.

This show is all about titallating sex. Nothing new here. And though sex sells, this series has become boring and predictable. Don Draper is nothing more than a low-life womanizer (not to mention some of the others in the series), and seeing him hop in and out of bed has become tiresome. I don't care what his secret is (the Don/Dick thing) and I think once it's revealed, the writers know the show will begin to tank.

This show is all about titallating sex. Nothing new here. And though sex sells, this series has become boring and predictable. Don Draper is nothing more than a low-life womanizer (not to mention some of the others in the series), and seeing him hop in and out of bed has become tiresome. I don't care what his secret is (the Don/Dick thing) and I think once it's revealed, the writers know the show will begin to tank.

Oh. Hell. Yes.

I cannot WAIT for next week!

Windjammer, I don't mean this disrespectfully, but you've made numerous comments about how much you dislike this series. Why are you still watching it and posting comments about it?

In Red in the Face we see another dark side of Don. Not a good idea to cross him or infringe on his territory as Jim Sterling learned the hard way.

Windjammer, Perhaps you might check the video store for some action flicks. This show is about depth, character study, period replication, human behavior and emotion, internal angst and conflict. It truly is a piece of art in terms of how the story is woven in so non-linear a fashion and how the layers of the onion are peeled back in each character over time. You have to be really ready for the deep end of the pool.

I like midge, her characther shows one of many parts of Don and in the it's all part of the storyline leading to 'who is don draper?' As well as showing us more of what it going on culturally in 1960 in the beatnik and art movement of the time.

Bluedog and Byrd - I think the two of you need to chill. Come on already it's just a television show and everyone has a right to their opinion. I have given the show a fair amount of "watch" time, and now I believe it's wearing thin. Just my opinion. It's a shame when people take such offense at casual comments that really are just the opinions of others. Byrd, you really are a little too serious about this whole thing. Your posting comes across as totally condescending, as though YOU are the only one entitiled to your opinion. Come on down off your high horse and realize that these are only opinions and everyone has a right to theirs even if it doesn't coincide with yours. Apparently you feel you understand this show and all it's great depth, etc. Oh please! Repeat to yourself, it's only a television show, it's only a television show...

Sorry, Windjammer. I was just trying to give the show and its creators and writers their just due. The majority of stuff on TV is "just a TV show." Mad Men is true art. But, there's room in the pool for all of us. I apologize if my attempt to share this side of the kiddie rope offended you.

No offense meant or taken, Windjammer. I think Byrd and I disagree with your criticisms of the show for the same reasons. I don't find the show to be predictable at all; in fact, it keeps surprising me. For example, I didn't see Pete's primitive hunting fantasy coming, and sure didn't suspect that the male-bonding lunch with Don and Roger was actually an elaborate set-up on Don's part. Also didn't see it coming when Roger vomited all over the pristine lobby. As far as Don Draper being a one-dimensional womanizer, I have to disagree with you. I think the reason he's intriguing to us is that he's a mixed bag of a lot of things. Maybe the reason we're all drawn to this show is that all of the characters (maybe with the exception of Joan) are a change from the predictable, one-dimensional characters we're used to seeing on prime time. Every time I think I have someone figured out, they surprise me. That's what keeps me watching.

I suspect the "hobo code" of the title refers to the drawings that hobos during the Depression used to leave on buildings and what-not as guides/warnings for their brethern. My grandmother took in homeless folks during the Depression, and she came to find out later that on her gate was a picture that translated into "safe house."

This show is about how things really were back in the 1950's-60's. I was just a small girl back then, but this show really makes me remember my yrs as a child & more importantly gives me some insight into what my parents & grandparents lives must have been like. They lived in NJ, but most of them worked in NYC back then. I remember in the 1970's, being able to smoke at work, pregnant women drinking alcohol and NO drunk driving laws existed anywhere . No one knew better back then. Mad Men is my favorite show.

Crista Flanagan from Mad TV as Lois Tasker. I may not have heard her character's last name clearly in the preview. I love Crista's work on Mad TV. Ciao.

I enjoy watching this show, however, I feel the writers try too hard to deliver a big punch all the time.

It would be enough for Don to have a mysterious background. Think about it. He's a clean slate and you could go anywhere with that. I think the writers felt that wasn't enough and so they need to weave it with the whole Jewish theme.

Now we've got a rift between Roger and Don. Roger is the glue that holds the whole agency together. As someone who has been in on client meetings, the Roger partner is SOOOOO valuable to the firm. He brings the clients in, schmoozes them and cleans up the loose ends. You aren't going to have Don do that, either he can't or won't. The Cooper partner is too eccentric to be of any use. You can't have him walking around in his socks and Asian decorated office meeting paying clients. What client is going to feel comfortable working with him? My guess is that Cooper probably had his glory years ago with one client, now he's skating on the memories of that.

It would have been enough to show Roger having an affair with Joan. I think the writers didn't think that was enough, so they've got to have Roger cross the line. Some of these "storylines" are so heavy that you wouldn't have a relationship after these events. I always admired how Roger always worked to have everyone get along and I liked how he stood up for Don. He may not be politically correct for today's times, but Roger tries to make make everything work and I admire him for that.

Maybe this is the curse of only having so many episodes guranteed. I just wish the writers would show their skill and not be so heavy-handed with the plots.

Tonight's episode was the best yet. The Hobo Code thing was an interesting diversion of sorts, and it should now be apparent to everyone that Don Draper doesn't really exist, except in name only. Dick Whitman does, of course, and sooner or later, he and his alter ego Don will come face to face. I wonder though, how the show will fare after that point, because there is a tension with the Don/Dick sub-plot, and when that tension is no longer there, I am afraid the series may falter. I was glad to see nothing of Betty Draper this evening (and her dreary pregnant neighborhood friend), because they are both boring and bland. Joan is a predictable pistol. Frankly, I don't know what Pete sees in Peggy, as she is about as hot (even when having sex) as a jar of mayonnaise. The woman has absolutely no sex appeal whatsoever. Pete is just plain annoying and I wish the writers would get rid of him; Peggy too. It's obvious that the art department guy is repressing his homosexualiy, and the new girl who has a crush on him apparently has a lot to learn. It's also obvious that Don/Dick has it bad for Midge and she knows it, and she is using it to her advantage. The Robert Morse character is peculiar. Midge's sad crew of friends are a turn-off and very stereo-typical. The writing in this episode was more natural and it flowed much better than in previous episodes. I didn't quite understand the scene with Don/Dick and his young son at the end. Don tells him that he will bever lie to him or some such thing. Don is deluding himself because he is obviously already lying to everyone - including himself!

The hobo code referred to on the pole, I don't see it explained here, meant a dishonest man lives here. Not everyone knows that...

Dunno which gender Cleo is, but, THIS guy thinks Peggy is the HOTTEST chick on the show (especially since she has grown spectacularly in the chestal area since episode 1).

I grew up in the 50's and that look is EXACTLY what turned me on as a HS senior in '58. Those little blouses and tight skirts....

sigh.

What she (and his wife) sees in that grease ball Pete is beyond me, too.

This thing is very errratic but I like most of it.

Loved last night's show. The Peggy/Pete storyline is not as boring as Cleo thinks. I mean one episode Pete is fired by Don for mentioning his "copy" in front of clients and here in this episode Peggy commended with a drink of scotch with the "big boys" for her "copy". We can see everything clearly and they can't and that's what draws us in.

Everyone has commented about what a womanizer Don is but one thing that is endearing about him how he treats Peggy. She is the one woman he sees everyday that he truly respects, maybe not as an equal but at least, he respects her as much as a boss from 1960 could. Remember this isn't Mary Tyler Moore. He doesn't respect Pete, sees him for the petty little jerk that he is and that's an endearing quality about him too.

The reference to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is classic too.

Great show! Especially the last episode...and I think I might be in love with January Jones as Betty Draper, she is money!!

I LOVE this series...& everything about it...con't to keep managing to miss episode 1./the pilot...when will it be on again???

ALSO...one thing on episode 4/New Amsterdam that just doesn't ring true for 1960...Peter Campbell introduces his bride to Don Draper who then congratulates Trudy & tells her she's a lucky girl...It is highly unlikely that would have been said as good manners (then) dictated that the groom was to be congratulated, the bride extended best wishes or the like...it was the GUY considered to be the lucky one to have landed the girl, back then (wish that were still the case today, I follow that mode of manners, but few others do these days, too few). Proper etiquette today dictates the same consideration, although, sadly, very few follow this thinking.

As for Trudy's reply that most of her friends can't find a good man...not exactly the case until the late 1960's & 1970's...in 1960, there were lots of "good men" to be had & the marriage rate was high & strong & steady.

But oh my God, I love, love, love this series...help me find an airing of epiosode 1/the pilot, please!

I had to watch "hobo" again to catch the stuff I don't pick up on the first time, and good for Romano, I could see how scared and uncomfortable Elliot's advances made him. He made the right choice. Usually anything that is not good for us like drugs,stealing,lying,cheating,etc..or any other destructive behaviour is always hard the first time. I really like it when Don lets the greazzy beatniks have it, when the cops were outside, and he said "You can't, I can", That said it all in a nutshell. I guess all that 60's free love, and all the other bullcrap really came back to bite them in the ass didn't it? You were right Don's mom did set money on table for hobo. anxious to find out don's past. Wonder if he is a Felon,or a deserter, had to be something bad maybe, what else would make a man pay off brother he obviously cared for?