When Duck put Chauncey out on the street, I think my heart broke. Thank you for your nuanced performance--well done!

Yeah, I felt bad for that dog as well.

I think the use of the dog abandonment to show Duck's character was a bad mistake. Logical or not, a story line involving cruelity to animals, especially dogs, turns people off and will be detrimental to the shows following. Case in point, my wife immediately left the room vowing to never watch her favorite show again. The writers would have caused less grief having Duck toss his grandmother out in the cold. They better have a script soon showing a happy resolution for the dog or I predict a lot of ill feeling and loss of audience. You think they would know better than to violate one of the big taboos.

I think the scene of abandoning the dog is powerful (although upsetting) when taken into the context of what is happening to Duck at that moment. He is an alcoholic who has been battling the urge to drink. Addiction like alcoholism is much more out in the open today but in 1962 Duck is battling his disease solo. The fact that he clearly loves Chauncey makes the point of how powerful the urge to drink is for an alcoholic at the end of his rope. People sacrifice their families to booze and drugs sometimes, and deeply regret it later. Likewise, I imagine that if Duck gets his sobriety back again he will very deeply regret the loss of his one true friend, Chauncey. It was a powerful powerful scene in my opinion and made Duck a much more human and interesting character. I was speechless at the end of the show.

Thought Duck's whole body going limp on the couch after the "lunch" with Don was great. First time Duck actually seemed human and vulnerable.

Rather than making Duck more human and interesting, I think it portrays him as cold, self- centered and a user, recall the hand shake with his son and abandoning his so called friend Chauncey when he was no longer usefull as a prop to create a tie between himself and his ex(getting married) and his children(going off to school and bought off by the new boy friend).

When Duck put his dog out on the street it hurt me to my core. I agree with Buck, it was a bad mistake and I know alot of alcholics who would never do a terrible selfish thing like that, and anyone who would is a piece of crap. Isn't there enough cruelty to animals out there without AMC pimping it for a "powerful Scene". I would have rather seen him throw his mother out the 30th story window. Mad Men has just gone down a few notch's on my list.

Please. If you think the show "goes down a few notches" when a character does something you don't like, please don't watch. Human beings are made human by their sins as well as their virtues. I think it's been that way forever, or didn't you notice?

....(Buck Turgidson, are you serious? - I am screaming!)

I love that they are developing "Duck" Phillips. Mark Moses gets one-dimensional roles because of his uniquely "angulah" features. He blew me away in this episode.

We know how much he loved Chauncey.... the last reminder of the unconditional love he has lost. Now, it's just him, and the bottle.

Watch "The Days of Wine and Roses," if you want to know how he found himself just there.

Personally, I think Mark Moses is a Jack Lemmon or a Chris Cooper, and more. He could carry a feature all by himself.

The challenge of a great director, casting director, producers, etc., is to bring forth the greatness of the talent they are, well, so talented at picking!

As to Chauncey - hard to say if Mr.Weiner will go all "Tarantino" on us and kill off the dog but, for the time being, I am cultivating a more "Breakast at Tiffany's" ending for Chauncey.

Duck, man - Snap out of it!

Ah! "The Days of Wine and Roses" what a great movie! I had forgotten about that one, we watched it in my High School Psychology class! At first we were all "why are we watching this very old B&W movie" but then were all glued to the screen throughout. I'll have to find the DVD now.
OK, back to Duck. I must've blinked because I literally do NOT recall the scene where Duck left Chauncey in the streets. Could someone describe that scene to me? Was it clear or inferred that Duck deliberately it?

Ah! "The Days of Wine and Roses" what a great movie! I had forgotten about that one, we watched it in my High School Psychology class! At first we were all "why are we watching this very old B&W movie" but then were all glued to the screen throughout. I'll have to find the DVD now.
OK, back to Duck. I must've blinked because I literally do NOT recall the scene where Duck left Chauncey in the streets. Could someone describe that scene to me? Was it clear or inferred that Duck deliberately it?

@ericcooley: Duck takes Chauncey down to the building lobby door, opens it, unleashes the dog, closes the door and quickly walks away. Last shot of that scene is the dog sitting there for a moment, and then briskly trotting away.

"I would have rather seen him throw his mother out the 30th story window."

Really? For God's sakes, people. I think throwing an old woman out the window would have been a tad more shocking. I've tried to be polite about this point before, but showing lynchings in Mississippi Burning doesn't inspire/promote lynching. Boys Don't Cry doesn't promote pulverizing homosexuals for sport. This scene was shocking and Duck's behavior deplorable, but given the ravages of alcoholism I would have rather been in Chauncey's shoes in that scene than Duck's.

"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." -- Winston Churchill.

....am i the only bone-head that thinks they wouldn't dare do that to chauncey? i'm sure they'll save him....

...won't they?

Yes it was terrible to see Duck turn Chauncey away and the only way it didn't make me cry and swear off the show too was that I knew that dog was walking to a trainer off the set. I love being absorbed into my favorite show too but don't worry all, the dog is ok! Keep watching the best show on tv please.

Also I think it showed that he only knows how to move forward by leaving everything behind. Chauncey was a reminder of what he had and it brought back emotions/memories that would drive him to drink. He realized that and I think the only way that he knew how to deal with it was to continue to erase the life he had. To him he couldn't keep the dog around, he only brought him pain, no longer joy. I think Don and Duck are similar in that aspect, when you decide to forget, you must forget everything and get rid of, never look at, never speak of anything that will remind you of it.

Chauncey needs to safely wander his way to P J Clark's and become the Bar Dog...he could do worse.

I think amc should fire Mark Moses and he should be blackballed from Hollywood in general for doing that to poor Chauncey! It took place 46 years ago, so unfortunately the statute of Limitations is up in regards to prosecuting Duck for animal cruelty.

*dripping with absurdity*

I think amc should fire Mark Moses and he should be blackballed from Hollywood in general for doing that to poor Chauncey! It took place 46 years ago, so unfortunately the statute of Limitations is up in regards to prosecuting Duck for animal cruelty.

*dripping with absurdity*

I think we may see Chauncey again. We might see him looking in from the outside of the building sometimes or maybe see the tail end of him as he goes around a corner. A kind of metaphor for things we get rid of along the way and that.... they never really leave.

Getting walked out the door at work is a metaphore for getting fired and it was Duck who should have been fired IMO. Sterling-Cooper has not grown in the year and a half Duck has been at the helm as Accounts Director. Draper has to clean up his messes and some accounts have been lost. Fire the sucker I say.

Mark Moses, I think you do a great job as Don's adversary and I don't want your character to leave the show. I think Duck should hook up with Jane.

I thought your scenes with Chauncey were great. Unlike some of the off-wall posters, I don't think you were cruel for that doing - Chauncey found another human to take care of him before he got to the first red light, I'm sure. Letting dogs loose was a common practice in those days. Congrats to the writers for coming up with that scene.

Chauncey's gone, People. Get over it.

We never saw Duck take a drink, we saw him sniff the bottle wanting to take the drink before his shame before the dog stopped him. He got rid of the dog as a way of cutting his ties with his past. I think he has stopped drinking all together and is focusing on his new life and Sterling Cooper.

He did turn down Don's offer of a drink in Ep. 7.

I've seen these people do a lot of mean things, but the meanest has to be Duck putting his beautiful dog Chauncey out on the street. He is the lowest of the low. He could have given the dog to Pete Campbell. Well maybe not, Pete wanted an "office dog". But someone would have taken him. What a real jerk!

I have the exact flying duck wall decorations Duck has in his office in episode 6--I got them one week before the episode even aired! Talk about uncanny...