Could be to Rachel, could be to someone else we have yet to meet.

I thiik it may have to do with Don starting to find himself, being in a stark world with no meaning. He gave up his personality just as it was forming and took on another life he had to create from scratch.

Still confused - check out my next topic

The verbiage is Dylanesque (Bob). The writer may have had a specific intent but the net effect of hearing the words spoken in a "classic" situation (Man walking his Dog en route to mailing a parcel, an event as jejeune as it may be profound) evokes a reaction that varies from individual to individual... it can't be taken literally.

Forgot to add... I don't care to predict to whom the mailing was addressed... I'll leave it to Weiner to define this in due time.

I think the monologue is a quote from Emergency, no?

I'm with smig..I really don't care who he was mailing the book to. Matter of fact, I really don't care about the stupid book. How much time did we waste on this crap? If I wanted metephors, I would be reading books not watching TV. Keep the books in the library for those who don't care to watch TV. I watch TV because I hate reading. Why do MM keeps shoving books in our faces?

While you may get annoyed with the book references/metaphors it really opens up the characters and their state of minds (that was worded wrong) Don't forget the shows are only 1 hour long and sometimes there is not enough time. Also, if I wanted TV for purely entertainment purposes I wouldn't be watching Mad Men or LOST - I'd watched Idol or Flavor of Love.

I think there is a conflict of interest between the MM writers and those books. Everytime the book is placed in the show, they have to pay royalties to the publisher. I think we are dealing with kickbacks and not methaphors. Again, we are dealing with two different medias - TV and books. The two paths should never cross, it just doesn't work. Again those who watch TV don't want to go out and read the book to figure out what is going on with the characters. I am dedicating one hour from my day to watching the show (including the commercials - which makes them the money) and I'll be darned if I am going to dedicate two weeks to reading a book to figure it all out. My attention span will not hold out that long!

Book discussions and methaphors belong at book clubs in coffee houses not TV blogs.

To comment on the original post, I agree that Don is unique among his peers, but I have a difficult time going as far as saying Don was not sexist. It was just the time. I recall one episode in which Don screeches at Betty, "Leave the dishes for the girl!" In the pilot he storms out of the meeting with Menkin's after stating, "I'm not going to let a woman talk to me like this."

I think the elevator scene in the premier is really just showing how the times are changing. Men wearing hats indoors? Believe it or not, that used to be widely considered bad manners. Now, pretty much the only people who follow that rule are uniformed military members and older men. And Don wasn't going to rip the creep in the elevator a new one in front of a lady. Remember when Pete was harassing Peggy in the pilot? Don gave him a piece of his mind when Peggy was out of earshot.

As for those who aren't interested in analyzing the storyline or characters, I am wondering why you are even posting to this message. There are plenty of other topics concerning wardrobe, continuity, scenery, and predictions for this season to keep everyone happy. If a particular post doesn't interest you, just don't reply to it.

Don told that man to take off his hat because the woman came on the elevator and was being disprespectful and vulgar in her presence, plain and simple. He was teaching the "younger" gentleman a lesson in manners without bringing up his behavior towards the lady - also him telling his wife to leave the dishes is not sexist! He had hired help to do it so let them do it!

And no one else a Sterling Cooper wouyld have given Peggy an Assistant Copywriter job but Don - probablt not even Cooper

The elevator/hat scene was to remind that Kennedy was now in office.

Remember when they spoke about Nixon wears a hat, Kennedy didn't.

Good eye TerriBB, forgot about that.

Lorantscan, I'm not disagreeing with what you are saying. It was more than obvious Don was disgusted with those guys for what they were saying, and like I said, he wasn't going to rip them up in front of the lady. The hat comment was just an excuse, but nevertheless, the fact the guy was wearing a hat indoors was still bad manners Don used to his advantage. I think he handled the situation beautifully. As for the dishes, I originally interpreted "the girl" as being Sally, his daughter, but I appreciate you pointing out that Don was more likely referring to the housekeeper.

To restate what I said before, Don is unique among his peers, but I believe sexism was natural for the time period. My opinion.