Some one posted quite a while ago that the actress who plays Rachel got another series. boo hoo. I liked her, too. Don't know what the deal is with Midge...but, I didn't care for her so what the heck... ha

Some one posted quite a while ago that the actress who plays Rachel got another series. boo hoo. I liked her, too. Don't know what the deal is with Midge...but, I didn't care for her so what the heck... ha But, like you I think that Bobbie is one royal skank. I say get rid of her. Let her fall out of a window... or get run over by the subway or....

woops my post got posted before I was done! sorry.

Maggie Siff's (Rachel) on Sons of Anarchy now! Maybe there can be some "guest star" arrangement....

Damn! Rachel's sorely missed!

You and me, both. To quote Visan and Dennis, "where the hell is Rachel?".

Get that guest appearance lined up Matt, we're counting on it!

I'm in love with Rachael. Rachael and Draper. I am so down on Betty. Racahel and Draper are an odd love story given the saddle of his marriage,but one nontheless.

Excuse me if this has been covered, but who was Draper writing to about the "catastrophe of my personality" at the end of episode 1. "This book made me think of you, etc.?" I thought it was Rachael. She wasn't exactly an incidental figure in season 1. "This is all there is." "This is where I was meant to be," etc., etc. He**, realizing he couldn't have her and was stuck in his marriage darn near pushed him to suicide. I don't know that he ever told anyone else as "Draper" that he was born out of prostitution. And the fact that their mothers both perished in chidbirth, that does make it clear they were meant to be together. You don't just build up that sort of thing in one season and forget about it in the next. Not if you want to be a digestible.

Don't actors sometimes appear in more than one show at once? I know the woman playing Francine did.

I think Rachel represented a chance to escape for Don before he realized Burt would let him off easy. More than that, he seems (or seemed, it may be changing) to feel he can never tell Betty the truth about himself; she would judge Dick Whitman in terms of (her mom and dad's) black and white and never accept it. I think he thought Rachel might be the one to understand and forgive, or at least understand. Now however Betty is slowly growing out of the mold she was in and I believe some part of him hopes one day she may reach the point where he can trust her enough to tell her all. I really believe his greatest struggle is the strain of playing "Don Draper" forever and he'd desperately love to find someone with whom he could be honest and open. Whether it's possible for him even with an understanding Betty or Rachel, open question.

Damn, terrible thing to lose Maggie. May she one day return if only for a guest role.

regertz:

Agreed. I think Betty's love for Don is strong enough for her to withstand the truth (if he ever tells her). The coming attractions show him revealing something else to her.

Who knows, maybe she'd love him even more if she knew his whole story. It would be a tremendous step forward for her and their relationship.

I liked Rachel, but I don't think they have a future as a couple. Betty is his (loving) wife, for better or for worse. I'm in favor of keeping this marriage together.

Rachel was so gorgeous! And she was a truth screamer! No woman who's currently on this season reperesents that! I'd love to have Ravishing Rachel come back, no matter how few episodes, just to make Don's life messy!

Where the hell is Rachel?!

I think you're missing a ton if you think that Draper was only in love with Rachel in his mind. The fact that Rachel said that Draper wanted to run away, not run away with her, doesn't make it true. She was angry. In fact, I think the fact that what she said (and Peggy said to him afterwards about "people who are not good") motivated him to be brave in the Campbell blackmail situation, and that should give you an idea of their effect on him.

Betty and Rachel are not interchangeable. People do enter into loveless marriages. Betty couldn't be more beautiful, but she doesn't do it for Draper because she's not the developed, textured person that Rachel is.

It appears Don can only get it up for SAB when he has another woman on his tip...Midge or Mrs. Unfunny Comic. But when he began his romance with Rachel, he totally shut it off for SAB, claiming he was "too hot" to bang SAB.

I think Don was "in love" with Rachel. He wouldn't need any other woman on the side to perform for Rachel. He'd handle business and handle it well!

Where the hell is Rachel?

Seriously. Where the hell is she. There was no resolution to that storyline at all. Is Menken's still a client of Sterling Cooper? If it isn't, wouldn't there have been talk and gossip as to why the store's no longer with the firm? What happened with the remodel?

And I agree with what others have said about her being hands down better than the new blood. The women this year can't even compare. I even liked Midge much better than who we've seen so far. Rachel was one of the few islands of sanity in the entire show. This year, everybody's seriously messed up. Makes it hard to watch with all their crazy-ass shit, and no one to scream WTF.

there is a whole facebook group totally devoted to don and rachel

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=23862698514

I'm with you all on this one. We definitely need Rachel back!

"Rachel was one of the few islands of sanity in the entire show. This year, everybody's seriously messed up."

Agree with this. The show has become dark, slow-moving, and even more self-involved. There are a few redeeming moments here and there, but the broad strokes the characters were painted in in season 1 are missing. Don's brilliance and steadfastness, Campbell's treachery, Rachel's depth and refreshing honesty -- that was what made the show go. The ins and outs of business, and the cycle of working for the Man, were not.

the chemistry between don and rachel really clinched the show for me last season as a "must watch." While rachel as a character was strong and admirable, what I found most compelling was what she brought out in don -- the dynamic between the 2 really highlighted what is so very appealing about sexy don - the scenes between him and rachel sizzled on so many levels.
(Contrast this to don's scenes this season with bobbie--which are about pure sex, but hold no real fire or passion, and are basically soulless)

Midge is gone because Don realized that she loved that hippie guy when he took their picture in Midge's apartment. Rachel is gone because she when Don asked her to run away with him, she told him he was a coward to leave his family.

Shortly after that, Don did the Kodak Carousel add and realized that his family was where he would find his happiness. Midge was fun and great sex. He bonded with Rachel because her mother died in childbirth, which she told him at lunch.

I like both their characters, but I don't see any reason for either one to come back into Don's life. Just like real life - you have close intense encounters with people, then you part and never see each other again.

Maybe there can be a crossover episode between "Sons of Anarchy" (new series Maggie Siff is on) and "Mad Men" where Rachel has a dream of Don in biker leathers on his new Harley with a fedora on, and they're traveling to Sturges, SD for a great reunion!

Rachel needs to return! She was a true woman of substance!

This show needs to do something because the women this season are flaky as hell!

Chopin47, you're dealing on a completely surface level. Midge is gone (if she is) because Don realized she's not what he's looking for. He said in one of the first episodes, "I can't decide if you have everything, or if you have nothing." He found the freedom in her life alluring, but at the end of the day, he decided that she had nothing, that her freedom was fake and frivolous.

Rachel isn't gone because she insulted him....and Don can never want a Kodiak family picture, not really....What people really want, and who they are, will ultimately dictate their choices.

I seem to remember Don speaking with someone who said Rachel had gone on a 3 or 4 month cruise to Europe? Did anyone else catch that? I think she will be back. She's on the first season DVD raving about her role. I wouldn't think they'd have her on there if it was only for 1 season.

strong & silent, you're right--- while don enjoyed midge's company, she was not "the one", whereas the relationship with rachel was built up in season 1 as a truly significant turning point in don's life.
from a storytelling perspective, it's really odd to then just "drop" the whole storyline, or ignore it as if it never existed.
chopin 47, it's one thing to have intense relationships in real life that never resume, but madmen is a story, an art form, and as a piece of fiction, where is the narrative arc of this intense buildup that occurred in season 1? from a viewers perspective, we're just left hanging.

"where is the narrative arc of this intense buildup that occurred in season 1? from a viewers perspective, we're just left hanging."

Yes kakes, that is exactly what I was attempting to say earlier but couldn't find the words. IMDB doesn't list a Rachel character for season 2. So maybe season 3....Mad Men seems to be successful enough it should be around for a while.

Kakes...thanks for articulating what I've been trying to say!

Rachel was a big part of season one, as a SC client and as Don's lover, and no mention at all this season? That does NOT smell right!

I miss Rachel too, she was too good for Don.

Sassy, that was last season when Don was speaking to Bert Cooper and Bert mentioned that Abe Mencken (Rachel's father) had called him. I think it was the last episode.

Even if the romance doesn't resume, there's still the matter of her store. Isn't Menken's still a client of Sterling Cooper? Otherwise why hasn't there been more talk about why they're no longer with the firm? The way Duck and Roger are on Don's ass this year, I can't imagine that they wouldn't constantly be throwing it in his face if she were no longer a client--even if they weren't completely aware of what happened between Rachel and Don. They'd be harping on it all the time. Especially the way Don complained about them losing Mohawk. Duck would take every opportunity he could to throw that in Don's face just to get even.

Even a few lines of dialog to explain how the remodel went would suffice. As it is, we don't even know if it was ever started, much less finished.

grinandbearit:

I think Duck was hired after Mencken's left SC. I think the father "fired" SC when he got wind of his daughter's affair with Don.

As Roger said, "Old business is just . . . old business."

@Gail Klein: Menken's never Sterling Coop! Abe Menken did call YodaBert, slyly telling him that Don was the reason Rachel would be cruising and could no longer oversee the renovations.

I meant Menken's never left SC!

Gail Klein:

I don't know. I believe they were technically still a client when Duck came on board. He may have only been there for a few weeks or even a few days, but I think Menken's was still there too. In any case, I'm sure Duck researched Sterling Cooper, and knew what was going on with them--what big projects they had in the works, and who their biggest clients were. While not a national account like Lucky Strike, Bethlehem Steel, or even American Airlines, Menken's was pretty big for a local account--approximately half of what American Airlines represented, and three times more than Mohawk.

Plus, Menken's wasn't really *old business*. It was a new project that they were implementing. And their first foray into retail. Had it been successful, it would have given them a good foothold in that arena, which was another one of the major advertising sectors of that time. Having a retail client would mean frequent buys in newspapers, as well as magazines, outdoor, radio, and some TV--a cash cow for an advertising agency. No way would they let something like that go so casually.

For the project to just be dropped without anyone offering any kind of explanation or cover story? It doesn't make sense. The fact that Menken's had already been approved, plans had been drawn up, and money had been spent, and then for it to just...disappear? There would be all kinds of talk and speculation. Especially the way those guys gossip and jockey for power in that office.

But we're not hearing anything. That, to me, is what's odd. What's the "official story?" What excuse did they use for the sudden cancellation of the project? I seriously doubt that Bert told the rest of the staff that Menken's fired Sterling Cooper because Don was diddling Rachel--even though some would have speculated as much, and I'm sure we would have heard the gossip about it, as well.

Right, Visan. All Cooper told Don was that Rachel would be "unavailable" for the next three months. That's an odd choice of words to use if what he really meant was that SC had been fired and the project was a no-go.

And what Kakes said about the big build-up is also true. Why create this intense storyline, and then just leave it dangling without any resolution?

I think she's going to be part of the BIG REVEAL. I just hope we don't have to wait until episode 12 to know what it is. The themes and motifs that I see recurring so far this season have been: fat, fertility, fatherhood, paternity and paternal guidance, fidelity, prostitution, mistakes and blunders, youth and newness, and...Lutece. So maybe Don's going to run into Rachel at Lutece, where she'll be dining with her new husband as they celebrate her pregnancy?

Rachel, ah, Rachel. How's this for a scenario?

Don takes Betty on his promised trip to Lutece. There they run into Rachel and her husband of about a year, who's a good guy but pales in comparison with manly-man Don. The juices start flowing between Don and Rachel as they talk briefly. SC still has the Menken's account and Rachel tells Don she has some issues that need to be cleared up. "Have your secretary call mine..." and they're off to the races. :-)

OK, I stand corrected. We'll see about Rachel -- they really have to explain what happened to Mencken's.

In James Hibberd's "The Live Feed" column, this Hollywood reporter had the following to say about the 45% ratings drop for madmen this season. (Apparently, in the latest ep, ratings went below the 1 million, which was what the numbers were at the end of last season):
"The wonderful-yet-glacial “Mad Men” continues to drain viewers. Not surprising. Scenes are playing like slice-o’-life character portraits rather than delivering on the zippy promise of the show's perfect pilot. It’s a ratings-draining phase that David Chase and David Milch sunk into late during the latter seasons of “The Sopranos” and “Deadwood,” respectively, forgoing the story-driven desires of viewers for frustrating realism -- indulgent moments that embrace 'story is character' to a sleepy degree."
(I say, bring Rachel back on-- and let the story viewers want play out!)

I totally agree, kakes. The magic ingredient that this season is missing is Rachel and the way she shed light on the real Don. She's really the only one who can call Don out on his sh**, and without her, he's just not as interesting. That skank-zilla, Bobbie, is no substitute for Rachel - she's having him explore a different part of himself, but it's the dark and nasty part. I was enjoying watching Betty grow stronger and standing up for herself, but that has stilted in the last couple episodes. In fact, everything seems to have stilted this season. I know that they promised this season was about revealing more about Don, but I'm not liking what we're seeing and the pace of it all.

I miss Rachel too! She had class. I hope she returns from her "cruise".

Donde es Rachel?

(Sorry about the bad high school English! Ha!)

I meant bad *high school Spanish*!

LMAO!

I meant "bad high school Spanish!"

Ha!

Dam!....I miss Rachel!...it was even good for the series. It would've been progressive for Don to 'hook up' more with Rachel (given the times)...she didn't need his money and she was an equal to him in alot of ways....I Miss Rachel!

Bobbie is just a ho! (Not the Actress!!!- she's just doing a part)...Bobbie just annoys me. Don is really 'slumming it' this season! I want to see Don hook up with his new Secretary and then have a power-play with Joan - lol Come on!!!!

Really this season is soooo lacking compared to last season at this point.

Rachel's definitely missed! The glimpse, I'll take! Wish it was more!

My guess is that Rachael's father pulled the account because he was displeased with the Don/Rachael relationship. However, I am glad to see her back and my bet is that she and Don will resume, despite her new marriage.

My guess is that Rachael's father pulled the account because he was displeased with the Don/Rachael relationship. However, I am glad to see her back and my bet is that she and Don will resume, despite her new marriage.

I can see Don/Rachel continuing maybe next season. (I'm keeping it real because Maggie Siff's starring in another show and that may push back more extensive appearances until next season!) Who knows?!

I was simply thrilled to see Rachel return, despite her corny-acting husband!

The Menken's account is now at Gray Advertising. In last night's episode, Don asks Rachel how it's going at that agency. I swear I could hear a gasp heard 'round the world when Don and Rachel ran into each other. Yes indeed, bring her back. She is much missed.

Why the hell did she have to go off and get married for cripes sake! And to this Mr. Peepers guy no less - Ick! I wonder if this is the guy her sister kept telling her about.

Just think about how very smart Don has to be to have come from his background and succeed as he has, even with the borrowed identity. He must be bored silly by Betty, so Rachael is the natural love of his life - smart, successful, an emotional and intellectual equal - she was irresistable to him. Then it turns out she is made of better stuff than he - has a moral code that he can't live up to - suddenly she's even more compelling than she was. He will never get over her and probably never have her. That explains the degradation of his alliance with Bobbie, who is street-smart, sexy, morally bankrupt and disgusting - but more interesting to him than his whiney wife. Betty is the right wife for him in those times - if it were now, his kind of superman could be married to an equally superior woman, but not back then. There weren't very many of them then, and most never married, or if they did, the man was always in the background, in a clearly lower level role.

I was delighted to see Rachael back. She is clearly too good for the likes of Don. However, so is Betty. Betty is a beautiful, naive woman making an honest commitment to her marriage. Don can't stay away from the seedy side of life (Bobbie) even though on some level, I believe he wants to. Rachael will take her marriage vows seriously. So will Betty. I loved the scene with the salt and the meatloaf. If Betty had any idea what Don is really doing when he isn't with her, she would be horrified. Betty has no real frame of reference for Don. She came from a loving, stable, privileged family. She wants a fairy tale marriage. Rachael and Betty are interesting women. Rachael knows him, Betty does not, but both are too good for him

Rachel got a rise out of Don like no other woman! She walked in and Bobbi, for all her freakery, was non-existent! Don's heart looked like it sank when he found out he drove Rachel to that mega-geek Tilden Katz!

I can root for Rachel and Don having an affair despite their marriages. But Don's too much of a slut to be married to a class act like Rachel!

Hooray for the Rachel sighting! I too noticed that when Rachel walked in the room, Don only had eyes for her. The shock of her marriage seemed to take a toll on him. I think his comment about not feeling anything says it all - he's gotten into this disgusting fling with Bobbie, maybe because he went numb after Rachel left and wanted to feel SOMETHING. It obviously is not working. He's not really happy with Betty, and the only time he let go was when he was with Rachel.

Plus they make a much more handsome couple than Rachel and the uuber-geek! Think of the gorgeous love-children they'd have together!