Betty sitting in the bar alone: the look on her face just haunted me. She was in her beautiful brocade suit, looking stunningly gorgeous, a drink in one hand, cigarette in the other, and completely alone. The expression on Betty's face and in her eyes reflected it all: lost, lonely, sad and bereft of love.

That was a good one, jamm, Betty, there, alone in a crowd.

It's hard to choose, but I keep remembering the scene at the very end, of Don/Dick in the ocean, as if a baptism...being washed clean and pure.

Also, (can't make up my mind!)---
The "confession" scene between Peggy and Pete...I've never EVER seen better acting from any actor or actress in either TV or movies than that.
Spectacular.

So many others...how can one really narrow it down, when Mad Men is so full of beautifully crafted scenes...but those two stand out to me.

I don’t even have to think about it, the scene from “The Mountain King”. As Dick and Anna sat facing each other on the couch in front of the window everything is soft, the colors in the room, the beams of sunlight through Anna’s hair and especially Dick face. Dick was telling Anna about meeting Betty and how in love he was with her. I was astounded at that exact moment how Jon Ham’s whole face softened to the mood of the room. Yes, his body language also gave way to a little boys “first love” but I was startled at how his face was not Don Draper.

Excellent post, jamm54! ;o)
I have to say my favorite scene from Season 2 had to be when Mona came into Don's office and said Roger was leaving her for a SECRETARY!! We were all thinking Joan? Then the look on Don's face when he noticed it was Jane! Don - the man who leaves us all speechless...was standing there speechless. The rage and disgust when he finally found his words..."Get her off my desk!" I'm still left with questions on Don's take of this situation... Cheers! ;o)

Other than my lousy proofreading skills (i.e. after it was all over), I found there were a multitude of scenes that stayed with me. Overall, though, Betty's disillusionment and heartbreak in her discoveries about Don's character were palpably sad. The hits just kept coming at Betty all season long.

The Peggy and Pete confession scene was a shattering moment. Even I was crying for weasely Pete. While it released Peggy from the past, I felt it broke Pete.

Overall, I am in awe of the fantastic writing and acting in this series. To enjoy writing at this level is wonderful to watch. The acting is superb! How the actors are able to portray their characters in alternating sympathetic and despicable lights is a testament to their acting abilities. Stunning.....

From Season 1, the scene that always stayed with me was Don going to Adam's apartment (5G), and rejecting him as Adam is crying on Don's shoulder. Very, very heartbreaking.

D&S: yes, that was a great scene. Don's moral outrage and disgust struck me as rather hysterical, considering Don's past behavior. But, what the hell, his anger may have been more about Roger's lapse of judgment and stupidity than anything else....

485Madison: What was such a revelation for me about Don from The Mountain King episode was his tenderness and sweetness when he was talking about Betty. It's like his heart burst wide open for all the world to see, quite the antithesis of the usual Don Draper persona: guarded and unemotional.

Jamm54!
I have to add to your description of Betty at the bar(for me) was the look on her face, especially her lips of her strong desire for a payback! Which to me set the scene of her going through with it! Great scence and great post...
My favorite scene is the loneliness Bobby picked up in his father, Jon. As he stood in the doorway questioning his father about his relationship with his father. When that little boy said, "well we have to get you a new Daddy" and they hugged, wow that did it for me. Tears well in my eyes and my heart is full still. It was so tender and a real example of how a child's eye can surprise you. I was really taken aback!

I think one of the most powerful and intense scenes of the season was when Duck took Chauncy and put him out on the street. It was almost too painful to watch; so many emotions expressed in just a few seconds, and with no dialogue, just genius, there's no other word. Duck's despair, humiliation, anger, completely severing ties with his children and, by extension his "life raft" in life; the scene was even more shocking coming not too long after the scene in which Duck starts to take a drink, sees the dog watching him and changes his mind. He's pretty much crossed a line now, in which he'll do almost anything to win. Just like Don, when he took the dog tags off the dead body.

Yes, kids are so intuitive, and almost psychic. They pick up on the nonverbal cues and feelings swirling around them from the adults. Can't hide anything from kids unless you're a great actor and really working at it. I think it's because their language skills/intellect are not fully developed yet, so they're still winging it with nonverbal signs.

While Don's look and attitude while revealing his love for Betty to Anna in The Mountain King was great, I liked preferred the scene when they were on the back porch, just talking.

He's totally relaxed, comfortable with her, not trying to prove or be anything but himself. In some ways she's much closer to him than Betty is. Or probably ever will be.

Other great scenes:
Six Months LeaveAfter Don punches Jimmy B. and they're, ahem, asked to leave, Roger and he philosophize at a bar - "...marriage is an unnatural state, don't know why we do it..."

I agree with D&S that the scene in the same episode beginning with Mona entering Don's office and ending with "I want her off my desk," was great. Came out of nowhere and totally blew me away.

The scenes of Betty falling apart, dealing with the truth of what Jimmy said.

BTW, getting Jane off his desk would eliminate his secrets being communicated to Roger. Peggy learned about Midge and only told Joan. Joan made an obvious conclusion when Don's door locked after Bobbie entered. If Jane had been in on his desk at the time of either incident...

The scene of Betty setting up Sarah Beth with Arthur Case (the smirk on Betty's face as she leaves Arthur) and then slamming her when Sarah Beth confesses her infatuation and, well, you know, with Arthur.

And of course, Meditations when Don stuffs a Duck.

The Chauncey abandonment scene certainly stirred up alot of outrage from the posters on the forum. That was one of the most hotly debated scenes for quite a long time. Duck casting off a defenseless animal struck quite a nerve.

Ritt: Good one - Don stuffs a Duck! Yes, he certainly did! Is Duck coming back next season? I can't imagine the Brits didn't immediately toss him to the curb after that business faux pas.

I have to comment, my friends kept telling me the movie, "Revolutionary Road" was a real downer. I didn't see it as a downer at all. To me, it was a day in the life of "Mad Men"!
I did enjoy "Revolutionary Road" because of the reference. Are we maddicts real martirs? I get such fulfillment just experiencing these characters' stories (that quiet desperation)! Do you all?

Scenes of Don with his children always come back to me, especially the ones with Sally watching while he shaves and, as mentioned by Nora, Bobby in the doorway.

I was also affected by the scene of Freddie wetting himself in front of Peggy, Pete and Sal. An obvious alcoholic, among so many potential alcoholics at SC, including Pete. I don't know that we have seen Pete drink all that much, and he certainly showed plenty of disgust over Freddie, but I think Pete has the potential to become another Duck. A secret drinker trying to buffer himself from life's disappointments and his own failures.

I also always remember Sal and poor Kitty when she asked if he even saw her there. I hope the next season gives us more of them, and doesn't leave that storyline hanging.

I almost forgot another one -- when Betty throws up in Don's new car.

I read Revolutionary Road, and saw the film. I'll take the book over the film only because watching it was just so unrelentingly depressing. At least in MadMen there are moments of humor mixed in with the tragedy. RR was one long slide toward suicide for me - just couldn't take it.

I guess I like my stories ending with a moral point or a moment of enlightenment/clarity about life. Maybe that's why I love Dickens so much. In RR, I didn't see that - it seemed like Frank missed the aha! moment of what had driven his wife to such despair, and what he had become.

Oh yes!
I have to add to my favorites list! When Betty broke down that chair. It said it all. It was so mechanical as she did it...the quiet rage inside of her...the children, both turning to see her and mechanically turning back to the t.v. set...her picking up the pieces neatly like a handyman cleaning after a day's work...I have to tell you, when I saw that scene (besides all the references made to it on the forum), I watched with utter enjoyment, because it was all said in one simple act with kids on board and everything. I thought it was an excellent scene!
And, of course, I wailed, when it was parodied and the chair was personified:
Chair: O.K. get it over with already. Put me under the wheels of the next door neighbor's car!!!
Oh Gosh!
I just thought of another one! How about when Duck told his kids to drink hot chocolate on a steamy New York 90 degree day!
When it was parodied, Duck was caught saying, "hot chocolate, blankets anyone?" "I know" (when it's 90 outside).
Sorry, but it made me laugh out loud last summer as I was driving on a hot day on the 405 and my car's a/c was broken. All I could hear were these words, "Blankets, hot chocolate anyone, I know!"
This show is too much. Ha,ha,ha!

Well, jamm54,
As a tribute to Mad Men, Revolutionary Road would have been half an episode on our fantastically written show!
It didn't depress me! I'm a martyr.

This wasn't actually my favorite scene but I was shocked when Don and Betty littered in the park. I had forgotten how casually people littered back then. (remember don't be a litterbug?) Just another example of the genius of Matt Weiner.

I had forgotten about the littering in the park, Chelsea! ;o) I'm surprised someone hasn't mentioned dinner at Lutuce. The scene with Don and Bobbi in the lobby - definately a jaw dropping moment that will go down in the books. Cheers! ;o)

D&S: I forgot about the Lutece scene! Definitely not a five finger exercise for Don.....

Hi Drink&Smoke where have you been keeping yourself? I liked the one where Carol Burnett....just kidding.

@Jamm54 I agree with your first post about Betty lost and lonely in the bar.... but not for long because of the handsome stranger .... well you know the rest. That one I will remember ...

I don't know how I could have forgotten this as discussing it now reminds me of how horrified I was when I first watched it. I am speaking, of course, of the dreadful doctor's treatment of the lovely Joan in Don's office. Just watching her face as she allows that @#$%& to rape her and then take her to dinner after is heart wrenching. Then there was the subsequent scene with Peggy so happy about her new office while you can see Joan trying to convince herself that life as the rat doctor's wife will be all that she dreams of.

This wonderful work of art, Mad Men - golden, just golden.

Chelsea, I love your sense of humor! Cheers! ;o)

Pete, alone in the dark, with the gun...

Funny that zerelda and Auburn Annie should mention two other scenes that I was debating over. Joan's rape (and the subsequent traffic background noise which gave it the aura of an out-of-body, remembrance of a previous experience) was a toss-up with Betty's solitary foray into that Manhattan bar.

Pete in the dark with his rifle at attention for whatever he thought was coming also stuck with me. In fact, I'm still mystified by that scene, to tell the truth. Had Pete lost it and immediately took up arms after Peggy's confession as a means of comforting himself or making himself feel stronger? Was it really about the Cuban Missile Crisis or a primtive defense of what was left of his manhood?

For me, it will be Freddy playing Mozart on his zipper.

Oh, wow, Nancy...how could no one have not mentioned that one before now???

I loved it, too.

I liked the whole last two epis, because it seems a lot of people finally grew up. Peggy cast off her "guilt' and it landed right on Pete. Don admitted that he had wronged Betty and apologized. Betty came face to face with the limitations of marriage. Peggy told the priest that she didn't accept his version of God. Betty and Don will try to forge ahead, now that (almost)everything is out on the table.

Jamm54..Chauncey's abandonment had me yelling at the TV and was probably the main thing that set Duck up as why we hate him.

485Madison....I loved the expression Anna used when Dick told her of Betty .."your in the lavendar haze". Know the feeling and loved the discription.

D&S...I have watched that scene when Don tells Roger "I want her off my desk" so many times. Watching Don to see him realize that the secretary was Jane, the first time I watched, it so came out of nowhere.

Z...Joan getting raped, her face smashed to the side,you know she just wants it to hurry and be over. When Peggy tells her how handsome he is
I expected her to just say thank you and not to go on speaking about him in a positive way. That tells for some reason she thinks he's the best she can do.

Ritt..Betty setting up Sarah Beth haunts me but I understand her thinking. The set up was to get Arthur off the scent of Betty and give him a more willing victim. She knew SB could say no, but it wouldn't be easy.

This show has the best writers and a whole lot of life experiences they must pull from God knows where.

In my opinion, the Peggy and Pete scene during the Cuban Missile Crisis was the masterpiece of Season Two, which was superb overall. Spectacular writing, magnificent acting. Pete's face and reaction broke my heart but at the same time I was applauding Peggy coming of age and taking complete ownership of that situation with their baby. It made me cry.

Freddy was such a great character in Season 2. The zipper scene - leading to the pissing his pants scene - leading to the under cover gambling scene - leading to his admiration of Don. Don and Roger hated letting Freddy go, but they had to do it in order to give him a wake up call. I'm glad Weiner is going to bring Freddy back but not without us all wondering - "where and when?" Freddy, what's going to happen with Freddy...Cheers! ;o)

Freddie Rumsen is coming back? I hadn't heard that before. I often thought they might do a flashback scene of Don's early days at Sterling Cooper; always felt Freddie may have been a mentor to Don in the past.

Yay, Freddie!

I hope he comes back and gets the job vacated by Duck.

I looked up MadMen on Wikipedia, and in their description of the Freddy Rumsen character/storyline, and a synopsis of the scene where he peed on himself in the office, they referred to it as a petit mal seizure. Is Wikipedia inferring that Freddy had epilepsy? I always thought that accident happened because of his alcoholism and a drinking binge the night before.

me, too, jamm.

me, too, jamm.

oops

Question, was Freddie fired or just sent away to dry out? If he was fired then they wouldn't take him back, but if he was rehabbing (is that a word?) I would think the Mad Men would give him a second chance. That would be an interesting storyline too. To see how long he behaves.... I could also imagine him sneaking a few drinks here and there

The scene at the stables, Arthur has just tried to hit on Betty, ( she wants him to, of course) and she plays it so cool then she goes out and is shaking like crazy as she's lighting her cigarette. January Jones should have won the EMMY for that performance alone. Her character development in season 2 was phenomenal, and she clearly had the acting chops to do the job.That scene is the key to what happens in the finale. Runner-up is Don in the finale at the stables . Watch them. this scene is all about transfer of power. I'm not sure how we are going to feel about either Don or Betty in season 3, but I can't wait to find out.

Yes kathiemarie good analogy. I think it kind of shows how jaded Betty is becoming to set her "friend" up like that. And it also shows how angry she is becoming. But her anger gave her strenth to throw Don out.

Reminder:
Tonight Season2, ep 1- Yay!

My favorite scene was when Don revealed that he didn't "have a contract" w/Sterling Cooper, thereby spoiling all of Duck's grandiose plans.

Another: When Bobbie and Don were in bed and she told him about how other women gossiped about his prowness and he got mad and tied her to the bedposts -thus ending their hideous affair!