Mad Men is a American TV show on the cable network AMC. It was created by Matthew Weiner, best known for working on The Sopranos.
For some reason I stopped watching the show after the 5th episode. Since the show has been renewed for a second season, and that second season premiered last Sunday, I felt obligated to watch the entire run. Well actually, I had planned on doing so. There are a couple of shows like that I haven’t yet had the time to watch, like the last season of the 4400, second season of Big Love.
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Pete is getting on dangerous territory. His fling with Peggy continues. The most significant part of this episode is that we see the origins of the Donald Draper character. His childhood. The episode title stems from a code that the hobos share amongst themselves. They are simply pictographs etched into gates in order to tell other hobos how the people in that house are.
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Both Pete and Peggy arrive early at work. He uses the opportunity to make another pass at her. They snog. They have sex in his office. He tells her that he didn’t have time to overlook her copy work. She says that it doesn’t matter.
Cooper wants to see Don. He gives him a check for 2500$. Cooper thinks that they are alike and wants him to read Ayn Rand.
The new operator Lois wants to see Sal. She finds him very attractive. Joanie gives her the lowdown, but doesn’t mention that he’s gay. His boys tell him that she was flirting with him.
Pete’s wife drops by. He’s being an ass again. They have a little tiff.
Don schools the Belle Jolie guys about their fresh new marketing approach. The guys are amazed in the way that he brought the owner into accepting their campaign. Don and the guys celebrate. They invite Peggy to share in the spoils.
Lois phones Sal to invite him to Peggy’s party.
Dan goes to see Midge. He wants to take her to Paris with his bonus money. She doesn’t want to go. She just wants to get high with her strange friends. Don remembers another scene from his past. His mother is generous with a traveler asking for food.
They hear the cops arrive. In his memories, he tells the bum that he’s a whore child. She’s not his mother. He tells Dick that on the front gate of every house there is a mark. He shows him the hobo codes that bums use. The traveler says that he abandoned a traditional lifestyle to travel the world.
Don takes a picture of Midge and Roy. When he looks at it, he realizes that Midge is in love with Roy. He signs over his bonus to Midge and leaves.
In his memories, Dick looks at the gate outside his house and sees the pictograph for a “dishonest man lives here” etched into it after he saw his father stiff the hobo out of a quarter for his work that he did on the farm.
One of the Belle Jolie guys asks Sal out for a drink. Sal rebuffs his advances and leaves.
The whole office is out to celebrate Peggy’s success. Lois notices that Sal is missing. Peggy is getting more self-confident and dances with the others. Pete just sits down and says nothing until she comes over and asks him to dance. Pete tells her that he doesn’t like her like this and leaves.
The next morning, Peggy notices that Pete doesn’t want to screw her. He left the party early last night. He’s jealous of her success, or something like that.
The episode ends with a shot of Don walking into his office. There is a close-up of his name, Donald Draper.
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