Raw Data: Man With a Plan

These are initial observations for Mad Men episode 6-07 "A Man with a Plan" written by Matthew Weiner and Semi Chellas.  Semi Chellas is credited on possibly the two most memorable episodes from last year "Far Away Places" which featured some unconventional scripting for Don and Megan's trip, as well as Roger's LSD trip.  The episode is directed by John Slattery in his fourth effort for the show.

This episode airs on Mother's Day so as a treat, Pete the Prince treats his mother horribly.  Brings to mind the night SCDP won the Clio ("Waldorf Stories") while the cast of Mad Men celebrated winning the Emmy for best dramatic series.  Even more "coincidental" the episode features an obtuse Life cereal client who thinks Don's pitch may be "too smart for regular folk."

• The episode ends on  June 5, 1968.  We know it's still between Mother's Day and then earlier in the episode when Ted drunkenly polls the staff.
• Pete's inferiority complex, often noted in his interactions with Don, comes full on when he kicks a girl out of a chair due to the perceived slight.  No one else, except for possibly Harry, would be so thin skinned about a crowded conference room.
• The look Joan gave when "ascending" was explained during the partners' meeting is worth a thousand conference room chairs.
• Is there anything on television more terrifying than the thought of Joanie being sick?
• It's the late 60s so Ted says "groovy" in a way, I want to say Ken, used lingo in the earlier seasons to mark the times.
• When you write a scene, there has to be conflict.  The partners' meeting does this in the dramatic and literal sense, as they root through conflicts of interest between the companies.  Conflict is immediate and strong.
• Burt Peterson, who I love simply because he averts this, hilariously gets fired again.
• Don's mid-day call from Sylvia, bringing to mind a similar call from Midget in season 1 which Peggy overhears
• I cannot figure out what the heck switch flipped in Don there.  The only scene of him alone prior to that in the episode is when he overhears the fight from the elevator.  Could that be it?
• Bob Bentsen does what Bob Bentsen does, which is introduce himself
• After last week, I wanted to believe he's sincere.  I want to, but I can't yet
• Possibly the titular "man with a plan" as posited by Joan's mom?
• Whatever his motivations, he is empathetic/sympathetic.  Much like Margarey Tyrell.  Even if she is playing everyone in King's Landing she is making it the better for it
• No surprise that Ted takes a different creative approach than Don.  Where Don looks for his team to come to him with an idea which he then tears apart, Ted does a groovy free association, which goes nowhere in this case. 
• Sylvia is reading Last Picture Show
• After being drunk under the table by Don (who also took an opportunity to essentially demote Peggy as well by asking her to set up a meeting), Ted gets to turn the tables and unsettle Don in the plane
• In "Waldorf Stories" which features the Clios, Chaugh remarks on Don and Roger's drinking, asking at the bar if they left any drinks for the rest of them.  It's clear on the second drink that Chaugh can't hang, but he still sets out to keep up with Don, which may indicate some insecurity with the new arrangement, despite engineering it 
• After losing Sylvie
• Don's numb to everything including the assasination and his wife's feelings
• He stands there in the hotel shocked and saddened
• This, I believe, I believe is a microcosm of what's coming with Matthew Weiner's end game  
• Part 2 on that tomorrow
• So groovy now
• According to Wikipedia, this song debuted the day before the RFK assassination and rose to #1 that summer

Hey everyone, just a reminder that Joan's kid is Roger's and that Peggy and Pete have a kid together too.