re: Mad Men Season 7 Episode 4 "The Monolith"

And damn. I legitimately feel bad for Roger. I mean what she said was the cold hard truth for him, but damn.

Freddie Rumsen doing work.

Hope Don goes on a creative tear, gets the partners' attention, then leaves for a competitor.

I hope roger takes this fallout with his daughter hard and uses it as jump into a battle with Cutler and cooper. Also Ginsberg needs more airtime he's the man

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And riding along on a carousel to end the show

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Nice catch!

There were a lot of interesting things in that episode, especially due to the looming presence of the computer.

The episode title, "The Monolith," makes me think of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Don initially tries to throw the typewriter out the window, but ends up embracing it as a tool by the end of the episode.

I'm not yet sure what to think of the title to episode 8 - Waterloo.

Man I love this show.

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The episode title, "The Monolith," makes me think of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Don initially tries to throw the typewriter out the window, but ends up embracing it as a tool by the end of the episode.

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Also I think it refers to Don's evolution. And also the computer coming into the office.

Bert sure was quick to toss aside one of the men who helped build his inept arse into a successful business man. Can't believe be took such a low shot at Lane like that.

Roger and Don are both in need of a win. I feel like Weiner has been riding this wave of successes and failures back and forth for Don and with the ending of the series approaching he has to make a choice of direction one way or another right? Can't see them winding up the series with a question mark. Or maybe that would be sticking to form for this brilliant show.

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Bert sure was quick to toss aside one of the men who helped build his inept arse into a successful business man

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Not sure how I feel about Bert's comments because I've always felt his characterization to be the most inconsistent of the main cast since the show started. However, Bert is far from an "inept arse." He and Roger's dad founded the original Sterling Cooper post WWI. I'm pretty sure he was the media guy as they've often made comparisons between him and Harry. Having Don work at the agency was certainly a boon for Sterling Cooper, but it was a very successful firm long before he ever came along and, as best we can tell, Cooper is a large part of that (granted, I think Bert's sister put up the money at the beginning because she's referenced occasionally as well).

Having said all of that, I do think I was most surprised by Bert's response to Don. Peggy has always shown herself to be petty and think the world revolves around her; Bert, on the other hand, has often been a voice of reason. From the outstanding "who cares" response to Pete's reveal about Dick Whitman to getting Don to sign a contract to kicking Don's arse a bit when he was all about Megan; Bert has usually been completely on-point when it comes to business decisions (he also helped organize the IPO before Don pissed off Jaguar/Chevy and the merger).

I think the fourth season without an office suggested that Bert wasn't useful at all to the firm (doing crosswords with Mrs. Blankenship, sitting in the boardroom as partner meeting occurs outside), but he's since taken on a bit more active role in firm events.

I guess my complaint - and probably by Weiner's design - is how callously everyone outside of Pete , Roger, and some of creative have cut all ties with Don. Was the Hershey freak out really that much worse than just going MIA in California for a month?

I'm hoping for some sort of redemptive arc for Don but not sure how it's going to happen at the current Sterling Cooper. Freddie Crane (I forget his character name) said it best when they were packing up the creative room, that's what made the firm different. Considering Don has been THE creative force on the show, how will he succeed when his own importance is so diminished now?

TL;DR - Bert Cooper was an arse in the episode, but don't call him an inept arse when it comes to his business savvy.

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Roger may have been an absentee father but what Margaret is doing to Ellery - flat out abandoning him - is way worse than anything Roger may have done.

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Agreed, but I think the point was to show that Roger's actions were deleterious. She's worse than him because of him.