Mad Men/Awesome

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Roger Sterling reading Pete Campbell the riot act in 1.04: "You live and die in this man's shadow, understand?"
  • Betty shooting her neighbor's pigeons in 1.10 after he threatens to kill Sally's dog.
  • Don Draper gets his in the Season 1 finale, during a sales pitch for a slide projector. It's a lot Better Than It Sounds. Really.
    • Bert Cooper, Four Words: "Mr. Campbell, who cares?"
  • Don does it again in the season 2 finale. His agency rival "Duck" has engineered the sale of Sterling-Cooper to a British ad company, a move that has left Duck as the new president of the agency. He tells Don that he has two choices now: either knuckle under to Duck, or find a job outside of advertising since he would have a non-compete clause in his contract. Don waits just a perfect beat, and drops the bomb: "Duck, I don't HAVE a contract."
  • In true Magnificent Bastard fashion, Bert Cooper has another CMOA that's a complete reversal of the "Who cares?" moment noted above, when he oh so subtly blackmails Don into signing the contract he'd earlier bragged about not having. "Would you say I know something about you, Don? When it comes down to it, who's really signing this contract?" Just to put that in perspective, it means that Cooper took the information Pete gave him in season one and filed it away for nearly three years, saving it for when he actually needed to use it. This is what separates the Magnificent Bastards like Bert from the Smug Snakes like Pete.
    • Not bad for a guy whose balls were cut off in an unnecessary surgery years before as we learn in The Suitcase".
  • "The cops... you can't go out there." "You can't."
  • Campbell vs. Cosgrove, both being assigned the same position. Blue-blood vs. red-blood.
  • Betty finally shows she has balls and confronts her husband about his past life. "You know I know what's in there".
  • Pretty much the entirety of "Shut the Door, Have a Seat," with the exception of the Don and Betty scenes

Pryce: Happy Christmas!

    • "Joan. What a good idea."
    • " Hello, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, how may I help you?"
    • Don't forget, "Peggy, get me coffee." "No."
  • "When it comes down to it, who's really signing this contract anyway?"
  • Joan clocking her rapist husband Greg upside the head with a vase.
  • Don's Kansas City Shuffle to get a rival ad agency to bankrupt themselves and ruin their relationship with Honda.
  • Don ripping his button down shirt off when he thinks he's having a heart attack. Ok, maybe Jon Hamm should be Superman.
  • Dr. Miller becoming one of the few women on the show to see Don for what he is and turn down one of his come-ons.
  • Peggy getting "liberated" in "Waldorf Stories" and winning a game of strip-chicken with Rizzo. Balls. Of. Steel.
  • Peggy calling out Don after his post-Clio drunken binge.
  • Don's full page letter in the New York Times, venomously condemning big tobacco for the death merchants they are, followed by listing all the agencies who will still work with them. Now that's how you change with the times.
  • Faye calling Don out on only liking "the beginnings of things."
  • Ken's refusal to use his future father-in-law to create more business for Sterling Cooper Draper Price.
    • "I'm not Campbell."
  • Pete calling Roger out after he insults the Japanese.
  • Pete closing the deal with Mohawk, and rubbing it in Roger's face after Roger had kept trying to horn in on the deal.
  • From 5x3:
    • Peggy effectively shaking Roger down for $400 in spite of the fact that he can fire her.
    • Don responding to his subconscious' attempt to get him to cheat on Megan with lethal force. It's horrifying in context though.
    • Joan telling Greg to leave and never come back, followed by her finally calling him out for raping her.
  • In "Signal 30":
    • Don giving Pete a What the Hell, Hero? speech for cheating on Trudy with a prostitute.
    • Lane beating the crap out of Pete in a fair fist fight.
  • Cooper telling Don that his "love leave" is over.

Don: It's none of your business.
Cooper: This is my business.

  • Don and Megan saving the Heinz account at the last minute.
  • Megan's dad, Dr. Emil Calvet a Marxist professor and writer needling Pete at the awards dinner about what he does all day at SDCP. Pete then tells Calvet what a literary trailblazer he is and that the world would be better off knowing about his work and Calvet is flattered. Pete then says "That Emil, is what I do every day!" After realizing he's been fooled Calvet can't help but laugh.
  • Don and Peggy having an argument at the Cool Whip testing place and Peggy telling Don to shut up.
  • Don expertly parrying Betty's attempt to turn Sally against him with his true past, followed by Sally pointedly letting her know how much she failed.
    • Megan gets one in the same episode as well when Sally confronted her with what Betty told her. This troper found it so cool that Megan didn't badmouth Betty directly to Sally or the kids, even though she probably wanted to strangle Betty, yet told Sally "I'm your friend." More later when she stops Don from calling Betty to complain, telling him that it would be giving Betty the attention and drama she was craving.
  • Don giving a Rousing Speech to the SDCP employees to work hard during the Christmas season to get the Jaguar account.
  • After being taken for granted by Don again, Peggy quits for a higher paying job at another agency and says goodbye to him ("Don't be a stranger.") She takes one final look at the SDCP offices and smiles before stepping into the elevator as the Kinks "You Really Got Me" plays on the soundtrack.
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