@avclub-705562aaa4a5b85bfa44373d8e6bf234:disqus I don't think Don's really much more self-aware than these other characters at all. He's very easily sucked in by his own ad copy. This is the guy who married Megan convinced that the right wife would make him the man he wanted to be and that he wouldn't have thrown it…

He was just her nephew. He was just also the same age as Peggy's baby, which is why he made for a convenient focus when the baby came up—it also tricked people into thinking he was Peggy's baby. But when we saw Peggy in the hospital they revealed that her sister was also pregnant at the same time. Peggy's baby was…

Why would it be evil?

@paraclete_pizza:disqus But those two situations are also completely different. Don wants Sylvia there waiting for him because she's his mistress. He's keeping people waiting at work because he prefers to be in his controlled situation there.

To an extent yes, he doesn't want to be hassled. But she needed to stay inside and this was a way to keep her inside. I think it was efficient. He is basically being altruistic by leaving work etc. to take responsibility for her, but yes his attitude is far from pleased about it. There's no love lost between them…

@avclub-705562aaa4a5b85bfa44373d8e6bf234:disqus Yes, it's been established that Pete's parents never loved him. That's pretty much the center of Pete's problems. In an earlier episode Bud even jokes with Pete by saying that his mother had nice things to say about him over the phone and when Pete falls for it Bud says,…

I don't think it was callous. He wasn't breaking it to her gently, but he was just correcting her (he thought). Impatient, maybe, but his mother didn't seem hurt by it.

He isn't tormenting his mother. He's the one taking care of her.

Seriously. I see no problem with a little satisfaction that he found something that worked. It's not even like this was a woman who was caring to him before she had dementia. It's not like he was teasing her just for kicks like Don and Ted.

@avclub-e4892f3d26bd080e9e0ee52a8484de55:disqus Pam has said clearly that she doesn't want to move to Philly and doesn't want Jim to take off for Athlead. She was happy with him being back in Scranton. She hasn't been cut out of the decision-making process. The only time she was cut out was when Jim originally said he…

I could swear MW actually has described Pete as being more of a Roosevelt Democrat rather than a Rockefeller Republican.

@disqus_okgItcD0yy:disqus I disagree about the "boring" bit. When I saw the first conversation they had about Athlead Jim already seemed obviously conflicted about the situation there. If he hadn't been he would have happily agreed with Pam about their "boring" life. He was already feeling like he was missing his…

You know he didn't invest the money without asking Pam, right? I couldn't tell from how it was written in the sentence and many people insist he did that when he didn't.

But we saw Jim clearly energized by Athlead and we saw him genuinely despondent and never getting a chance to make anything himself. There's no real reason he should have to choose between having a fulfilling job that he's proud of fairly close to where he lives now, a job that's even better financially than the one…

But Bert, Joan and Pete knew the had to get the rest of the partners on board. None of them would have considered just making the company public over dinner without telling anyone else until it was done (even if they could).

I think it was more the details of the scene. The fact that she's black stands out to Pete because he's white—just as it would for Tom and Trudy (and most of society still). (Racism!) I don't think it was personal disapproval of Tom's taste so much as advertising Tom's taste.

Pete's been hustling like crazy for a while. Losing Vicks is a blow but he still brings in business.

He made that clear to her by showing up, but I don't think he was threatening to tell her bosses at all. Still rape, though, since she no doubt felt like she had to say yes. If she said no…it might have escalated to threat.

Since I don't have it handy, what do they say that indicates the company would go under without Jaguar so Joan is saving it? I know they really want it, but was it Jaguar or bust?

I really don't think the company was sinking in that moment.