Sometimes the joy of a great Mad Men is when it feels like the episode could completely collapse halfway through and end up a confused failure. And then, by the end, you know they've somehow pulled it off goddammit and made another brilliant one.

I remember the experience of watching that episode as one of supreme indifference and bewilderment that it made air. A different kind of bad than "Fire + Water", which was frustrating on a character level. Didn't I read that they made it bad kind of on purpose as leverage with ABC for end-of-show negotiations?

I'm personally a big fan of the Ken subplot in "Signal 30". Also, I love the little arc Harry has at the end of Season One that culminates in him leaving the carousel presentation in tears.

Yeah, I've listened to this one twice and I still do not know what to make of it. Lyrically, it actually does seem to be a step up for Gibbard. For the past few years, I think his idea of maturing his songwriting has been to write in a very plain unlayered way. It is the sound on this album that never really takes off…