The Phantom (10 Jun. 2012)

As the partners consider expanding the office space, Don begins seeing ghosts and gets a request to advance Megan's acting career. Meanwhile, Peter's affair comes to a disappointing end, and Megan's mom briefly reunites with Roger.

Director:

Matthew Weiner

Writers:

Matthew Weiner (creator), Jonathan Igla,

Stars:

Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jon Hamm	...	Don Draper
Elisabeth Moss	...	Peggy Olson
Vincent Kartheiser	...	Pete Campbell
January Jones	...	Betty Francis (credit only)
Christina Hendricks	...	Joan Harris
Jared Harris	...	Lane Pryce (credit only)
Aaron Staton	...	Ken Cosgrove
Rich Sommer	...	Harry Crane
Kiernan Shipka	...	Sally Draper (credit only)
Jessica Paré	...	Megan Draper
Christopher Stanley	...	Henry Francis (credit only)
Jay R. Ferguson	...	Stan Rizzo
Robert Morse	...	Bertram Cooper
John Slattery	...	Roger Sterling
Alison Brie	...	Trudy Campbell

Storyline

Among those who are depressed about their lives are Megan, Pete and Beth. Beyond getting what she believes are obscene phone calls, Megan is feeling that her acting career is going nowhere, especially after being duped by an unscrupulous agency who filmed a screen test for her. She feels she gets little support from her visiting mother, Marie, and Don. She uses a request from her acting friend Emily to what she hopes will be her own advantage, but she will need some help from Don to achieve her end goal, which he may not be willing to provide. Pete is still restless in his life, even more so when he sees Beth again, this time with Howard on the commuter train. He learns from Beth to where she is going which is directly related to her own depression. Her ultimate destination continues the vicious cycle which is her life. She hopes that Pete will be at least a minor sanctuary from that life. Meanwhile, Don, who refuses to see a dentist about a chronic toothache, continually sees visions...

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Plot Keywords:

dentist | toothache | shock therapy | lingerie slip | blue panties | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

10 June 2012 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Center Studios - 450 S. Bixel Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate Television, Weiner Bros.

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

Near the end of the episode in a motel, Peggy appears to have come out of the shower - hair wet and in a robe. She looks outside the window then sits on the bed and stretches out her legs. The bottom of her feet are too dirty for her to have had a shower.

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Quotes

Pete Campbell: He got involved with another man's wife. He needed to let off some steam, he needed adventure, he needed to feel handsome again. He needed to feel that he knew something, that all this aging was worth something because he knew things young people didn't know yet. He probably thought it would be like having a few tall drinks and feeling very very good and then he would go back to his life and say, "that was nice". When it went away, he was heartbroken, and then he realized everything he already ...

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Connections

References You Only Live Twice (1967)

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Soundtracks

"You Only Live Twice"
(uncredited)
Music by John Barry
Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse
Performed by Nancy Sinatra

User Reviews

a fitting end to a fantastic season

And so, the fifth season of Mad Men has come to a close. But not before some major changes occurred and we were able to loop everything around to a proper close. The two weeks before the finale we had Joan becoming a partner, Peggy leaving for another company, and Lane killing himself in his office. With all of this happening in such short span of time, it was fitting that the finale served as a way for the audience to understand the state of our characters moving forward.

We'll start with Joan. Following the death of Lane, there are some somber business meetings that all of the partners have. Lane's skeptical voice about plans is missing from the group and when the meeting rolls too smoothly, Joan feels she must object, as she remembers that Lane would probably tell the group that they should hold onto money right now and worry more about continuing success before investing in…say more office space. Joan has clearly been affected by Lane's death, showing even more when she comments to Don later in the episode that she should have just let him have what he wanted. When Don questions what that might be, she gives him the glare of "he wanted this, but he wasn't getting' none." Clearly, this enforces the notion hat Joan believes her sleeping with Lane may have stopped him from killing himself.

Meanwhile, Roger Sterling once again seems rather unaffected by the latest development. While everyone else is in a state of shock, Roger is busy seducing Megan's mother into sex and trying to take LSD with her. He comments to her that he is surprised Lane would kill himself, because he sees it that Lane had to have thought where he was going would have to be better than where he was. How could death be better than life, sex, and drugs? I suppose it is something that Roger feels he should contemplate over another LSD experience, as we see hims standing with his arms raised, looking out the window, completely naked as the episode comes to an end.

Pete Campbell is another story altogether. Increasingly more and more nauseating through this season, Pete runs into Beth on the train one morning and is told by her husband that she is going to be visiting her sister for a few weeks. But when he gets to the office, Pete gets a phone call from Beth asking him to meet her at the hotel he once tried to rendezvous. Pete scoffs the idea on the phone and finds himself angry as he walks into the hotel room where Beth is staying. Beth asks why he just didn't come if it was going to make him so angry, to which Pete replies "you know I couldn't." Pete is obsessed with Beth and can't deny it even a little.

To read the rest of the review (IMDb form is too short) visit: http://custodianfilmcritic.com/mad-men-5-13-the-phantom/