"Mad Men" New Business (TV Episode 2015) Poster

(TV Series)

(2015)

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7/10
Everything new is well-forgotten old
sportello2913 April 2015
'New Business' opens with Don in a cozy kitchen at Betty's house, making milkshakes for his kids. The scene is set out in a way, that is very nostalgic to the first seasons, as if Don and Betty were still together.

"Have a milkshake like everyone else dad!", - shouts Bobby, Don's middle son.

On his way out, Don briefly turns around to glance at the happy family together at the kitchen table.

Don's (recent) ex-wife Megan gets back into the picture and we see the couple finalizing their divorce papers. Megan is having money issues while her mother and sister seem to be deeply upset by the divorce and it's financial terms. Unfortunately we are yet to find out the reason of the divorce.

In a moment filled with a desire to get away from everything, Don hands Megan a check for a million dollars and tells her that he is sorry. Without saying a word, Megan walks away, again leaving Don completely alone.

In the meantime, Don keeps seeking out Diana, the waitress that first reminded him of Rachel, but now is his last connection to warmth and a feeling of belonging. Diana, overwhelmed with her own grief, asks Don to leave, most likely closing this storyline all together.

In parallel, Peggie feels threatened as a new photographer Pima shows prominence in creative work and has a very authoritative attitude, which Peggy is secretly jealous and envious about. In a serious of comic scenes Pima seduces Stan and even tries to flirt with Peggy.

Megan's mother, whilst arranging to steal all of Don's furtniture, reaches out to her old forgotten lover, Roger, who quickly comes to help pay for the move. In the mean time, the pair have sex in the apartment, eventually forcing Megan's mother to decide to leave her husband.

'New Business' is about loneliness and belonging. No matter how crowded Don's life might be, his day ends in a completely empty apartment.
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9/10
***1/2
edwagreen12 April 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Money can't buy happiness and revenge abounds in this very good episode.

Don befriends the waitress with a rather sad background and after spending the night with her, the conclusion here is not happy at all as we're dealing with a very troubled lady who delivers a very good performance.

Don's newly divorced wife comes with her mother to take her things out of the apartment. The mother goes ahead and empties out the entire apartment while having a tryst with Roger. Mother is frustrated and by episode's end she is intent upon leaving her husband.

It appeared that Peggy was about to enter into a lesbian like relationship with that artist. This doesn't come about.
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10/10
sadness
dollfacecrafter15 February 2019
Everything about this episode is sadness, people looking for love in all the wrong places, trying to find happiness..........Roger's mustache is horrendous, just saying
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6/10
1 Million Dollars? Common.
JoseBaldizon14 September 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Characters are acting super unrealistic. Diana leaving Don because she left her daughter? Not what a real person would do. Don giving his ex-wife a million dollars. Doesn't make sense, even for Don.

Sigh. Why does every good show have to drop off a cliff during their last season?
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5/10
More doom and gloom
dierregi9 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Possibly the saddest episode of the series. Don pursues his affair with creepy Diana, the depressed waitress with lots of baggage, who eventually dumps him in the space of a couple of days.

In the meanwhile, an embittered Megan, with her "career" going nowhere, disembark in New York with her sister and her mother Marie, to finalise her divorce and get her things.

Marie is probably the MM character I despise the most. A drunkard, bitter, slovenly woman who decides to steal all of Don's furniture, when Megan leaves her in charge of getting her things. Then, she promptly calls her part-time lover Roger to pay for the move and the two have sex in Don's empty apartment.

Where all the stolen furniture will be stored remains a mystery. Nobody needs it and somebody will have to waste time trying to sell it. A mighty stupid and petty move, even more so because Don decides to fork out a million $ to a bitter and resentful Megan. Inexplicable move, even if I can sympathise with the desire of getting rid of an ex-spouse, but surely nobody's is worth that much for a couple of years' service.

Also, it was Megan's decision to divorce, but from her tone, seems like it was the other way around and that she got to know about Don's indiscretions. Did I miss anything?

The episode ends with Don alone in his empty apartment and I wonder why the authors are hitting so hard on him, when a lot of other characters in the show are just as despicable (Marie, Harry, Megan, Joan at her worst, Pete, etc...)
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5/10
Could've been good
DrFreeman8614 April 2015
It surely had potential. Diana trying all those roles the former women in Dons life (except Betty who is again one of a kind for Don).

And the angle of the old things becoming "new business" again was surely promising.

But I dare say that the episode didn't deliver on any of its topics.

AND THE THING WITH THE MILLION DOLLAR CHEQUE IS SIMPLY STUPID AND FORCED.

Especially when you consider Dons humble upbringing.

I surely hope the rest of the season (aka the series finale) will improve drastically as "Waterloo" has indicated.
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Good
mckilloa27 November 2020
Good lit fire Don gets wit his new misso then she leaves him don very sad but he is chad
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5/10
No Business
TheFearmakers8 April 2024
Heading towards the end of the series, the entire thing has pretty much run out of gas. All the stories here seem like part of a failed spinoff, or rather, spinoffs, plural... Don and Megan had ended a long time ago, and as they continue to argue, at least Megan arguing with Don, it seems like overkill of an aftermath, or something...

Meanwhile, the whole story about the commercial director played my Mimi Rogers doesn't even seem like the same show. She's pointless. They wanted Stan to get his own story, but this one's not worthy of him...

And the worst yet it the continuation of Don and Diane, the most bizarre of Don's affairs... she too, seems like something from a different show, like everything else here...

When the only interesting scene has creepy Harry trying to seduce Megan, you know there's a problem.
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