TV Geek Out 99: Mad Men, "My Old Kentucky Home"

Even by Mad Men's high standards, "My Old Kentucky Home" is one of the show's thematically richest episodes. The fall of the Roman Empire, the Roaring Twenties and the end of the world are all applied to the end of '50s and early '60s innocence, which is drawing ever nearer in Mad Men's world. We get more clues as to who will thrive as the '60s unfold (Peggy, who can still come up with a great concept while stoned) and who will be left behind (Roger, whose blackface rendition of the show's namesake song was show-stopping in all the wrong ways). On a lighter note, the season's all-singing, all-dancing edict continued with Joan's lovely rendition of Cole Porter's "C'Est Magnifique," which helped detract from her husband's ineptitude as a surgeon and spouse, and Pete and Trudy's ambitious Charleston number at Roger's party, which showed that Pete can dance and climb the ladder at the same time. And who could forget the impromptu, marijuana-fueled Tigertones reunion back at Sterling Cooper? This scene featured TV Geek Out Heather's current crush Miles Fisher as Paul's drug dealer friend Jeff; his American Psycho-themed video for his cover of David Byrne's "This Must Be the Place" further shows off his singing and affinity for preppy scum (he also has a free EP available on his website). The Geek Out Geeks enjoy some heavily symbolic old-fashioneds as we discuss all this and more here.