This is the full, human-edited transcription of Mad Men C to Z's podcast about Season 5, Episode 9: Dark Shadows. Although many podcast providers include AI transcription (including Spotify), there are often errors in name spellings, punctuation, or even speaker recognition.
You can listen to the podcast episode here.
Visit our Mad Men S5E9 Dark Shadows episode page, for more details and a chance to vote on your favorite Sterling Lines, and vote on our Double Dip question.

Mad Men C to Z S5E9 Dark Shadows Transcript 
 
Jenna: Hi, I'm Jenna.
Steve: And I'm Steve. Welcome to All Things Mad Men, from Chip and Dip to Zou Bisou.
 
Jenna: There's so much to love about this amazing show, and we're happy to connect to fans like us, who discover new things with each rewatch.
 
Steve: Be advised, while we aren't gratuitous with spoilers, they can pop up as we discuss character arcs through the final season.
Let's get started with Mad Men C to Z.
 
Jenna: This is Mad Men C to Z, Season 5, Episode 9, Dark Shadows. This episode was written by Erin Levy, and directed by Scott Hornbacher.
 
Steve: The episode kicks off with Betty in the kitchen preparing a very healthy breakfast.
 
Jenna: In the commentary, Matthew Weiner talks about their researchers checking Weight Watchers, and getting these details to be really accurate.
And I looked up some of the guidance from the 1966 cookbook, and portion control and eating a lot of fish each week, and eating either an orange or a grapefruit daily was part of it.
 
I normally love a montage about the underdog and the hard work that doesn't happen overnight. I mean, Rocky Balboa, right? But this is Betty Draper . . . Francis . . . Manfredjensen.  [Laughing]
I have some sympathy for her, but her struggle to lose weight just isn't a compelling storyline. And we see a lot of it in this episode.

This is the full podcast transcript for Mad Men C to Z, season five, episode eight, Lady Lazarus. The AI transcriptions provided by podcast distributors aren't reliable with character spelling, punctuation, and sometimes, even which speaker is talking, so we're providing a human-edited version here.
You can listen to the podcast here.

Find more details about Lady Lazarus on our episode page, including links to cultural references, voting for your favorite lines, and responding to our Double Dip questions about the episode.
Follow us on socials @MadMenCtoZ, and thank you for your support!

Mad Men C to Z S5 E8 Lady Lazarus Transcript
 
Jenna: Hi, I'm Jenna.
 
Steve: And I'm Steve. Welcome to All Things Mad Men, from Chip and Dip to Zou Bisou.
 
Jenna: There's so much to love about this amazing show, and we're happy to connect to fans like us who discover new things with each re-watch.
 
Steve: Be advised, while we aren't gratuitous with spoilers, they can pop up as we discuss character arcs through the final season.
Let's get started with Mad Men, C to Z.
 
Jenna: This is Mad Men C to Z, Season 5, Episode 8: Lady Lazarus.
This episode was written by Matthew Weiner and directed by Phil Abraham.
Lady Lazarus, of course, is the title of a Sylvia Plath poem about a woman who wants to live and die on her own terms.
And like the biblical story of Lazarus coming back from the dead, in this episode we see Megan starting over.
 
The episode opens, though, with Pete on the train with his buddy Howard, the insurance salesman, and Pete lets Howard make him an insurance pitch.

This is the full podcast transcript for Mad Men C to Z, season five, episode seven: At the Codfish Ball. The AI transcriptions provided by podcast distributors aren't reliable with character spelling, punctuation, and sometimes, even which speaker is talking, so we're providing a human-edited version here.
You can listen to the podcast here at our host, Alitu
You can also find it here on Spotify
And you can find it here on YouTube

Find more details about At the Codfish Ball on our episode page, including links to cultural references, voting for your favorite lines, and responding to our Double Dip questions about the episode.
Follow us on socials @MadMenCtoZ, and thank you for your support!

Mad Men C to Z S5E7 At the Codfish Ball Transcript
 
Jenna: Hi, I'm Jenna.
Steve: And I'm Steve. Welcome to All Things Mad Men, from Chip and Dip to Zou Bisou.
Jenna: There's so much to love about this amazing show, and we're happy to connect to fans like us, who discover new things with each re-watch.
Steve: Be advised, while we aren't gratuitous with spoilers, they can pop up as we discuss character arcs through the final season.
Let's get started with Mad Men C to Z.
 
Jenna: This is season five, episode seven At the Codfish Ball.
 
This episode was written by Jonathan Igla, who has written 30 episodes of Mad Men, and he's also a producer of Bridgerton.
The episode was directed by Michael Uppendahl, who directed 11 episodes of Mad Men, and he has also directed six episodes of Fargo, nine episodes of American Horror Story, and episodes of The Walking Dead, Glee, and Weeds.
 
I'm a huge fan of this particular episode, although when I start breaking it down, there's a lot of sadness and darkness, so I'm not sure why I enjoy this one so much.
 
Steve: For me, I get a lot of pleasure out of the introduction of Emile and Marie as the parents of Megan and their interplay with each other, and then also their interactions with their daughter and Don.
 
Jenna: This episode begins and ends with Sally talking to Glen on the phone. Glen asked Sally about the Spoonful album, if she's listened to it yet.
This would have been Daydream, which came out in March of 1966.
 
Steve: While Sally is on the phone with Glen, Pauline trips over the phone cord and hurts herself. Sally has to take kind of an adult role here, nursing Pauline.
 
Jenna: You have to be a certain age to remember this, but phones used to have wires, and sometimes they were wall mounted in very public family areas so you had no privacy for your conversation. Everybody knew your business, they knew who called and how long you talked, and they could also hear your entire end of the conversation.

This is the full, human-edited podcast transcript for our Mad Men C to Z discussion of season five, episode six, Far Away Places.
Visit our episode page for more details about this episode, and listen to the podcast here.

Mad Men C to Z S5E6 Far Away Places Podcast Transcript
Jenna: Hi, I'm Jenna.
Steve: And I'm Steve. Welcome to All Things Mad Men, from Chip and Dip to Zou Bisou.
 
Jenna: There's so much to love about this amazing show, and we're happy to connect to fans like us, who discover new things with each re-watch.
 
Steve: Be advised, while we aren't gratuitous with spoilers, they can pop up as we discuss character arcs through the final season.
Let's get started with Mad Men, C to Z.
 
Jenna: This is Mad Men Season 5, Episode 6 Far Away Places. The episode was written by Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner, and directed by Scott Hornbacher.
 
This episode follows three separate stories during the same time period; it's a Thursday in September.
It feels a little bit like the episode Seven Twenty Three that had the ending of three storylines, and it catches us up to how they got there.
In that case, it was Betty and Henry,
Peggy and Duck, and Don's robbing hitchhikers.
 
Here we get one connective point in all three stories, where Don asks Megan to leave with him, and then we get to see Peggy's story, Roger and Jane, and then Don and Megan's trip.
 
The title of this episode, Far Away Places, seems like a goal for each of the characters, because they all want to get someplace, but they can't quite escape themselves.
For Peggy, it's becoming Don,
for Jane, it's an LSD trip with Roger,
and for Don it's trying to recapture what he and Megan had on their trip to California.

Steve: The episode starts with Peggy getting ready for work. Abe's displaying his frustration that Peggy seems to prioritize her job and work over paying attention to him.
 
Jenna: Each of the three storylines features an argument between couples, and this one between Peggy and Abe opens with a truth call-out.
Abe complains Peggy's too focused on work.

This is the full podcast transcript for Mad Men C to Z, season five, episode five, Signal 30. The AI transcriptions provided by podcast distributors aren't reliable with character spelling, punctuation, and sometimes, even which speaker is talking, so we're providing a human-edited version here.
You can listen to the podcast here at our host, Alitu
You can also find it here on Spotify
And you can find it here on YouTube

Find more details about Signal 30 on our episode page, including links to cultural references, voting for your favorite lines, and responding to our Double Dip questions about the episode.
Follow us on socials @MadMenCtoZ, and thank you for your support!

Mad Men C to Z S5E5 Signal 30 Transcript
 
Jenna: Hi, I'm Jenna.
 
Steve: And I'm Steve. Welcome to All Things Mad Men, from Chip & Dip to Zou Bisou.
 
Jenna: There's so much to love about this amazing show, and we're happy to connect to fans like us, who discover new things with each rewatch.
 
Steve: Be advised, while we aren't gratuitous with spoilers, they can pop up as we discuss character arcs through the final season.
Let's get started with Mad Men C to Z.
 
Jenna: This is season 5, episode 5, Signal 30.
This episode was written by Frank Pierson and Matthew Weiner.
 
Frank Pierson wrote a number of notable films, including Cool Hand Luke, Dog Day Afternoon, and Presumed Innocent, and he co-wrote and directed A Star Is Born, the movie with Barbra Streisand.
 
This is also the third episode of Mad Men directed by John Slattery.
 
I've been a bit critical of the last two episodes overall, but I appreciate this one a lot. I think it's a great example of theming across an episode that works in service of the characters.