User Reviews

After almost 3 seasons Betty finally confronts Don about everything he's been hiding from her since the beginning. Those 15 minutes of that confrontation is pure television. It's also the first time we've seen Don scared and provoked, where he's the one that's not taking lead, and this time he can't manipulate his way out of it or lie because Betty has all the evidence. That is one of the best scenes in this show hands down. The subplots in the episode are definitely good but nowhere near the main one. There is character development for Roger Sterling, he turns down an old girlfriend for once in his life because he has a wife that's "the one for him" and Joan hits her husband over the head with a pot finally standing up to him for all the times he was a huge ass and tries to get a job with the help of Roger. Don and Miss Farrell finally break it off after the confrontation. Overall an extremely good episode, and that last line gave me chills in my spine.

I've said that of "Mad Men" before. I said it in "Guy Walks...," I said it for "Meditations," and I'm saying it again.

Why I like "Nixon" so much is besides the point. I wrote a review on it. Check it. The point is, this episode was downright phenomenal.

It was seriously some of the best television I've ever seen. To sum up, it's a confrontation. That is what the episode is, after all. There's a few other things that happen in the episode. I'll be brief. Roger Sterling rejects a beautiful woman; strengthening his character. Joan hits her husband over the head with a vase; strengthening her character.

Now that that's out of the way, we can return to the fantastic fourteen minute movie that is Don and Betty's confrontation.

It is some of the best acting I've ever seen. It is some of the best writing I've ever seen. The acting is, and I don't say this lightly, the greatest I've ever seen in television (EXCEPT TWO BREAKING BAD EPISODES), from both Hamm and Jones. I won't say it's hard to pick a favorite, because it wouldn't be true. Hamm is better. But both are so damn good. Don assumes a face the show has never, ever seen before. It's one of panic. Don Draper has never been panicked before. It's often scary when a good actor puts on a face of panic. It captures the viewer to feel the same. It was scary in "Ozymandias," and it's scary here (though not quite as much). The characters of Don and Betty bounce off of each other perfectly. Betty is cold, then sympathetic. Don is pleading, then petrified. It's a brilliant collection of scenes. Honestly, it's one of my favorite sequences in the history of television. Like, up there with some from "Breaking Bad" and "Sherlock" and "House of Cards." It's truly incredible.

In short, while "Nixon vs. Kennedy" is still just a tiny bit better, I rarely give anything praise this high. I have one and only one complaint.

I don't like the last line. "What are you supposed to be?" I get it, it just... it seems forced to me. But that doesn't take anything away from the episode as a whole

Conclusive proof that "Mad Men" is one of the greatest shows ever.

This episode is one of the most pivotal in terms of plot and revelation. Betty confronts her husband on his past, and Don reveals everything. Betty has no idea who is the man she married.

This point is driven home dramatically at the final scene, where Don and Betty Draper take their children out for Halloween night. As they visit Carlton's house for trick or treating, he addresses the children's costumes: Gypsy and Hobo (Hence the title). Then he looks at Don,and asks, "Who are you supposed to be?" The question is a reflection of everything that occurred in the episode, and leaves the viewer to ponder the significance of this question.