Last night, due to a glitch with iTunes, the second third episode of the show was briefly available for download for everyone who signed up for a season pass. One of our loyal readers snagged it and passed this along. Peggy actually utters that line. Awesome.

Our tipster sent over a brief (if not vague) recap: "The episode features some modernist poetry, fabulous lindy hop, Roger in blackface, a new substance of choice in the offices of Sterling Cooper, and Joan rocking out in French while on the accordion. There is also a strange subplot between Sally and her grandpa."

We get so excited when two of our favorite things come together. We're getting the gravity bong out of storage for this one.

Update: AMC issued a statement:

"The third episode of Mad Men's new season was made available prematurely to some iTunes Season Pass holders for a short time late last night. We urge those who received this episode in error to please refrain from spoiling plot lines out of respect to other ‘Mad Men' fans who are looking forward to watching the story unfold."

Sorry. Too late! Looks like the cat's out of the (dime) bag.

Needless to say, if you haven't watched the episode yet and don't want to have anything spoiled for you, you might want to skip scrolling down on this post.

Tracie Egan at Jezebel live-blogged the episode and came away less than impressed:

10:24 Am I the only one who is disappointed by this episode so far? It's really oddly paced and not getting to any of the shit that interests me (Peggy, Joan, Betty, etc.).

10:55 That was it!?

Vulture's Logan Hill loved it:

If you had never seen Mad Men before, this premiere would have utterly baffled you. But we don't care about you! We loved it: Take these two moments that wouldn't mean anything to a newbie:

The brand London Fog? Pryce explains that there never was any fog there - just the coal dust from the industrial era. This is the most direct metaphor we've seen yet for this unsentimental show. Believe in the romantic mist, or Mad Men's cool, smoky style, if you want: Underneath, it's all carcinogenic. Those cigarettes aren't toasted, they're lethal. The Sterling Cooper men (and this show) willfully perpetuate the lie: "I don't care what they say," says Cooper. "London Fog is a great name."

Another moment: "You look like Ty Power," says the stewardess to Don. "Remember him?" Like Don, Power was a former Marine typecast as the romantic lead. But Power died in 1958, years after his prime. Don, who needs reading glasses, is a relic of an older era in 1963, which is why his advice to the London Fog guys is so last-decade. That season-three poster of Don calmly holding a cocktail as the water rises in his office? Don's too cocky to notice the water rising. He's the oblivious frog who doesn't know the sixties are about to boil him up.

Alan Sepinwall, the TV critic at The Star-Ledger, loved the show and the new London Fog client storyline.

Yes, "Mad Men" is back, and "Out of Town" was an incredibly satisfying way for the show to return from the long hiatus. Heck, even if the rest of the episode had been a drag, it would have been worth it for the running gag about London Fog itself, which served as a metaphor for the whole show.

On Twitter, Jake Tapper felt inspired to light up and booze:





Defamer founding editor Mark Lisanti was enthused over the continuation of Don Draper adulterous ways:





Our new Defamer guy Richard Rushfield had issues with a certain Sterling Cooper in-house promotion:





Mediaite's Anthony De Rosa know's it's still all about the booze:





Yahoo Sports blogger Eamonn Brennan fondly recalled a time when few people cared so much about an episode of the show.





Pop culture enthusiast Max Valliquette was obviously impressed and then immediately saddened by the mindless tripe he watched afterwards:

I'll add more reactions as we find them as they begin rolling in from the West Coast later tonight. And tomorrow our Brian Moylan will have a more extended recap along with some video highlights from tonight's show. But judging by the reactions of the masses found via "#madmen" and "Mad Men" Twitter searches, the reaction seems to be generally positive.

What did you think about it?

Mastermind exec producers Cartlon Cuse and Damon Lindelof recently spoke to a group of TV critics and divulged some interesting tidbits! Warning, there are some (slight) spoilers.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

On that four-toed statue...

The idea [was] to say the history of the island was a long one, and that people had been on the island for a long time... and this season, as we’re skipping through time, hopefully they’ll see that.

On Sawyer's shirtlessness...

Sawyer has a lot to do this year. For those who are not fans of time travel, we have his shirt off in the season premiere.

From Entertainment Weekly:

"Episode 3 spoiler: A male character makes this shocking declaration: 'Because I am in love with the woman sitting next to me.'"

"Episode 3 spoiler: Someone says, 'You're in my life now — you and Charlie.'"

"Episode 3 spoiler: A male character poses this question to another male character: 'I assume you've come back for the bomb.'"

Said Cuse: "As we get deeper into the season, you're going to learn a lot more about the island's history."

So that's exciting.

On Sunday, I'm watching a few key episodes with some friends, as recommended by EW's always-reliable Jeff "Doc" Jensen:

Season 3
"Flashes Before your Eyes" (Disc 2)
"Through the Looking Glass" Parts 1 & 2 (Disc 6)

Season 4
"The Constant" (Disc 2)
"Cabin Fever" (Disc 3)
"There's No Place Like Home Parts" 1 & 2 (Disc 4)

Happy obsessing til Wednesday, Chahhhhlie.

In 2000, Nader got nearly 3 million votes, for 2.74 percent of the popular vote. In 2004, he didn't even get 500k. This year it looks like he managed to get half a percent of the vote, though, with 587,758 and counting, so good work, Ralph! He beat the Libertarian! And got just enough votes, it looks like, to put Missouri in the McCain camp! SPOILER!!!

There was a time, 20 years ago, when Nader could've been in a Democratic president's cabinet. And, you know, then he could've actually helped working people and stuff! Now he just talks to parrots and says incredibly insulting things about Barack Obama, who everyone likes, unlike poor dumb Ralph Nader, who invented seat belts and then spent his last years annoying liberals.

Where were we? Ah yes, we finally got to see ... Jim pop the question to Pam! And don’t let the fact that it happened on a dingy highway rest stop in the middle of a rainstorm fool you, it was totes romantic. Not quite as romantic as that Tim and Dawn kiss from the original British Office Christmas Special, but still, pretty good. Get your Kleenex ready and check it out.

• The Office [NBC]

See? Then they'll dissolve the Senate and create the Galactic Empire.

Goodbye, Jerrell! See ya later, Suede! You were too annoying and queeny for this world. As we tend to play the wild speculation game around here once in a while, we like to think that this was all part of the same great Bravo super plot that squelched any buzz for the current season. Wouldn't that be wicked and hilarious? Truly as bitchy a move as a bitchy network like Bravo could muster. Of course it could mean lawsuits and firings and all that, so we're just sayin' is all. Just sayin'. Can't wait to watch what happens.

Hey, wait a second.

[Via Videogum]

The Eric-is-gay plot line was just as silly and expected and satisfying as one could hope. And the Asher tie-in was surprising and funny and full of teeth. ("Get this faggot out of my house!") The Lily and Serena comfort the 'mo stuff was a bit maudlin, but understandably necessary. It's sort of a bummer that the Eric/Asher relationship is kinda over before it started, but I'm sure there will be other twinky idiots on the horizon for our diminutive little friend.

Leighton Meester was in fine form (she's the best actress of the kids, I think) as Blair maneuvered all the gay rumors via Gossip Girl (great to see her heavily featured again!) and crushed little squawking Jenny Humphrey. The nice little button of sadness put at the end of their battle was warm and smart, and leads me to think they may not actually be "done' as Jenny so wearily declared.

This is all, of course, just preamble to the wham bang holy holy shit final scene, in which a devastated, weepy Serena, having had yet another scary "I'm gonna tellll" run in with Georgina, broke down at Blair's house. What was the secret, Blair and everyone else wanted to know. It involved video, so I assumed it was porn. But...um... no. "I killed someone," Serena moaned. And then that music! That thumping, scary scary music. I must admit I got up and did a little "WTF???" dance and then made my roommate rewind and replay the last scene. It was shocking and brilliant and just what this show needed to really get the soapy fantastic stuff going. I can't wait to see where they take this. Hopefully it won't fizzle and die too soon... LIKE THE MAN SERENA KILLED. Shocking clip is below.

Crazy! And, I should mention. This Friday, at 8pm at the People's Improv Theatre, Sara Benincasa, comedienne (and Gawker commenter!) is hosting a panel discussion on this here show. I will be one of the panel members, joining some fantastic funny folk, so if you're around you should definitely come. It's going to be silly (and boozy) and there is free GG-themed food. Info is here.

Now that the summer season is (almost) here, along with the usual collection of sequels, comedies, converted TV shows and special-effects derbies, we can expect a deluge of happy endings—you don't build franchises on bleak conclusions. The very notion of a franchise film, however, almost guarantees that its ending be less than fully satisfying. If it were, why would we want to come back for more? ...

Will any of these upbeat finales, like the much-anticipated return of Indiana Jones, fill us with real joy—the way that rousing rock-and-roll finale of the original "Shrek" left us with a big childlike grin on our faces? Constructing these tentpole extravaganzas, the studios often think that throwing millions of dollars of special effects in our faces is a reasonable substitute for a dramatically coherent ending, as if the sheer noise and spectacle will convince us we're having a thumping good time.

Naturally, Ansen can't even wank himself to a decent climax; first come the spoilers, from About Schmidt to Witness For The Prosecution to Carrie to Before Sunset and more — none especially guarded mass-culture secrets, but all yielding some pop for anyone who hasn't seen them. Then come the loose ends: Two of last year's most celebrated films, No Country For Old Men (Best Picture!) and There Will Be Blood (Best Picture runner-up!), were debated, dissected and embraced precisely because of the ambiguity of their endings. Neither receive any mention here.

Ansen also omits Star Wars, which kicked off the most profitable franchise in cinema history with a perfectly self-contained two-hour film — then followed it with a grim sequel featuring a cliffhanger still waiting to be outdone. Our own theory is that Ansen planned his own two-part series, which will conclude in next week's issue with a grand finale announcing... Oh, why spoil it? We've been waiting forever to see how Ansen will explain his last 30 years.

• Endless Summer [Newsweek]