That was some Mad Men finale, wasn't it? If you haven't seen it yet, please stop reading now, because there was just too much going on for me not to just launch into some discussion.

OK, I'll wait until after the jump to really get into things. But, suffice to say, the end of season three left some characters going down a pretty well-determined path, but others have entered a sort of limbo state, where we don't quite know what their roles will be in season four.

I like the plot description for this new episode of Mad Men, "Souvenir." It says "Don takes Betty on a business trip and Pete helps a neighbor in his building." I like that summary because 1) it doesn't really tell you anything but you're intrigued, and 2) it describes two things that have never happened before. Don taking Betty on a business trip with him??

Vincent Kartheiser is so good in this scene below, and the writing is just so smart.

(S01E04) "He has no idea how confused America is going to be about that J. - Don, about jai alai

In the late 80s, when I was doing sales and marketing for a national music magazine, the staff played a joke on one of the new salespeople. We had to get a certain number of sales per day and she wasn't having any luck, so I called her phone and pretended to be a customer. I think I told her I was going to buy thousands of dollars worth of magazines. Looking back now it was an immature, cruel thing to do, but I thought of that during tonight's scene with the Sterling Cooper gang calling "Margaret" and pretending to be a potential roommate. People are such jerks.

But this episode was mostly about what happened to Gene...

Hey, did you hear Mad Men's third season debuts tonight at 10 on AMC? Actually, when the show is this good, I don't mind the hype.

To prepare for the third season, here are some more web goodies for you (in addition to avatars, sneak peeks and recaps). The New York Times has an article on the cocktails of the Mad Men era, and if you want to make some of your own AMC has the drink recipes. AMC also has a Which Mad Man Are You? quiz. Or how about buying some of the era's items for your house?

There are also several interviews to read before the premiere, including Jon Hamm (here too), Christina Hendricks, Elisabeth Moss, and Vincent Kartheiser.

Oh, something from the other night, after the jump...