[1] Megan has second thoughts on her career path after the success with Heinz but finds it difficult to tell Don.
Don returns to creative work full throttle, only to find the cultural changes of the 1960s have left him behind.
Creator Matthew Weiner paid for permission and engaged in a creative collaboration in order to use the song.
[3] Pete discusses life insurance with Howard, his commuter friend, who reveals that he has a new, attractive mistress and an apartment in the city.
As Megan leaves for acting class, Don plays the song and sits with a glass of whiskey.
He listens to some of the song, but then picks up the needle, turns the record off, and walks back to his bedroom in silence.
The episode was written by series creator Matthew Weiner and directed by Phil Abraham.
[4] Matthew Weiner expanded on the significance of the empty elevator shaft: "In my mind, that actually happened.
He's truly in command here and he's touching on so many longtime Mad Men truisms – including the main one, existentialism – that he makes it look effortless.
It feels like a Rosetta Stone for the season, one that we don't have all of the pieces to read just yet, but an episode that will seem even more obviously great in retrospect once we do.
"[8]TIME magazine writer Nate Rawlings stated: "If Megan's phone-booth conversation was the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in her life, Pete Campbell's off-the-record chat was certainly the low point in a year that has seen his life spiral out of control.
"[9]Alan Sepinwall of HitFix stated: "Early in 'Lady Lazarus', Don complains to Megan that he has no idea what's happening in pop culture anymore.