The Mad Men Thread

[GoGo Yubari]

I fucking love that Mad Men's version of California is like this weird fantasy world where the characters who suck at life go and suddenly start gaining traction. Danny Siegel becomes a producer, Pete Campbell genuinely seems happy with his life (and then goes back to New York and is miserable again), and Lou fucking Avery is making headway on his comic strip. I bet Paul Kinsey is thriving somewhere.

I actually really liked that episode. Matt Weiner's son is seriously awful but the story surrounding it was good and made sense.

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

I fucking love that Mad Men's version of California is like this weird fantasy world where the characters who suck at life go and suddenly start gaining traction. Danny Siegel becomes a producer, Pete Campbell genuinely seems happy with his life (and then goes back to New York and is miserable again), and Lou fucking Avery is making headway on his comic strip. I bet Paul Kinsey is thriving somewhere.I actually really liked that episode. Matt Weiner's son is seriously awful but the story surrounding it was good and made sense.

It's also where Don fell in love with Megan because she didn't have a mental breakdown when Bobby spilled a milkshake

[gunnar hendershow]

I fucking love that Mad Men's version of California is like this weird fantasy world where the characters who suck at life go and suddenly start gaining traction. Danny Siegel becomes a producer, Pete Campbell genuinely seems happy with his life (and then goes back to New York and is miserable again), and Lou fucking Avery is making headway on his comic strip. I bet Paul Kinsey is thriving somewhere.

I actually really liked that episode. Matt Weiner's son is seriously awful but the story surrounding it was good and made sense.

There's this whole symbolism in California with the show. In the 60's New York was decaying and there was this total optimism with people about going out to California, the new American dream. Weiner has loved driving that point home, that the Mad Men are stuck in the past and lying in their own filth that now with the end of the 1960's is visible to even themselves. But they go out west and suddenly they have a totally new perspective on life and everything feels just right.

The Mets pennant I always thought signaled this desperate clinging to the old ideals of the New York, east coast American dream. Born out of the ashes of the Giants and Dodgers bolting for the Pacific.

It makes sense in a historical context and I've really liked it in the show despite California seeming almost dreamlike.

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

I fucking love that Mad Men's version of California is like this weird fantasy world where the characters who suck at life go and suddenly start gaining traction. Danny Siegel becomes a producer, Pete Campbell genuinely seems happy with his life (and then goes back to New York and is miserable again), and Lou fucking Avery is making headway on his comic strip. I bet Paul Kinsey is thriving somewhere.

I actually really liked that episode. Matt Weiner's son is seriously awful but the story surrounding it was good and made sense.

There's this whole symbolism in California with the show. In the 60's New York was decaying and there was this total optimism with people about going out to California, the new American dream. Weiner has loved driving that point home, that the Mad Men are stuck in the past and lying in their own filth that now with the end of the 1960's is visible to even themselves. But they go out west and suddenly they have a totally new perspective on life and everything feels just right.

The Mets pennant I always thought signaled this desperate clinging to the old ideals of the New York, east coast American dream. Born out of the ashes of the Giants and Dodgers bolting for the Pacific.

It makes sense in a historical context and I've really liked it in the show despite California seeming almost dreamlike.

I think it's just Don's tribute to Lane. When Don came back to the agency, the only office that was available was Lane's old one and the Mets pennant was still in there.

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

The greatest oral history in the history of oral histories

[gunnar hendershow]

I'm Dick Whitman! Yowza!

[gunnar hendershow]

I fucking love that Mad Men's version of California is like this weird fantasy world where the characters who suck at life go and suddenly start gaining traction. Danny Siegel becomes a producer, Pete Campbell genuinely seems happy with his life (and then goes back to New York and is miserable again), and Lou fucking Avery is making headway on his comic strip. I bet Paul Kinsey is thriving somewhere.

I actually really liked that episode. Matt Weiner's son is seriously awful but the story surrounding it was good and made sense.

There's this whole symbolism in California with the show. In the 60's New York was decaying and there was this total optimism with people about going out to California, the new American dream. Weiner has loved driving that point home, that the Mad Men are stuck in the past and lying in their own filth that now with the end of the 1960's is visible to even themselves. But they go out west and suddenly they have a totally new perspective on life and everything feels just right.

The Mets pennant I always thought signaled this desperate clinging to the old ideals of the New York, east coast American dream. Born out of the ashes of the Giants and Dodgers bolting for the Pacific.

It makes sense in a historical context and I've really liked it in the show despite California seeming almost dreamlike.

I think it's just Don's tribute to Lane. When Don came back to the agency, the only office that was available was Lane's old one and the Mets pennant was still in there.

Symbolism can have multiple layers. Its overt meaning, which I also took as a tribute to Lane, and something a little more subtle. Weiner loves doing that shit.

[GoGo Yubari]

There's the show I love.

[gunnar hendershow]

Lane Pryce directed that episode so I'm glad he can still contribute to the show in amazing ways. I knew the minute they went "let's get all these accounts to commit to us over the next 24 hours" things were going to be fun. Overall a great episode with a lot of great, nuanced pieces. Peggy and Stan talking about Peggy's kid was a long overdue conversation, as was Peggy working with kids who would be the age of hers. Pete punching that guy over a 300 year old rich family rivalry was so Pete. Roger and Don's drunk conversation. Joan not being given an account when she was leaning forward waiting to hear who she'd be working with. Ken!!! Ugh, so good.

But the ending, where nobody cares that a lot of them will need to find new jobs, was such a powerful scene with everything that has happened in the lives of the partners and the advertising industry.

[gunnar hendershow]

Okay that was fantastic. With the exception of Don I see light at the end of the tunnel for just about everyone. Peggy is out of her slump, she's ready to go and she's gonna just do what she needs to do at McCann before moving onto bigger and better things. Roger officially gave up on the Sterling name. Joan finally lost the fight she had been fighting for 10 years. Pete is probably getting all wrapped up next week. Everyone else is going on and living their lives as normal. That just leaves Don, and I'm sure the finale will be dedicated almost exclusively to him and whatever the fuck is going on in his head right now.

But I loved that this episode summarized so much everything we were told to fear about McCann as being true, they're the soulless corporate entity and they gobble up the smaller companies they want and then force them to conform and lose what made them great. That's all happened. But their "white whale" is going to get away, because Ahab didn't catch the "white whale".

And finally... SPACE ODDITY

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

Give Jon Hamm his Emmy

[gunnar hendershow]

I loved that entire episode, and I finally have complete faith everything is going to wrap up neatly (or as neatly as it can). January Jones and Kiernan Shipka, on top of Jon Hamm, put in great performances last night. Christopher Stanley was so good I actually felt feelings from Henry Francis.

When my only complaint is that the foreshadowing early on made it a little too obvious what was coming later, that's a good thing.

I knew with Betty struggling up the steps she had cancer, I knew when Trudy and Sherry had their little discussion Pete's endgame was finally making things right with Trudy, and I knew from the jump Duck was going to lure Pete away from McCann. I'm glad that after 7 seasons of trying to be just like every other wealthy New Yorker Pete finally is letting his conscience and instinct set him on the right course.

Don's smile at the end of that episode could have been how the show ended and it would have been perfectly fine. Him finally looking at peace, after seeing him never look that way for 11 years.

[GoGo Yubari]

never forget

[gunnar hendershow]

I am always astounded at how old Pete got. Nobody else aged and then there's Pete.

But fuck man, gotta DVR it tomorrow as I'm being punished by going to Payback.

[Benji]

Honestly, I'd have been satisfied with that penultimate episode being the finale, so I'm looking forward to what they have in store for the end.

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

[EndOfAnEra]

Welp, that was garbage.

[Mofoticon]

So are we led to believe Don created the Coke ad that finished the episode?

I feel like everything besides Don worked great this episode, but the Don story from this episode and the past couple just leave me confused more than anything.

[EndOfAnEra]

That's what I got. Everything was awesome but Don's arc was not good at all.

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

My take away from the final scene is that Don Draper went on to direct videos for the church of Scientology

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyNh1j3dsp8