MAD MEN on AMC - Seasons 7(a) & & 7(b)

...and 20 seconds of Sylvia in the elevator!

this was a good, entertaining ep, and I still would've prob traded all of it for 40 mins of don & pete golfing

Harry = human garbage. Don't know if I needed to see Don & Pete golfing, but seeing Roger and Megan's mom together again was great, and Mimi Rogers hitting on Peggy was hilarious, especially when Peggy tossed it at Stan at the end. "I don't believe you." "Which part?"

It seemed better by comparison with the previous ep (low bar), especially the way obvious bits, like what Hanna Rosin called "the Raymond Carveresque air of realist unreality" re Diana The Waitress led to her mention of the one daughter who didn't die--and she stops just short of describing that daughter in the present tense, in way that led me over the brink of weighty narrative, her Avon shampoo bought in the living room of her ranch-style house-is-not-a-home-with-the-two-car-garage, where she once maybe thought everything might work out etc etc--to the implication that it's not just the death of one daughter she can't live with (or without, since she discovers that Don is a drug she doesn't deserve, taking her mind off her guilt). It's also the--something about the quality of her surviving daughter's life....
And! Peggy was going to tell Stan about old Pima The Cougar ("with her Susan Sontag hair," Rosin points out)putting the moves on, but seems shocked, and maybe even demeaned, by the revelation that Pima did the same thing to him---maybe Peggy already had a revelation of another possible future, when Pima touched her (which she might not have had when the Mamet daughter licked her face). Suddenly burned away on the morning after, like the dream of running away, of being with Krakow in Paris. Or maybe she's just not used to *female* hustlers in the ad biz (Pima seems kinda desperate in this commercial terriotry; the psychological insights/zingers are defensive-optimistic-aggressive---and me? I studied with Dr. Joyce Brothers,I'll have you know.)
But damn, Peggy really is all shook up. Maybe something more happened in that darkroom, after the camera cut away.
So there's a couple of strong spaces for implication (incl. maybe potent dead ends, considering it's MM) tucked into all the folds of plottiness.

I also like that, unlike the prev ep, this one has Draper not just going through the ancient circles, but trying to be the responsible/dutiful Dad and divorcee. That's a new part of the attraction to Diana, that she's going where he's been---he thinks---actually, maybe that's why she seemed familiar from the first; she had a certain shell-shocked/seeking stare.

Of course we've seen him starting over before, but this time he doesn't want to repeat the part where he's doing penance in a grubby cell, for inst.
He relates to and comments on her own stage-set dump that way, but of course also she's an economizing waitress, after all: more show-don't-tell evidence of the differences he doesn't want to dwell on, in the rush to bond, and maybe save her as he saves himself.

It's like Don met a sadder version of himself, someone who would rather hold onto it (grief/sadness) than escape it

Yeah I was curious at first as to why Don is so attracted to Diana but I guess they are quite alike. I was a bit surprised with Megan's anger towards Don. I thought they had left on amicable terms too.

honestly, i felt like it context it was presented as displaced anger over her own failures. not that she's not right to be upset with don, but "sacrificing her youth" or however it was put gave it away that it wasn't just about don.

in context

they've never made it totally explicit, but it seems to be implied that megan is a bad actress and quite desperate.

Pete's disgust at Don being so much innately cooler than he is remains one of my favorite sources of humor on MM

otm

also "manson brothers" made me lol

Would be happy if that's the last we ever see of Pima--she seemed like such a caricature to me.

I connected with nothing in this episode.

beardy stan speaks to me

but otherwise yeah it was meh

Stan's resentment/jealousy/self-consciousness about showing his photos was believable; that might have been about it. And I agree with Ryan about Megan--more and more, her career path seems very suspect. She seems to have aged about ten years in two, I guess just because of the bitterness.

i could have lived with the part about how even when don tries slumming it he can't make a meaningful human connection, but for one of the last episodes of the series everything else seemed redundant. we already know megan's family is awful, we already know harry's a predator, we've already seen a woman hit on peggy, etc. etc. why on earth would now be the right time to introduce stan's unremarkable gf?

There's so many loose ends still to be addressed--insert Sally's name here, in 96-point type--I'm not sure they should be introducing any new characters at this point, not unless it's someone as unforgettable as Bob from Twin Peaks. Pima and Stan's girlfriend, definitely not; I'll hold off on Diana for the time being.

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/13/mad_men_fans_are_losing_patience_with_don_drapers_gloomy_waitress_dates_set_diana_on_fire_like_now/

Megan looked so fineeeee in that blue barely dress thing

I think her anger is not primarily with Don. They hinted at the source of the tension between them being the process of getting divorced, including the attorneys and having to travel from LA to NYC to finalize things. Then when Megan got the bug put in her ear by her sister and mother, and her frustration at having to subject herself to dealing with the likes of Harry Crane in order to try and get somewhere, she just got all pissed at everyone, and the only person who was there was Don. Good on the attorney for putting them in the same room and giving them a chance to resolve things.

I kind of feel like Don's writing of such a large check (~$6.3 million today) was his way of making an honest attempt at leaving her with something and without any strings or judgment (as opposed to his reaction to the $500 for moving expenses - "Who's moving you? The NY Jets?"). But like so many other instances of interpersonal communication, Don just fails miserably.

For the record, I would like to be able to write a check for $1,000,000 some day.

Boom. What do you think of that.

i like it. i would also like to be able to wear her blue dress one day but that's just not happening. so.

if anyone expects the final season is gonna be tying up loose ends i think they've maybe been watching a different show all this time?

i feel like every season we go through the 5 stages of grief where everyone has to re-acclimate themselves to how the show has already been for 7 seasons .

I couldn't help but notice Don's sloppy penmanship.

http://a5.files.fashionista.com/image/upload/c_fit,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTI5NDU0MDc3MjI5NzIzNjE4.jpg

sorry i'll stop now

if anyone expects the final season is gonna be tying up loose ends i think they've maybe been watching a different show all this time?

― ryan, Monday, April 13, 2015 3:33 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

if anyone expects the final season is gonna be tying up loose ends i think they've maybe been watching a different show all this time?

Disagree here. I don't necessarily mean neatly, but I think there will be some indication of what lies ahead for many/most of the major characters. And for Don, I think they'll be something either clearly positive (some kind of acceptance) or clearly negative. If that wasn't done in the first seven-and-a-half seasons, well, why would you? You save that for the end.

it's possible! i just think the general philosophical outlook of the show is different, living in the "not knowing" and all that. maybe a better way to put it is that this is not a show that tends to "resolve" things so much as watch them go in circles. this does pose a dilemma for an ending...

I think back to Six Feet Under (admittedly, my frame of reference for these recent long-running shows is narrow), and that was also a show where certain characters seemed to make the same mistakes over and over again, and it seemed like maybe nothing would ever be resolved, but in the final episode, there was closure of sorts.

Anyway, at the very least, have them show up? Have Sally actually in the episodes?

ugh the last season of 6 feet under was so horrible

Not to sidetrack, but didn't you at least find the ending of the last episode satisfying? (Questionable make-up aside...)

you mean with all the white ghosts and shit? i have to say i found it corny. my cuz loved it. they did something similar for Desperate Housewives and i was OK with it.

i just remember the season at large being soooooo heavy/intense, and HBO oft has a problem with endings.

in terms of An Ending That Resolves Everything, 6 feet under is prob the gold standard, whether or not that's a good thing for most shows is entirely another matter

I don't want to get tagged with the idea that everything has to be explained/resolved perfectly. In terms of movies, I generally prefer odd non-endings, like in Boyhood. But here, I do want some kind of reckoning, or awareness, or something at the end. And if it fits, if the message is that Roger will continue being Roger till the day he dies--and that would be one character where I'm sure that's the last stop--that's okay too. But I want more for Joan, Peggy, Betty, Sally, and, yes, Don.

i'd say you'll prob get relatively complete endings for joan, peggy and sally. especially peggy, bc weiner clearly adores her too much to drop her into some sort of abyss at the end...i think. unless he wants peggy to truly be nu-don, then it might be sadder.

however don ends up i think it will be the most oblique of all the characters' destinations.

It's all creepy Glen's dream.

creepy glen will prob get an actual concrete ending bc that's matt weiner's scion

i feel like every season we go through the 5 stages of grief where everyone has to re-acclimate themselves to how the show has already been for 7 seasons .

this definitely seems true. go back and read response posts to the openings for s5-7 for example. most recently there were loads of complaints about the Lindsey Weir plotline but that totally paid off imo

Molly Lambert's take.

I want an American Graffiti epilogue that tells us what they're all doing right now. (Except for the ones who are dead.) Like, does Harry have a blog?

xp maaannnnn that reminds me that season 6 ended up having a really powerful conclusion but it may have been the grimmest, most miserable slog of all the seasons. not to mention had some legitimately bad episodes, which i dont think any other season has.

(shoulda been xxp)

Oh...."The Manson Brothers"..... so funny!

The Manson Brothers...Available Exclusively On Paramount Records

omg that WAS funny

Don's timing delivery was perfect

If Weiner goes the American Graffiti route, we'll find out what happens to Don, Roger, Pete, Harry, and Ken; the women will completely vanish.