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

I'm not following the Pete-Duck strand at all. Paraphrase?

That was so weird (Don's part of the story, I mean)--I thought it was another dream when the Legion guys showed up in his room. Betty's letter was nice. Didn't find Pete and Trudy's reconciliation all that credible. And those people trying to guess at the music, they must be nuts.

Duck is trying to recruit Pete. Pete thinks he is stuck with McCann, is respected, and is pretty much the main SC&P guy left. But he's completely unfulfilled.

Duck is trying to hustle by giving McCann a Learjet connection, get a commission for delivering an internal marketing man, and give Pete what is actually a good job. He did it in the most obnoxious Duck way, though.

Don's part of the story was great because small town people are supposed to be wholesome and they're all crooked in the stupidest ways, and these are the detritus of wars gone by and dumb travelers.

Maybe historic spoiler

When drunk Duck left Pete's room, he did this thing that was really funny where he looked right, then left.

Gimme a Vegas bookie to give me odds on "American Pie" ending the series.

When the WWII guy told his traumatic story, was that about cannibalism? I didn't quite get the gist of that.

"In three days, it will fall off by itself!"

One of my favorite terrible old man jokes, that.

When did Don turn into Strunk & White with the grammar?

When the WWII guy told his traumatic story, was that about cannibalism? I didn't quite get the gist of that.
--clemenza

yea, I mean I can't see what else it could have meant

i just understood it as these guys surrendered to them and they didn't have the resources to feed them so they just killed them and took their stuff.

He made it sound like the Germans didn't have anything either tho.

Gimme a Vegas bookie to give me odds on "American Pie" ending the series.

― ... (Eazy), lunes 11 de mayo de 2015 4:22 (3 hours ago)

Not a Vegas bookie but I'll give you 20-1 if you're interested.

That was an incredible episode, all my doubts about the show have disappeared, its had rough patches but its still something I will think about and refer to for the rest of my life and the last few episodes have done it justice, give or take a misstep or two. I was in tears several times during that episode. You hear about ideas such as "A woman's medical problems would be dealt with through her husband" and it sounds appalling, of course, but to see it in action is something else entirely different and something I'll never forget.

Who would have thought that both Pete and Betty would turn out to be the Buddy Garriry of the show?

Last night's episode was fine. I liked keeping vague the mortal sin committed by the soldiers -- cannibalism? shooting them dead so the Americans could take their shit? -- although the young con man was too on the nose for my taste (did anyone think he was going to proposition Draper?). The Duck-Pete plot line was clumsier.

The show should end with Sterling alone, wearing Cooper's kimono and padding in his sock feet, the scene garnished with a crane shot of Burger King Corporation.

Buddy Holly does set up "American Pie" well, but I don't think so either. They'd have to start it well before the credits, like in Six Feet Under--the song's length and the way it's structured make it tricky to edit (you'd really need to come in right on the opening).

Something good has to happen to Peggy next week. First Joan's humiliation, now Betty's diagnosis. All so...Pete can end up happy?

Trying to figure out the meaning of Betty's cancer, beyond the fact that it's the last two episodes and stuff has to happen. Don't mean to be glib--thematically, why did they do this? One thing is that it brings everything back full circle to the very first episode, where the pressing concern was how to work around government legislation on cigarette advertising (Wikipedia's description: "Don rejects company research which suggests that some customers will be drawn to smoke despite the health risks because of a collective 'death wish'").

Which was, of course, titled "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes."

The A.V. Club has some nice screenshots up (this'll be too large, probably):

http://i.onionstatic.com/avclub/5427/69/original/960.jpg

So the whole show has been about Pete Campbell's rise to power in the private aviation industry? OK...

found this episode to be a little bit overbearing with much more forced sentimentality than usual.

genuinely surprised and confused by Pete and Trudy reconciling, because the show did a pretty effective job of making their marriage out to be a loveless farce. didn't sit right with me.

was happy to see Don in a (relative) state of equanimity right at the end, because he really did suffer through a rotten sequence of events in this episode through no fault of his own. seems that every time he goes walkabout, tremendously strange shit happens.

i'm glad that the hardened, complicated relationship between Betty and Sally endured; kind of fitting that Betty remained typically stern and ungiving during the late-night bedroom scene. i was hoping that scene wasn't going to get too melodramatic and, thankfully, it didn't. that said, the writers didn't really leave themselves much time to resolve such a prodigious plot-line; the whole thing felt, you know, abbreviated, even if Betty has become a bit of an afterthought.

looking forward to seeing what happens with Roger in the final ep!

Agree with all of that. Sally reading the letter was very moving, as was Betty's stoicism.

I almost wondered if Betty turning the corner as she proceeded to class was the last we'd see of her--it would have been a graceful last shot--but you would think they'd have to have some kind of resolution with Don and Betty in the last episode.

there's some poetic justice to don just slipping out of everyone's life for good.

yeah. i mean, Don opts out of his responsibilities and other people's lives regularly, but there is a much stronger sense of finality to it this time round. i wonder if it's particularly necessary for us to see Don tying up loose ends with the other characters, particularly given how lonely, independent and unfulfilled his journey has been throughout the show.

I think the whole point of bringing pete and trudy back together is precisely because their marriage was a farce. I think they like the farce; they have these brahmin status quo notions of what family and love are supposed to be and prob wanted to go back to that

^^ Yep. Pete's realized he's better at the farce than Draper – and he'll survive in advertising, not Don.

Betty never ever chose for herself. She was raised to allow her husband to choose for her, and to never ever do something for herself. Her final plot is her choosing the way she dies, and sending a letter to her daughter saying that she's proud of her for choosing her own life. Thematically, it makes a hell of a lot sense.

Odds on her falling out of a skyscraper in the final episode?

Trudy and Pete's marriage is not a farce at all.

Didn't really understand Don's plot this season until this week. He's lost his apartment, furniture, his passion for his job, now his car. . what's next?

Pretty sure Pete will move to Wichita, I can see that.

It's stupid but I hope we get more Peggy and Joan next week. Probably not.

Missed Roger a lot, too, but that might be it for him. Good sendoffs for him and Pegs.

Kinda feel like next week there will be no ad business stuff and strictly Draper family stuff--Betty's funeral? Who knows.

Fucking love Sally. She's the best. The heart of the show.

there's some poetic justice to don just slipping out of everyone's life for good.

If they have the nerve to try this, I think that'd be a great ending. Don out on the road, no communication with anyone anymore except his kids. (Which would be complicated by news of Betty, so I don't know if they can credibly do that.)

He's lost his apartment, furniture, his passion for his job, now his car. . what's next?

A friend suggested impotence is the last stop.

game of thrones and mad men are both shows about angry brooding men correcting people's grammar.

i can foresee this cruel show making pete the only person who has a 'happy' ending. (though maybe peggy's already had hers.) this entire episode from betty struggling up the stairs on i watched with a feeling of dread. felt sure that much worse was coming for don, but nop just a beating and on his way.

A friend suggested impotence is the last stop.

It's true, we haven't seen Don bonin' in a while

pretty sure we haven't seen the last of Roger. such a terrific character, and one of the main reasons i've stuck with the show.

remember that Pete and Trudy's marriage was a disaster long before they decided to end it. much of Pete's inner torment stemmed from his dissatisfaction with family life and the emptiness it brought him, contrary to everything he thought it should stand for. not to mention that he was a patently terrible husband and father, who behaved like an abhorrent prick time and time again. obviously Pete's newfound freedom didn't set the scene for the personal redemption he was seeking or anticipating, but i just can't imagine a plausible context for Trudy to invite him back into her life. i can imagine Pete being delusional enough to think it's worth a shot, however.

I just realized that first scene of Don being caught was a dream, not a flash-forward. Couldn't figure out why none of you guys talked about it. I'm slow sometimes.

"In three days, it'll fall off by itself"---another omen?
Seriously, I was among those who thought he might check out at the end, but now I guess having him and Betty go so close together would be a bit much. Cancer used to be TV fodder in the 70s, early 80s---like what were called disease-of-the-week TV movies---but this was short sharp shocks, and Betty may go the same way, like falling and breaking her skull (and/or other weakened bones) on those damned stairs, going even more quickly than she would anyway, maybe in that sense as mercifully as possible, for all concerned. "I watched my mother die," and she doesn't want that for Sally or the others. Jeez, looks like the kids are gonna have enough on their hands holding Henry up; he's completely collapsed.
Suppose Draper might come back to see about his kids, even--try for custody? A vision of starting over, like Pete's? Maybe Don and the kids could go West together! Although we know parenting's not been one of his great enthusiasms or skills.

Don needs to find that psychologist woman who was good w kids, the one he almost married before Megan.

Brutal show for a lot of ppl to watch on Mother's Day btw.

true, but anyone still watching the show at this stage knows that it can be pretty bleak.

Yeah, justified by the way they did it (imagine her having to wait for Henry, however long it took for him to get there from *Rocky's* office or wherever. She's there and thinking, absorbing, sitting in that office; the doctor's probably not saying anything much at all, 'til her Husband gets there). Also, she's as good with Sally, in conversation and her letter, as she knows how to be.

Don never goes back. he rides the rails hobo style all the way to Hawaii. Show ends with him calling the Francis household, talks to Bobby and tells him he's not coming home. Fade to black as Cats in the Cradle plays.

did anyone think he was going to proposition Draper?

lol yes I totally thought this too

Don't mean to be glib--thematically, why did they do this?

everybody forgot about Betty's previous cancer scare eh

love ramblin mystery man Don, could see him trying to reunite w his kids out west (he's gonna leave his kids to Francis?!). Betty was ice cold to the end.

it's a bunch of life-goes-on and people-don't-get-what-they-deserve simplicity
fuck's sake, betty literally walks up the stairs to heaven

Fade to black as Cats in the Cradle plays.

I hit upon CCR's "Someday Never Comes" yesterday, an even better "Cat's in the Cradle" (which I like).

No, I didn't forget the previous cancer scare, just why did they bring it back? I'm just trying to figure out the overriding purpose...there may not be one at all beyond the inherent drama.

betty's end was one of the stodgiest pieces of TV writing i have seen in a long time. it's a shame.

CCR--Long as I can See the light?

(xpost) I don't know, I thought it was handled very well. Little things like needing Henry there before the diagnosis is given, Sally holding her hands over her ears, Betty initially walking right past Sally, etc. Definitely going full-out for sentiment, but that's been something the show does now and again, and I thought it succeeded.

I agree the "aand... Betty's dead!" did seem a bit abrupt this close to the end, but it wasn't entirely out of the blue, it didn't strike me as unrealistic. thought it was handled well myself.

i've never found the musical choices particularly notable (and i'm not a fan of much of the incidental music either) so it's p baffling to me that it's now taking up like a third of the discussion here

betty does not strike me as the type of character who would just accept death like that. she was never that saintly. no believable character, in the face of death and having to say goodbye to her children, would be so succinct.