"Mad Men" -- *Final* Season Official Thread (possible spoilers) (part 2)

My opinion of Joan's character dropped like a rock after that speech to her new boyfriend, along the lines of, "I'm sending my son away. If I have to choose between him or you, I choose you". Nice.

 

It wasn't totally obvious, but she was being sarcastic.

 

Not my take on it especially after that "You're ruining my life!" remark but I've been wrong before.

Edit: I just read the recap & comments at AV Club & just about everyone there says (very passionately) that it was sarcasm. I guess my opinion is in the minority, I'll stick with it though.

 

Did they clean out the whole apartment, or just the living room?

That would be a good twist, though, and it favors my preferred series ending in which Don gets his just desserts.

But since it's a predictable ending, I suppose with Weiner that's about as likely as Don jumping or falling off a building...

BTW, I find myself in complete sympathy with Sally's view of her parents.

 

Didn't Zou be Zou be zoo happen in that apartment ? That was fantastic.

 

Maybe he'll make it back from 'Nam and blow Don away - the effect of the war, alienaton of modern consumer society etc etc...

 

Yes, that was the 40th birthday party that I mentioned.

 

Yes, that was the 40th birthday party that I mentioned.

 

Of course it was sarcasm. Its all in the delivery. She does feel trapped by motherhood (although shown very infrequently), but was obvious she wasn't putting a man she just met before her child.

I'm thinking the end of this show is going to be a massive anti climax, and it is becoming clear that it peaked a few seasons ago.

 

Yeah, you're 100% wrong.

 

It's especially obvious that it was sarcasm when you listen to his reply to the comment..."That's not what I said". Joan felt he was making her choose, and how ridiculous that was.

 

Yes, I'm surprised there's doubt here -- the swingin'-retiree guy who hardly knows her (except in the biblical sense) picked up on her sarcasm right off the bat!

 

I keep thinking of the scene where Bert sings "The Best Things in Life are Free." It appears Don is starting to believe that.

 

Good catch, I think we were supposed to see that as a Parthian shot at Don and a lesson to learn.

 

Wow, I had no idea. I agree, he is a terrible actor. But that does add to his creepiness.

 

A young Luca Brasi if there ever was one.

 

Interesting read and definitely stuff to think about. http://www.vox.com/2015/4/20/8455957/mad-men-the-forecast

 

Are you kidding? Makes the actor who played Brasi look like Olivier. It's quite possibly the worst piece of acting that's ever been on tv or in film. Unless you include porn. A lot of child actors can't really act but we accept them for what they are as children. When Wiener's kid was a child, and for a couple of episodes, his stiff creepiness worked. Now it's just unbearable. As soon as I saw him at the door I groaned out loud.

 

I'm pulling for the closing scene to be back at the HoJos

 

Here's one thing I didn't understand from Sunday's episode: the McCann buyout made Joan a millionaire, yes? Then why is she still living in the same tiny apartment and having to hire some flakey college student to babysit? You'd think she could have bought a swanky new place and afford a nanny now.

And where was her mother? She said she still lived with her. Was the actress unavailable?

 

I think it was sarcasm, but very poorly acted/delivered.

 

Agreed.

And in the bonus feature for the episode on iTunes, Matt Weiner said he liked that scene/exchange because you didn't know where it was going, i.e. it wasn't initially clear if she was being serious or not. So that confirmed to me in a roundabout way that it was meant to be sarcasm.

 

Actually it seemed SPOT ON to me and my own personal experience. I had a partner who would do just that: tell me exactly what she claimed I had in mind vis a vis her, framed from her perspective, to show me just how wrong she thought that was. It's not really sarcasm so much as "YOU THINK? REALLY?" I love how he immediately said "That is not what I said." But it was what he was saying would work, and at her expense.

 

Good points. The babysitter was necessary for plot reasons. If Mom is home Joan has no curfew, so there's no phone call and no confrontation.

 

January Jones is choice.