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

I certainly agree with your main point - the best part of last night's episode was the tension brought on by the "rebels" of SCP having to fit into the fairly faceless corporate structure.

 

Chill out, man. It wasn't meant as a response to your post, otherwise I would have quoted you. Just thought it was funny and wanted to share.

 

In regards to those who have posted that we have seen the last of Joan....................remember the little conversation between Joan and her new boyfriend about his having acquaintances ( a man ) who could pay people a visit when needed. Remember Joan's response to that......interest turning into excitement. Maybe there is a visit coming in the future for Joan's persecutors.

 

Sorry about that. I'm chill now.

 

I doubt that was the last time we'll see Joan.

I'm 99% sure that last night's scene between Don and Betty will be their last together. We may see Betty still, just not with Don again.

I thought there was about a 50/50 chance that Don and Sally's scene when she was getting on the bus a couple episodes back was possibly Sally's last, but based on the promo for next week's episode she will be back.

 

I think Don wishes now his marriage to Betty would have lasted.

 

Interesting, she took Roger's advice, instead of her boyfriend's.

 

It's interesting that Joan's boyfriend made comments about dealing with such conflicts in a manner that sort of made her pause and then she is on the receiving end of such behavior in her showdown.

 

Let's not forget how Joan came to partner status. She wants to have it both ways, using her sex appeal when only it's convenient for her. Have career, but be the mom. Be independent, but ultimately winds up with (and dependent on) a rich dude. Have sex with potential client to land account, expects respect in the office. The show does explore this contradiction in her character quite often, albeit subtle. In fact the show has explored a number of contradictions in the female psyche throughout its run.

Meanwhile Peggy is going to flaunt it in their faces. Peggy's the one who can hang the octopus art in the office. It's not about making the men feel comfortable (Joan), but making them *uncomfortable*. Peggy gave up the baby. Peggy wards off advances (mostly). Peggy got there with her talent, exclusively. Peggy is the one to overcome the odds. Not Joan.

Preshow, they even showed a snippet from Joan's 'advice' to Peggy during Season One to drive home this point.

(also note: Don isn't that different from Joan, but he's self-aware enough to understand this).

 

Did they mention Stan at all last night? If they did, I didn't catch it. I have a feeling his position was pretty redundant at McCann. Plus I can't see his hair/beard and way of dress flying there anyways. I'm thinking he's gone.

 

Yeah, Peggy was talking to Stan on the phone and he said he was on the 14th floor at the new office.

 

Oh okay, I must have blanked on that. He must be stashed away in the art department where his more "hip" look is allowed and kept out of view of the clients.

 

re: Roger and Joan

Roger's advice was the best and most realistic -- Joan played her hand way too early. She played off emotion, not strategy. She was in the office, what? a few hours? She goes right to the top -- Hobart -- demanding that Ferg be removed from her accounts and threatens a lawsuit (with the backing of female staff that she hasn't even bothered to get to know yet)... Ferg -- even if he is a rather deplorable character -- is a known quantity to Hobart. Hobart knows what Ferg can deliver. Who is Joan to Hobart? An unknown who somehow holds a partnership. What is her track record? What is her reputation in the business?

Joan could have sat back a bit and played an angle with, say, the group of female copywriters. See exactly where they stand and what power can be harnessed in a "block" -- a la the Newsweek class action suit involving 46 female employees suing the company.

re: Hobart and Don

Hobart bought SC&P to, at best, add some of Don's magic to the firm; at least, just neutralize Don as the competition. Hobart probably feels he is in a win-win situation.

 

P.S.:

 

God, I'm going to miss this show!

 

I don't know what year the show is in but $250,000 in 1972 dollars is about $1.5M today. Add that to what she has already been paid. Not bad.

I do agree with you that she left with a whimper. Defeated. But wealthy.

 

Well said. Agree. If each episode was 1.5 to 2 hours long with commericals or, more episodes, they would have had time to deal with all that extra topical matter. But they didn't.

There was that season where Tony Soprano was dreaming all the time...there was some criticism.

 

And yet, as Don knows, there is no magic. The awards in his office are still from the 50's. He's completely checked out. He's living on a myth.

The scene where he exits the meeting: Don's entire mojo is due to his ability to inhabit different people, he can be whoever he wants whenever he wants. But here is research building a complete consumer portrait, he's just a cog to come up with a pithy tag, or campaign theme. That was never his forte. What worked for him at SC will never work for him at McCann, and he knows it.

 

At the end of the episode I couldn't help but think of the Twilight Zone episode - "The Hitch-hiker".

The lead character spends most of the episode afraid of picking up the hitch-hiker that she sees everywhere she travels, until she realizes that he is the personification of death, and that she has already died.



Of course a fairly good rule of thumb for TV characters is don't pick up hitch-hikers when your series only has two episodes left. It could be dangerous to your health!

 

Are you referring to the first season or the season where he gets shot and goes into a coma? Tony (and others) dreams a lot on this show, but if I remember correctly there was only one episode that was entirely a dream. Otherwise they tastefully interspersed dreams throughout any given episode with the other action. In one episode, Tony gets food poisoning and fades in and out of dreams, and the show uses the dreams (i.e. Tony's subconscious) to reveal to Tony that one of his associates is betraying him. In my opinion, that's actually some really clever use of dreaming since it moves the plot along in a very important manner, and they even resurrect elements of the dream in later episodes to draw a reaction from Tony.

 

I understand what you're saying but it's those moments where Don disappears, when he does the unexpected or the unusual, that gives the show that thing that makes it more akin to reading great literature.

 

I'm still trying to figure out how Ms. Sunshine diner worker apparently had a lot of guys so interested in her (and based on what her ex-husband said inspiring near stalker-like behavior in them). How Don finds her attractive - whether physically or mentally - is beyond me.

 

Yeah what is the deal with the waitress like she is Marilyn Monroe with all these guys chasing her I don't get it.

 

She's not meant to Marilyn Monroe. She's the dark, wounded woman you want to fix. She's the woman you fall for after you've had the Marilyns. Been there. Don feeds on the drama of it all. He can make her whole and, in doing so, have a purpose. He fixes and breaks... Fixes and breaks... Text book dysfunctional childhood stuff. My thought anyway.

 

Couldn't save his brother. Couldn't save Lane Pryce. And obviously couldn't save Rachel Menken. He has guilt-ridden feelings that make him want to save someone.