MAD MEN -- FINAL Season Official Thread (possible spoilers)

I really liked that show. This promo was the first glimpse I have had of it since it was first aired.

I was disappointed in the entire last season of Sopranos (and I think that was the greatest TV drama ever). The emphasis on Vito's character, too much Phil, etc. The last episode was novel to say the least. Big fan of Dexter and that last season was awful IMO. But I think the righting and story line of this year's Mad Men is quite good. Annoyed at the split season though.

Burt's routine was terrific.

 

Every letter, document, purchase order... everything he signed post Dick Whitman could be construed as fraudulent. In the context rigorously scripted program, either Weiner backed himself into a corner with that and leaked out, or there will (and I think should be) a consequencial resolution predicated on his false identity.

 

Well, this season is "all about consequences," according to Weiner, so I do hope it's addressed, even if he lives the rest of his life without his true identity being discovered.

 

I don't think Don's past makes any difference at this stage unless Betty runs for office. I think he will reunite with his "niece" and take care of her and her child while living the rest of his life on the beach in California.

 

You really think anyone will give a crap ten years later ???

 

But you did get 5.1 Wish You Were Here so it's been a full life.

 

I absolutely think so. Especially when money is involved.

 

Is there a statute of limitations for desertion?

 

I meant in the advertising world and and especially in 1969/70

 

Pete told Bert about who Don really was now that Bert is dead might come up again...

 

Here's a terrific list of funny Roger Sterling quotes over the years from Vulture.com:

http://www.vulture.com/2013/04/mad-men-complete-quips-of-roger-sterling.html

That's some very, very sharp writing.

I think you're being too literal. Almost all of the advertising business involves lying (or at least exaggerating) to some degree, so I don't think anybody gives a crap at this point. But I'd agree that there's going to be a lot of trouble ahead; the show thrives on conflict, and Matt Weiner has pointed out that the opening title shows a guy falling out of a building, and that's not just there for laughs. The show owes a lot to the somewhat-obscure 1950s Gregory Peck film The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, which is a pretty harrowing look at the pressure ad agency people are under.

 

I actually dont think the ending will have anything to do with Dick Whitman. Theyve really already explored that whole plot, with Pete, Betty and Bert knowing. No one seems to care, and in the crazy world of 1970, no one has time to care.

I just think that Don will end up on top again, but this time, he sees the world differently. I still think he ends up back with Betty. I just have that feeling.

But what i really want to see is Joan get voted off the island for how much of a bitch she's become. Joan has no business even BEING a partner. What corporate skills does she bring to the company?

 

I can think of two big ones.

 

The willingness to do whatever it takes to beat the competition is a skill not to be underestimated

 

She has skills- they're just not corporate.

 

But Pete has aligned himself pretty closely with Don lately. He doesn't seem to have any interest in burning him at this point. If the secret were to come out, I think it would happen another may (maybe Betty?), but somehow, I don't anticipate this as being a big factor in the home stretch.

 

Shame we have to wait till next year... They could show it in the fall....

 

The government might care...

We have the wife of a state government official who used to be married to a deserter from the Korean War, I think it's plausible this could come up and be a problem.

 

In the episode where the government checks into Don's background, Don mentions that there is no statute of limitations on desertion - it is possible that this will come back because someone will choose to use it against him for their own gain.

I'm betting on Don inventing the phrase "Would you like fries with that?" and retiring a billionaire.

 

Oh man that would really be something if someone uses it against him. Thinking about that time in our Country desertion was a big deal due to the Vietnam war going on and we still had a draft Military. Sure Pete and Betty know but do they know the details on Don's actual relationship with the true Mrs. Draper? I mean she's dead and pretty much blessed on the fact he was using her dead husbands name etc. So the only one who is attached to the real Mrs. Draper is Don's/Dick's pregnant niece which perhaps could be back next season yes, and her boyfriend gets out of jail and asks where she got all this money etc and she tells him where she got it and he says Whoa! I owe some money to some drug dealers right now and need more cash so lets go get some more money from this Don guy and she somehow tells the real story about her connection to this Don Draper/Dick Whitman and they blackmail him to high hell!

 

Based on the pace that this show moves, and the fact that there are only 7 episodes left, I personally don't think we're going to see the identity/desertion plot line come up again. Not unless the series resumes months or years ahead of where it left off and all the existing plot lines have been miraculously tied up off-camera.

 

Unless they write Don's children out of the show, it would be very difficult to "leap forward" a number of years for the final 7 shows. I don't think they could get away with Marilyn Munstering Sally and Bobby Draper (Gene probably).

 

I think this might be another Mad Men situation where people are hung up on plot instead of character. Don's identity switch is the core of his personality -- he's a self made man who buried everything in his past and created a new self, but one he never feels entirely comfortable or authentic in. I don't think Dick Whitman is intended to be a gun going off in the last act.... Though I guess if Weiner wants to ultimately strip Don of everything that's the way to do it. But I tend to think the ending will be more about integration than disintegration.

 

Too sharp for my taste. Roger became a caricature of himself, and I'm glad they toned him down a little bit. It helps that Slattery is a fine actor... it makes those hyperbolic quips go down easier.

 

There's no way that they're writing Sally out, and even Bobby took on a slightly bigger role this season. If there is a flash-forward moment, it'll be in the final minutes of the last episode. But having said that, that type of thing doesn't seem like Weiner's style.