Mad Men fans?

Can't wait! It's a pity they've split the last season in two sets of 7 episodes and that we'll have to wait until next year for the actual series finale, but I'm eager to see what they already have in store for us this year.

Last season's finale was pretty intense and left quite a few things in the open. Many characters are starting a 'new beginning'. I'm curious to see what they're doing (especially Don).

Frankly, I have no idea how the show is going to end. Weiner already stated in various interviews that many people "won't like the ending". I guess that means it will be 1) extremely bold, 2) very downbeat, 3) anticlimatic, 4) ambiguous or a combination of these four.

Anyway, only a few more days left! I'm beyond excited!

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Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019

I'm caught up now - great stuff!

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Can't wait for Wednesday when it's on here. When is it being shown in the US?

In a few hours.

So, anyone else watched it? A good start catching us up with what's going on
Don looking out of place in LA. Megan concentrating on her career , putting Don to one side. Roger as hedonistic as ever. Pete gone native in LA and enjoying himself. Peggy still unhappy over Ted, and still being sidelined by Lou. Joan, ambitious and working hard at it.

Loved that initial footage of Don on the airport on the travelator to the song 'I'm a Man yes I Am' by the Spencer Davis Group

In true Mad Men fashion I dont think there is anything to go bonkers over yet. It is just really solid story telling with great characters and I am enjoying every minute of it. The scene this week where Roger hung up the phone on Pete yet he kept blabbing on for about 15 seconds was priceless.

Everything Christine mentioned is dead on and why I love Mad Men. It just keeps the characters true to who they are and when you piece it all together it is fantastic, humorous, and the best thing on TV by far.

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Letterboxd

What a superb episode. It's episodes like 7.02 that remind me how hilarious yet deeply moving this show can be. They packed so much humour and pathos into that 45 minutes yet managed to push the story and character development along a whole lot too.

Highlights:

• "February 14th: masturbate gloomily."
• Kiernan Shipka. She's fast turning into a fantastic actress and shows off some wonderful chemistry with Jon Hamm in this episode.
• The roses situation probably sums up my feelings toward this episode. It's so naturally funny but gives us a hell of a lot of insight into Peggy's character at the same time.
• "I'd stay here until 1975 if I could get Betty in the ground."
• Bert Cooper seeing Dawn in the lobby:

Don't forget:

"Hello Shirley."


"Hello Dawn."


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I'm very much looking forward to how all the story archs will develop.

I loved that. Super subtle.

One of the things I liked about that is that we have no idea how much of it is him being racist, and how much of it is him being coldly pragmatic. And we probably never will.

By the way:

I always watch these short (6-7 minutes) reviews from the youtube channel "The Orange Couch" after every Mad Men episode:

https://www.youtube.com/user/falettiman

Besides my own interpretations, it's always fun to hear some other insights and possibly refreshing takes on the show's events. I've been following this challenge since last year and I think their concise reviews are always enrichening and interesting to listen to. If you can't watch a certain episode's review on youtube, it's always available on vimeo too.

Recommended!

I think from the flashback as Bert as a young exec, we can gain some kind of insight.

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Under-the-radar Movie Awesomeness.
http://earlsmoviepicks.blogspot.com/

Just watched this week's episode. This is why I love Mad Men so much. Weiner just lets us spend a couple of episodes settling in and then nails us with an off the charts episode. For most shows us seeing what is probably the end of a central relationship would be enough. With Mad Men we then get what I feel is one of the best sequences in the history of the show. Don returning to work was absolutely brilliant TV. We know Don is feeling uneasy about going into the office but once he gets there he is the most important man in the room. Even those that don't want him there and have more right to be there are dwarfed by his presence. Not only does he seem more self assured than anyone else despite us knowing otherwise, but creative still treats him as if his opinion is more important than anyone else's as well. The time he spends with the creative guys is so well done I wanted to go back and watch it again.Then to end it with the suspense of what the partners would decide and ultimately Don's decision. I can't do any of this justice with my words but also can't stop talking about it. Really fantastic hour of TV. I cannot wait for Don and Lou's first confrontation. I have a feeling that will be the first time we see old work Don back in action.

It was great wasn't it! I loved Don in the office, restless and yearning to get back, with everyone wheeling around him. Also Betty's back! Poor little Bobby, what a cold heart Betty has, her lack of empathy for those kids is heartbreaking

I know I didnt even mention the Betty stuff. It was well done but the editing was weird to me. Didnt seem like there was a reason to jump back and forth like they did. That being said I wanted to jump through the screen and give bobby a hug. Poor kid can't even enjoy his damn gummies.

Re the editing. Maybe they wanted the audience to feel how long the day was for Don hanging around so they matched it up with the school trip to get the timescale.

Season 1,2,7 spoilers ahead

That's probably one of the reasons. But I think they're trying to draw attention to thematic parallels between Don and Betty as well. One of the major themes of Don's character has been the idea that he's stuck in the past. The man whose identity he has stolen is dead, and Don can't seem to move forward from that point. He can't bring himself to leave New York or SC&P - he decides to stay even though he has to agree to those horrible stipulations in the latest episode, when he could easily just pack up and leave for L.A. There are loads of visual hints at this. Notice also how the costuming of all the supporting characters is evolving as the show is moving through the sixties and into the seventies, some subtle (Roger), some quite radical (Pete, Harry) while Don looks exactly the same as he always has, just older and wearier. I loved the way that Graduate-esque shot of Don on the travelator in episode one emphasised this, with Drab Draper stark against a background of bright colour. Ben Braddock becomes freer and less and less restricted and repressed as that film progresses; am I reading too much into this to think that the fact Don is moving in the opposite direction of Ben in that film is a concious nod to this theme? Almost definitely, but it's fun to think about. Look at the poster for this season, as well:


There have been a load of other instances of this theme, of Don's constant alienation and separation from those around him and his unwillingness/inability to embrace the new, the progressive. That fantastic scene in the California diner between him and Pete in episode one comes to mind. The agency is moving forward without him with Lou's hiring and Dawn's politically progressive promotion. The rest of the world is, too. That's how I see it, anyway.

Betty seems the same way, to a degree. She hasn't changed much. She made a foray into a new "look" with the black hair last season but was brutally shot down and reverted back. She seems resigned to the fact that she's a bad mother. In three, Francine calls her old-fashioned and Betty agrees. A life where she's not a bored housewife to a successful husband, like Francine's own, more independent life as a travel agent, seems completely foreign to her. I think I'll have to rewatch season 6 especially to really form a theory, but I have a feeling Betty will be central to Don and the show's conclusion. All I know is, based on the form of the opening trio of season 7, it's gonna be a hell of a ride.

Good take Skepsis. I certainly agree with the unchanging Don and Betty view. They have always seemed like two peas in a pod to me. Most viewers seem to be more forgiving of Don's sins then Betty's for some reason. I honestly was not thinking about this theme while watching Don during this episode though. Maybe that is why the juxtaposition seemed off to me. Like I said I loved both stories they just didnt work as well as a parallel for me as it does most of the time in this series. I will prob watch it again before the next episode and keep it in mind. I usually watch all the episodes I find great twice.

I still can't figure out how much of the show's ambiguity is complexity, as opposed to a lack of focus. It's a pretty fine line between sophisticated/subtle and just haphazard, and I do think Mad Men becomes the latter from time to time. The themes can be pretty muddled when they're not being overtly obvious.

I still like it, but I wonder if we're all responding to mood. I don't know how well this holds up as a narrative, or even a character study, given all the false starts and feints.

That may be a weakness of a strength--remains to be seen depending on how it all ends. But we've seen the "oh, Don's finally turning a corner" thing over and over. And for a bit I thought that was the point--that we're seduced into thinking he's changed just like the people (mostly women) in his life are. We think we can fix him the same way they do, and we keep expecting it long past the point we should. So it'll be interesting to see if this last hurrah is for real or not.

Yeah, if a change is coming I hope it continues in baby steps. I like the scene in last episode on the plane. Don is connecting with a women the way he has with so many but stops just short of finishing the deal. Or when he tells Megan he is not drinking as much. It may be a lie but at least it is admitting its an issue. That is more than old Don would do. It feels to me like he is on a different path, but like you said it has felt that way before.