Line #174 WMG/MadMen


1	[[foldercontrol]]
2
3	[[folder:The jumper in the opening credits]]
4
5	[[WMG: The ending is the beginning]]
6	* The ending is the beginning sort of deal. Don jumps out of His office (suicide). He falls apart surrounded by the women and alcohol shown in the sequence. He's buried in his work (the top shot with I'm falling through those pictures).
7	And that iconic shot of him smoking in a couch? Shout out to the painting of The Death of Marat w/ a POV from the back and flipped vertically. Just as Marat tends to his chronic condition in a tub, Don tends to his alcoholism, womanizing, smoking and vices at work in that couch. And both die in their respective healing atmospheres (tub/couch).
8
9	[[WMG: Don is the guy jumping off the building in the opening credits.]]
10	* Which could be the ultimate foreshadowing with Don at one point attempting suicide.
11	* Jossed. He doesn't kill himself.
12
13	[[WMG: Sterling is the jumper in the credits.]]
14	* After the whole [[spoiler:losing LuckyStrike and not telling the others about it]] fiasco, he's looking dangerously close to losing it entirely.
15	* Jossed. He doesn't kill himself.
16
17	[[WMG: The jumper in the credits is Lane.]]
18	* As of the end of the latest season, he has lost everything. He's been fired and disgraced for forging Don's signature and embezzling money from the company, he has British loan sharks breathing down his neck, and his wife just blew what little money they had left on a brand new luxury car. The last time we see him, he's hunched over in the parking garage, literally puking with desperation and panic. If he doesn't kill himself, his father or his wife's family will.
19	** Um. [[spoiler:He hanged himself after getting fired. It was featured quite prominently at the end of the episode where he got fired. We saw the body.]]
20
21	[[WMG: The guy falling in the opening sequence is no-one]]
22	* It's purely symbolic of their lives falling apart, not a specific allusion to someone attempting suicide.
23	* It's mentioned off-hand in one of the commentaries that one of the junior executive characters (likely Harry Crane) was going to jump off the SC building early on, but the writers decided they liked the cast too much to do it, turning the credits into TheArtifact.
24
25	[[WMG: "The Jumper" is a metaphor for the characters' mental states.]]
26	* Pretty self-explanatory. The opening sequence expresses the theme and tone of the show. Even though, they're surrounded by all this material wealth and luxury, they're in emotional, psychological, and spiritual freefall. Why would they pick an arbitrary character's suicide to be the opening theme of the series? The jumper is clearly Jon Hamm's silhouette, but that's because he's the face of the show.
27
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Crossovers]]
31
32	[[WMG: ''Mad Men'' is a {{Prequel}} to ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'']]
33	''Mad Men'' ends with Don finding an epiphany at the hippie commune. That epiphany is that he should form his own cult and change his identity to Reverend Wayne. By doing so, he can convince women that the Apocalypse is coming and trap them in his bunker.
34
35	[[WMG: Dr Drew Baird from ''Series/ThirtyRock'' is Don's illegitimate son]]
36	It's more or less a given that ''Mad Men'' and ''30 Rock'' share the same universe -- Liz Lemon's mother used to work for Sterling Cooper back in Main/TheSixties -- so why not? There's certainly an element of mystery behind Drew's parentage; his dying mother [[DeathbedConfession confesses]] to Liz that [[FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo she's actually his grandmother]] and that the woman Drew thinks is his sister is in fact his mother who had him out of wedlock. He could well be the result of one of Don's many, ''many'' flings.
37
38	[[WMG: ''Mad Men'' takes place in the past of ''Film/BabyDriver'']]
39	Jason 'Buddy' van Horn is another of Don's illegitimate offspring. He has a New York background, having been a Wall Street trader before turning to life of crime. It's hinted that he has a wife and kids who he walked out on before shacking up with Darling. And, of course, he looks just like his old man.
40
41	[[WMG: ''Mad Men'' takes place in the past of ''Series/BreakingBad'']]
42	Don had a one-night stand with Mrs [=McGill=] during a business trip to Chicago, resulting in the birth of [[Characters/BreakingBadSaulGoodman Jimmy]]. That's why she called out Jimmy's name before she died -- she wanted to [[DeathbedConfession confess]] this to him. Chuck may suspect this, which doesn't help his relationship with his younger (half) brother. While Jimmy hasn't inherited his real father's looks (unlike some of his other half-brothers; see above), he has inherited Don's flair for advertising, love of movies and penchant for changing his identity. He even drives a Cadillac after becoming Saul Goodman.
43
44	[[WMG: [[Series/DoctorWho Grace Holloway]] is the daughter of Joan Holloway]]
45	* She's just the right age and they look a bit alike, even having similar red hair.
46	** Where does [[VideoGame/BioShock1 Grace Holloway]] fit into this?
47	*** Maybe she's distant relative who Joan decides to name her daughter after.
48
49	[[WMG: The field hospital Don was building in Korea became the [[Series/{{Mash}} 4077]]]]
50	Maybe Arnie Rosen trained with Hawkeye and Trapper...
51
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Don and family]]
55
56	[[WMG: Don Draper is no creative genius. He gets all his information through time travel.]]
57	The evidence is abundantly clear. When he still lives with Betty in their family home, when Betty goes into his office to snoop through is drawers, there's a copy of W.E.B. Griffin's book ''The Corps'', which wasn't published until 1986. The only way Don could have gotten this book is if he travelled to the future and came back with it.
58	* Could be that Anna's place in California is in [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture Hill Valley]]. If Don had been out visiting her in 1955, maybe he encountered Marty and the Doc?
59
60	[[WMG: Don really is going to [[{{IShouldWriteABookAboutThis}} write an autobiography.]] ]]
61	* Maybe he was kidding when he said it to Roger in Season 1 but after the events of all these seasons maybe he decides to use his flair for words to put his life into perspective.
62	** Maybe he'll follow Roger
63	* In one episode, Don stated that he was a "lousy student" and never wrote more than three consecutive paragraphs before in his life. On the other hand, that was when he was starting a journal, so maybe he could build from there.
64
65	[[WMG: Don has crashed more than one car through drunk driving.]]
66	* In the pilot, he drives home in a 1959 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88, and two episodes later he's driving a 1960 Buick Invicta convertible, which he drives for most of the season. Then, in season two, the Dodge Polara shows up, which he crashes halfway through, and replaces it with the Cadillac.
67	* So, the reason those cars disappeared without explaination is Don crashed them. The Cadillac is a turning point - it's a symbol that he's 'made' it - which is why it was detailed when he buys it. After that, he lives in Manhattan and so doesn't drive as much.
68	* Betty, meanwhile, drove a 1957 Ford Country Sedan station wagon from the pilot until season three, when her father dies and leaves her his 1961 Lincoln Continental. She ''did'' have a newer wagon - [[http://imcdb.org/vehicle_283139-Mercury-Colony-Park-1962.html a 1962 Mercury Colony Park]] - but only briefly before inheriting the Lincoln. Not that that affects the point.
69
70	[[WMG: The silver/red interior [[CoolCar '65 Coupe de Ville]] is Don's last Cadillac, for a while at least.]]
71	As he gets into his mid-40s in the late '60s he's likely to want something [[MidlifeCrisisCar sportier and more youthful]], and that '69 or '70 model (Mustang? Corvette? something European?) will be due for replacement right about the same time as the aforementioned 1973 oil crisis.
72	* Don doesn't seem like the type to buy a pony car or a sports car, perhaps a Nova coupe. Nothing fancy, but Novas made decent muscle cars. If the Oil Crisis is a big concern, they were also available with four and six cylinder engines. And even then, he seems more likely to drive luxury cars by this point.
73	* If anything, he's more likely to buy an Eldorado or a Tornado when he decides to replace his De Ville (probably around 1968 based on how long he seems to own cars).
74	* With a Chevy account, a Corvette maybe? Plus the Chevy Vega launch should intersect nicely with Sally's driver's license, giving them plenty of time to bond while he's giving her rides home from places the Vega he proudly presented her with took her (but failed to bring her home from).
75
76	[[WMG: The Draper kids will experience SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome if the series lasts past about 1967, possibly before.]]
77	* At their current ages, Sally will still be too young to drive when Woodstock occurs, and Bobby will still be in HighSchool when UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar [[{{Conscription}} draft]] ''ends''. The series has already shown a desire to hit on every turning point of TheSixties, thus older kids are needed.
78	** They don't have to be involved in those events. For example, with the Vietnam example, they could have Don Draper interacting with some of the draftees and volunteers, and him feeling the differences between Korea and Vietnam.
79	*** Less likely to happen now that Kiernan Shipka has been elevated to regular status as of Season Four. WordOfGod is that [[http://tinyurl.com/24z6rqv she gets more to do each season because she's an actor, not because she's cute]].
80	*** Glenn's back in Season 4, and it looks like they're [[ToyShip pairing him with her]]. This could go lots of places; since he's played by Matthew Weiner's son, they can pretty much bring him back whenever they want without losing the actor to another project.
81	** There's also the amount of turning points missed, such as the civil rights movement, the barely touched upon pop art during that era, the Beatles and Rolling Stones, the radical feminists, and that they wrote out Sal mere four years before Stonewall. From this point of view, it rather seems that they are going out of their way ''not'' to touch upon the turning points.
82	*** Events of the Civil Rights movement are seen on TV, and Paul Kinsey travels south with his African American girlfriend Sheila to take part in the marches. Nothing much about Pop Art, granted, but boss Bert Cooper owns a Rothko. Sally and Don go to a Beatles concert, and Don gets Sally a Beatles album for Christmas. The feminist movement came later. And, let's face it, the Big Events of the 60's have become predictable. It's refreshing when a show integrates them into the characters' lives but they aren't the main focus. The big exception was the Kennedy assassination.
83	*** Pretty much Jossed. They're talking Emmy nod now for Kiernan because of how much Don's home life turns on her. While the Beatles are getting touched by her and Don connecting and it's Don who gets the stones as his power walk music. Peggy is going to be the one dealing with sexuality and feminism though.
84	*** Also, given the amount of mischief Sally has been getting into lately, there's still some small possibility she finds herself at Woodstock even if she is a bit young.
85	* If anything, it worked the other way around for Bobby who, due to multiple recastings, somehow was no younger than 4 or 5 in 1960 and not yet a teenager in 1970.
86
87	[[WMG: Don Draper is D. B. Cooper]]
88	This is a very popular one on the Internet. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper D. B. Cooper]]--who used the alias of ''Dan'' Cooper--famously hijacked a Boeing 727 on a flight from Portland to Seattle in November 1971, successfully got a $200,000 cash ransom, and parachuted into the wilderness, never to be seen again. He is was described as a dark-haired man in his mid-40s, clean-cut, very well-dressed, very polite, of slightly above-average height, and reasonably decent-looking. The similarities to Don are clear--maybe things ''really'' go south for him in 1970-71 and he tries to fix things by disappearing again.
89	* Or, if the show ends before 1971, they will show him in France reading a ''ComicBook/DanCooper'' novel (the official FBI theory is his alias and plot came from the French language comics).
90
91	[[WMG: Don and Peggy will hook up]]
92	* Don is widely believed to be based on an specific advertising great who started his own firm and married a former secretary who became a copywriter.
93	** This seems really close to happening as of episode seven of season 4, but is averted for now.
94	** Jossed. Don does marry one of his secretaries, but it's Megan. [[spoiler: Peggy ends up with Stan.]]
95
96	[[WMG: Dick Whitman was a criminal before going to Korea]]
97	We have a fairly comprehensive account of Don's (rather Dick's) life from his birth till the time he was living in his uncle's whorehouse. And we of course know about his time in Korea and how he faked his death and stole Don Draper's identity. But between these events there is a gap of around 7-8 years at least in Dick's life of which we know nothing. The bulk of [=WW2=] happened during this time-span and we know Dick wasn't drafted into it. So here's my theory to fill in the missing years.
98	* At some point in the early 1940s, teenage Dick came into contact with criminal elements. Either he ran away from home and joined a street gang, or he met some criminals through his uncle's prostitution business. Either way, Dick ends up becoming a criminal of some sort. He therefore manages to avoid the draft when he turns 18 (which would be in 1943 I think), either because he's underground and the authorities can't find him, or because his criminal bosses used their influence and some bribery to keep him out of the war.
99	* By 1950 (at latest), Dick ends up abandoning his criminal life and joining the Army to fight in Korea. There are any number of reasons why this could have happened. Maybe Dick was genuinely disgusted by what he had become and chose to turn over a new leaf. Maybe he fell out of favor with his criminal bosses or got into trouble with rival gangs and needed to get away. Maybe he was arrested and joining the Army was a way to stay out of jail. Or any other reason. Bottom line is, Dick ends up in Korea and as we know, realizes he isn't cut out to be a soldier. Then, the accident happens, and he spots a golden opportunity to not only get out of the war, but also safely return to the States without having to worry about the ghosts (real or imagined) of his criminal past catching up with him - by faking his death and stealing Don Draper's identity.
100	* A major part of Don's character on the show is his intense desire to divorce himself completely from his past (though as time goes by he finds that harder to do). And the possibility that he may have been a criminal as Dick Whitman gives an added layer to that aspect of his characterization. Also, it seems to me far more likely that Dick decided to start over with a fake identity for reasons beyond just wanting to get out of the war, and avoiding his 'family'.
101	* In the US, draft age during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was 21. Dick Whitman, who was born in 1926, wasn't drafted for WWII because he was just 19 when it ended.
102	* One of the photos Don gets after Adam dies shows the two of them and is dated 1944, so he was still living with, or at the very least in contact with, his family at that date.
103	* After he becomes Don, people ''are'' able to track him down.
104	** Anna finds him pretty quickly (although to be fair, she's coming at it from the opposite angle that any of Dick's supposed criminal associates would have done, ie. she's looking for Don Draper as opposed to Dick Whitman).
105	** Adam finds him years later simply by recognising him in a newspaper photo. If he can do that, surely any supposed criminal associates would be able to do likewise?
106
107	[[WMG: Don will die of emphysema or lung cancer.]]
108	Aside from the obviously prominent role cigarettes have played in the show from the pilot on, there seem to be a lot of non sequitur shots of Don coughing over the course of the series.
109	* Jossed. [[spoiler: Betty's the one who gets diagnosed with cancer.]]
110
111	[[/folder]]
112
113	[[folder:Pete and family]]
114
115	[[WMG: Pete's Gun will become a ChekhovsGun]]
116	Perhaps even using it to shoot Don, like he promised in season one.
117	* Jossed. He doesn't even fire the gun, let alone shoot anyone.
118
119	[[WMG: Trudy Campbell will have a miscarriage]]
120	* You know, to spice things up in their relationship.
121	** JOSSED. Trudy and Pete are now parents of a perfectly healthy baby girl.
122
123	[[WMG: Pete and Trudy are [[Series/{{Community}} Annie Edison's]] grandparents]]
124	Per [[http://fucknojezebel.tumblr.com/post/21244440984/this-is-my-favorite-ever#notes this Jezebel comment]]
125
126	[[WMG: Pete Campbell is going to leave SC&P at the end of Season 6]]
127	Okay, here's my actually serious theory. I think this is the most likely "bomb that will be dropped" of all the theories floating around right now. We've seen him meet with Duck to "discuss his options." He's clearly dissatisfied, about the name and about everything else, and seems to be the only person from SCDP who realizes what Cutler is trying to do in terms of slowly taking over the firm and filling it with their guys. Who knows, maybe he'll even quit advertising altogether. But he's clearly at a stand-still in his life, and he seems about to do something rash. Him smoking the joint at the end of "A Tale of Two Cities" seems like symbolism in terms of being an act of defiance against the system of SC&P.
128	* {{Jossed}}. He stays with SC&P and works for [=McCann=] in Season 7B post-takeover, only to be headhunted by Learjet.
129
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Megan]]
133
134	[[WMG:Megan will become pregnant, and then get murdered]]
135	I speak of course of the "Megan is Creator/SharonTate" fan theory, which came about during Season 6 after Megan was shown wearing a tee-shirt with a red start on it, similar to one worn by Ms. Tate for a photo-shoot two years before before her murder. Don hallucinating about Megan being pregnant in "A Tale of Two Cities" and several characters (including Megan) going to see ''Film/RosemarysBaby'' (which was directed by Creator/RomanPolanski, Tate's husband) in "The Quality of Mercy" added to the madness.
136	* For those who aren't familiar, [[http://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/is-megan-going-to-be-murdered-on-mad-men here's the BuzzFeed link]] that lists the "evidence".
137	* {{Jossed}}. Although she is in LA in 1969 (Season 7A), Megan doesn't get pregnant, and nor does she get murdered. The Tate-[=LaBianca=] murders are mentioned in passing, with [[TheDitz Meredith]] referring to the "Manson Brothers" and being told that it's actually the Manson ''Family''.
138
139	[[WMG: Megan is not her real name/she is hiding something]]
140	* "Megan" was a really rare name in North America in 1940 (when she would have been born), even less so for a French-speaking household in Quebec. Either she changed her name when she came to New York, or she's Don's counterpart in more ways in one...(Point of fact- Megan is a fairly rare name for French people. But a large number of celtic background people were assimilated in the mid-1800's in Canada, and names got passed along.)
141	** She seems to smirk when Don's not looking implying she's been working toward her goal in being the new Mrs. Draper.
142	*** Word of God indicates otherwise, with Matthew Weiner and Jonathan Ingla being very clear about Megan's sincerity in the audio commentary for "Tomorrowland".
143
144	[[/folder]]
145
146	[[folder:Ken]]
147
148	[[WMG: The show is a novel written by Ken Cosgrove.]]
149	He's an award-winning writer who seems to exist on the periphery of the story, yet seems to know everything. Every character on the show has a transgressive double life. Ken's perceived transgression by the rest of the characters at the office is his writing. When he is found out, he goes from writing science fiction stories under one pen name, to writing stories that more resembled literary fiction. In the final episode, it will turn out that everything we see was written by Ken, with his author's voice being someone sort of on the periphery, like Nick in Literature/TheGreatGatsby.
150	* {{Jossed}} -- this is not how the final episode ends -- but lampshaded at the start of Season 7B, when Ken speculates about using his work experience as material for an upcoming short story or novel. Pete comments that their line of work is "boring", and that Ken should focus on an adventure story instead.
151
152	[[WMG: Ken Cosgrove is [[Series/{{Poirot}} Captain Hastings']] son.]]
153	He looks startlingly like Hastings, and has the same forgetable personality as Hastings, and he's of the right age for it. Perhaps Hastings had an illegitimate son somewhere in America in the mid to late '30s, and may or may not have known about him.
154
155	[[WMG: Ken Cosgrove will Film/EscapeFromNewYork.]]
156	[[Film/EscapeFromLA Or LA]], either works with the show.
157	* There's a lot of creative (graphic design in particular) based in Burlington these days thanks to a strong design major offering at Champlain College, maybe in the show Ken [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble will have had]] something to do with that.
158
159	[[WMG: Ken isn't blind under the eyepatch.]]
160	That's right, he's pulling the old [[VideoGame/MetalGear Solid Snake in MGS4]] on us. He was crying from it in Season 6. Who knows what's under that patch?
161	* Jossed, as Cynthia clearly states that he's lost an eye.
162
163	[[/folder]]
164
165	[[folder:Bob Benson]]
166
167	[[WMG:Bob Benson is a serial killer]]
168	There's nothing that supports this, but there's something creepy about him.
169	* I've heard people speculating that he's going to be the one who kills Megan in the crazy "Megan is Sharon Tate" theory going around.
170	* {{Jossed}}. He doesn't kill anyone ... that we know of. Although Pete does suspect him of being involved in his mother's death.
171
172	[[WMG: Bob Benson is a [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist homunculus]]]]
173	That's the reason he's always got that coffee, since his ourobourous tattoo is located on his palm.
174	Or maybe he's actually Envy in his latest disguise. He's decided to investigate SC&P because he thinks Don would make a good candidate for human sacrifice. Of course, the problem is he doesn't realize he's actually Dick Whitman, he thinks he's the real Lieutenant Don Draper who died who was secretly a powerful State Alchemist. When he finds this out he goes on a violent rampage which is how Megan gets murdered.
175
176	[[WMG: Bob Benson is a rare male [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Puella Magi]]]]
177	His wish was to become part of a top Madison Avenue advertising firm, which is why he just appeared out of nowhere. The real reason he's hanging around Joan so much is because Kyubey senses that Joan has magical-girl potential, and Bob is the veteran to help show her the ropes. Also the big event at the end of Season 6 is Bob turning into a witch.
178
179	[[WMG: Bob Benson is [[Anime/WolfsRain a wolf]]]]
180	The world of ''Mad Men'' is not actually the real 1960s but an AU version where a nuclear war breaks out between the US and USSR and the world ends, so Bob Benson is a wolf in disguise who is hanging around Madison Avenue to show people there to Paradise. Pete Campbell is a noble and Bob is pretending to be interested in him in order to keep an eye on him; Pete's mom is, too, and that's why she mysterious disappeared because Bob had to kill he for trying to open an evil version of Paradise. She was just feigning insanity. Also Joan is the Flower Maiden and this is why Bob hangs around her, also why she's so beautiful and every man wants her.
181
182	[[WMG: Bob Benson is [[Film/CatchMeIfYouCan Frank Abagnale]]]]
183	The timeline fits. He appeared out of nowhere in season 6 and rapidly rose in the ranks of the firm. His entire appearance was nothing less than a BavarianFireDrill, and everybody just assumes someone else hired him.
184	* It's not like he's the first person in ''Mad Men'' to do this.
185	* Sort of confirmed. He's not Abagnale, but he's someone very much like him -- he's bluffed his way into a job he's completely unqualified for and has been relying on his charm to prevent anyone from finding out.
186
187	[[/folder]]
188
189	[[folder:Other characters]]
190
191	[[WMG: Joan was in Marshall [=McLuhan's=] class in Canada when he said "the medium is the message".]]
192	Otherwise, how would she know that phrase before he published it in his 1964 treatise ''Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man''?
193
194	[[WMG: Harry will leave the firm.]]
195	Tensions between Harry and the partners are at a high point as of seaon 6, episode 4, to a point where he even threatened to leave if Joan fired one of his employees. Peggy doesn't need the extra muscle, but Harry letting go of SCDP and joining the hip young firm it would reinforce season 6's running theme of the past.
196	* {{Jossed}}. He's at SC&P right up to the [=McCann=] takeover, and is last seen working for the latter.
197
198	[[WMG: Lane Pryce is related to [[Series/{{Angel}} Wesley]] ]]
199	Or Mr. Hooker! They share a certain ineffectuality.
200
201	[[WMG: [[Series/{{Leverage}} Sterling]] is related to Roger Sterling.]]
202	And inherited the DeadpanSnarker gene.
203
204	[[WMG: Paul's ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Star Trek]]'' script eventually became the episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"]]
205	After moving to Hollywood, Paul actually did try submitting his ''Star Trek'' script to the show's production staff. Initially it was tossed aside like the piece of crap that it was, but a year later, with the show in the middle of it's infamous third season and in dire need of stories, the production team dusted off Paul's script, rewrote it to eliminate the Hare Krishna elements and change the aliens into "half-whites" and "half-blacks," and then produced it.
206
207	[[WMG: When Ted Chaough left the room while Stan was on the phone in the finale...]]
208	Having heard that Don had run off and was in trouble he raced off, got Don's call to [=McCann=] traced, and flew off in his plane to Big Sur to save him.
209
210	[[WMG: Harry Crane will go on to be [[WesternAnimation/{{Archer}} Cyril Figgis]].]]
211	They look similar, the characters are similar, Rich Sommer even sounds like Chris Parnell. Finally, the median time period for Archer, based on its anachronisms, is somewhere in the mid-70s approximately after Mad Men ends.
212
213	[[/folder]]
214
215	[[folder:Plot predictions (including season finales)]]
216
217	[[WMG: In Season 5, the cast will go see ''Theatre/HowToSucceedInBusinessWithoutReallyTrying'']]
218	The movie came out in 1967; Season 4 ended in 1965, so Season 5 will start at least half a year later. There's no way they're going to miss out on a Robert Morse CastingGag.
219	* Jossed, sadly. And surprisingly, given how Don loves to sneak off to the cinema. CelebrityParadox averted.
220
221	[[WMG: The mid-Season 7 finale will be...]]
222	Don getting fired for real, possibly for undermining Lou Avery.
223	** [[spoiler:This almost happened, but Roger managed to save the day. Jim Cutler was the one responsible for it though, not Lou.]]
224
225	[[WMG: The very final story arc will in some (probably major) way feature the Moon Landing]]
226	The final season plays in 1969. The show has always interwoven historical events of the time period with its plot and this is just too perfect to be wasted in some obvious "Let's give all our ad campaigns a space theme!" side story.
227	* In his last great act of impersonation Don Draper IS Neil Armstrong!
228	* The moon landing takes place during the Season 7A finale, "Waterloo", where it plays a significant role.
229
230	[[WMG: The series will end with Dick Whitman abandoning his life as Donald Draper and creating another new identity]]
231	The Sixties are over. Don is starting to realize that no one really needs him: Sally is independent, Betty and Megan are over him, and (as far as Don knows) the former [=SC&P=] staff are settling in nicely at [=McCann=]. His conversations with Diana implied that he was fed up with New York. Dick Whitman created Don Draper to escape his dismal life. Now that Don's life is dismal once more, he needs a new identity.
232
233	[[WMG: The later seasons of ''Mad Men'' have been an adaptation of ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'']]
234	Related to some of the other WMGS, especially the ones where Don has been dead all along and/or EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory, this goes a little further. Don has been dead since around season 5 with the best guess being that he actually drowned in that swimming pool. The HumiliationConga and arduous road to a better life have been his path through Inferno and up through Purgatory on his way to Heaven. There's even some name similarities, specifically Don: Dante the Character, Roger: Virgil and Betty: Beatrice.
235
236	[[/folder]]
237
238	[[folder:Miscellaneous]]
239
240	[[WMG: People who accuse Weiner of creating Glen as a walk-on for his son have it exactly backwards.]]
241	He knew all along that he'd want Glen for a few scenes once a season or so. Casting his son who doesn't act in anything else meant he'd have someone who was always available and wouldn't need to find another kid and reintroduce the character [[TheOtherDarrin with a different actor]] every time.
242
243	[[WMG: Samsonite=alcoholism for the ''Mad Men'' writers.]]
244	* Thus far, of course, we only have the evidence of "Six Months' Leave" and "The Suitcase," but it is kind of interesting that two episodes that deal with alcoholism also involve Samsonite in some major way. "Six Months' Leave" is kicked off by Freddy Rumsen passing out and pissing himself during a pitch to Samsonite, and "The Suitcase," which showcases the beginnings of Don's inevitable alcoholism (the puking should be a clue) and the depths of Duck's (every time he shows up), as well as mentioning how Freddy is now that he's joined AA (Roger isn't pleased), gets ''its'' start with Don and Peggy working late on the Samsonite campaign.
245
246	[[WMG: The early '70s were/will be lean years for SCDP.]]
247	* The bad days will begin when cigarettes are banned from advertising on US TV in 1970 and end when the first Honda Civic debuts into the 1974 oil crisis. Since Lucky Strike is Sterling's pet account and Honda is Campbell's, this will set up a very interesting dynamic to watch.
248	** The basics of this may still happen, but as of the most recent episode Lucky Strike has dumped SCDP setting the lean years up in the mid 60's.
249	** Also, the Honda Civic is precisely the car account you would ''want to have'' going into the oil crisis. SCDP's execs viewing the Civic account as a mere consolation prize is a case of ItWillNeverCatchOn, and possibly foreshadowing if indeed the show's story takes the firm into the 70s. Between quitting tobacco ahead of the rest of the industry and landing a fuel-efficient economy car account a decade before the oil crisis, SCDP is poised for a huge comeback in the 70s.
250	*** But it looks like the car account they have at that time will be the [[TheAllegedCar Chevy Vega]].
251	* Um ... SC&P gets taken over by [=McCann=] in 1970. Even before then, Chevy moved their advertising for the Vega in-house.
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Context WMG / MadMen