Mad Men

I agree.

I just want Bob to still be around next season. I'm worried since James Wolf has another show that might keep him from Mad Men.

It feels like a lot was left unresolved about that plotline.

Twin avatars!

Also I agree.

(This is Emma Woodhouse 18, I just changed my username.)

By James Wolf I meant James Wolk, obviously. Ugh, the agony of not being able to fix typos because you changed your username and thus are on a new account!

So some stuff about Don that are mostly spoilers for the season 6 finale:

I feel like Don Draper has been one of the best examples of "nonlinear character development" over the past six seasons because he's moved forward as a character (if not forward in life) in small ways but often ends up spiraling backwards into old habits - especially with drinking, womanizing, that sort of thing. But the idea of him trying to be more honest seems to signal a more obvious, permanent change in the future, because that's something that's fundamentally at odds with his character. I'm eager to see where he goes in the last season. I feel like the writers have some very interesting tricks up their sleeves.

edited 8th Jul '13 12:16:19 AM by BobBensonIsHomunculus

WE ARE LEGION. I will love it if everyone gives themselves James Wolk avatars.

Re: Don. I think it's interesting that the first three seasons and then the second three seasons effectively tell (relatively) complete stories with a classical three-act structure, each ending with Don making a brief uptick after a season of flirting with completely falling apart. They're circular. So I'm interested in how the final season will comment on that, but I figure it's a forgone conclusion. He's circling the drain, travelling in ever decreasing circles. He might make it around a couple more times, but his own demons have too strong a gravity to fully escape them. It's more a question of how long he can hold out, rather than if he can reach escape velocity.

edited 7th Jul '13 11:52:27 PM by Nicknacks

You know, I never thought of Don's character arc that way, but that makes perfect sense. I'm rewatching Seasons 3 and 4 lately and I bet that's going to be hard not to see now!

I do think we're going to see Don move in some clearly new direction, though, because what happens to him in the Season 6 finale is something that's much more fundamentally at odds with who he is than any of the changes he's gone through in the past. Dishonesty is at his core, starting with his name itself, because it's not his real name.

But yeah, re: the avatars - I would have chosen "NOT GREAT BOB" as my slogan if you didn't already have it, haha. I'm just not sure what else to use because he doesn't really have a lot of great lines. He was kind of just there to offer coffee until the whole Pete drama started.

Maybe the "Can't you drive stick" line — except that was awful masculine posturing, and maybe not the kind of thing you'd want to brand yourself with. I was thinking about making an avatar of that tantrum he throws in his office, where he's screaming in Spanish.

And yeah, I wonder if Don's not going to find some way to reinvent himself in LA. He's always been finding new ways to sell products, he should be able to find yet another way to sell himself. The newer, better Don.

I'm also wondering if they're going to pull a Dr Faye with Megan, by having the two of them almost reconcile over the course of the season before having Don decide on someone else at the last minute.

But Don's not going to LA, right? Megan's going, but he's staying in New York because Ted's going in his place?

(Speaking of which, I know he'd be a shitstain whichever way he decided on that issue, but TED YOU'RE A SHIT FOR HURTING PEGGY. Especially when it seemed like he was going to decide in her favor for a moment there, and he basically promised her that he would right before he changed his mind!

God, I hope that girl finally gets a break with her love life in Season 7, though part of the problem is that Peggy has terrible taste.)

edited 8th Jul '13 1:45:58 AM by BobBensonIsHomunculus

Yeah, Penny needs some better judgement going on. I've no idea why she does the things she does.

Joan too, I'm thinking. That could have been an Orphan's Christmas we saw with Bob and Roger, but it could also not have.

Yeah, I forgot that Don was staying in New York. No idea why I thought he was moving.

Been on binge of the series via Netflix and a Fridge Brilliance moment hit me when watching season six: Glen is a quasi Dick Whitman.

-The two were awkward kids coming from broken homes that involved their fathers being gone.

-Dick and Glen as children both had disturbing moments involving looking through doors (the former watching Uncle Mack/Abigail having sex, the latter Betty on the toilet).

-Each had an inappropriately intimate moment with an older female looking after them though Glen was lucky in that it only was emotional, not physical.

-Bishop and Whitman got far away from their unhappy homes including mothers they had issues with via boarding school and military service.

-Both of them formed a close but platonic relationship with blond females with the surname Draper whom they met through the latter's family member.

-Dick Whitman's life changed forever when he encountered Don Draper and through circumstance was allowed to escape his miserable life and become a new man, while Glen's crappy life was (briefly) improved and was allowed to become a man period when he encountered Don Draper.

-In Glen's single season 6 appearance taking place after the aforementioned encounter he cooly drinks in a casual setting, gets physically intimate with attractive young lady, acts as the big alpha male beating up someone, and looks like hero to Sally. The guy essentially takes on all of Don Draper's surface traits without having to take on a dual identity while the same time Dick Whitman's life is falling apart in part because of that dual identity.

Does this mean anything? Not really, but if the finale involves Glen stealing Megan away and/or taking Don's job, at least you can say you weren't surprised.

edited 23rd Nov '13 7:05:57 PM by BorneAgain

Welp, the premiere was kind of horribly depressing. I'm still shocked that Ken's eyepatch is here to stay.

I think it's still healing. The time skip was a lot shorter between seasons this time.

Bob appears to be Put on a Bus. Still hope for a guest spot, I guess.

Don's pulling a Cyrano De Bergerac, huh.

edited 15th Apr '14 10:05:26 AM by occono

So why did SC&P think that getting Duck to find a replacement for Don was a good idea? Unless Lou Avery is a deliberate attempt by Duck to kill the agency, it looks like he's even worse at headhunting than he is at staying sober.

edited 21st Apr '14 1:00:28 PM by lrrose

Don is back! And Roger was useful again.

The return of Bob Benson. And probably his last appearance. Maybe he'll be back when they get to the Stonewall Riots. I really hope that that scene between Don and Peggy was not meant to be sexual. At this point, them winding up together would feel very, very wrong.

Sorry for the triple post.

Quadruple post! I actually had to check to make sure that this wasn't against the forum rules.

Hell of a season finale^note The series is on an approximately one year hiatus and this season will likely get its own box set. It's a season, regardless of what AMC calls it. This season started out slow, but the last two episodes were amazing. Peggy's pitch was great, Roger is finally changing for the better, and Don actually seems to be making good on his promise to become a better man.

My interpretation of the last scene was that Bert Cooper was so awesome that he was able to come back as a ghost in a setting where there are no ghosts just to give Don one last piece of wisdom.

Bump for Season 8 7B

What the hell happened to Roger's face? Also, holy shit Ken is suddenly the best character.

Can someone else post here so I don't feel weird about being the only person in this thread?

The bitter bickering and insults between Joan and Peggy after that sexist meeting was so sad and yet so accurate to both the environment and their characters.

Really hoping we get one last Glen/Sally episode before the series wraps up, especially given that by this time the former's graduated and the latter's 16 so who knows what antics they're up to.

I'm terrible at catching the date setting of season returns, I've read it took place around April 1970? Well, they skipped over New Year's and Stonewall which some people were expecting would be covered.

So, Ken lost his eye permanently, right? Because at the time of the shooting I was quite taken aback but people were saying it's only temporary. It's been what, a year now with the eyepatch? With his new position for revenge he's turning into a comic book villain.

With the theme of the episode being "What has this all amounted to?", it's hard to figure where the remaining episodes are going.

I actually do like the running theme of the door closing on Don's previous loves (and thus potential second chances) with Rachel dead, Betty happy/fulfilled in her life, Megan divorcing him permanently, etc but Diana was an ill conceived choice as a short term example of that. Not only is her tragic life a bit redundant dramatically given Don's own history, but it feels too disconnected from the rest of the series to carry as much weight because we already know its highly unlikely she's going to play that big a part in these last few episodes anyway.

Not that I'm the biggest fan of womanizing Don, but him trying this with a number of different women and them all not working for one reason or another might have sold this concept a bit better. That's just me though.

So how old is Sally supposed to be now? I'm pretty sure that she's older than Kiernan Shipka, which is really throwing me off.

Mathis makes me miss Ginsberg.

Lou Avery is still around while Dawn has vanished into the ether. This is terrible.

Glenn is still creepy, but Marten Weiner somehow managed to grow into a passable actor.

I'm actually surprised at how optimistic this season has been. Usually, tv dramas get really dark in their final seasons.

edited 20th Apr '15 7:20:40 PM by lrrose

Sally is supposed to be 17 at this point.

I agree with you as well, that the show has been coming off as more positive, if bittersweet. I know at the half-way point, a lot of people were predicting some Downer Ending for Don, but I'm glad to see that doesn't really seem to be the case for him.

If anything, these episodes seem to be pushing the idea that, the true healing process will begin for Don once he finally comes to terms with all his mistakes.

I'm also loving that each character, more or less is getting their own "finales" with each episode. Ken got his in the premier, Glen, Sally, and possibly Joan got theirs here.

edited 20th Apr '15 8:02:45 PM by Lionheart0

Ugh, so many Joan feels last episode. I don't understand why she's relying on that student babysitter though. If she's so wealthy, can't she hire a nanny?

Probably the most hilarious example of a old money feud.◊

Weren't the Campbell's Dutch?

Double post, but another episode aired.

• I really hope that this isn't the end of the line for Joan.
• Here's to hoping that Jim Hobart isn't going to be a Karma Houdini.
• So it looks like Don might just have abandoned his life.
• Peggy is awesome.

My new WMG on how the series will end: Don will never return to New York. Dick Whitman will abandon "Donald Draper" and start over again.

edited 4th May '15 8:43:05 PM by lrrose