Mad Men: season 6

[WellDressed]

Kudos to the doorman....that guy is great. What a shmoozer.

 

The doorman is Little Carmine Lupertazzi from The Sopranos.

[Buftex]

I think I love Peggy now....the scene where Stan informed her he's not her boyfriend was pretty awesome.

 

The Draper/Ted battle/"the favor" was fun to watch as well...Draper responding to Teds onslaught was cracking me up.

 

The bob benson and Sally draper walk in is just too much to process....so much going on here

 

Kudos to the doorman....that guy is great. What a shmoozer.

 

Thanks! It was driving me crazy...I knew that guy from somewhere...Little Carmine!

 

I think I love Peggy now....the scene where Stan informed her he's not her boyfriend was pretty awesome.

 

The Draper/Ted battle/"the favor" was fun to watch as well...Draper responding to Teds onslaught was cracking me up.

 

The bob benson and Sally draper walk in is just too much to process....so much going on here

 

Kudos to the doorman....that guy is great. What a shmoozer.

 

Yeah, that is funny...I think Don is in near complete "I really do not give a **** mode, whatever you say" and Ted is reading it as some sort of power play...he is reading more into Don's actions than is really there. Don is just getting by on reputation at this point

[Buftex]

Is anyone caught up? Don Draper is going to hell...and he is taking Dick Whitman with him...

 

As anyone who knows me here, I love the Sopranos....also a big fan of "Breaking Bad" and "Mad Men"...probably my 3 favorite shows of the last 20 years, if not all time. One thing that seperates the Sopranos from the other two: even though all three shows have a true "anti-hero" as the main character, Tony Soprano is the only one I found myself rooting for deep down, right through the end. He was every bit as miserable, and did many more ****ty things...but I felt more empathy for him than I do Walter White or Don Draper.

 

Loved how Pete is going to use Bob Bensons' "secret" as a tool, rather than an obstacle... he learned from Dick Whitman.

[bbb]

Canadian TV showed the entire first year of The Sopranos (unedited) during the run of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. I just couldn't really get into it. It wasn't as good as NYPD Blue, Hill Street, St. Elsewhere to me........And, I didn't have HBO until a few years ago, so I never picked up after year one.

 

And, I do plan on watching the whole Breaking Bad series, but didn't even know anything about it until it was probably year 3 or so, so I don't know that one either.

 

This would then be my first series that I can think of with an anti-hero. (Unless you want to count Ed Flanders in real life from St. Elsewhere)...............It is strange to have that.

 

I don't know if there is one person on the whole show that I really like. I guess Peggy and it seems like Ted is a good guy. (The actor who plays him was on Carolla's podcast and was great - funny, caught onto all the humor, has a great story to himself - born in Louisiana as a Mormon)

[Buftex]

Canadian TV showed the entire first year of The Sopranos (unedited) during the run of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. I just couldn't really get into it. It wasn't as good as NYPD Blue, Hill Street, St. Elsewhere to me........And, I didn't have HBO until a few years ago, so I never picked up after year one.

 

And, I do plan on watching the whole Breaking Bad series, but didn't even know anything about it until it was probably year 3 or so, so I don't know that one either.

 

This would then be my first series that I can think of with an anti-hero. (Unless you want to count Ed Flanders in real life from St. Elsewhere)...............It is strange to have that.

 

I don't know if there is one person on the whole show that I really like. I guess Peggy and it seems like Ted is a good guy. (The actor who plays him was on Carolla's podcast and was great - funny, caught onto all the humor, has a great story to himself - born in Louisiana as a Mormon)

 

BBB give Sopranos another chance...they have been re-running it on one of the HBO sub-channels weeknights (HBO Signature I think)...I have purposely tried to avoid re-watching too much of it over again, because, one of these days, I plan on watching it again from the start..but when I do stumble upon it, I have a really hard time turning it off. I don't think there has ever been a better drama on tv. I think James Gandolfini and Edie Falco are two of the best actors I have ever seen on the small screen. My appreciation for Edie Falco has grown a lot...I watch her Showtime series "Nurse Jackie"...it is solid show that doesn't insult your intelligence...my gf loves it...Falco is incredible in it, even though I would never say it is a great show...just a really good one.

 

You would think Little Steven would be enough to lure you in.... I remember seeing Bruce, during the Sopranos hey-dey...I had pretty good seats...and the whole time I just could not stop looking at Van Zandt and thinking of him as Sylvio Dante.

 

As for "Mad Men", I agree it is getting harder and harder to like any of the characters... but for me, anyways, that isn't necessary for a great story. Honestly, the older I get, liking people in general takes much more of an effort than it used to... Roger is always entertaining. Pete is just unpleasant to watch/listen to ("you were always a sour little boy" his mother says!)...I don't mind meandering story lines, and I realize it isn't over yet, but IMO, this season has been bogged down a little too much in extraneous story-lines that aren't all that interesting, or revealing.

 

At this point, it looks like Sally is being royally screwed up by her parents, and it is kind of heart-breaking in a way. It seems like on most of these shows, viewers hate most of the female characters. I feel a lot of empathy for Betty, as unpleasant as she can be.

 

I am predicting Don, uncurls from his ball, leaves the advertising business, and we spend the last season, watching him drive cross country to, say, Joshua Tree, where he ends himself.

Edited June 19, 2013 by Buftex

[Buftex]

Jeez...did I jinx Gandolfini?

[bbb]

I know. I never got back here and responded to this and my friend texted me right when the news broke, and this is the first thing I thought of!

 

And, I have heard before about him being a great guy and not really feeling comfortable doing the things he did onscreen. So, I don't think all the praise now is "they always say that when somebody dies" stuff.

[Buftex]

I know. I never got back here and responded to this and my friend texted me right when the news broke, and this is the first thing I thought of!

 

And, I have heard before about him being a great guy and not really feeling comfortable doing the things he did onscreen. So, I don't think all the praise now is "they always say that when somebody dies" stuff.

Just read an interview with him, from about a year ago, saying he just wanted to get away from violent roles...he said that he had issues with violence, and anger, and didn't want to just be known as the guy who beat up that chick in True Romance. I remember when the Sopranos ended...it was primarily because Gandolfini was worn out on the role. He said something to the effect that he had to be a person he didn't like, to play Tony Soprano, and it was taking its' toll on him. Also a a big sports fan: http://www.sportingn...rs-eric-mangini

Edited June 20, 2013 by Buftex

[bbb]

Cool article. I didn't know he went to Rutgers. I also didn't know until today that he is one year older than me (always thought he was a lot older)..........So, he was in college rooting for Rutgers when I was rooting for Bonas in the Atlantic-10........We beat them in our first espn game in '82, and in '83 beat them on the same night as the last episode of MASH by a three point buzzer beater by Mike Sheehy (whose son now is Indiana's sixth man - said to be the best sixth man in the country).

 

I wonder if I read that article a year ago that you just read - I definitely read the exact same thing.

[bbb]

Bruce Springsteen performed the entire Born to Run album in England last night in tribute to James Gandolfini, the Sopranos star who died Wednesday of a heart attack while vacationing in Italy.

Hidden Track reports that after performing "The River" 11 songs into the set in Ricoh Arena in Coventry, Springsteen stopped and announced that he and the E Street Band – including guitarist Steven Van Zandt, Gandolfini's Sopranos colleague – would play all of the 1975 LP for Gandolfini, whom Springsteen called "our great friend."

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bruce-springsteen-dedicates-born-to-run-to-james-gandolfini-onstage-20130621#ixzz2WunugFON

Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

[Maury Ballstein]

Gonna miss "the real office" sorry Michael Scott and Dwight Shrute.

 

Like the story....guess Don is gonna have to pick himself back up. The hiatus is a little strange but so was Drapers insightful meltdown with Hershey's.

 

Wonder if they are gonna write Megan out of the show. Seems like Draper needs a change.

 

[bbb]

I loved the ending so much. Both Sides Now is one of the most beautiful bittersweet songs ever.

[Maury Ballstein]

Yea mad men is amazing...I gotta give it up to Weiner

 

Confused by the Bob Benson situations....Is he into Joan ? Bi ?

 

Would enjoy more screen time for Bert Cooper and Joan over Bob Benson IMO.

 

Bert's logged his 12 minutes this season...haaa

 

and Peggy it's alright I still love you. that scene has me laughing when she got all sexy before walking into the room w Ted/Harry/whatever Harry Hamlins characters name is.

[bbb]

And, for the first time ever - like them - I was like Whoa!

 

Yeah, I really don't get the Bob-Joan thing.

 

And, Bert sounds so good in those few scenes where he is the patriarch of the firm. That was a great scene with the partner meeting on Thanksgiving.

[Buftex]

Gonna miss "the real office" sorry Michael Scott and Dwight Shrute.

 

Like the story....guess Don is gonna have to pick himself back up. The hiatus is a little strange but so was Drapers insightful meltdown with Hershey's.

 

Wonder if they are gonna write Megan out of the show. Seems like Draper needs a change.

 

 

I am predicting Don goes to California and offs himself at Joshua Tree, or something like that. He checked out of that job early in the season... I think he is resigned to killing himself, or living a drastically different life than he has as Don Draper. I think we will see next season (the last) Don coming to terms with Dick Whitman (taking his kids to the "bad neighborhood" to see where he grew up, telling his story to the Hershey execs, letting Megan walk off all signs), and whatever that entails. His days as Don Draper are coming to an end.

 

If you ever notice, before each episode, they say "previously on Mad Men" and they show you some key moments, from throughout the series (not necessarily just the previous week) that they want you to keep in mind...one they have shown a few times is Don, in his suit coat, face down in the swimming pool, his near drowning at the hippie pool party. Also, a few times, they have shown Sally on the phone, talking to Don saying "I don't know anything about you".

 

All in all, IMO, not the best season of "Mad Men", but it rebounded nicely the last few weeks...from the moment Don "re-connected" with Betty things kind of took off. For some reason, this season, for me, kind of plowed through a lot of little story-lines without any real insight. I took away from the Bob Benson story, more from his understanding with Pete, that he is just using Joan as a rung on his ladder to success, as Rodger had warned him not to do. Perhaps, if the **** hits the proverbial fan, the partners will have to deal with him..it will be interesting to see how much differently they treated him than Don/DIck. Benson is obviously a con-man of some kind...seems him hooking his 'friend", Milano (?) up with Pete's mother was just a ploy to get at the Campbell fortunes, real or imagined. Maybe Milano was conning Bob Benson too...Bobs' reaction to Petes' accusation seemed pretty honest.

 

Bob Benson is a social climber..listening to his "how to succeed in business" records...I think he knows, by getting in good with Joan, he as a valuable ally in the company. Rodger can't mess with him, because he wants desperately to be in Joans' good graces...so, by extension, Rodger becomes a professional ally with Bob. Pete has already decided that he is going to try to use his "secret" about Bob as tool of manipulation, so he has Pete too... nobody seems to want to cross Joan. Her "sacrifice" for the company seems to have made her "untoucable" to everyone but Peggy. But even there, she has the "pants of the ya-ya sisterhood" to her advantage. In a way, Joan has as much, if not more, power than any of the partners.

 

Loved the scene where Bob puts Pete (not a great driver) on the spot in front of the Chevy execs. "You can't drive a stick?" For a minute, realizing the show is coming to an end, I was thinking Pete might die in that little sports car. His father dies in a plane crash, his mother drowns after falling off a boat, and he dies in an automobile, driving it in a show-room no less! Maybe Petes' brother completes the circle and dies in a motorcycle accident!

 

Speaking of Rodger...it seemed just a season ago, that Sterling was kind of in the same place as Don finds himself in. Desperate, not as important as he once was perceived to be, and kind of a pariah for those who once considered him the companys greatest asset. I have never been fired from a job, but I have seen it happen a few times...the person being sort of "blind sided" by their bosses. I know, Don is a partner, so he can't be "fired" in the traditional sense, but forcing him to take time off, sort of a suspension, is kind of the same thing. That was a pretty great, albeit uncomfortable, scene.

 

Question: maybe I missed something, but was it implied that Pete was heading to California, long term, to work as well? Petes' whole story this season was kind of hard to figure...his wife (foxy Allison Brie) was kind of looking at him lovingly, like maybe "lets' give it another try", but then next scene he is talking about living in California. Is he going to work with Ted? Did Duck find him a job on the left coast too? I was a little confused.

Edited June 25, 2013 by Buftex

[Maury Ballstein]

I think after Pete's huge fail with Chevy he needs to mix it up a bit, maybe thats why he might go to California?

 

I saw some girl on twitter last nights theory that the opening credits might be don falling from that skyscraper. Could be true but i don't know.

 

Nothing about Mad Men can shock you as they are always ready for the absurd situation to happen like Pete's moms death or The lawnmower in the office.

 

I was cringing when Pete got in the car in the showroom, i figured he was gonna run someone over.

Edited June 25, 2013 by Ryan L Billz

[bbb]

I was wondering what I missed about Pete going to California, too!

[KD in CA]

Finally caught up and finished the season. I thought the last 3 episodes were brilliant with so many great, heavy scenes.

 

Don absolutely bottoming out, with even the one thing he could also count on for stabiliity and success -- work -- finally turning its back on him. Duck and the other guy barely holding back their smiles as he bumps into them in the elevator; Peggy now despising him and happily taking his seat (he certainly couldn't call her from jail like he did in Season 1). Megan has finally learned what Betty was talking about in bed; I think she's gone for good. And of course the other huge blow was Sally. All the screen time spend on Sally over the years seems not to have been building up to the late night phone call from Betty about Sally's suspension. You could see Don crumble when Betty says "she comes form a broken home". That was the last straw that pushed him over the edge and lead to the Hershey meeting meltdown and final bender.

 

Ah, but at his lowest maybe a hint of redemption. Offering 'his spot' to Ted so that Ted doesn't follow down the same path Don has. And the final scene; maybe a first step to opening his life to Sally? Agreed with bbb on Both Sides Now; it was a perfect choice of song there as Don and Sally exchange that look -- as Buftex pointed out above the "I don't know you at all" phone call was not lost on Don.

[bbb]

I watched the final few minutes several times before finally deleting it from my DVR because I have space issues.

 

Loved this:

 

 

[bbb]

Yea mad men is amazing...I gotta give it up to Weiner

 

Confused by the Bob Benson situations....Is he into Joan ? Bi ?

 

Would enjoy more screen time for Bert Cooper and Joan over Bob Benson IMO.

 

Bert's logged his 12 minutes this season...haaa

 

and Peggy it's alright I still love you. that scene has me laughing when she got all sexy before walking into the room w Ted/Harry/whatever Harry Hamlins characters name is.