Mad Men: Season 7

[Buftex]

So, is anyone still watching "Mad Men"? It seems its' final season is being met with very little fanfare.

 

Been some pretty great moments so far...Don and Sally's road trip, and Don an Neve Campbell on the plane...

 

I guess the show always revolved around Don, as it should. But I have been a little disappointed with some of the other character stories...they seem much less subtle and heavy handed in trying to make their points.

 

I did sort of get a kick out of Cooper telling Joan he shouldn't have a black woman working at the front desk..so, she gets a defacto promotion, to keep her out of view. The unintended results of bigotry on display!

Edited April 21, 2014 by Buftex

[PastaJoe]

It's been pretty lackluster so far, and stretching it out to next year won't help. After watching Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones, it's hard to get excited over the office politics.

[Buftex]

It's been pretty lackluster so far, and stretching it out to next year won't help. After watching Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones, it's hard to get excited over the office politics.

 

Oh, I don't know, reality is always more interesting to me.

[Buftex]

Pretty rough episode tonight... I felt complete empathy for Don Draper. Not always the case.

[inkman]

Pretty rough episode tonight... I felt complete empathy for Don Draper. Not always the case.

It was the first episode this season that didn't bore me to death.

[bbb]

Oh, I don't know, reality is always more interesting to me.

 

Same here. I have zero interest in Game of Thrones, Walking Dead and the like.

 

The one thing I think that's been missing from the early seasons is Roger having great line after great line.............I liked this episode when he went to the commune..............I'm still really enjoying the show, although the fanfare has died down.

[Maury Ballstein]

Drunk Draper heading out of the office with Rumsen was hilarious.

 

Last two episodes have been solid. Roger Sterling > the world still.

 

"So marigold, you gonna show me around".

 

 

[Buftex]

 

Same here. I have zero interest in Game of Thrones, Walking Dead and the like.

 

The one thing I think that's been missing from the early seasons is Roger having great line after great line.............I liked this episode when he went to the commune..............I'm still really enjoying the show, although the fanfare has died down.

 

I will admit, I enjoy "Game of Thrones", and "Walking Dead" (to a lesser degree), but neither is in the same ball-park as "Mad Men".

 

You notice that everything is changing in the world, except Don? Everyone is "evolving", even Roger and Pete...but not Don. He keeps clinging to his old ways. I can relate to his character so well, in some ways... not the lucky with the ladies way... loved when drunk Don confronts the IBM guy "you're not my friend..."

 

Also, the parallel between season 1 and season 7: remember way back, when Don would have his late night conversations with Betty's shrink, where the doctore would tell the husband what the wife was saying... no patient/doctor priveledge for Betty. Then, in season 7, Megan's agent calls Don to tell him what is going on with her, to "get her under control". So, imagine how mystified Don is when Megan gets pissed off about it.

 

The whole dynamic between Don and Sally has been great too. Poor Sally, picking up the worst traits of both of her parents. She can be as fake as Betty, and as cold as Don, at the flip of a switch.

 

You have to wonder how the whole thing ends...but I have a feeling it won't be a happy ending. The way they keep making mention of the fact that Don is now in Lane Price's old office has been hard to miss. We all know what happened in Lanes' office...

 

I wish to hell they would just run the whole final season consecutively...but only 3 more episodes left until next year.

[KD in CA]

Been some pretty great moments so far...Don and Sally's road trip, and Don an Neve Campbell on the plane...

Wow, I totally missed that! My wife recognized the face but couldn't place her.

 

You notice that everything is changing in the world, except Don? Everyone is "evolving", even Roger and Pete...but not Don. He keeps clinging to his old ways. I can relate to his character so well, in some ways... not the lucky with the ladies way... loved when drunk Don confronts the IBM guy "you're not my friend..."

 

Also, the parallel between season 1 and season 7: remember way back, when Don would have his late night conversations with Betty's shrink, where the doctore would tell the husband what the wife was saying... no patient/doctor priveledge for Betty. Then, in season 7, Megan's agent calls Don to tell him what is going on with her, to "get her under control". So, imagine how mystified Don is when Megan gets pissed off about it.

 

The whole dynamic between Don and Sally has been great too. Poor Sally, picking up the worst traits of both of her parents. She can be as fake as Betty, and as cold as Don, at the flip of a switch.

Good analysis -- you always peg this show. I had forgotten about the shrink calls in Season 1. One of the great moments at the end of Breaking Bad was a similar juxtaposition; a flashback to Walter's first cook when he's fumbling through his lies to his wife to cover himself vs. the ease and control with which he calls the shots by the end. For Don, seeing how much SC&P had moved on without him was a cold slap and highlights how much the world is passing him by. You never would have put Don on a level with pathetic Freddy Rumson, but right now that's his closest comparison (and friend).

 

 

You have to wonder how the whole thing ends...but I have a feeling it won't be a happy ending. The way they keep making mention of the fact that Don is now in Lane Price's old office has been hard to miss. We all know what happened in Lanes' office...

I also feel a dark ending coming. Virtually every shot of Don when he's alone is in the dark. And it doesn't seem very DD-like, but the look out at his balcony after the bad phone call with Megan made me consider if they'd end the show with a suicide. Remember his brother killed himself too. And you have the opening credits image; perhaps they make that literal as well as figurative.

 

And I love Don changing his mind about the Mets pennant he found in Lane's office (it's 1969!)

 

I wish to hell they would just run the whole final season consecutively...but only 3 more episodes left until next year.

Yeah, the practice of dragging these shows out and taking such long breaks kills the momentum. I've forgotten a lot of the details from last season, especially around the whole Don/Ted/Peggy thing. As you mentioned above, there's been very little fanfare for this season (unlike Breaking Bad). Seems like MadMen peaked in the public eye a couple years ago and I think these too long breaks are the reason why.

[bbb]

I will admit, I enjoy "Game of Thrones", and "Walking Dead" (to a lesser degree), but neither is in the same ball-park as "Mad Men".

 

You notice that everything is changing in the world, except Don? Everyone is "evolving", even Roger and Pete...but not Don. He keeps clinging to his old ways. I can relate to his character so well, in some ways... not the lucky with the ladies way... loved when drunk Don confronts the IBM guy "you're not my friend..."

 

Also, the parallel between season 1 and season 7: remember way back, when Don would have his late night conversations with Betty's shrink, where the doctore would tell the husband what the wife was saying... no patient/doctor priveledge for Betty. Then, in season 7, Megan's agent calls Don to tell him what is going on with her, to "get her under control". So, imagine how mystified Don is when Megan gets pissed off about it.

 

The whole dynamic between Don and Sally has been great too. Poor Sally, picking up the worst traits of both of her parents. She can be as fake as Betty, and as cold as Don, at the flip of a switch.

 

You have to wonder how the whole thing ends...but I have a feeling it won't be a happy ending. The way they keep making mention of the fact that Don is now in Lane Price's old office has been hard to miss. We all know what happened in Lanes' office...

 

I wish to hell they would just run the whole final season consecutively...but only 3 more episodes left until next year.

 

Great analysis. I, too, forget a lot of this stuff, like KD is saying..........Listening to Kornheiser every day, he and the gang totally loved this show, but now if it comes up he just complains about the long breaks killed the momentum and you go onto other things.

 

Allan Havey, the guy who plays Lou, was on the Adam Carolla podcast last week. He's been a stand up comedian for decades! He had his own show on Comedy Central.

 

I never would have guessed any of that!:

 

[Buftex]

Great analysis. I, too, forget a lot of this stuff, like KD is saying..........Listening to Kornheiser every day, he and the gang totally loved this show, but now if it comes up he just complains about the long breaks killed the momentum and you go onto other things.

 

Allan Havey, the guy who plays Lou, was on the Adam Carolla podcast last week. He's been a stand up comedian for decades! He had his own show on Comedy Central.

 

I never would have guessed any of that!:

 

 

Believe it or not, in the 80's, my older sister used to do make press kits for a lot of comedians, including Havey, Seinfeld, Dennis O'leary and even Louis C.K. She used to be on the guest list any time any of them performed. I saw all of them a few times... Havey would often host at the Improv, you know, introducing all the comedians on the bill. Used to have a blast, but I have to say, I never thought Havey was funny, at all. Nice enough guy...but whatever he was selling, I wasn't buying.

 

As for this weeks episode, what a roller-coaster. They had been hinting at Ginsberg losing his mind for a while, but for some reason (silly me) I thought he would lose it in a more comic kind of way. That whole thing was pretty harrowing. Nice that Peggy got a scene this season where they show her in a good light...watching tv with the neighborhood kid...the way she handled Ginsbergs mutilation was as perfect as anyone would hope they could react in that situation. I wonder if that is the last we see of the character. I noticed the actor playing him has shown up on "Silicon Valley"...not that it means anything.

 

For some reason, I think Don's power play at the end is going to back-fire on him. Cutler seemed infuriated... Don seems to have outworn his welcome. Could they buy him out, and he try to break-off and start his own firm? There seems to be a lot of hard feelings between some of the two firms that merged. Teds' group doesn't seem to care much for any of the Sterling, Cooper and Price people. From the previews for next week, it looks like Ted and Pete are returning to New York...whether permanent or temporarily.

 

I have to say, I was a little confused by the whole Megan/Don thing. Relationships are complicated, I get it (I could write a long, boring book on it), but I thought they were done the week before... I guess the menage a trois didn't seem to have the desired affect, as far as Megan goes. I guess it was some last ditch attempt to save their marriage. I also had a hard time understanding what womanly psychology was going on between Megan and Don's niece (Stephanie?). Did Megan just want her gone, so she could spring the menage a trois on Don... it was just hard to figure out... I don't think she was jealous of her, or was she?

 

I know a lot of people hate Betty Draper...and at times, it seems her storyline is just completely unrelated to the rest of the show...but I like how they are masterfully showing how the parents affect their kids. Poor Bobby, you forget he even exists sometimes...Sally thinks he is still wetting the bed... he seems pretty damaged. I know January Jones gets a lot of hate, and I can't honestly say that I think I have seen her in anything else...but I think she is really amazing in this role. Every time the character becomes a little more sympathetic, she flips.

 

As for what Tony Kornheiser said, I kind of agree. It hasn't really been gone an extra long time, I just think the last season was kind of weak in comparison to my expectations for it. It was a little disappointing. I think it started to become a little too aware of the times it is supposed to be taking place, and the show suffered a little for it. I realize, these are supposed to be chic, cutting edge elites in New York, but there were episodes last season that felt like they were just kind of excuses to get the ladies into new outfits. They really avoided this kind of thing in earlier seasons...as great as the JFK assassination episode in season two was, the MLK assassination seemed to be trying to have more resonance than it did on the screen. Some great moments last season (Bobby and Don watching Planet of the Apes was one of my favorite scenes from the show, ever!), but it just wasn't cohesive enough. Just seemed like a lot of random things slapped together at times...it ended well...and I think this new season, four episodes in, has been much, much better. I really hate the fact that it will be ending so soon...until next year.

Edited May 14, 2014 by Buftex

[LeviF]

I'm pretty sure Megan was jealous. Could be a few things. She brushed off the remark about having her own children that Stephanie made but I can't help but wonder if she isn't a little bit upset about not having her own children. And "beautiful" Stephanie, radiant despite being seven months along, is just thrown in her face rather suddenly. Not to mention that Stephanie is from a part of Don's life that was kept secret for so long. The secretive nature of the relationship, however platonic, plays into Megan's paranoia about Don's possible misbehaving perfectly.

[KD in CA]

I'm pretty sure Megan was jealous. Could be a few things. She brushed off the remark about having her own children that Stephanie made but I can't help but wonder if she isn't a little bit upset about not having her own children. And "beautiful" Stephanie, radiant despite being seven months along, is just thrown in her face rather suddenly. Not to mention that Stephanie is from a part of Don's life that was kept secret for so long. The secretive nature of the relationship, however platonic, plays into Megan's paranoia about Don's possible misbehaving perfectly.

 

That was our take -- but I think the jealousy was based just on Stephanie's knowledge of Don's past. That's really the inner circle of Don -- there are only a very few who know the real man and the real story; those are the only people Don lets inside. Megan wasn't jealous about watching Don nail her friend, but she was very jealous about another woman knowing his secrets.

[LeviF]

That was our take -- but I think the jealousy was based just on Stephanie's knowledge of Don's past. That's really the inner circle of Don -- there are only a very few who know the real man and the real story; those are the only people Don lets inside. Megan wasn't jealous about watching Don nail her friend, but she was very jealous about another woman knowing his secrets.

 

I got the impression somewhere along the line that Megan knew all about Whitman. Can't remember how or why though.

[KD in CA]

I got the impression somewhere along the line that Megan knew all about Whitman. Can't remember how or why though.

 

Yes, she knows. My thought was she was jealous of someone else having that level of relationship with Don.

[bbb]

Believe it or not, in the 80's, my older sister used to do make press kits for a lot of comedians, including Havey, Seinfeld, Dennis O'leary and even Louis C.K. She used to be on the guest list any time any of them performed. I saw all of them a few times... Havey would often host at the Improv, you know, introducing all the comedians on the bill. Used to have a blast, but I have to say, I never thought Havey was funny, at all. Nice enough guy...but whatever he was selling, I wasn't buying.

 

As for this weeks episode, what a roller-coaster. They had been hinting at Ginsberg losing his mind for a while, but for some reason (silly me) I thought he would lose it in a more comic kind of way. That whole thing was pretty harrowing. Nice that Peggy got a scene this season where they show her in a good light...watching tv with the neighborhood kid...the way she handled Ginsbergs mutilation was as perfect as anyone would hope they could react in that situation. I wonder if that is the last we see of the character. I noticed the actor playing him has shown up on "Silicon Valley"...not that it means anything.

 

For some reason, I think Don's power play at the end is going to back-fire on him. Cutler seemed infuriated... Don seems to have outworn his welcome. Could they buy him out, and he try to break-off and start his own firm? There seems to be a lot of hard feelings between some of the two firms that merged. Teds' group doesn't seem to care much for any of the Sterling, Cooper and Price people. From the previews for next week, it looks like Ted and Pete are returning to New York...whether permanent or temporarily.

 

I have to say, I was a little confused by the whole Megan/Don thing. Relationships are complicated, I get it (I could write a long, boring book on it), but I thought they were done the week before... I guess the menage a trois didn't seem to have the desired affect, as far as Megan goes. I guess it was some last ditch attempt to save their marriage. I also had a hard time understanding what womanly psychology was going on between Megan and Don's niece (Stephanie?). Did Megan just want her gone, so she could spring the menage a trois on Don... it was just hard to figure out... I don't think she was jealous of her, or was she?

 

I know a lot of people hate Betty Draper...and at times, it seems her storyline is just completely unrelated to the rest of the show...but I like how they are masterfully showing how the parents affect their kids. Poor Bobby, you forget he even exists sometimes...Sally thinks he is still wetting the bed... he seems pretty damaged. I know January Jones gets a lot of hate, and I can't honestly say that I think I have seen her in anything else...but I think she is really amazing in this role. Every time the character becomes a little more sympathetic, she flips.

 

As for what Tony Kornheiser said, I kind of agree. It hasn't really been gone an extra long time, I just think the last season was kind of weak in comparison to my expectations for it. It was a little disappointing. I think it started to become a little too aware of the times it is supposed to be taking place, and the show suffered a little for it. I realize, these are supposed to be chic, cutting edge elites in New York, but there were episodes last season that felt like they were just kind of excuses to get the ladies into new outfits. They really avoided this kind of thing in earlier seasons...as great as the JFK assassination episode in season two was, the MLK assassination seemed to be trying to have more resonance than it did on the screen. Some great moments last season (Bobby and Don watching Planet of the Apes was one of my favorite scenes from the show, ever!), but it just wasn't cohesive enough. Just seemed like a lot of random things slapped together at times...it ended well...and I think this new season, four episodes in, has been much, much better. I really hate the fact that it will be ending so soon...until next year.

 

Only you would know Allan Havey from decades ago! On the Carolla show, he was funny in a conversational way. He really "got it." And, said a few things that made me laugh.............But, yeah - I can't see him as a stand up. When Carolla has somebody like Jay Mohr or Dana Gould on, I'm really laughing out loud.

 

I'm still enjoying this show, but it doesn't seem to have the drama of the earliest seasons. And, I don't think I'm ever going to find out how dorky Dick Whitman turned into super cool Don Draper.

[Buftex]

Only you would know Allan Havey from decades ago! On the Carolla show, he was funny in a conversational way. He really "got it." And, said a few things that made me laugh.............But, yeah - I can't see him as a stand up. When Carolla has somebody like Jay Mohr or Dana Gould on, I'm really laughing out loud.

 

I'm still enjoying this show, but it doesn't seem to have the drama of the earliest seasons. And, I don't think I'm ever going to find out how dorky Dick Whitman turned into super cool Don Draper.

 

Great episode last night... I don't want to sound all girly about it, but glad that Don and Peggy cleared the air... I kind of get the feeling that Don knows his days are numbered (at the agency, and with his wife)...I am just predicting, the "mid-season finale" ends up with Don leaving SCDP, maybe Megan too...and we spend the last episodes (next year) seeing Draper create a completely new life for himself, ala Dick Whitman...maybe he even changes his name back to Dick Whitman...

 

I kind of like the whole dynamic of Roger sort of getting his "swagger" back, coninciding with Don's fall from grace... like that Roger (and Pete I suppose) is the only one who feels any loyalty to Don.

 

Only you would know Allan Havey from decades ago!

 

He has been around forever..shows up in a lot of odd things.... I bet he probably is funnier doing the Carolla show, or something like that. There are a lot of comedians out there, these days, who I think fall in to that category... not very good at stand-up, but hilarious when bouncing off of somebody in conversation. I know, most here loathe Bill Maher. I think he is, generally, pretty awful as a stand-up comic, but in just conversational humor, he is hard to beat... Sarah Silverman too... it is just a different style I guess. Back in the days when I would see those guys, stand-up comedy, and going to see stand-up comedians, was kind of a fad (like kaeoke or something), and there weren't a lot of other outlets for comedians....I can tell you, as bad as I thought Havey was at that time, Louis CK was pretty painful too..but now he is one of my favorites. Times change..

[KD in CA]

Great episode last night... I don't want to sound all girly about it, but glad that Don and Peggy cleared the air...

 

We laughed about how rare it was for an episode to be generally uplifting and end on a positive note. "Every table is a family table" and there are our 3 oldest and most connected characters sitting together, and about as at peace with each other as I can ever remember.

[Maury Ballstein]

Final scene with Pete, Don, and Peggy at the burger chef was thought provoking.

 

So strange to see how everyone has grown and changed over the years. It's a GD shame a show this good has to end.

 

Wonder why Joan/Hendricks is losing weight after all this time. Hollywood life must be getting to her. I love her either way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bbb]

He has been around forever..shows up in a lot of odd things.... I bet he probably is funnier doing the Carolla show, or something like that. There are a lot of comedians out there, these days, who I think fall in to that category... not very good at stand-up, but hilarious when bouncing off of somebody in conversation. I know, most here loathe Bill Maher. I think he is, generally, pretty awful as a stand-up comic, but in just conversational humor, he is hard to beat... Sarah Silverman too... it is just a different style I guess. Back in the days when I would see those guys, stand-up comedy, and going to see stand-up comedians, was kind of a fad (like kaeoke or something), and there weren't a lot of other outlets for comedians....I can tell you, as bad as I thought Havey was at that time, Louis CK was pretty painful too..but now he is one of my favorites. Times change..

 

I myself truly absolutely loathe Bill Maher, and do point to his monologues as just horrible. I haven't watched enough of him in conversation to know how funny he is that way. But, I do know the only times I've laughed at anything he's ever said is during a conversation.

 

I'm kind of weak in knowing stand up. I know IMO the best I've seen was Seinfeld. I think he was genius...........I think I may be the only person in the world who thinks his stand up and the bits they showed at the beginning and end of Seinfeld - are actually better than the show.

 

What the hell ever happened to the kid that Peggy had via Pete? I pretty much forgot about that until she was bringing up not being a mother at 30, and then they're together at the end there.