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[Fairly Rational]

So Don cannot lie anymore ? The camera zoomed on his hand after he lied about his father, and it was trembling. I guess it was a way to show how Dick is trying to break out (?)

I think the hand tremor was supposed to signify a lot of things, and your idea of Dick Whitman trying to "break out" certainly fits.

I think Don caught himself in a lie and recognized how easy it would be to fall back into familiar patterns. Those patterns lead to excess and ruination, and he doesn't want that anymore. He's making a conscious decision to change. Part of that change is to be honest about who he is and where he comes from. You can see it on Don's face as he's explaining his real relationship with Hershey's (and it's a fucking amazing pitch in and of itself), that he knows he just sank the account. It didn't matter that he sank it, though. Either they would accept him for who he is or they wouldn't. By bearing himself like that, he's putting the ball in their court saying "this is me, this is what I do, either you want on or you don't."

I also think it's clear that Don is making a list of names. Names that will be brought to ruin on his coming day of reckoning.

 

[dave is ok]

So Don cannot lie anymore ? The camera zoomed on his hand after he lied about his father, and it was trembling. I guess it was a way to show how Dick is trying to break out (?)

Those were DTs.

 

[BFIB]

Don Draper is going through the hardest part of his life.

Dick Whitman is going through one of the best moments of his life.

That Hershey's scene is one of the best scenes I've ever witnessed.

 

[Woo-Fu]

Ok i watched the penultimate episode yesterday and i kind of lost track and didnt understand what happened at the end.. first Campbell is all "i'm gonna have to get rid of that gay homosexual 'cause that shit is nasty and he's gonna steal my job" and two seconds later he's all "well everything is ok now, just don't fucking touch me"

What happened, what made him change his mind? I can't google this shit now, i'll just get season finale spoilers in my face :-/

Last time Pete revealed the person and it didn't work.

This time he'll try using it to blackmail Bob instead. After the car thing I'd say it isn't working very well, lol.

 

[MThanded]

So season 7 is going to be Don being honest with himself I assume.

Was not as blown away by this season as some or you were.

 

[lamaroo]

Don as a freelancer with Sal.

 

[Vyer]

I fell behind because of a trip so had to watch the last three episodes all last night. Damn this show can be amazing. The Hershey's scene, the pitch scene with Ted and Peggy, Two Coffees reveals, Campbell Brothers contemplating how much finding Manolo is worth....awesome stuff.

Also I wish I had a friend named Bob so I could use NOT GREAT BOB on a regular basis.

 

[Meier]

I was so sure that with Don's initial pitch, that was going to be the basis for Hershey's kisses becoming so successful. They're the "currency of affection."

 

[Cornballer]

Content Roundup - Episode 13 - In Care Of

AMC videos:
- Inside Episode 613 Mad Men: In Care Of (youtube)
- Janie Bryant on Costumes in Episode 613: Inside Mad Men (youtube)

Reviews:
- Sepinwall's review
- Matt Zoller Seitz for NY Mag
- Maureen Ryan's review
- Zap2It review
- Variety review
- Denver Post review
- Salon.com review
- Onion A|V Club review
- The Atlantic discussion
- Rolling Stone review
- Salon.come
- IGN review
- Variety.com review
- Linda Holmes @ NPR
- Tom & Lorenzo


Other content:
- Sepinwall Interview: 'Mad Men' creator Matthew Weiner on Don's confession, Bob Benson's origin and more from season 6
- EW Interview: Matthew Weiner dishes on the season 6 finale
- THR Interview: Matthew Weiner on 'Mad Men's' Season Finale, Don Draper's Future and Bob Benson Conspiracy Theories
- The Daily Beast: ‘Mad Men’ Creator Matthew Weiner on the Season Finale
- LA Times: Matthew Weiner explains the Hershey bar
- NY Mag: Matthew Weiner on the Mad Men Season Six Finale
- Maureen Ryan interview: Creator Matthew Weiner On Don's Bold Moves And Conspiracy Theories
- Vine: "NOT GREAT BOB"
- Vanity Fair: Elisabeth Moss on Mad Men’s Sixth Season, Why Ted Is the Right Man for Peggy, and the Name of Peggy’s Cat
- USA Today: Deconstructing the 'Mad Men' Season 6 poster
- NY Mag: Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss on Peggy’s Future, Don’s Past, and That Teeny-Tiny Dress

 

[Cornballer]

 

[ruxtpin]

quick question... Was last night's ep the final of this season? I was thinking final episodes usually lasted a bit longer than usual.

 

[Cornballer]

quick question... Was last night's ep the final of this season? I was thinking final episodes usually lasted a bit longer than usual.

Yes, that was the finale. Most of the episodes this season were slightly longer than previous years.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

The size of that turkey...

I just noted, via the USA TOday review, that the episode highlights reconnecting with the kids:

Don showing the kids his home
Ted moving to California to keep his family together (he specifically mentions the kids)
Roger getting to be with Kevin
Pete saying goodbye to Tammy

 

[StopMakingSense]

I guess all that happened to Don last night just felt a bit unearned. Not in the sense that he hasn't been sort of terrible for seasons now and didn't necessarily deserve to be showed the door, but in a storytelling sense in that I don't think this season really showed how much "worse" Don had gotten as opposed to earlier seasons. Like the whole drinking thing with Megan, I never got the sense that Don's drinking really got worse this season. I dunno.

 

[Bladenic]

Why was Pete going to LA at the end?

 

[thekad]

They should have added another scene with Don telling Megan that LA is back on :lol

 

[f0rk]

"How are you?"
"NOT GREAT BOB!"

 

[My Name Is Luke]

Are Don and Bob wearing the same tie (firing scene and the final scene at Joan's)? I guess that really drives home the whole "Don 2.0" thing they were setting up with Bob, at least when it comes to the dual identity motif of it.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

what will everybody make .gifs of now?

 

[kingocfs]

In a depressing ass season, Bob provided some much needed comic relief. I died when Sterling noticed that he was there.

 

[CassSept]

Why was Pete going to LA at the end?

Much like half the office, he needed to escape, to start anew. They will probably take their LA branch seriously and possibly try to expand there, so they will need an accounts man over there. Besides, if I recall correctly he was handling Sunkist.

In a depressing ass season, Bob provided some much needed comic relief. I died when Sterling noticed that he was there.

Who's gonna slice turkey for you? Bob Bunson?

 

[xenist]

Peggy, you saucy minx!

Nice seeing a non vampiric Don too. And the partners sure took their fucking time doing something about his car wreck of a performance.

 

[Cornballer]

- Onion A|V Club: How Mad Men’s Bob Benson built a mystery

 

[thekad]

Anyone notice that in the bar where Don punched the minister they were playing the same song that was in the first scene in the pilot?

 

[BertramCooper]

I guess all that happened to Don last night just felt a bit unearned. Not in the sense that he hasn't been sort of terrible for seasons now and didn't necessarily deserve to be showed the door, but in a storytelling sense in that I don't think this season really showed how much "worse" Don had gotten as opposed to earlier seasons. Like the whole drinking thing with Megan, I never got the sense that Don's drinking really got worse this season. I dunno.

Don has seriously borked relationships with no less than three major clients - both current and potential - this season.

It's one thing to struggle creatively (which Don has been doing for ages), but it's another thing to screw up entire accounts, which he has done both intentionally and unintentionally this season.

 

[xenist]

The partners were seriously late in dealing with Don's bullshit.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Anyone notice that in the bar where Don punched the minister they were playing the same song that was in the first scene in the pilot?

I did not notice that. Good catch.

 

[Cornballer]

- Grantland: Mad Men Power Rankings, Episode 613: 'In Care Of'
- Indiewire review

EDIT:
- Slate.com continuing discussion

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

Joan's got a platonic relationship going on at the end. One person carving the Turkey and the other playing with the infant.

Nimble little minx, isn't she.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

It's one thing to struggle creatively (which Don has been doing for ages), but it's another thing to screw up entire accounts, which he has done both intentionally and unintentionally this season.

According to that Weiner interview, Don's meant to be at the top of his game creatively, even if he is off on the pitches. Personally, I thought he's been OK, but it's not gettting accross if people have mixed views on the matter.

 

[Fuu]

Fantastic season. Not sure how to feel about the finale though, parts of it felt more soap opera-ish than usual. Maybe I need to digest it more. Hershey's scene was great. Very curious to see where it all goes from here, lots of setup for the final season.

 

[Talon]

According to that Weiner interview, Don's meant to be at the top of his game creatively, even if he is off on the pitches. Personally, I thought he's been OK, but it's not gettting accross if people have mixed views on the matter.

This may be a result of doing quasi-creative work for clients that are occasionally dinosaurs, but I've felt that Don's approach has been beyond the clients' understanding this season between the Sheraton and Chevy pitches.

 

[Fairly Rational]

This may be a result of doing quasi-creative work for clients that are occasionally dinosaurs, but I've felt that Don's approach has been beyond the clients' understanding this season between the Sheraton and Chevy pitches.

Despite his Hawaiian hotel ad being a subconscious cry for help, it was a striking ad that people would remember. Really all his work this season has been brilliant, at least from an artistic standpoint.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Discussion question:

How do you feel about seducing, marrying, and murdering a rich socialite after finding out that she is actually broke?

 

[BertramCooper]

According to that Weiner interview, Don's meant to be at the top of his game creatively, even if he is off on the pitches. Personally, I thought he's been OK, but it's not gettting accross if people have mixed views on the matter.

He's absolutely the creative genius he always was, but he's an ad man, not an artist. He can't find a happy medium between his lofty creative ambitions and workable concepts that please his clients.

 

[maharg]

I guess all that happened to Don last night just felt a bit unearned. Not in the sense that he hasn't been sort of terrible for seasons now and didn't necessarily deserve to be showed the door, but in a storytelling sense in that I don't think this season really showed how much "worse" Don had gotten as opposed to earlier seasons. Like the whole drinking thing with Megan, I never got the sense that Don's drinking really got worse this season. I dunno.

He's always been a drinker, but I feel like this season is the first time in a long time when he was regularly getting so drunk he was staggering and flop sweating. Let alone punching a minister. I feel like if anything was unearned there it was explaining *why* he was getting so wasted.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

He's absolutely the creative genius he always was, but he's an ad man, not an artist. He can't find a happy medium between his lofty creative ambitions and workable concepts that please his clients.

You sound like Bert.

I agree, I get where you are coming from now.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

He's always been a drinker, but I feel like this season is the first time in a long time when he was regularly getting so drunk he was staggering and flop sweating. Let alone punching a minister. I feel like if anything was unearned there it was explaining *why* he was getting so wasted.

Yes, they made a point of implying that he heavily amped up the drinking after Sally caught him. Megan makes such a comment, and it's the first time he's been so wasted as to lose time.

 

[Cornballer]

- Poniewozik's review
- Newsday review
- NYT discussion
- EW.com review

 

[lamaroo]

This may be a result of doing quasi-creative work for clients that are occasionally dinosaurs, but I've felt that Don's approach has been beyond the clients' understanding this season between the Sheraton and Chevy pitches.

Yeah I've liked all of Don's ideas this season.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Don has always been ahead of his time in terms of ideas. And he's an idea man. Problem is his mind was moving faster than everyone else's could keep up so it makes him look loco sometimes.

 

[StopMakingSense]

I feel like if anything was unearned there it was explaining *why* he was getting so wasted.

Yeah, that might have been it. There was very little explaining Don's sort of backsliding professionally and in his drinking. It felt very written.

Yes, they made a point of implying that he heavily amped up the drinking after Sally caught him. Megan makes such a comment, and it's the first time he's been so wasted as to lose time.

No, it "started" well before Sally caught him. Megan had been complaining about it before hand, begging him to cool it, etc.

 

[brianjones]

Yes, they made a point of implying that he heavily amped up the drinking after Sally caught him. Megan makes such a comment, and it's the first time he's been so wasted as to lose time.

pretty sure he lost an entire day or so in season 4 lol

woke up next to a diner waitress and forgot to pick up his kids or something like that

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

pretty sure he lost an entire day or so in season 4 lol

I was referring to the last two seasons. Post "Summer Man."

 

[hiryu]

I'm not sure how this show gets better every season but it does. Probably the best tv show ever made.

I predict redemption for Don next season.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

It really does seem as if they're going to try and redeem him somehow.

It's gonna be a nifty trick if they try to walk that road.

 

[Talon]

Actually, we have a bunch of Time issues from the 80s lying around the house, and it's funny to see that advertising was still very 60s-style with a lot of text even at that time. The Ketchup ad that Don dribbled up would've looked very striking in comparison to the boring Chevy ads.

 

[Sloane]

Season started a bit too slow for me but liked it in the end, a few great episodes and some promising developments. The one thing I felt was missing a bit was Roger; they didn't really do much with his character after his mother's death and his friendship to Don seemed almost non-existent? Weird but it will be interesting where we go from here if next season is the last.

 

[A Human Becoming]

I find Ted and Peggy together gross. Elizabeth Moss is one of the ugliest actresses in Hollywood (but she is still good at her job).

 

[Kraftwerk]

As others have said, he needs to win the Emmy this time. John Hamm was simply incredible in the Hershey pitch.