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[Pillville]

I hope Diana story is going to end up completely crazy (like she's not real, and just a figment of his imagination).

It seems like there's something odd going on.
She came out of nowhere, and now he is completely obsessed with her. If it just end up that it is just another quick fling for him, I'll be disappointed.


EDIT:
AlphaSnake posted right as I did, and seems to have described it much better.

 

[jett]

This season is a total downer, not feeling it at all.

 

[AlphaSnake]

I hope Diana story is going to end up completely crazy (like she's not real, and just a figment of his imagination).

It seems like there's something odd going on.
She came out of nowhere, and now he is completely obsessed with her. If it just end up that it is just another quick fling for him, I'll be disappointed.


EDIT:
AlphaSnake posted right as I did, and seems to have described it much better.

That was another point I wanted to make. I just wasn't sure if I could justify that line of thought...but then again Don hallucinated Cooper doing a song and dance, so I think the theory of her being a figment of Don's imagination rings credible. Not necessarily true, but I'm not ruling it out either. Although, Arnold and Sylvia did greet her in the elevator. But Arnold's line "bring the whole restaurant with you?" was a little odd too...since she's just one woman. But I suppose he meant has he fucked everyone at her work place.

Also, didn't Don say he'd pick her up from where she was? And all of a sudden a split second later she's knocking on his door at 3AM after a cab ride? I'm going to review that phone call scene they had after she was done at work, because it didn't make sense to me.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

People need to read the AVclub review for this week. I feel like it perfectly explains what's going on in Don's head in relation to his own life and with Diana and whatnot. I was going to quote some parts but then I ended up quoting almost all of it so go read it!

 

[StopMakingSense]

This season is a total downer, not feeling it at all.

I agree with this. I find it less of a downer and more just very uninteresting so far, though.

 

[AlphaSnake]

That was another point I wanted to make. I just wasn't sure if I could justify that line of thought...but then again Don hallucinated Cooper doing a song and dance, so I think the theory of her being a figment of Don's imagination rings credible. Not necessarily true, but I'm not ruling it out either. Although, Arnold and Sylvia did greet her in the elevator. But Arnold's line "bring the whole restaurant with you?" was a little odd too...since she's just one woman. But I suppose he meant has he fucked everyone at her work place.

Also, didn't Don say he'd pick her up from where she was? And all of a sudden a split second later she's knocking on his door at 3AM after a cab ride? I'm going to review that phone call scene they had after she was done at work, because it didn't make sense to me.

Quoting myself...

Don totally said "Fine I'll come there" when he asked Diana to come over. But as I said, a split second later, she shows up at his house.

Also, I forgot to mention that Diana's got the Megan thing too. She told Don she went to Wisconsin to finalize her divorce. Just like Megan went to NYC in this episode to finalize hers.

There are tons of parallels.

 

[dead souls]

This season is a total downer, not feeling it at all.

I agree with this. I find it less of a downer and more just very uninteresting so far, though.

I agree with both of these, though I liked last night's a little better than the premiere. That episode was terrible.

Honestly the show should have ended a few seasons ago. It hasn't really had anything to say for years and it feels weird that it's still airing new episodes in 2015.

 

[MidnightCowboy]

I think the context of where the show is at in its run is why people seem disappointed. I've loved both episodes, nobody would be complaining if this was not the 6th to last episode. I don't think that's fair.

I also love Megan's mom so I didn't mind that it focused on Megan.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

People expecting something grand to happen at the end of Mad Men have been watching a completely different show than me. This is a show that's unpredictable, something could happen in a span of 5 minutes on some random episode but I never expect it to.

I'm loving these episodes. A deep dive into Don Draper and his head is what I expected and wanted from a finale and I'm curious as hell to see where it takes him. Just like the avclub review says, it's kind of like Don himself is trying to find the end of his story as well and it's fascinating to watch. The writing has also been brilliant so far. Really funny and poetic and serious.

 

[Linius]

Jesus Harry, keep it in your pants man. What a guy :lol

Man, Don entering his empty apartment was a sad sight.

Oh and I don't agree at all with people not liking this season. The first half has been one of the best stuff Mad Men has had in it's entire time on air to me. It's picking up a bit slower now for the second half, but I'm confident Weiner will tie things together nicely towards the end. This show and it's characters are so fascinating to watch.

 

[Effnine]

I can't even imagine someone not liking this show. Every scene is fascinating and rich in its own right.

Was anyone else noticing the tremendous amount of color in this episode? I know fashion has always played a big side role in the show, but it seemed to stand out to me more in this one.

 

[Linius]

That's the seventies for ya I guess. Too bad we won't see Don hitting the disco's with some wide pants.

 

[Supermanisdead]

i really don't like this diana girl. maybe because she's the same actress who played that crazy facial reconstruction girl from grey's anatomy.

 

[jtb]

the past three or so seasons have been a remarkable exercise in testing the limits of form informing content—it's repetitive because dom is trapped, but that doesn't keep it from being... well, repetitive as hell.

S4 felt like the last time there was anything at stake. It's still a fun watch, but it's doesn't move me anymore.

 

[ClivePwned]

They're wrapping up the show and resolving character arcs. Last week was Ken, this week, Megan.

Two episodes in and we still have no idea of what happened to Lou or Cutler!

 

[nahlakhai]

Just watched it and didn't enjoy it as much as last week. It's weird because I used to love the way this show told its stories; each episode was a short story that all combined in one bigger story each season, similar to how The Sopranos was which makes sense since Weiner was a writer on that show. But I feel like AMC screwed up the creative of the show because of the budget cuts and negotiations a few years back as well as dragging out the last season into two parts.

While I could see the arc of the episode once Marie starting moving his stuff out, most of the episode seemed pretty boring. Don's romance with Diana is just a snoozer and doesn't really make sense to me as well as his divorce with Megan. When we last saw them her words were "You don't owe me anything." yet somehow after all this time she's become more bitter?

 

[Pryce]

This season is a total downer, not feeling it at all.

What do you mean?

 

[real_slime]

I think Megan's vitriol against Don was kinda weird. It didn't seem to be the way things were between them when we saw them last, and really makes her seem a lot more stupid and shallow than she has in the past. There's obviously some truth to what she said, but I thought she was above it, and at the same time, the way what she said perfectly aligned with what Roger said about Jane makes Megan come off worse.

I've got like, no sympathy for her comments at all by the way, true or not. She's been living the good life for years off the desire of a middle aged man's desire not to be alone and face himself, and now she doesn't even have to deal with him anymore and gets all the money in the world. They were married for like 3 years. It's hardly a big price to pay, and heck, they were even happy for half of that.

I agree with some comments that the show seems to be slumbering its way towards the finale. Usually seasons would open with a fairly audacious episode before settling into rumination and meandering, and with only 5 episodes left to go after this, it's hard to see a throughline which feels meaningful enough for the end of the show. I'm not that interested in seeing Don solve his problems with another romance. I think I gave up caring on that when he started cheating on Megan again. So hopefully they have something greater in store than this Diana storyline. I was actually quite interested in her character for this episode. The actress seemed a lot better to me this time around for some reason. But it's still just more of the same.

Apart from that, not much of note has happened! I've still got plenty of confidence the show is gonna end with something really good, though.

 

[jtb]

I'm surprised people (a few reviewers, more than anything) didn't seem to like the stuff with Megan's family. That was the only part of the episode I enjoyed.

 

[War Peaceman]

I'm surprised people (a few reviewers, more than anything) didn't seem to like the stuff with Megan's family. That was the only part of the episode I enjoyed.

The family stuff was enjoyable (I've always liked the Marie character in particular), but in the context of there being a handful of episodes left there are so many others that I'd rather see.

The Diana arc seemed done to me, but then again it felt finished last episode as well.

 

[MindCollizion]

Fantastic first two episodes. I don't understand why people expect something else from this show all of a sudden just because it's ending. It is what the show is and it continues to flesh out these characters nicely. Everything is different; nothing has changed.

 

[tchocky]

Do we know how much time has passed between the two episodes?

 

[Fjordson]

Just finished the second episode. Loved both so far, though I'm apparently too dumb to really understand what the Pima plot was all about.

I enjoyed the Megan closure (or what I assume is closure), even if it was sort of a downer. Always liked her character.

 

[Niraj]

Do we know how much time has passed between the two episodes?

From the Sepinwall review:

Don's conversation with Diana about her absence from the diner and trip home to Racine suggested a long gap in time from the end of the last episode, but the check to Megan puts the date at the end of May 1970 — about a month after the events of the premiere.

 

[JTripper]

Do we know how much time has passed between the two episodes?

Hard to say since Diana was working at a completely different place since last episode. My guess would be within a month. Everyone's hair (looking at you Roger and Stan) seemed to be in tact just like last week.

Edit: ^answer above!

 

[JTripper]

Was anyone else noticing the tremendous amount of color in this episode? I know fashion has always played a big side role in the show, but it seemed to stand out to me more in this one.

That scene was particularly nice to look at.

 

[tchocky]

From the Sepinwall review:

Thanks, the conversation with Diana made it seem a bit longer.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

These episodes are great, but they don't feel like "Final Episodes".

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

These episodes are great, but they don't feel like "Final Episodes".

what would a final episode feel like on mad men?

I don't get this. Should everyone arbitrarily part ways like in sitcoms?

 

[Frost_Ace]

These episodes are great, but they don't feel like "Final Episodes".

Yep, even the last sopranos episodes felt "final" because of the war with new york. The plot of mad men completely lost its momentum after season 5 but it's not a big deal. I just hope the finale will be worthy of this series.

 

[BertramCooper]

Heh, I hadn't even noticed we'd already reached 1970.

 

[KingKong]

I love the tone of these episodes, they just feel off enough to be unsettling

 

[JTripper]

Yep, even the last sopranos episodes felt "final" because of the war with new york. The plot of mad men completely lost its momentum after season 5 but it's not a big deal. I just hope the finale will be worthy of this series.

The thing with Mad Men though is that I never thought of it as a plot-focused show, which might have to do with these final episodes feeling like they do. It's all about characters in a very real and relatable world.

 

[The Driver]

This season is a total downer, not feeling it at all.

I agree with this. I find it less of a downer and more just very uninteresting so far, though.

I agree with both of these, though I liked last night's a little better than the premiere. That episode was terrible.

Honestly the show should have ended a few seasons ago. It hasn't really had anything to say for years and it feels weird that it's still airing new episodes in 2015.

I've got similar feelings. I'm just not feeling these episodes so far at all, and I don't really care for a lot of the heavy handed way things are being dealt with (shit like Roger whining about Jane and then Megan doing the exact same thing to a tee, the assholes in the meeting with Peggy and Joan, etc).

I also kinda miss the firm going through the stages of getting a new business and developing their campaigns. It now seems to be primarily a bunch of disconnected vignettes with businesses that have had no build up, meaning when it's not spinning its wheels with Don and his relationships or whoever else, it's hard to care about the ad work outside of the surface level. It's just unfortunate because they used to tie the ad stuff it into the show so well.

IDK, I don't think the show should have ended early or anything, and I trust Weiner to make it all tie together by the end of the series, but I really think the 2 season split did the show no favors outside of the mustaches seeming less jarring.

 

[Dany]

Jesus christ don.

This is going to be his greatest tragedy.

 

[BertramCooper]

I agree with both of these, though I liked last night's a little better than the premiere. That episode was terrible.

Honestly the show should have ended a few seasons ago. It hasn't really had anything to say for years and it feels weird that it's still airing new episodes in 2015.

I couldn't possibly disagree more. The show has only gotten richer with age.

I'm rewatching the show's entire run as we approach the finale, and it has matured beautifully. The show has always been great, but around the fourth season, it started getting truly ambitious. Weiner started experimenting with the format and we got some of the most creative and thematically rich episodes of television ever made.

I think the show started losing people around that time, which is understandable, but I'm so glad Weiner went down that path.

 

[Dany]

Also fuck don for giving away a million to Megan, what about BETTY!?

 

[Krogan]

Also fuck don for giving away a million to Megan, what about BETTY!?

What about her? She and the kids are doing fine.

 

[wedward]

I couldn't possibly disagree more. The show has only gotten richer with age.

I'm rewatching the show's entire run as we approach the finale, and it has matured beautifully. The show has always been great, but around the fourth season, it started getting truly ambitious. Weiner started experimenting with the format and we got some of the most creative and thematically rich episodes of television ever made.

I think the show started losing people around that time, which is understandable, but I'm so glad Weiner went down that path.

Agreed. I find it perplexing when people say it hasn't said anything new in forever.

 

[Draper]

Wouldn't it be hilarious if the show had an 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' type ending? People would be so pissed.

 

[Altazor]

oh man, the vitriol this episode is getting from some reviewers is something else. Even Tom and Lorenzo (whose Mad Style I consider pretty much the best MM column in the web) are hating it. Their review is fucking miserable, even more miserable than the characters in the show. It's like a neverending cavalcade of bitterness and anger at a world populated by horrible people behaving horribly.

I mean, I can see why they thought that, but the review itself only amplified some of my feelings during the episode (I thought it was kinda bleak and depressive) so it feels like a very cartoonish, exaggerated version of what really happened.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Liked it.

 

[realwords]

Pima's going to steamroll every character on this show somehow.

 

[Pryce]

There's going to be a shit show like no other from fans and critics when this show gives a unresolved ending for everyone involved.

Of course, I went into this seaon expected nothing in terms of plot or finale wise, so I'm already set for it just ending.

 

[Joni]

I love how they managed to discredit the Manson theory with the time jump.

Also fuck don for giving away a million to Megan, what about BETTY!?

He is going to steal a couple of million before jumping out of an airplane anyway.

 

[Pryce]

Why in the hell was Megan so bitchy/angry toward Don?

Yeah Don's an asshole, but he gave her everything. Set her up for the rest of her life, gave hew a career, gave her money when they were in the middle of a divorce. Then gave her a million. In 1970's money!

 

[ClivePwned]

Heh, I hadn't even noticed we'd already reached 1970.

of course not, you died in July 1969

Why in the hell was Megan so bitchy/angry toward Don?

Yeah Don's an asshole, but he gave her everything. Set her up for the rest of her life, gave hew a career, gave her money when they were in the middle of a divorce. Then gave her a million. In 1970's money!

I'm guessing Harry set her off after telling her she was an idiot for giving up her job on the soap in NY at the end of Season 6, which was down to Don originally wanting to go to LA, which he then gave up for Ted.

That and Roger was nailing her mother.

That and for drama.

That and she's Megan.

But then again, this is the episode where Don offers to get in a cab but Diana comes top his place. Maybe Don's been dead since he fell into the pool in LA in season six and this is just him hallucinating.

The weight of expectations is going to make the last episode hard to satisfy everyone.

 

[Raitosaito]

Man, I don't understand reviewers or the general viewership. I rewatched the series quite a few times and Man Med has mainly been a show that revolves around Don and his psyche. It has barely changed as a show, and it's playing out exactly the way Mad Men would have. By being overbearing about it's symbolism.

Almost every major event happens to just move Don into a new phase of self discovery, but everyone mistakes all these episodes as fun penultimate events. (Like when a new agency was started) It was just a way to move Don into a new space to explore who he is. And this applies to all the characters, just like Betty when she sees her true self through her infedelities.

Mad Men is a characer study.

It's not an office setting Breaking Bad show.

 

[Alpende]

Megan didn't even say thank you for that 1 million dollars. I hope we don't see her a lot anymore, she's probably my least favorite character.

Kinda felt strange that Roger would believe Megan's mother in an instant regarding Don's empty house...

 

[Gloam]

So is anyone else thinking that Don is developing clairvoyant powers? He might defect to the Soviet Union in the end.

Roger's mustache has been the highlight of the season.