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Mad Men - Season 7, Part 2 - The End of an Era - AMC Sundays

C

Cornballer

Member
- GIFs from Warming Glow


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B

BertramCooper

Banned
This show is so good at small details.

At the beginning of the episode I noticed that Don's hair looked a bit shaggier than normal. I thought perhaps he was attempting to grow it out in a misguided attempt to keep with the times. (And I think this probably is the case.)

And then Roger calls him out on his hair looking shitty. I laughed and laughed.
 
R

real_slime

Banned
BertramCooper said:
This show is so good at small details.

At the beginning of the episode I noticed that Don's hair looked a bit shaggier than normal. I thought perhaps he was attempting to grow it out in a misguided attempt to keep with the times. (And I think this probably is the case.)

And then Roger calls him out on his hair looking shitty. I laughed and laughed.
Click to expand...

I think it was just that he didn't have time to have a shower because he had to rush out after over-sleeping due to drinking the previous night (you see the bottle of whiskey on the lawn furniture when the estate agent comes in during the first scene). I think it was all just to show that he is fraying a bit, literally. We know he has a recurring drinking problem and it tends to rear its head the most when he is lacking direction and thinking about what he should do in the wake of some life changing event - except this time, he is just gradually losing his sense of self, rather than a sudden change in circumstances.

And yeah, it's good stuff.

I enjoyed this episode the most out of the first three. I enjoyed the second more than the first, also. We got to check in with loads of characters, the stories were more interesting and the thematic drive towards the ending of the story is beginning to shake out a bit more clearly. The place of the first two episodes in that feels a bit more clear now, and probably will become more so as we continue to head towards the end.

I'll add that for all every character he interacted with attacked him in this episode, their attacks didn't strike me as that cutting. Don obviously felt they were, he seemed to take most of them to heart, but Mathis was just lashing out due to his own failure and Sally has reason to be suspicious of her father - in this specific episode, I think Don was doing all right.

That's the issue - he kind of is doing all right. He's being honest with others, but the difficulty seems to be that he is also being honest with himself and is having to deal with problems in what the latter means. He may not be so sure of what or why he is doing anything, and the future holds less promise since he has tried and succeeded at so many different things now, but still feels like there is somewhere else to go. I wonder what that could be?
 
B

BertramCooper

Banned
If Don is indeed starting to grow out his hair a bit and I'm not just imagining shit, it would be in line with something T&L pointed out on Mad Style a couple of weeks ago, when Don wore a blue shirt to the office during business hours for the very first time.

Weiner and Bryant could be showing that Don, in an ungainly manner, is finally starting to let the new trends of the era creep into his fashion.
 
J

jtb

Banned
man, I completely forgot Lou was a character... spent half the episode trying to separate his character from Duck, as I had somehow conflated the two.
 
H

Hazmat

Member
BertramCooper said:
This show is so good at small details.

At the beginning of the episode I noticed that Don's hair looked a bit shaggier than normal. I thought perhaps he was attempting to grow it out in a misguided attempt to keep with the times. (And I think this probably is the case.)

And then Roger calls him out on his hair looking shitty. I laughed and laughed.
Click to expand...

He looked generally unkempt, but I figured Roger's comment was about Don needing a shave. Don't we see him using an electric razor in his office a few scenes later?
 
O

Opto

Banned
Did we see what candy bar Don bought? I bet it was Hershey's.

Also, is the next episode going to end with Don looking sad outside of his apartment building? Then the next outside of the city? Then he's in space looking sad at Earth for the finale?
 
P

-Pyromaniac-

Member
Opto said:
Did we see what candy bar Don bought? I bet it was Hershey's.

Also, is the next episode going to end with Don looking sad outside of his apartment building? Then the next outside of the city? Then he's in space looking sad at Earth for the finale?
Click to expand...

don reached outer space and is still unhappy ;_;

hello alien, what are your dreams?
 
O

Opto

Banned
-Pyromaniac- said:
don reached outer space and is still unhappy ;_;

hello alien, what are your dreams?
Click to expand...

Don's final pitch is to plead the aliens to take him away from Earth. The ultimate escape.

Cut to 10 years in the future and we see Don as creative director at Xxdsaw, Prshn'b, and Fpt. He looks out his window at a glorious alien utopia and starts sadfacing.
 
N

nahlakhai

Member
Amazing how the Glenn and Betty exchanges are every bit just as cringeworthy as they were when he was a teeny kid. Great episode, especially the powerful ending. I enjoyed this one much more than last week's, but last week's episode grew on me as the week went on.
 
N

nahlakhai

Member
vcassano1 said:
I meant the idea of a jokey apology as opposed to a sincere one. The soap one would have been more effective, unlikely though.
Click to expand...

Don told him why straight up apologizing was a bad idea and Mathis is an idiot for using the Lucky Strike line. By the looks on their face with Don's line, the soap definitely would've been more effective. Some of the things he said about Don were true, but he's an idiot for blaming Don in the end.
 
G

-griffy-

Banned
real_slime said:
I'll add that for all every character he interacted with attacked him in this episode, their attacks didn't strike me as that cutting. Don obviously felt they were, he seemed to take most of them to heart, but Mathis was just lashing out due to his own failure and Sally has reason to be suspicious of her father - in this specific episode, I think Don was doing all right.
Click to expand...
I think what was interesting is that any time someone criticized Don in this episode he seemed to deflect it back at them as their own personal failures and not his fault. It feels like he is unwilling to take responsibility for his own shortcomings somehow, and unwilling to see how those shortcomings can affect those around him. I'm sure there's some connection to be drawn to the closing shots of the last two episodes, one where he arrives to an empty apartment and the next escalated to an apartment that suddenly isn't even his anymore. Both on a surface level appear to not be his fault (Megan's mother deciding to take all his furniture and the realtor managing to close a sale), but where the root lies with Don.

EDIT: Now that I think about it a bit more, it's kind of echoed in Don's core plot/goal for the episode, where he's tasked with writing about the future of the company but instead of taking the responsibility to do it himself he tries to get others to do the work for him at every turn.
 
A

Altazor

Member
Opto said:
Don's final pitch is to plead the aliens to take him away from Earth. The ultimate escape.

Cut to 10 years in the future and we see Don as creative director at Xxdsaw, Prshn'b, and Fpt. He looks out his window at a glorious alien utopia and starts sadfacing.
Click to expand...

oghJd.png
Click to expand...

On a more serious note, I loved the episode. The first half was hilarious ("I'd do it myself but one of us is very busy"; "stay out of this"; "my goodness, how old are you?" and more!) then the second half became more serious (and cringeworthy).

It wasn't subtle, but I liked how the episode began with Meredith opening the apartment's door to get Don out, and it ends with that door closing with Don already out of it. Slowly losing parts of him, one by one.

Glenn and Betty: CRINGE CRINGE CRINGE. Though, I must say, Betty's quite a beautiful m'lady *tips fedora*

Sally was the MVP. And when did Kiernan Shipka's voice get so deep? Hah.

Semi-related: that AV Club review of the episode was stellar.
 
A

AlphaSnake

...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
I also noticed how bad Don's hair looked around the sides. And when Roger pointed it out I smirked.

jett said:
Man, just looked it up. Didn't know he was Weiner's son.

Damn.

Of course.
Click to expand...

Holy shit. I had no idea either. Hahahahaha.
 
M

Mr. Saturn

Member
-griffy- said:
I think what was interesting is that any time someone criticized Don in this episode he seemed to deflect it back at them as their own personal failures and not his fault. It feels like he is unwilling to take responsibility for his own shortcomings somehow, and unwilling to see how those shortcomings can affect those around him. I'm sure there's some connection to be drawn to the closing shots of the last two episodes, one where he arrives to an empty apartment and the next escalated to an apartment that suddenly isn't even his anymore. Both on a surface level appear to not be his fault (Megan's mother deciding to take all his furniture and the realtor managing to close a sale), but where the root lies with Don.

EDIT: Now that I think about it a bit more, it's kind of echoed in Don's core plot/goal for the episode, where he's tasked with writing about the future of the company but instead of taking the responsibility to do it himself he tries to get others to do the work for him at every turn.
Click to expand...

Sally getting angry at her dad in this episode made sense when you consider what she knows about her dad, but I have a hard time seeing how its Don's fault Mathis used that horrible line, although... I guess Don should have the wherewithall that only he could have sold that line and not embarrass himself.

Now as for the whole idea of Don not taking responsibility for his shortcoming by pawing his assignment for that episode onto others, I'm not sure I see it that way. I think Don simply has no idea what to expect from the future anymore, he has nothing to fight for, he's set for life and has everything he needs.

I saw Don asking others about what they expect from the future as being less about him trying to avoid his work, and more about his own frustrations at not knowing or maybe not being excited about the future at this point in time.

I think Don was hoping someone would say something profound that would "solve" his life, like when he asked Ted about what he really wanted from the future and he was anticipating Ted's answer, but Ted's ultimate answer, a pharmaceutical, disappoints Don At the same time its possible that maybe it was both, that Don was trying to avoid responsibility while searching for deeper meaning in his life.

Edit: I do see how someone could come away from this episode with your impressions, griffy, I certainly won't deny that.
 
M

Mr. Saturn

Member
lamaroo said:
Can't believe Joan is still living in that shit apartment, upgrade already girl.
Click to expand...

I don't get that either, and couldn't she just get her mom her own place too, or let her keep her apartment? I guess its understandable why she might not want to do that because of the financial cost, but if she has money now she might as well get a nicer place.
 
L

lamaroo

Unconfirmed Member
Mr. Saturn said:
I don't get that either, and couldn't she just get her mom her own place too, or let her keep her apartment? I guess its understandable why she might not want to do that because of the financial cost, but if she has money now she might as well get a nicer place.
Click to expand...

Don's apartment was $85,000, that's nothing to her.

Glen has dead eyes.
 
I

Ithil

Member
I knew I recognised Sally's friend that flirted with Don; she was in a couple of episodes of Supernatural. She flirted with Dean in that series too, so apparently she has a type of role.
 
M

Mr. Saturn

Member
lamaroo said:
Don's apartment was $85,000, that's nothing to her.

Glen has dead eyes.
Click to expand...

Well... shit I see your point then. Then there is no reason to stay in that tiny apartment. I was surprised Don stayed in his apartment as well, I thought when the season began we would be seeing him in a new place already. I guess him staying makes sense considering his issues with moving on.
 
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