BertramCooper
Banned
I think there's definitely a bit of that.
On a fundamental level, I think she's finally recovered fully from the deaths of her parents. Those were both hugely damaging to her.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Mad Men - Season 7, Part 2 - The End of an Era - AMC Sundays
- Thread starter Cornballer
- Start date
I think there's definitely a bit of that.
On a fundamental level, I think she's finally recovered fully from the deaths of her parents. Those were both hugely damaging to her.
why did I just see this?
BertramCooper
Banned
I'm surprised his dad didn't insist on getting a writing credit.
dead souls
Member
LOL, good one.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Someone NEEDS to edit that into a Next on Mad Men...
Apple gonna Apple.
I LOL'd.
On a more serious note: I still cannot believe what a homerun the casting of Kiernan Shipka ended up becoming. Good child actors are rare, and she has been consistenly good since S4. Plus she looks like both Don and Betty. It's a perfect casting.
VistraNorrez
Member
Someone should edit all of Glen's scenes together like a take on Boyhood.
Discotheque
Banned
she's fantastic. the best kid actor on tv by far.
and then we have glenn's awkward looking ass. can't believe betty would get shook over this wolverine jr. bobblehead up in here.
loved the episode though. especially the don scenes, and don/sally. this season really needs a substantial sally and don episode I think, they often have some of the strongest scenes together.
don plot is veering into sopranos s6 pt. 2 existentialism...and i don't mind it one bit.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
the last minute calling out of Don's handsomeness in lieu of character came out of nowhere and really, really impressed me
Cornballer
Member
Supermanisdead
Member
The most disturbing part of Marten Weiner's YouTube channel is the 3 year old video of his broken ass ibook g4. What kind of struggle?
AlphaSnake
...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
Wow...that girl is awful at her job.
I am Hamm.
How does this only have 500 views?
I hope Marten Weiner directs the finale
Now I need to see Jon Hamm say Im not Don Draper, Im Dick Whitman! Yowza!
Oh my, Weiners youtube channel is a goldmine :lol
Anyways, this week's episode was nothing less than incredible. That last shot with Don was perfection. Mathis screwing up at the second meeting cracked me up. Glenn's appearance was really great, such a weird character. And Peggy's great return on Don's dreams, shit son.
Anyways, this week's episode was nothing less than incredible. That last shot with Don was perfection. Mathis screwing up at the second meeting cracked me up. Glenn's appearance was really great, such a weird character. And Peggy's great return on Don's dreams, shit son.
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
Watched the latest episode yesterday. It was good as usual, but there's something about this season that seems a little rushed to me. It's like Weiner is working overtime to fit in a lot of character development and closure over the course of the final 7 episodes. The theme of this episode seemed to be "everyone shits on Don." First Roger shits on Don's hair, then Peggy shits on Don's mentorship, then the real estate agent shits on Don's "sad" apartment, then Mathis shits on Don's personality, then Sally shits on Don's womanizing.
We get it, already. Don is a flawed human being. That's been perfectly clear over the last 7 seasons, no need to repeatedly slam it in our faces.
I think the first half of Season 7 did a good job of slowly and subtly outlining how Don's life is falling apart, with his escalating affair and Sally finding out about it. It felt like the culmination of Don's womanizing past, where it all comes crashing down around him. With the second half of the season it feels like the writers are just sprinting to close out all the characters' arcs. Within the span of two episodes Peggy meets her dream guy and Joan meets her dream guy, and the initial meetings don't happen organically but rather through fortuitous circumstance. At the beginning of an episode we learn that Don is selling his apartment and by the end of the episode it has been sold. All of a sudden everyone is telling Don how much he sucks, as if a switch has been flipped and people finally have the ability to verbalize how they feel about him. Ken's writing, which has been a dormant plot point for God knows how many years now, all of a sudden rushes up as this massive driving force that ties into unhappiness at home, him being fired, and then immediately being offered a superior job. For a show that has been a slow burn for 6.5 seasons, everything just feels like it's rushing at light speed and it's pretty jarring.
I dunno. It's still better than any other show on television, but I definitely feel like the last few episodes have been pretty shaky. Hopefully the remaining episodes don't feel quite as forced as the last three.
We get it, already. Don is a flawed human being. That's been perfectly clear over the last 7 seasons, no need to repeatedly slam it in our faces.
I think the first half of Season 7 did a good job of slowly and subtly outlining how Don's life is falling apart, with his escalating affair and Sally finding out about it. It felt like the culmination of Don's womanizing past, where it all comes crashing down around him. With the second half of the season it feels like the writers are just sprinting to close out all the characters' arcs. Within the span of two episodes Peggy meets her dream guy and Joan meets her dream guy, and the initial meetings don't happen organically but rather through fortuitous circumstance. At the beginning of an episode we learn that Don is selling his apartment and by the end of the episode it has been sold. All of a sudden everyone is telling Don how much he sucks, as if a switch has been flipped and people finally have the ability to verbalize how they feel about him. Ken's writing, which has been a dormant plot point for God knows how many years now, all of a sudden rushes up as this massive driving force that ties into unhappiness at home, him being fired, and then immediately being offered a superior job. For a show that has been a slow burn for 6.5 seasons, everything just feels like it's rushing at light speed and it's pretty jarring.
I dunno. It's still better than any other show on television, but I definitely feel like the last few episodes have been pretty shaky. Hopefully the remaining episodes don't feel quite as forced as the last three.
dead souls
Member
Maybe they were trying to match interviewer/interviewee talent levels.
Or maybe she got her job via nepotism too.
Nameless
Member
Anyway, not really getting why some people are down on this season so far. It's a layered, nuanced, character study as it's always been. The 'plot' was never building toward some grand crescendo like a Breaking Bad, and I for one am grateful they aren't flipping the show on its ear just because our peak into these characters' lives is coming to an end.
Cornballer
Member
- IndieWire: 'Mad Men' Has Ended Four Episodes in a Row With the Same Shot
A quick screenshot/gif look at what a few people here have mentioned recently.
Supermanisdead
Member
No, Im not Don Draper! Don Draper exploded! Im Dick Whitman instead! Yowza!
backflip10019
Member
Wow, maybe my radar is all messed up, but up until the last scene in the kitchen with Betty and Glenn, I TOTALLY felt that Betty was flirting with and/or hot for Glenn. You can see this in her mannerisms (playing with her hair, not wanting to go get her purse when Sally asks her for money) and her words. She even flirts with him in the kitchen when they're alone, albeit in a more muted way.
By contrast, Don certainly did nothing flirtatious with Sally's friend at dinner, and in fact kept trying to steer the convo back to Sally and her/the other girls' aspirations whenever fast chick got flirty. So I don't think it's fair at all to say that they (Betty and Don) acted the same way, but we view the situations differently because of their genders. They didn't act the same way at all. Betty was way more overt. If a woman acted like that around me, I'd make a move too.
I feel like "The Strategy" is a shot meaning, especially after the first three episodes, that these characters will never enjoy life until they leave the thing that made them who they are?
From Ken's line of "The life not lived" toward Don to Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?" at the end of "Severance", to Don integrating Peggy about "Then what?" when you achieve major success or goals, then what is there?
When the show first started, all these people were still gaining things in life. Don was the head creative, but his (and their) entire business relied on Lucky Strike. That's all they had. Then he managed a new company to a merger that has made him a millionaire ten times over. Joan went from a secretary, a marriage to now someone who is a partner and can live the good life. Pete was the guy who wanted to be Draper, and while he never got to be Draper, he's millionaire regardless. Peggy went from someone right out of secretary school to a person who could become head of creative, but even if she achieves that, she's right back in the same rut of not being "full" as Don so blatantly was trying to get her to notice.
It seems as rather a true finale, this show is asking the question of "Then what?" to its characters, and to its viewers. That when you focus so much on one thing, in that when you achieve that thing, you're left standing around asking "Is That All There Is?" to yourself when you're not happy at where you're at.
In "The Strategy", they looked happy. They weren't in the office. They weren't talking to clients or working, but just three people who liked each other, and wants/wanted someone to like them back. The more they try to create the perfect life, the further they get away from being happy at their most basic level.
Dominican Power
Member
Exactly how I saw it.
Cornballer
Member
- Mad Style is up: The Forecast
-Pyromaniac-
Member
Yeah i think Betty was definitely flirting a tiny bit because she is the type to enjoy that kind of attention.
BertramCooper
Banned
They're totally wrong about Joan's apartment.
Joan is still very, very traditional. She's a successful, wealthy professional, but it's not entirely what she wants. Remember how badly she wanted to be the dutiful stay-at-home housewife? She still kind of wants that.
She hasn't gotten a big, expensive place or spent a fortune upgrading her current apartment because she doesn't want to double down on the idea of being this fully independent single woman. She's not ready to commit to this life yet.
MindCollizion
Member
GAF I was in Vegas this weekend and missed Sunday's episode. It is unfortunate that i will have to wait until the blu ray release to watch it. By any chance will AMC air a rerun?
Leona Lewis
Banned
Not only that, but the obvious tragedy of her big shift up the economic ladder is to show that deep down, she hasn't changed much. Sure, she's much less of a spendthrift on her wardrobe and jewelry now, but she was never exactly frugal on that front anyway.
She's accentuating the parts of her identity with which she most readily identifies (remember her quote about how much her mother emphasized physical beauty when she was growing up?), but has remained stagnant on pretty much every other aspect of her life (not the least of which is the respect she's afforded in the workplace, which has gotten even worse if that horrific meeting in 7B premiere is any indication).
Do they do this for any other shows?
Or should I ask, do any other shows put as much thought into wardrobe and sets as Mad Men. I love reading stuff like this, but I'm having trouble thinking of another show with as much of an emphasis on style.
Youre a very beautiful girl. Its up to you to be more than that.. Great line, gave me chills. Amazing ending to a great episode. While Matthis is simplifying things in his anger, I don't think Don ever realized just how much he owes to his looks. Seeing him realize that is great
stn
Member
Don certainly owed a lot to his image, but I never assumed that he was coasting on his looks. He's made some bold moves and has done some very good work, no? I see him as self-made. Mathis just made a huge mistake and failed to utilize his humor at the right time. That's how I saw it, at least.
AlphaSnake
...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
New theory: I expect Don to give up Don Draper. And return to being Dick again.
Love this one, however Severance is still my favorite episode of the half-season thus far. that could change once the season coalesces midway, as Mad Men always seems to do. the final shots becoming a bonafide motif feels like the first step towards everything falling into place.
looks like it's rerunning Sunday morning. and you can watch it on AMC's website by entering your cable info.
I can't really imagine skipping an episode of Mad Men and still enjoying the season to its fullest. show relies so heavily on gradual buildup and shifts from episode to episode.
looks like it's rerunning Sunday morning. and you can watch it on AMC's website by entering your cable info.
I can't really imagine skipping an episode of Mad Men and still enjoying the season to its fullest. show relies so heavily on gradual buildup and shifts from episode to episode.
That's not really feasible.
Leona Lewis
Banned
Exactly - it's a nonsensical theory.
Just because he has more money and fewer personal attachments than ever doesn't mean that he's willing to pay the piper for identity theft, fraud, desertion, and whatever else he'd be charged with.
What would be the point of that?
Going back to his original name won't solve his issues. Thematically it wouldn't make sense either since.
Cornballer
Member
New episode tonight:
Wow. Can't believe they're bringing Lane back!?
RatskyWatsky
Hunky Nostradamus
Only 4 episodes left! :O
RatskyWatsky
Hunky Nostradamus
Business Insider - Here's how much each 'Mad Men' character's dwelling cost then and now
More at the link.
More at the link.