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Neat fact I haven't seen mentioned: the Y&R incident actually happened, right down to the dialogue and time.
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| # ¿ Mar 26, 2012 17:41 |
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| # ¿ May 19, 2013 12:56 |
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sportsgenius86 posted:I don't think we know yet, but I hope he just Costanza'd. Weiner basically said this was the case in his interview with Sepinwall. It looks like they're just going to use Bert as a running joke/vehicle for horrendously racist drama the rest of the way, which I'm perfectly fine with. Though I'm surprised he didn't compliment Pete for his FYGM move on Roger.
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| # ¿ Mar 26, 2012 17:47 |
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kaujot posted:Have we ever really seen him wooing a client one-on-one, other than his father-in-law? I can't remember. In season 1 he went behind Roger and Don's backs and used women to get the Bethlehem Steel guy back on board. Although that guy was technically a client already, and it was a bad moment for Pete because he pitched his own idea (which caused Don to try to fire him).
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| # ¿ Mar 28, 2012 18:47 |
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Fooley posted:
I just would hope they would replicate the horrendous writing style and banality that was hinted at when we saw Roger writing that thing last season, make it into a so bad its good type of deal. Except for the parts about Bert Cooper of course.
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| # ¿ Apr 1, 2012 20:16 |
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Wow. I can't believe I never put that together.
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Evanauto posted:I think that Rog is due for some painful lessons. He hosed up by leaving his wife, has been skating by on his fathers money and reputation, and now Pete is looking to take him down at every turn. I have a bad feeling Roger might want to go out in a blaze of glory, damaging both the company and Pete in the process.
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| # ¿ Apr 1, 2012 20:18 |
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I'm not a Mets fan, or even that big a baseball fan in general, but for some reason I love that Lane has a Mets banner in his office.
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| # ¿ Apr 7, 2012 06:33 |
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Wow what an episode, and there's still what, 8 to go this year? Might be this year's Suitcase but obviously I hope not. Right now I'm looking at Sally and the sleeping pills the same way I reacted to her reaction to Grandpa Gene's death - a horrible stepping stone to a troubled life when she grows up. Poor Sally. Also, Ginsberg is being set up as a future-Don-type (who will also compete with Peggy in the process) right? It makes sense given how much they've emphasized Don getting older and a bit out of touch so far.
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| # ¿ Apr 9, 2012 05:26 |
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Fast Luck posted:Well remember people said "Joan didn't really get the abortion" and then ended up being right. I don't really think Betty actually has cancer but it's at least possible. It's sort of set up the same way too, with Joan the key evidence was that we never actually saw her actually leave the lobby when she went to get the abortion, coupled with the "I'm too old for this" conversation. With Betty we have only one side of the phone conversation and the apparent apathy at the end. That being said, Joan not getting the abortion was more plausible at the time than Betty having cancer is now. I just don't see how it serves anything other than drama for the sake of drama - the point I took away from the Fat Betty episode was that Betty is as unhappy as ever, perhaps at an alltime low. I don't think they need cancer to develop her plot.
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| # ¿ Apr 9, 2012 15:48 |
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BlindSite posted:I actually took his going back to Vietnam a little differently, while he's definitely a rapist and less than a stellar human being in other areas outside of that fact, I thought he was going back to Vietnam because he felt he could do some good. I disagree because this goes against every characterization of him as, as you say, a complete piece of poo poo. It doesn't make sense to make him some sympathetic patriot or whatever just as Joan has her moment of triumph. He's not loving gay either, Jesus, this is Breaking Bad-thread territory with the outlandish and unnecessary theories. He's just a thoroughly worthless and purposely one dimensional person. We might never even see him again - if we take his final word as truth - so there would be no reason to waste time confirming this stuff. The only time I want to see or hear of him directly again is if he ends up getting killed, which would still be pretty satisfying
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| # ¿ Apr 15, 2012 04:28 |
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SpaceMost posted:I can't remember the specifics of Greg raping Joan, but was it surprise sex as it was understood (by men) in the period? No, nobody has ever disputed that the scene was surprise sex. It's not ambiguous like the Pete scene
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| # ¿ Apr 15, 2012 16:55 |
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Fast Luck posted:And when I say "just a bad guy" I don't mean he's a one dimensional bad guy. No, he's a poo poo, but in a pretty well developed way. But he sucks and there's very little ground he can be defended on. The scene in the restaurant some people interpreted as gay I think shows more the respectfulness and other parts of military life that make him enjoy it and want to go back. I suppose I misinterpreted the comment as people defending him, somehow. I think it's certainly possible that his motivation for going back was a little of both reasons cited.
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| # ¿ Apr 15, 2012 17:02 |
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windwaker posted:I was wondering this a couple pages back. I don't know why she would have mentioned that her getting pregnant is "impossible". Also, if she is sterile, Don doesn't know. I don't even know why it matters if she is. I know drunk Don was all "let's make a baby", but I seriously doubt he actually wants more kids, he has enough of a hard time trying (failing) to be a good dad with his existing ones. Maybe it's just their way of preempting a cheap future storyline.
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| # ¿ Apr 16, 2012 20:08 |
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I very highly doubt this would actually happen but realizing Ken is writing all his stories off his work experience makes me envision an ending where it shows him at a successful, progressive ad firm in the 70s writing an actual book about SCDP. I know that's too cheap a thing for Weiner and co. to actually do but I could see it happening to Ken,
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| # ¿ Apr 16, 2012 20:22 |
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SpaceMost posted:I'm still waiting for them to do something substantive with TV for him. The main reason is because at no point has it been shown that Harry is actually good at his job in any way.
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| # ¿ Apr 17, 2012 02:45 |
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Bert on the dollar bill was great because in addition to being hilarious it helps set up, with Bert's sarcastic line to Peggy, the smackdown at the end. Bert might not do anything but sit and read newspapers all day and make horrifyingly racist comments but ultimately he is the money behind the company, and it's about to take another huge hit with Roger getting divorced again. (I wonder if this wasn't a motivating factor - whether Bert knew about it before he called Don out.) What a crazy episode. I really don't know how they keep up this pace - usually stuff like Pete getting knocked out and Roger tripping balls takes place closer to the end of the season. It does seem like the company being barely alive financially is the subtext though. I almost wonder if Don and Megan's behaviour at Howard Johnson's might cause them to lose them as a client. The key question here with regards to Don: now that he (presumably) is going to actually give a poo poo about his job again, will it cause him to philander again? My guess is yes.
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| # ¿ Apr 23, 2012 05:34 |
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thefncrow posted:Notably, he sees Peggy going in one direction while the rest of his department heads in the opposite direction. On a semi-related note, the new thread title is really great because it sums up everything about what the characters and company have to do to stay alive.
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| # ¿ Apr 23, 2012 05:35 |
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Sepinwall made a great point in his review: the musical vodka whenever Roger opens it really needs to be made into an ad campaign
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| # ¿ Apr 23, 2012 06:05 |
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Supercar Gautier posted:Well, the same effect could be achieved by opening with a scene of a panicked Don, then going back to the start and running through the story chronologically. That's done often to great effect on Breaking Bad, and I can think of at least one case of Mad Men doing it too (the episode where Don got robbed by the hitch-hikers). Not quite, there was Roger trying to get Don to join him on the Howard Johnson trip, then Don making Megan go instead, pulling Megan out of Peggy's prep work. Still I agree, don't really see the purpose in it.
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| # ¿ Apr 23, 2012 06:58 |
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madsketcher. posted:As soon as this happened I pictured drunk Don and Lane in the back. I wonder if it was an intentional callback. Edit: dammit
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| # ¿ Apr 23, 2012 20:36 |
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Somehow I'd almost forgotten Peggy used to sleep with Duck. Ugh.
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| # ¿ Apr 23, 2012 21:31 |
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Maybe my favorite episode so far this year, they just keep getting better. I saw the Roger, Sally and Megan's mom scene coming but it was still pretty screwed up, another traumatic experience for Sally. I really loved the pitch scene, it was the first time we've actually seen Don working in a long time, and of course Don and Megan working together. The undercurrent of sexism/patriarchy running through the scene was pretty good - it seemed intentional that both Ken and the Heinz guy shut up their wives rather forcefully during a business negotiation. That undercurrent seemed to me to run through the whole episode. A lot of layers to this one I think. Was it just me, or did the dysfunctional relationship between Megan's parents seem like a best-worst-case scenario for Don and Megan in 20 years (if it hypothetically lasted that long.) Not sure I like creepy Glen returning, don't know what else he can add to the plot at this point, and as said before, Weiner's kid isn't a great actor.
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| # ¿ Apr 30, 2012 04:57 |
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hepscat posted:I wonder what Megan's father meant when he said she used to be single-minded about her dreams. Would that be acting? She seems so ho-hum about it when she talks about acting now, it never felt like she took it seriously. Yeah I was surprised to see her show up at the apartment for the same reason. Interesting that the Jewish thing came up suddenly with Abe though.
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| # ¿ Apr 30, 2012 04:58 |
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Bulgaroktonos posted:The doors of industry are closed to him; however, the doors of political campaigning are not. Remember the shot of Henry reading his ad thoughtfully last season? It's possible that they'll find some way to have SCDP contribute in some way to the Nixon campaign. And remember, nobody thought Nixon was particularly likeable or trustworthy, yet he still managed to stage a comeback in '68. It would provide a nice bookend to the first season, as well. This is a good theory because we already saw an apparent throwaway scene of Bert Cooper talking about how Nixon would come back a few episodes ago (right before the Lane/Pete fight I think.) On nobody wanting to work with Don: how do they sign anybody then, knowing he's still a big part of the business? Is it just that he can no longer pull off signings by himself (like he did with Conrad Hilton?) Or does it just mean he will HAVE to take a backseat to Peggy and co, maybe just be a figurehead for creative? cletepurcel fucked around with this message at May 1, 2012 around 07:10 |
| # ¿ May 1, 2012 07:04 |
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Cat Machine posted:It just seemed weird that he never even got a final scene despite appearing in a fair amount of scenes and storylines. I figured by now he'd at least have had a cameo. I still want to know what Kinsey's lost idea was that he forgot to write down. That's the last story I remember involving him. I think they basically ended his "arc" (if he can be said to have had one) when they had the pot-smoking episode and his college buddy or whoever revealed what a phony he'd been all along (which was pretty obvious already but still).
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| # ¿ May 3, 2012 22:55 |
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I can't help but contrast it with when Betty briefly modeled again for the Coke ad in season 1, there she was just a pawn of the agency recruiting Don, and when Don shuts it down by rejecting the offer, you can tell she is a little crushed. She had no control at any stage of that process, compare it to Megan taking initiative and succeeding Although its interesting that Megan was clearly influenced by what her dad said to her in the previous episode.
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| # ¿ May 7, 2012 04:40 |
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Tender Bender posted:Mad Men is hilarious, I unironically tell people this is the funniest show I watch when every other show I watch is just straight comedy. It really works well and AMC's shows almost need a lot of humor to cut through it to keep it from being too heavy (also see Breaking Bad); the lack of this is what killed Rubicon and is one of many things that contributes to The Killing's general suckitude. We haven't had the signature black comedy moment that's occurred in the last few seasons (Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency and Mrs. Blankenship's death.) I hope it's coming up soon.
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| # ¿ May 9, 2012 04:22 |
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courtney_beth posted:I thought the Lane/Pete fight was this? I suppose I interpreted that less as "black comedy" and more as straight comedy.
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| # ¿ May 9, 2012 07:39 |
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^^^One of my favorite scenes this episode. It's interesting that Megan's luck in life, and "selling out" according to her Marxist dad, has become a plot point, because I remember when Don proposed quite a few people figured she had planned for something like that to happen. Wasn't a huge fan of this episode, aside from the bombshell Betty introduced into Don and Sally's relationship. I think Fat Betty and this episode have been the weakest this season (though, of course, still miles above pretty well everything else); not a coincidence IMO that both were Betty-centric. I loved to see that Don still has it though. I actually thought his Satan snow-cone ad was really good and would love to see a commercial with Jon Hamm doing his Satan voice. It seems to me they're setting up a Ginsberg/Don showdown for the finale. I just wonder how Peggy factors in - it seemed highly significant that he noted that not only his name, but Peggy's name was absent from all the copy at the beginning. Disregard an earlier comment here re: Dark Shadows - I just read Sepinwall's review, and it seems more likely the fact this episode premiered around the same time as Burton's movie was just an extraordinary coincidence. Finally I loved that Manischewitz is a prospective new client, because my family has bought their matzo every Passover for years (owing to Jewish ancestry, though we don't practice). cletepurcel fucked around with this message at May 14, 2012 around 06:05 |
| # ¿ May 14, 2012 05:50 |
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bobkatt013 posted:Also the name of the episode is Dark Shadow. Sepinwall just confirmed it really was a giant coincidence.
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| # ¿ May 14, 2012 15:58 |
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Donny posted:I came to this thread to talk about one line from the episode, and, lo, it's the thread title. Should have known better. The thread does not stop and start at your convienence. It's a great line though, and I bet Don will end up regretting saying it by the end of the season. cletepurcel fucked around with this message at May 15, 2012 around 07:56 |
| # ¿ May 15, 2012 07:53 |
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Benagain posted:This needs to be a promotional bit. Don sitting down with Walter talking about how to better market blue meth. I'm picturing a massive ego clash, Walter being the classic client who refuses to listen to what Don is telling him (which is 99% of SCDP clients but whatever) and them basically having a contest to see who can storm out of the meeting faster.
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| # ¿ May 16, 2012 06:04 |
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I agree, I don't see what purpose bringing back Greg would have. I think they closed his story pretty decisively when Joan kicked him out, while I would still love to hear about him being horribly mangled or killed in Vietnam, the plotlines people have suggested seem too cliched or expected to me. On the other hand, I keep forgetting that Joan is still pretending she's married in public, so there's that.
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| # ¿ May 18, 2012 07:55 |
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twistedmentat posted:That happens in 68 i think, so 2 years. I've long felt the Moon Landing would be a good place to end the series, or at least as one of the late-season 7 episodes. For some reason I've never imagined the series going that far into the 70s, although it would be funny to see Bert Cooper be all crushed about Watergate.
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| # ¿ May 19, 2012 01:43 |
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So what are the implications of Joan being served first with divorce papers? Someone I was watching with commented that this is/was a bad thing for legal reasons.
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| # ¿ May 21, 2012 06:06 |
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twistedmentat posted:Yea, east coast it can get dark as early at 4pm in the winter. I read an interesting theory last night that the chemistry between Hamm and Hendricks is so good, Weiner purposely restricts Don and Joan moments to once or twice a season, so as not to ruin it.
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| # ¿ May 21, 2012 16:46 |
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We don't know a whole lot about Harry's wife, other than she's friends with Trudy and apparently they're having their 2nd kid. I think we can safely assume Harry is just an rear end in a top hat. Harry's unabashed affairs are in stark contrast to season 1 though, when he felt so guilty about cheating he had to leave Don's Wheel pitch meeting.
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| # ¿ May 21, 2012 20:04 |
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bobkatt013 posted:Since he created his job and started dealing with the networks he has gotten a huge ego and is not as likable. During season one people liked him now he is just an rear end in a top hat. I think the endgame for him is realizing that he actually sucks at his job and isn't nearly as significant as he thinks he is. Probably accompanied by him being fired.
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| # ¿ May 21, 2012 20:07 |
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HalPhilipWalker posted:The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The TV IV > Mad Men: The 5 Percent Solution Has to be "Don't be a stranger."
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| # ¿ May 28, 2012 04:19 |
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I'm not really surprised that Peggy left - they've been focusing on the tension Ginsberg brings to the equation since he was introduced. I am a bit surprised it happened now and not a bit closer to the finale. As sad as this episode was, though, I couldn't help but rooting for Peggy, especially when she told Don, correctly, that he would do the same thing if he were in her shoes. For all that Don's taught her about advertising, that sort of thing is probably the most important lesson in the end. I found it an interesting juxtaposition: Joan makes a significant advance in her career at an enormous cost, by whoring herself out (knowing that all the other partners know this cost). Whereas Peggy makes a huge gain just by being fed up at the lapse in respect from Don, and realizing she's hit her ceiling at SCDP. Was Don furious at the Joan thing because it was done without his consent, because he doesn't like the idea of a woman as partner, the moral repugnance of the whole thing, or a combination of these? (Obviously, Don still comes out shining in this episode compared to everyone else, especially Pete. I agree with the post a few pages ago: the scene with his daughter actually made him MORE repugnant, not less.) It's weird, all the speculation has been that Lane is about to be written out of the show because of Jared Harris' career, but Peggy may have just gotten written out instead. I hope we don't lose both of them. 
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| # ¿ May 28, 2012 04:43 |
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| # ¿ May 19, 2013 12:56 |
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courtney_beth posted:At first I thought this was the season finale, then was shocked that there were two episodes more. At this point, I have no idea where this show is heading. And the previews don't help in leading in a certain direction. I figured they were building up towards a Ginsberg / Don / Peggy confrontation, but now that Peggy's out of the picture I have no clue. Then again, has anyone been able to predict the last two season finale bombshells? I remember the blowup of SC at the end of S3 was great for that reason, and can't remember if Don marrying Megan was a popular theory at the time.
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| # ¿ May 28, 2012 06:22 |
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