Mad Men

[AcookerTV]

Rockytop Chick, I think that in the last scene with Peggy, she was supposed to be on the road in Virginia, which is the trip she mentioned to Don. It wasn't clear to me at first, but that's what I've heard several other people comment. So she was supposed to be content and excited to be travelling the "world" on her own as part of her job.

[Rockytop Chick]

Ahhhhhh, so the humping dogs were in Richmond, then? They do say Virginia is for lovers.

Now that i think about it, her Manhattan apartment wouldn't have been so close to street level

[Marlena_M]

So what do you all think about Pete's visit with Beth in the hospital? Did Beth really have no memory of Pete or was she just pretending? I found it to be suspicious that she didn't seem at all confused when the nurse said her brother was there to visit but only after Pete said he'd come because he was worried about her, that is when she "changed" and he thought it because she didn't know who he was. I'm not buying it. I think Beth was pretending. She wanted Pete to be nothing more than a memory and now here he was, popping up... again.

Peggy finally got what she thought she wanted. She had responsibility for a big account her agency was trying to land. She went on a business trip. She flew on an airplane. She was in a hotel. She was where she thought she wanted to be... and then she looks out the window for the view, and sees two dogs humping. Just goes to show it's not what it seems to be I still love Peggy and look forward to where she goes in the future.

Lots of other interesting things...
Joan and Don discussing the insurance payout for Lane's death.
Joan large-and-in-charge during the Partner's meeting.
Don going to see Rebecca and her statement the firm should have known better than to fill a man like Lane with ambition.
Lane not taking that picture out of his wallet... after all the preparations he made, he didn't remove that picture.
Megan's mom being so spot on in her assessment of her daughter. Harsh? Sure. But Madame Calvet is nothing but direct and to the point.
Don's change of expression when viewing Megan's reel... first a nice smile which then turned to a bit of a frown. Matthew Weiner said it was Don's realization that Megan IS THAT GOOD and if he loves her he has to let her have what she wants. I call BS on that one. I didn't read that scene in that way whatsoever.

As always, looking forward to next season!

[AcookerTV]

Marlena, your comments sparked a few more thoughts in my mind. First, with Joan "large and in charge" in the partner's meeting. Joan is a partner now because of Lane. He was the one who put the idea in her head to ask for partnership instead of a one time payout. And now, she's replaced his role as the one keeping an eye on the money coming in and going out. While I think the key reason Lane encouraged her to ask for partnership was becasue he knew he'd already taken out the loan for new business that would have been used to pay Joan, it is interesting that he essentially chose his replacement. Also with Lane's wife, it is sad to know she found the picture, most likely assumed that Lane was having an affair with the woman, and will never know that Lane had never met her - that she was nothing more than a fleeting fantasy. So in many ways, he destroyed his widow in even more ways.

[buglover]

Well now we know where "Virginia Slims" will come from with Peggy being in Richmond. Overall it was an ok finale. Looks like Don is seeing he has to make his wife happy just as he did with Betts and then try to figure out what will keep him happy. I'm hoping he doesn't end up going back to sleeping around (although I did love the seasons when he did). Pete can just move to California with the crazy woman and be gone. He as a character is starting to get on my nerves.

[Debb70]

I suppose the show left us anticipating what will happen next season, but honestly, it left me disappointed. I'm trying to convince myself it wasn't so bad, I think that most fans could have written a better finale than they did. Sorry, but I think it was lazy writing.

I don't find Pete and his storyline all that interesting and when I think of the other cast members who we could have seen more of in the finale, it confuses me. I would have preferred to see more of Peggy, Roger, Megan's mom and even Betty, than Pete and his lover.

I will continue to watch the show. Even their poor writing is better than most shows best scripts. I hope they step it up next season though. I will have forgotten much about the show when next season comes along. LOL

[Ellen]

...Sorry, but I think it was lazy writing...

. I agree. Or sloppy editing.

[AcookerTV]

I have to disagree that it was lazy writing Deb. Stephen King wrote a really great book called "On Writing" which obviously is all about the writing process. I remember in it, he talked about inferior writers use adjectives too often. Great writers don't use them, because they have an ability to write in a way that implies the feelings to you rather than telling you what they are. I think the same kind of subtlety applies ot Mad Men, and was REALLY summed up in the final scenes where they showed each of the main characters. The show is so well written and so well acted that when we see Peggy sitting on a bed sipping a glass of wine, we know she is content. We don't need her to make a call to home to say "I'm so content with my life now!" When Roger is standing in front of a window naked, we know that he's tried LSD again on his own, and we don't know where it will take him. We don't need to see him actually taking it, or see anything more. I love any show that trusts the audience to be smart enough to pick up on developments, rather than spelling them all out and telling us exactly what to think about them. To me, the subtlety is great writing and great acting.

[Debb70]

ACookertv, that's a very positive way to look at it. I'm glad you found it satisfying. Perhaps other fans did too. I just didn't care for it. I could have seen just a little of Pete's storyline and that would have been enough for me. Also, I would have liked to see more interaction with certain characters and more movement in the storylines.

I watched it twice just to make sure how I felt about it. Maybe if I keep watching it I'll like it better, but I don't think so. LOL

Does anyone know the year MM ends with in the finale? I'm curious as to what year they will be in when the show returns next season.

Virginia Slims slogan "You've Come A Long Way, Baby," came out in July 1968. If Peggy is the one who created this slogan, then she will be very successful when the show returns.

Virginia Slims - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just to demonstrate how popular that song was in the 1960's, I can still recite all the words and I haven't heard it in over 20 years! It was a big thing back then. Even as a young child I knew the words.

Oh, Peggy told her boss that she didn't smoke when he asked her about it last week. I thought she did smoke. Why did she deny it?

[mize77]

"You've got your own cigarette now, baby. You've come a long, long way." Doesn't really seem like Peggy's type of work to me. Be interesting to see.
I was a bit disappointed in the finale, too. Cannot stand Pete, but the scene in the hospital made him seem just a bit more decent. But being married to Trudy, who has to have everything her way, would be hard to take.
I've read where Matthew Weiner is going to end the show with the end of the 60's, and I think he mentioned that the show would run 7 seasons.
I wonder if at the end of the show, Don will be a somewhat happily married man and Pete will be what Don was in the beginning. Pete sure seems to want Don's life; he may get it.