Mad Men

[MamaJunebug]

True that. I also don't like how much time elapses between seasons!

Nothing like a rabid fan, eh? ;)

[kpmom]

So what was everyone's take on the season finale?

Will Don go back to his cheating ways? What does Don want anyway? I don't think Don knows. Don can be a good friend to women, but not a very good boyfriend or husband.

And what about Pete? Ever since he traded in that chip 'n dip for a rifle I've been worried he's going to use it on himself or someone else. And somebody needs to teach him fight. He's getting beat up way too much.

What did you think of the shock treatment story line?

I'm glad they showed Peggy, even briefly, but I would have liked to have seen Betty in the finale, and more all season. Hopefully next season.

Any predictions for next season? Megan long gone, and Don single again? Do you think Joan and Roger will ever truly get together? Will Peggy climb up the ladder of her new firm? Will she have to choose between career and her personal life, like ambitious women often had to do back then?

[MamaJunebug]

I can tell you where I'd take the story if I were Matthew Weiner, but I really have no idea how he's gonna proceed.

I will say that unlike a lot of people over on TWoP, I don't find Mme. Calvet to be cold. Lady just tells it like it is!

[Guest Anonymous]

I thought the finale was pretty good. The last couple scenes were breathtaking in my opinion..especially the scene where Don was walking off the soundstage of Megan's commercial. Classic Mad Men. I think with the two previous episodes being so major a lot of people maybe felt let down with this more low key finale. I, on the other hand was not and I will definitely be counting down the months until the show comes back. Love, love, love this show!!

[kb2]

I think with the two previous episodes being so major a lot of people maybe felt let down with this more low key finale.

Yep, that's how I felt. But so much happened in the last two episodes that having something major happen in this one might have been overkill.

[StarrieEyedKat]

I thought it was fairly weak, but, like you guys have already said, only because the last two episodes were so amazing and had such powerful moments.

I think every time Don decides what he wants, he enjoys the chase and he's happy for a while when he gets it, but he gets bored with things easily. He also doesn't want a wife that has her own interests and wants to do her own thing. I actually like Megan, I hope she's able to do her thing, and I wish she and Don could be happy together, but I don't think he's going to let that happen.

Rory (Beth) makes me sad. Tom and Lorenzo dubbed her "Dark Betty" which was pretty on point, and I could feel her pain, and her husband is vile. Pete remains one of my least favorite people ever, but Trudy is annoying, so I don't really care about either of them.

I'm going to be the odd duck out, but Peggy grates on my nerves. I'm not sure why, she just seems like someone that would annoy me in real life. Joan remains to be my biggest girl crush and I hope she's happy with her new position. It will be interesting to see how she's treated by the rest of the office.

I wish they had shown more of how people reacted to the news of Joan's promotion and Lane's death.

[xDreamerx]

I thought the finale was really understated after the big moments of the previous week. Pete's speech to Beth was heartbreaking. The phantom theme played out nicely, especially with Adam (literally) but in many other ways. Looks like Beth got Esther Greenwooded to death. Shame.

Apparently Alexis and Vincent are dating in RL, says Jezebel.

[crazyforkate]

FJ's recap of the Mad Men Season 6 premiere will be posted late tonight! I'm so excited for this show to come back...

[PennySycamore]

FJ's recap of the Mad Men Season 6 premiere will be posted late tonight! I'm so excited for this show to come back...

Watching it right now and looking forward to the recap, too.

[Markie]

Was glad to see the show back again. Seemed like there were too many commercial breaks. Liked the look of the guys with their wild hair and sideburns. Would like to work with Peggy, but not under her. She's becoming Don. Will not say much more, because I need to get to bed. Bon Soir!

[GeoBQn]

I loved the hair and facial hair on the guys. However, last season ended in April 1967 and the season premiere began in December 1967. I could buy all the guys changing their hairstyle if there had been a time lapse more than a year, but not a time lapse of 8 months. Megan's fondue set also felt anachronistic to me. Maybe she got it because of her Quebecois/European love of skiing, but would it have been sold in a department store?

And all this nitpicking means I loved the episode as a whole and am happy to have it back!

[PennySycamore]

I loved the hair and facial hair on the guys. However, last season ended in April 1967 and the season premiere began in December 1967. I could buy all the guys changing their hairstyle if there had been a time lapse more than a year, but not a time lapse of 8 months. Megan's fondue set also felt anachronistic to me. Maybe she got it because of her Quebecois/European love of skiing, but would it have been sold in a department store?

And all this nitpicking means I loved the episode as a whole and am happy to have it back!

Yes, Megan could have gotten a fondue pot at Bloomingdale's -at least I think so- and they are really good about getting period stuff right. Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, volume 1 came out in 1961. Volume 2 came out in 1970 containing an index of both volumes and there is a recipe in volume 1 for cheese fondue. There was a real vogue for French cookery in the 60s due mostly to Julia's influence. The TV show The French Chef began in '63. You may not have found a fondue pot at Sears quite yet, but at Bloomingdale's yes.

There's a whole lot that occurred in the interval between April and December. Culture was pretty much transformed. The Summer of Love was summer of '67. Lots of people were questioning authority.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_of_Love

Just reading about the Summer of Love makes me want to read Monday Night Class by Stephen Gaskin. He's an even-older hippie than I am.

[crazyforkate]

Recap is up - beware, it's ridiculously long. Needless to say I adored the episode.

http://blog.freejinger.org/worldly-dist ... e-doorway/

[Lillybee]

I thought the finale was really understated after the big moments of the previous week. Pete's speech to Beth was heartbreaking. The phantom theme played out nicely, especially with Adam (literally) but in many other ways. Looks like Beth got Esther Greenwooded to death. Shame.

Apparently Alexis and Vincent are dating in RL, says Jezebel.

I read recently that they were engaged.

[kpmom]

Recap is up - beware, it's ridiculously long. Needless to say I adored the episode.

http://blog.freejinger.org/worldly-dist ... e-doorway/

I just read every word of your recap. Very well done, crazyforkate.

I could not for the life of me figure out who Sally's friend was, and why Betty took such an interest in her. I thought maybe she was a relative of Henry's somehow, but I guess not?

I wonder why they kept Joan and Don's look exactly the same from the early 60's? I would think Joan in particular would have made her look more modern. I can see Don staying the same, but you'd think his hair or something would be just a little different. I guess Don is who he is, whoever that is.

I agree, the talk between Betty and Henry about Sally's friend was very off putting. What's going on with Betty? Very strange. Maybe after Don, she can't imagine a man who doesn't cheat. But Henry seems head over heels for her, with or without extra weight or blond hair.

Yeah, hopefully we'll see more Joan soon. And I'd like to know what;s going on with Pete and his marriage. Did he ever get that apartment in Manhattan?

Oh, and regarding being Jon Hamm's queen? Get in line, missy!

[PennySycamore]

Peggy's not with a different boyfriend. It's still Abe; he just looks a bit different than he did the year before, but a lot of people on the show do. I can tell just from what he was talking about that it was good ol' radical Abe.

Btw, we had one of the round Hoover vacuums that the maid was using while Don was watching a rerun of The Donna Reed Show on TV. The TV Donna was not only the perfect homemaker, but she was married to Dr Alex Stone. IRL, this was about the time that Donna and some other moms founded Another Mother For Peace, an anti-war group who put out the famous poster "War is not healthy for children and other living things"

[crazyforkate]

Peggy's not with a different boyfriend. It's still Abe; he just looks a bit different than he did the year before, but a lot of people on the show do. I can tell just from what he was talking about that it was good ol' radical Abe.

Yeah, I finally figured out it was Abe during the scene where he brought her dinner. His voice sounded weird. I'm still not totally sold on all the men changing their looks like that, but I guess I'll be used to it by next episode. It just seems too drastic for such a short gap, as someone else said earlier on the thread.

And the conversation between Betty and Henry has caused the Internet to explode because now apparently Mad Men is "promoting child rape" :roll: Way to miss the point, folks.

[crazyforkate]

Sorry for the double post, but I just found out that my copy of the episode was missing the last few minutes. Recap is being changed to add those. Sorry, guys!

[Mela99]

I'm kind of torn on the episode. Nothing really wowed me, but I can't say I wasn't thrilled to have the show back. I am liking the less bitchy Betty and more Sally.

But, nobody set Pete Campbell on fire and put him out with horse manure, so I can't help being disappointed.

[PennySycamore]

I'm kind of torn on the episode. Nothing really wowed me, but I can't say I wasn't thrilled to have the show back. I am liking the less bitchy Betty and more Sally.

But, nobody set Pete Campbell on fire and put him out with horse manure, so I can't help being disappointed.

I found the episode on first viewing maybe a tad boring, but, on subsequent viewings, what it was was subtle. Don didn't speak at all for 10 minutes which may have added to the sense of ennui although it was purposeful. I did not realize that Don was reading The Inferno on the beach. I missed the lighter exchange with the GI, too. I did not miss the photographer telling Don to be himself and realizing just how impossible that is for him. I was totally weirded out by Betty's asking Henry if he wanted to rape Sandy. And who was Sandy? Betty's friends' daughter? She apparently was not Sally's friend. Betty was pretty solicitous of her like she wanted the best for her and not to give up her dreams just because she did not get into Juilliard at first. I was also impressed that Betty went to down to St Mark's Place to look for Sandy.

The joke that caused Peggy to have to change the ad for Koss headphones was told by comedian Milt Kamen who discovered Woody Allen and played the French horn in the Metropolitan Opera orchestra before becoming a stand-up comedian. The joke must have referred to an atrocity that occurred prior to the My Lai Massacre which was on March 16, 1968.

As for the very beginning of the show, I didn't think Megan was being raped. I thought she screamed because the doorman or someone collapsed. I also thought that the item you saw as a chandelier might have been a mid-century modern clock. Don't know and I'd need to watch that bit again.

[SallyDraper]

This is one of my favorite shows, thats why i picked the screen name Sally Draper. She's my favorite character on the show.

[PennySycamore]

This is one of my favorite shows, thats why i picked the screen name Sally Draper. She's my favorite character on the show.

I really relate to Sally because we're the same age.

[crazyforkate]

As for the very beginning of the show, I didn't think Megan was being raped. I thought she screamed because the doorman or someone collapsed. I also thought that the item you saw as a chandelier might have been a mid-century modern clock. Don't know and I'd need to watch that bit again.

That was just an initial assumption I never bothered to back and change...it's pretty obviously the guy collapsing. Will go back and fix it.

[MamaJunebug]

I'm kind of torn on the episode. Nothing really wowed me, but I can't say I wasn't thrilled to have the show back. I am liking the less bitchy Betty and more Sally.

But, nobody set Pete Campbell on fire and put him out with horse manure, so I can't help being disappointed.

Ah, Pete! I need to find some other Kartheiser roles so I can not hate the actor upon sight! :D

Keen to read crazyforKate's recap because I wound up FF'ing through everything except Roger's scenes (not including those with the shrink), and even through parts of some of those. The art direction is still incredible - and oh, yeah, fondue sets were All The Rage back in the '68 day, I was 16 and remember them well - but it looks as though the story's exposition is too detailed for me .... and if I may say it, "too soon." The Vietnam-bound soldier's wedding on the beach tore. me. up.

[PennySycamore]

Ah, Pete! I need to find some other Kartheiser roles so I can not hate the actor upon sight! :D

Keen to read crazyforKate's recap because I wound up FF'ing through everything except Roger's scenes (not including those with the shrink), and even through parts of some of those. The art direction is still incredible - and oh, yeah, fondue sets were All The Rage back in the '68 day, I was 16 and remember them well - but it looks as though the story's exposition is too detailed for me .... and if I may say it, "too soon." The Vietnam-bound soldier's wedding on the beach tore. me. up.

MJB, you can catch a younger Vincent Kartheiser on Angel where he plays Angel's son Connor in season 4 and two episodes in season 5. I think TNT shows Angel reruns at 5 in the morning.

That poor newlywed soldier bound for Vietnam will likely get caught up in the Tet Offensive. It's just about to happen. I wonder if he or his demise will figure into the plot this season.