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

MattyG

Banned
So Mad Men was just an origin story for the Coke ad?

All joking aside, I'd always imagined that we were going to get something more bombastic. I always thought that Don's false identity would catch up with him and it would lead to drastic measures. It's actually very surprising to me that they didn't take that route.

Not sure how much I liked the final season in the end. It wasn't bad, but it didn't exactly live up to my expectations.
 

Champagne

Banned
So Mad Men was just an origin story for the Coke ad?

All joking aside, I'd always imagined that we were going to get something more bombastic. I always thought that Don's false identity would catch up with him and it would lead to drastic measures. It's actually very surprising to me that they didn't take that route.

Not sure how much I liked the final season in the end. It wasn't bad, but it didn't exactly live up to my expectations.
When Don was hammered with all those vets at the fundraiser and they were trying to get him to share some stories in The Milk and Honey Route I thought for sure that was exactly where the series was going.
 

MattyG

Banned
When Don was hammered with all those vets at the fundraiser and they were trying to get him to share some stories in The Milk and Honey Route I thought for sure that was exactly where the series was going.
Yeah, that was the point where I thought it was all going to start going downhill and then it just... doesn't. I feel like Matthew Weiner knew that was how everyone thought it was going to go and then just wrote something completely different. He even kind of put some misdirection in with Don pushing on the window when they moved to the new building (I was positive that that was going to be foreshadowing of him jumping out of it).

I don't really know how I feel about it, to be honest. I want to like it, but I'm not sure if I do.
 

CassSept

Member
Many are actually surprised with how definite the ending was, myself included, I thought we would get much more of a non-ending.

It's just not the show Mad Men was, it getting bombastic shit-just-got-real ending would be kinda like a family sitcom becoming mob story in it's final arc and ending in a shoot-out, or Dexter getting a satisfying conclusion. Some things just weren't meant to be.
 
He even kind of put some misdirection in with Don pushing on the window when they moved to the new building (I was positive that that was going to be foreshadowing of him jumping out of it).

This is one of the greatest moments in the entire series. It's striking and poignant. I was fairly certain that Don was never going to jump out of any windows, so I didn't view this as misdirection. At any rate, the fact that Don didn't commit suicide doesn't really take anything away from this moment; its intrigue exceeds that particular interpretation.
 

bomma_man

Member
So Mad Men was just an origin story for the Coke ad?

All joking aside, I'd always imagined that we were going to get something more bombastic. I always thought that Don's false identity would catch up with him and it would lead to drastic measures. It's actually very surprising to me that they didn't take that route.

Not sure how much I liked the final season in the end. It wasn't bad, but it didn't exactly live up to my expectations.

Yeah, that was the point where I thought it was all going to start going downhill and then it just... doesn't. I feel like Matthew Weiner knew that was how everyone thought it was going to go and then just wrote something completely different. He even kind of put some misdirection in with Don pushing on the window when they moved to the new building (I was positive that that was going to be foreshadowing of him jumping out of it).

I don't really know how I feel about it, to be honest. I want to like it, but I'm not sure if I do.

Were we watching the same show? The finale was way more conclusive than almost anyone in this thread expected.
 

Tabris

Member
Yeah, that was the point where I thought it was all going to start going downhill and then it just... doesn't. I feel like Matthew Weiner knew that was how everyone thought it was going to go and then just wrote something completely different. He even kind of put some misdirection in with Don pushing on the window when they moved to the new building (I was positive that that was going to be foreshadowing of him jumping out of it).

I don't really know how I feel about it, to be honest. I want to like it, but I'm not sure if I do.

He had the final scene written during Season 4. Only told Jon Hamm.
 

Tabris

Member
There's something wrong with me. It's so easy for me to re-watch mad men multiple times. I'm now starting again for 3rd time and I had just re-watched over the last 2 months. I have so many new shows to watch too, but re-watching Mad Men.

Looking back on it, it was one of my favourite tv shows of all time.
 

mujun

Member
Yeah, that was the point where I thought it was all going to start going downhill and then it just... doesn't. I feel like Matthew Weiner knew that was how everyone thought it was going to go and then just wrote something completely different. He even kind of put some misdirection in with Don pushing on the window when they moved to the new building (I was positive that that was going to be foreshadowing of him jumping out of it).

I don't really know how I feel about it, to be honest. I want to like it, but I'm not sure if I do.

Mad Men has never been about the drama.

I wasn't surprised that the ending was about Don evolving as a person.
 

Rehynn

Member
There's something wrong with me. It's so easy for me to re-watch mad men multiple times. I'm now starting again for 3rd time and I had just re-watched over the last 2 months. I have so many new shows to watch too, but re-watching Mad Men.

Looking back on it, it was one of my favourite tv shows of all time.

Man, I hear you. I want to start from the beginning again.

But.... I haven't seen The Sopranos yet.
 

Rookje

Member
CGI7dHpU0AAOtHr.jpg:large


Q&A for MAD MEN. Here's Matthew Weiner's "WISH LIST" of plot points to cover before the finale:
 
I'm pretty pissed we didn't get the bottlers convention!

/s

Seriously, Sal.... :(


Also, I was thinking the other day that if AMC had insisted Better Call Saul style on some spinoff, that a Jimmy/Bobbie Barrett show would make good television.

Didn't know/remember that Harry got divorced. Makes all kinds of sense.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Weiner didn't want Chauncey in the final season? :(

I think they grew past that around season 4 when Pete helped in conceal his identity, and in return Don paid for Pete's portion of a loan or something iirc.

Yeah, I think that was already covered a few seasons ago.
 
I feel like there's a Mad Men shaped hole in my life now. I'm really going to miss this show. I always feel kind of down after a show ends.

Where else will I find a show that is so rich with so many quietly unfolding and deeply devastating bits of profundity and/or poignancy?

- Don sadly murmuring "it's my birthday" to a flight stewardess ("Out of Town")
- Don crossing the street to a new apartment in the Village as Roy Orbison sings "Shahdaroba" ("Shut the Door. Have a Seat")
- Don's pensive gaze out the window after a hasty engagement ("Tomorrowland")
- Pete tearfully confessing, "I have nothing, Don." ("Signal 30")
- Don's troubled gaze down an empty elevator shaft ("Lady Lazarus")
- Don disclosing a long withheld piece of himself to his daughter as a gesture of amends, affection, and something like transparency ("In Care Of"), and then later seeing that affection reciprocated, which seems to strike him right in the heart ("A Day's Work")
- "We know where we've been; we know where we are. Let's assume that it's good...but it's gonna' get better. It's supposed to get better." ("The Forecast")
- Don driving onward, in a fog of discontentment and uncertainty, as David Bowie's "Space Oddity" plays ("Lost Horizon"), etc.

I could have listed so many other moments. Easily.

This was such a substantial show, and it offered some really distinct pleasures. It's an enormous achievement. I don't want to replace it, but I wish I could find a serialized drama that delivers this same level of insight and that is as closely engaged with the interior longings and dissatisfactions of its characters.
 
I feel like there's a Mad Men shaped hole in my life now. I'm really going to miss this show. I always feel kind of down after a show ends.

Where else will I find a show that is so rich with so many quietly unfolding and deeply devastating bits of profundity and/or poignancy?

- Don sadly murmuring "it's my birthday" to a flight stewardess ("Out of Town")
- Don crossing the street a new apartment in the Village as Roy Orbison sings "Shahdaroba" ("Shut the Door. Have a Seat")
- Pensive gazes out the window after an impromptu engagement ("Tomorrowland"),
- Pete tearfully confessing, "I have nothing, Don" ("Signal 30")
- Don's troubled gaze down an empty elevator shaft ("Lady Lazarus")
- Don disclosing a long withheld piece of himself to his daughter as a gesture of amends, affection, and something like transparency ("In Care Of"), and then later seeing that affection reciprocated, which seems to strike him right in the heart ("A Day's Work")
- "We know where we have been, we know where we are. Let's assume that it is good and that it is going to get better. It is supposed to get better" (The Forecast).
- Don driving onward, in a fog of discontentment and uncertainty, as David Bowie's "Space Oddity" plays ("Lost Horizon"), etc.

I could have listed so many other moments. Easily.

This was such a substantial show, and it offered some really distinct pleasures. It's an enormous achievement. I don't want to replace it, but I wish I could find a serialized drama that delivers this same level of insight and that is as closely engaged with the interior longings and dissatisfactions of its characters.
Have you watched The Wire?
 

Real Hero

Member
This was such a substantial show, and it offered some really distinct pleasures. It's an enormous achievement. I don't want to replace it, but I wish I could find a serialized drama that delivers this same level of insight and that is as closely engaged with the interior longings and dissatisfactions of its characters.

The Wire and The Sopranos are exactly what you are looking for if you haven't seen them.
 
Well, looks like your hole will be filled soon
grin.gif

Well, nothing will ever replace Mad Men for me but, yeah, I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot of similarly great television. Or perhaps something even better. We'll see. I just wish I was experiencing that familiar melancholy of former years, where you're sad because you just watched the finale, but you know SC&P (or any of its former appellations) will be back next year. Now it's just gone. It felt like the right time to end it, and yet I also feel like I could have watched so many more seasons of this show.

I went through the whole series again before the final set of episodes, and that really strengthened my attachment and my admiration.

Another show that often reached Mad Men-esque highs is Enlightened (which also came to mind a few times during "Person to Person").
 
No. It's a significant TV blindspot for me. I hope to rectify this soon.

The Sopranos as well, actually.

Neither of those shows are as incredibly subtle as Mad Men although they both have their sublime benefits.

The only other show that's existed that held to Mad Men's belief that you didn't need bombastic plot to tell a phenomenal story was Deadwood. Enjoy. :)
 

El Daniel

Member
When I started Mad Men it reminded me a lot of The Sopranos even though it's really different. Not so weird with Weiner as writer.
 
When I started Mad Men it reminded me a lot of The Sopranos even though it's really different. Not so weird with Weiner as writer.

You mean that show about the guy who's just above the top tier in his organization, excellent at his job, but has a secret that would get him ousted?
 

War Peaceman

You're a big guy.
No. It's a significant TV blindspot for me. I hope to rectify this soon.

The Sopranos as well, actually.

The Wire is thematically quite similar to Mad men.

It has a similar approach to building a believable world. Though it is grander in scale and more explicitly political (probably by virtue of being current-ish).
 
Thanks for the recommendations. I'm still feeling melancholic when I think about this show. =( I can't pick up any of those shows right at this moment, but it will happen eventually.

For fun, here's another great moment that has intermittently returned to me again and again ever since I saw it. It's from "The Summer Man" (did people around here like that episode?). Dr. Miller and Don are having dinner, and Don tells her that he's "been a little bit out of sorts lately," and how he's been swimming, etc. Dr. Miller's response is "when I'm out of sorts, I look at the calendar. There's usually something significant on the horizon." I like that. Why did Don let her go? =( I know why, but still...

Also, wow, "The Summer Man" is really quite representative of what makes this show special. That final moment, with Don picking up Gene and Betty ambiguously gazing ahead? Superb. I know Matt Weiner prefers this one to the previous episode, the much lauded "The Suitcase." He was dismayed when he found out that a lot of people liked "The Suitcase" more than "The Summer Man."

They rarely ever lean into the sensational or the lurid in this show (which makes those rare exceptions all the more impactful). There's lots of great television that trades in that sort of thing, and I don't want to condescend to those who do it well (Breaking Bad, for instance, which is exceptional because it marries its over the top thrills with great character development and moments where characters reveal themselves in a variety of devastating ways).

With Mad Men, though, it's like...Don and Dr. Miller are having dinner and this man is trying to be a better person, and it's all tremendously fascinating. Two people sitting down to dinner after several episodes of flirtations, conflict, and rejections. There are no box cutters in drawers here. There's no Hitchcockian bomb under the table. As Weiner has said, the drama unfolds on a very human scale (it turns on the power of a reproachful glance, like what Don flashes in Season 3 when he sees Roger in blackface, or the glances exchanged between Sally and Don at the end of season 6). Plus, it subsists on the magnetism of its actors (Jon Hamm is eminently watchable), as well as the credible and totally absorbing dialogue. So much of what happens seems like a miniature representation of so much internal pushing and pulling (in one moment, you think, Don's getting better, he's trying; and then, at another moment in the series, you're like: this man seems irrevocably adrift and broken and it's heartbreaking). "The Summer Man" is actually an episode where Don's thoughts are written and narrated aloud, so it's different from most MM episodes in that respect, but I feel like that's an important part of the episode; he's looking inward finally, he's thinking about who he is -- but not for long (I think Weiner's commentary on this episode helped me clarify this point, although it's pretty self-evident).
 
Finally catched up. Loved the last half.

Mad Men was one of those shows that I couldn't find time to watch when they started but later binge-catched up and loved it (together with Breaking Bad). Great show.
 
I've been rewatching S7.1. It's soooooooo good.

Seeing Sally wish Betty was "in the ground" and talking about what a corpse looked like at a funeral (which sounded like a cancer victim) was pretty unsettling.
 
- Matt Zoller Seitz talking Mad Men for the NY Mag tv awards:
Mad Men, which wrapped up its seventh and final season this year, is the most richly textured, intricately structured drama I’ve seen in the nearly 20 years I’ve been a TV critic. Even when I didn't especially like it, I admired it. It managed to be as original and consistently entertaining as The Sopranos, Deadwood, The Wire, and Breaking Bad were, even though it had no genre hook and very little in the way of violence or criminal intrigue.

Other shows are more perfect from moment to moment — more carefully calibrated, smoother; one is The Americans, which is why it is Vulture's choice for Best Drama, a distinction I explained in that entry — but none is as rich or as unabashedly big, as much of a Show. It's a plausible candidate for Best Drama of the Year, for sure, but as Best Show — a category that transcends craft and implies a connection to the Zeitgeist — no other series came close. Some were more consistent, others more popular, but none were as consistently compelling, infuriating, goofy, mysterious, and poignant.

All of the episodes, even the ones I don’t especially like, are inexhaustibly detailed: packed with comic and dramatic moments; period-accurate clothing and hairstyles and music; imaginative, hilarious, and often deeply moving performances; and screenwriting that depicts the complexities and contradictions of the human personality with more insight and empathy than any American series in recent memory. It’s a historical drama about how individuals are and are not affected by the local, national, and international history that’s constantly unfolding around them. It’s a psychodrama about how our personalities are shaped by our parents, our lovers, our friends, our bosses, and everyone else we know, as well as by people we’ve never met but feel as though we know: the politicians, civil-rights leaders, athletes, movie stars, musicians, and other icons who inspire, entertain, confound, and sometimes anger us as we muddle through our daily lives. It’s also a series with an unusually strong affinity for mythology, spirituality, religion, psychoanalysis, pop psychology, literature, poetry, cinema, and all the other means by which human experience is transformed into narrative. And at every level — the scene, the episode, the season, and in total — it is a masterpiece of construction, filled with major and minor bits of foreshadowing and recollection, lines and images that seem to answer each other across time.

And even as it manages to do and be all of these things, and many others, it entertains. Really, truly entertains. It’s exciting. Sexy. Sometimes unbearably sad. But above all else, it’s funny, maybe for survival’s sake: A show that inflicts so much darkness on its characters is obligated to offer a bit of light as compensation, otherwise we wouldn’t go near it. That, I suspect, is why we were graced with the sight of Donald Draper doing a “devil” voice; Ken Cosgrove tap-dancing; Roger Sterling declaring, “All I took from that was that Hitler didn’t smoke, and I do”; Betty Draper saying, “My people were Nordic”; Harry Crane getting caught in the office in his underwear, with a smoldering trashcan in his arms; Lane Pryce bellowing, “Because he was caught with chewing gum on his pubis!”; Peggy Olson announcing, “My name is Peggy Olson, and I want to smoke some marijuana”; and Pete Campbell staring bleakly into the middle-distance and saying, “Boys’ Life. Next to exploding cigars.”

You might have noticed that I've been using present tense. That's because Mad Men doesn't feel "over" to me any more than Billy Wilder's The Apartment, John Cheever's short fiction, or John Dos Passos's U.S.A trilogy — to name just three admitted influences on Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner's imagination — feel "over." The show isn't making more episodes but it still exists, and I think it will be revisited and enjoyed again, just as we revisit and enjoy our favorite novels, films, and albums. I think it's that sturdy and that good.

The back half of season seven confirmed it for me. A lot of people complained about the introduction of new characters. Some seized the spotlight in the run-up to the final credits, like Leonard, the character in that group-therapy scene in the series finale. Others turned out to be nearly figurative constructs reflecting the interior states of other characters, such as the waitress, Diana. But this, too, was in keeping with Mad Men tradition. The show often brought in characters who momentarily wrested the narrative away from Don and Peggy and Company: Some were powerful and intimidating, like Conrad Hilton; others charmingly "average," like Dennis Hobart, the prison guard Don bonds with in the hospital waiting room in season three’s “The Fog”; and still others puzzling, like the woman Don talks to on the plane in the season-seven part-one premiere, who seemed as much a near-dreamlike figure as Diana. I recently rewatched the entire series and was stunned by the show's dramatic architecture — the way it rhymes certain situations and decisions (like the arcs of Roger and Don's married lives) as well as key scenes (such as the finale's callback to a key scene in season two, which I wrote about here). The show's pop-culture acuity continued as well: the shot of Don racing across the desert at the start of the finale connected, subtly, with the monolith/Dave Bowman/2001 imagery in the first half of season seven, and the snippet of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" at the end of "Lost Horizon" tied it all together, along with Bert Cooper's death and the moon landing in "Waterloo." A chameleon, Bowie is providing escape music for another chameleon, Don, on a series that's about reinvention, change, and evolution, and has consistently been obsessed with travel, rockets, space, and science fiction.

Again: What a brilliant show. The only reason I won't miss it is because Mad Men produced seven seasons' worth of episodes, all so densely packed with drama, comedy, and sheer imagination that I wouldn't delude myself into thinking I've really seen them all.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Does anyone know if they're going to release season 7 part 2 on blu-ray? I can't find any pre-order listings for it. (I also can't find Breaking Bad season 5 part 2 on blu-ray, which is weird.)
 

lobdale

3 ft, coiled to the sky
Does anyone know if they're going to release season 7 part 2 on blu-ray? I can't find any pre-order listings for it. (I also can't find Breaking Bad season 5 part 2 on blu-ray, which is weird.)

They've confirmed they're going to do a big mega season set, I'd maybe expect the announcement of S8's blu release when they announce that... but I'm still waiting.
 

lobdale

3 ft, coiled to the sky
I know it's a double post, but a few days later! I was thinking, I wonder if they're waiting for the Emmys before making any announcement about the home release yet, then planning on riding whatever hopeful award publicity they grab?
 

lamaroo

Unconfirmed Member
I know it's a double post, but a few days later! I was thinking, I wonder if they're waiting for the Emmys before making any announcement about the home release yet, then planning on riding whatever hopeful award publicity they grab?

Which will be none

*cries*
 
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