Mad Men: The Final Season | The Boneyard

Mad Men: The Final Season

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So far, things aren't looking too good for Don Draper. I was hoping he'd have given up the bottle and redoubled his cheating ways to compensate. Maybe even engage in a meaningless fling with January Jones for good measure. I'll be seriously disappointed if he doesn't reach his bottom soon and return to form. Ah well. There's always Roger to cheer on. Loved it when he told his newly religious daughter that he wasn't going to apologize for his lifestyle. Why should he? He's livin the dream.
 

nelsonmuntz

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Still netflixing my way through Season 4. It is hard to make traction on Mad Men during Game of Thrones season.
 
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Good episode on Sunday. I was happy to see Roger step up like that to get Don back in the game. I realized that one of the things I've missed recently is the business/ad pitch storylines that aren't possible to develop while Don is down and out. Hopefully he'll cause the firm to jetisson the tool in his old office and start targeting new clients soon.

Other random thoughts:

(1) Peggy and Joan acted like ingrates. Peggy owes Don her career and Don's the only one who sought to protect Joan from a rather indecent partnership proposal. Yet they're none too supportive when he returns. Only Roger fought the good fight.

(2) I have no idea what Cooper is supposed to do all day to earn his paycheck. He doesn't bring in business (like the account guys). He's not an administrator (like Joan). He's not the money guy (Lane was). He's not creative, obviously, and he ain't CEO or president because the outfit is a true partnership. WTF does he do?
 
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Good episode on Sunday. I was happy to see Roger step up like that to get Don back in the game. I realized that one of the things I've missed recently is the business/ad pitch storylines that aren't possible to develop while Don is down and out. Hopefully he'll cause the firm to jetisson the tool in his old office and start targeting new clients soon.

Other random thoughts: Peggy and Joan acted like ingrates. Peggy owes Don her career and Don's the only one who sought to protect Joan from a rather indecent partnership proposal. Yet they're none too supportive when he returns. Only Roger fought the good fight.
Disagree on the girls. Don owes Peggy an apology because he truly tried to sabotage the Peggy- Teddy relationship out of jealousy and not out of professionalism or trying to help Peggy avoid ruining her life & Teddy's family (as Don claimed). And Peggy doesn't know that Teddy begged Don to send him to CA which was Don's most humane moment and possibly triggered his breakdown. Then also Peggy was happier at Teddy's firm so at least in her mind most of the awful things about her current situation (Lou!) are attributable to Don. Making that right is part of his redemption.

For Joan it is a bit more ambiguous and she did somewhat defend Don's 'genius'. Although Don tried to save her from the Jaguar whoring, ultimately she made her choice and got her partnership. When Don fired Jaguar on his own that rendered part of Joan's compromise meaningless and had to sting. All he had to do was involve her in the decision and he would have had an ally. So Joan justifiably is hesitant to bring back a partner that makes decisions hastily and without consensus.

Part of the fun in bringing Don back is to see how he can repair the damaged relationships and if he's changed. And then of course teaming Don up with Roger for a few more romps and definitely one last caper to usurp control from the hated Mr Rogers-y Lou and the manipulative Harry Hamlin-Cutler. They've done a good job crafting those characters into enemies even though they might be more in the right than our protagonists. When we find ourselves siding with Harry Crane supporting his lying and dismissive attitude they've really pulled a trick.
 

Husky25

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The agreement on which they brought Don back on though is a hard pill to swallow. He used to be a name partner, now he has a small office with a foul spirit in the air and he reports to his old position to a person who is not nearly as, "adequate" (as Cutler put it). That puts Lou in position to cut down any ideas that Don has no matter how ingenious.

The other two rules are probably livable. Don always worked better in front of a small crowd and was rarely alone with clients anyway. The no drinking on the job unless entertaining clients would have been a non-starter for 1961 Don, but the 1969 Don is a drier, more introspective, version. He seems to have realized that he is on his 9th life. I wonder though if he just bought passage on the Titanic. Sterling Cooper & Partners is not the Sterling Cooper of old. It is not even the SCDP of recent. It is a fractured existence, which is apropos considering Draper's current life situation.
 
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I'm 50-50 on Joan, but still disagree on Peggy. Peggy was trying to have an affair with a married partner. The related complications are her and Ted's fault. Don may have had mixed motivations, but I don't think it's fair to say that he wasn't looking to protect Peggy in his own Don Draperish way too. Protecting Peggy is one of his few constants, even if he takes her for granted now and then.
 
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The agreement on which they brought Don back on though is a hard pill to swallow. He used to be a name partner, now he has a small office with a foul spirit in the air and he reports to his old position to a person who is not nearly as, "adequate" (as Cutler put it). That puts Lou in position to cut down any ideas that Don has no matter how ingenious.

The other two rules are probably livable. Don always worked better in front of a small crowd and was rarely alone with clients anyway. The no drinking on the job unless entertaining clients would have been a non-starter for 1961 Don, but the 1969 Don is a drier, more introspective, version. He seems to have realized that he is on his 9th life. I wonder though if he just bought passage on the Titanic. Sterling Cooper & Partners is not the Sterling Cooper of old. It is not even the SCDP of recent. It is fractured existence, which is apropos considering Draper's current life situation.
Yeah, I was halfway wanting Don to say and walk out and I'm sure Cutler wanted & expected him to walk & maybe part of Bert (although for Bert he'd also be interested to see how Don's character responds to this test). If Don said , would Roger would have chased him down and convinced him that they'd oust Lou soon enough? The choices were either come back and try to reform or a rebirth with an existing or new (Pete & Roger?) agency and those options are too close to old Don's habitual fleeing from the truth. He screwed up & is trying to fix it which means being willing to live with the consequences.

Seeing Lou continually put Don-in-training Peggy down perfectly sets up a confrontation. Peggy is restricted by the glass ceiling and the put-downs that trap her between grinning and bearing their sexism or being a bitch. Its a no-win for her but now she can team with Don and I expect they'll find an artful way to take back creative. I expect Ginsburg's wildcard nature will play a role, he might be the catalyst and/or sacrificed as collateral damage. But Lou will ultimately hoist himself with his own petard.

Are there similarities between Lou and Henry Francis? Other than stealing Don's wife the latter has been a pretty good guy (maybe a little vindictive with Don's stuff) but I still kind of want Don to extract some revenge beyond just bedding Betty once. Somehow taking Lou down would be stand-in for Don taking down Henry.

Was the parallel Betty- Bobby arc solely about son being like father? Or is there a link to Betty stuck behaving like a child versus Don trying to change and move past his childhood? Do they possibly need further resolution with each other to progress in their lives?
 
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The agreement on which they brought Don back on though is a hard pill to swallow.

Agreed. His reaction was very well written and acted---took me by surprise. I have to think that he'll quickly demolish Lou though. Lou's employment contract isn't much of a defense against Don Draper, Genuis Partner.

The no drinking on the job unless entertaining clients would have been a non-starter for 1961 Don, but the 1969 Don is a drier, more introspective, version. He seems to have realized that he is on his 9th life.

You think the drinking is over as an issue? I dunno. I think it'll be his ultimate undoing, if there is one. The show's got him set up as a full blown alcholic right now. He's controlling it through sheer force of will because there are goals in front of him (his marriage and career) that he desperately desires. Once he becomes comfortable or something worse happens to him, I think he'll lose it. It's not as if he's even abstinent or getting help at the moment.....
 
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I'm 50-50 on Joan, but still disagree on Peggy. Peggy was trying to have an affair with a married partner. The related complications are her and Ted's fault. Don may have had mixed motivations, but I don't think it's fair to say that he wasn't looking to protect Peggy in his own Don Draperish way too. Protecting Peggy is one of his few constants, even if he takes her for granted now and then.
Yeah Joan is a mixed bag, so I think she and you are 50-50 on Don-Joan. I think if he participates in group decision making she is back on board.
Peggy's harsh words to me were simply reflective of her sad state. It is much easier to blame others rather than herself. Even last week we saw her recognize her own bad behavior (to Shirley) and yet stubbornly & selfishly make others feel just as bad as she did. That's classic Don and so I think consistent with her takedown of Don this week. This improves the stakes for a reconciliation between those two (I think inevitable) and it will be interesting if it comes thru work, heartfelt apologies or something else.
 

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I don't know if we'll have some kind of resolution to Don's story the way people in this thread (and everywhere) want. This week's episode was purgatory-like, being stuck at the kid's table all day was symbolic of being held back from fulfillment and not having control. Interesting that it seems Don never seriously entertained the thought of taking a job elsewhere (even if he was a partner), he took lunch meetings with the other company only to immediately drop in on Roger. Something Sisyphusean about being so close to getting everything, only to have his autonomy taken away.

Oh, did anyone notice the guy who plays Ginsberg showing up on this week's Silicon Valley, playing a very different kind of character (but still hilarious)?
 
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I don't know if we'll have some kind of resolution to Don's story the way people in this thread (and everywhere) want. This week's episode was purgatory-like, being stuck at the kid's table all day was symbolic of being held back from fulfillment and not having control. Interesting that it seems Don never seriously entertained the thought of taking a job elsewhere (even if he was a partner), he took lunch meetings with the other company only to immediately drop in on Roger. Something Sisyphusean about being so close to getting everything, only to have his autonomy taken away.

Oh, did anyone notice the guy who plays Ginsberg showing up on this week's Silicon Valley, playing a very different kind of character (but still hilarious)?
I could have lived with last season's conclusion as a series finale. Don has no job but is going to try and tell the truth and merge his true story with his ability to sell the dream. Where that leads is life, good with the bad.

Maybe the series needs to make a conclusion on how the 60's were different but the same as today, but I don't hope for a happy ever after. Instead i hole we get a thought provoking insight into the human condition - that's what I think this series does better than any other.
 
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Do I understand correctly that Don has a non-compete clause and he can't work for another agency unless his contract is terminated (which it wasn't - he was put on leave)
If that's the case did he only meet with this other agency so he can bring paper evidence to Roger to get moving and either bring him back or fire him?
 
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Agreed. His reaction was very well written and acted---took me by surprise. I have to think that he'll quickly demolish Lou though. Lou's employment contract isn't much of a defense against Don Draper, Genuis Partner.



You think the drinking is over as an issue? I dunno. I think it'll be his ultimate undoing, if there is one. The show's got him set up as a full blown alcholic right now. He's controlling it through sheer force of will because there are goals in front of him (his marriage and career) that he desperately desires. Once he becomes comfortable or something worse happens to him, I think he'll lose it. It's not as if he's even abstinent or getting help at the moment.....

Lou symbolizes the boss everyone hates. He wants everything done on time, it doesn't matter if it is any good.

Don, is the flawed boss that can be tricky to work for but you still respect the heck out of him because you can never be as good as he is and at the same time, deep down inside somewhere he actually may give a crap about you if you deliver the goods.

I just hope we get to see the genius Don Draper one more time. I want to see him go after an account and come up with something novel one more time. I really miss the "business" side of the show. Seeing him crush Lou will be gratifying.


I just don't want another Sopranos ending. I don't need something tidy but a little closure might be nice.
 
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Lou symbolizes the boss everyone hates. He wants everything done on time, it doesn't matter if it is any good.

Don, is the flawed boss that can be tricky to work for but you still respect the heck out of him because you can never be as good as he is and at the same time, deep down inside somewhere he actually may give a crap about you if you deliver the goods.

I just hope we get to see the genius Don Draper one more time. I want to see him go after an account and come up with something novel one more time. I really miss the "business" side of the show. Seeing him crush Lou will be gratifying.


I just don't want another Sopranos ending. I don't need something tidy but a little closure might be nice.
Yes, good points. Did you notice Kenny's little Carousel tribute? That Kodak pitch was just magic television. It amazed me those first few seasons how hard those ideas were to come up with, you need real products, no repeats, have to get into sixties mindset and then essentially do the job of creative advertising team within the context of the show. Don did almost the same thing with Hershey's and then one upped himself by undoing himself & the firm with an even more riveting true Hershey's connection story.

Viking - Yeah, Don definitely had a non-compete so theoretically had to get fired and bought out to accept the other offer. Once Don brought that to Roger he was kind of forcing Roger's hand. I don't think Roger told the other partners about Don's offer as Roger wanted Don back and that would have given Cutler rationale to fire Don. I.e. Don gets a soft landing (no guilt, kind of what Joan implied they wanted), and Don might negotiate on Partnership buyout price or payments over time in exchange for immediately waiving non-compete. So that's why Don put the offer softly in front of Roger and not the entire firm.
 

Husky25

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Yes, good points. Did you notice Kenny's little Carousel tribute? That Kodak pitch was just magic television. It amazed me those first few seasons how hard those ideas were to come up with, you need real products, no repeats, have to get into sixties mindset and then essentially do the job of creative advertising team within the context of the show. Don did almost the same thing with Hershey's and then one upped himself by undoing himself & the firm with an even more riveting true Hershey's connection story.

Viking - Yeah, Don definitely had a non-compete so theoretically had to get fired and bought out to accept the other offer. Once Don brought that to Roger he was kind of forcing Roger's hand. I don't think Roger told the other partners about Don's offer as Roger wanted Don back and that would have given Cutler rationale to fire Don. I.e. Don gets a soft landing (no guilt, kind of what Joan implied they wanted), and Don might negotiate on Partnership buyout price or payments over time in exchange for immediately waiving non-compete. So that's why Don put the offer softly in front of Roger and not the entire firm.
Correct. Don knew that Roger was his only shot at getting what he truly wanted: His old job. He knew Bert didn't give a and he had zero connection to Cutler. Roger was his only hope.

Does Don now somehow move out to California? He has to make good with Teddy and, of course, Meghan.
 
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Correct. Don knew that Roger was his only shot at getting what he truly wanted: His old job. He knew Bert didn't give a and he had zero connection to Cutler. Roger was his only hope.

Does Don now somehow move out to California? He has to make good with Teddy and, of course, Meghan.

No, the first episode of the season clearly showed that he hates it out there.
 
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No, the first episode of the season clearly showed that he hates it out there.
I agree Don hates CA presumably I guess because its too fake! Irony alert.

The way its trending right now Megan moves back after failing but as Husky25 said, but Don first needs to make some sort of grand reconciling move with her. Whereas I can see the outline for how Don atones for his sins with Peggy & Joan, with Megan I'm not sure what he does (just being honest going forward isn't quite enough). Similarly don't know if they belong or end up together. Thinking really big it'd be something with his kids as Megan's mothering demeanor & approach (not freaking out over the milk shake spill) was the moment that Don probably decided to marry her. Hmm, Betty failed again as a mother with Bobby and Bobby refused to talk to Henry. Having said that I think turning Don into a good father of young children is too much of a stretch (and not interesting).
 
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I agree Don hates CA presumably I guess because its too fake! Irony alert.

The way its trending right now Megan moves back after failing but as Husky25 said, but Don first needs to make some sort of grand reconciling move with her. Whereas I can see the outline for how Don atones for his sins with Peggy & Joan, with Megan I'm not sure what he does (just being honest going forward isn't quite enough). Similarly don't know if they belong or end up together. Thinking really big it'd be something with his kids as Megan's mothering demeanor & approach (not freaking out over the milk shake spill) was the moment that Don probably decided to marry her. Hmm, Betty failed again as a mother with Bobby and Bobby refused to talk to Henry. Having said that I think turning Don into a good father of young children is too much of a stretch (and not interesting).

He was clearly creeped out by the howling Coyotes in the valley.

I admit I lost respect for Don when caught Lane and put him in the corner like that. For a guy who has a dirty catastrophic secret or two, he should have been a bit more understanding.

That being said, now he clearly is being real. He appears to be connecting with his daughter, he told Megan why he concealed his suspension and admitted that he was insecure as to how she would perceive him, and he is willing to come back with nothing close to his previous status, whiole reporting to a hack (run on sentence I know...).

There are signs that he is getting his sh&t together.

So what will happen? My prediction is that his return will be successful, he'll beat Lou, and then end up flying too close to the sun again and fall back to earth by the last episode.
 
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He was clearly creeped out by the howling Coyotes in the valley.

I admit I lost respect for Don when caught Lane and put him in the corner like that. For a guy who has a dirty catastrophic secret or two, he should have been a bit more understanding.

There are signs that he is getting his sh&t together.

So what will happen? My prediction is that his return will be successful, he'll beat Lou, and then end up flying too close to the sun again and fall back to earth by the last episode.

I always viewed the Lane episode as one of Don's more tragic incidents. Don didn't fight for Lane's job, but he took a hit to his relationship with Cooper by not disclosing the fact that Lane had forged his signature. He covered up a crime by letting Cooper think that he had endorsed that check without permission from the other partners. In return, he got a flashback to his brother swinging from a rope.

Any way, I think the best that Draper fans can hope for is a Godfather 2 ending. Don, sitt ing alone, at the head of an empire without friends or family. I fear even that is gonna be too much to ask for him though.
 
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Didn't love last night's (Season 7 episode 4) show. I didn't really care that much about Roger's daughter (why should we now when he never did?). We've seen other characters become hippies and although losing a child to that is a traumatic comeuppance for Roger, we didn't need that much time on it.
  • The Don stuff was totally necessary, hitting a semi bottom out of work wasn't enough and a new bottom needed to happen in the office. I liked Freddy's role a lot, very real.
  • They are still torturing us with Lou Avery being a detestable 'every company's got one' villain with no skills other than playing office politics.
  • The computer stuff was heavy handed symbolism even for this show.
  • The episode focused on probably mosts 4 favorite characters, Roger, Peggy, Joan and Don - but given those 4 characters central roles it should have been more enjoyable. I hope it is worth it later for putting Don & Roger in the same - get back to building something state so that they team up together.

I didn't think Bert Cooper was as anti-Don last week as he proved to be this week (last week Bert said; "I don't like how this agency is talked about" and I assumed it meant general lack of creative juice, but now I think it means the Don Hershey's episode). I think a mis-play on the show-runner's part. It stung more to see Bert put Don down, but it should have been Cutler doing it. If Bert thinks that little of Don and wants him to quit, Bert plays the stolen identity card that Pete told him about back in season 1. Supposedly the only reason to keep Don around was the cost of his partnership shares but if he's a non-entity they could & should (out of self interest) expose that and reclaim the shares. I'd think only Roger (maybe Pete but 50-50 and too greedy) would protest this and Roger has no power. The only reason Bert wouldn't do that is if he doesn't want an internal fight with Roger or if he's worried about press. If it is the latter then offer Don a half-price buyout in exchange for not being exposed.
Clearly the partners settled on the Don work conditions with the assumption that Don will either implode or provide them good value before getting fed up and quitting, but neither of those are as lucrative as voiding his partnership sales.
 

Husky25

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Didn't love last night's (Season 7 episode 4) show. I didn't really care that much about Roger's daughter (why should we now when he never did?). We've seen other characters become hippies and although losing a child to that is a traumatic comeuppance for Roger, we didn't need that much time on it.

  • [ ]The Don stuff was totally necessary, hitting a semi bottom out of work wasn't enough and a new bottom needed to happen in the office. I liked Freddy's role a lot, very real.
    [ ]They are still torturing us with Lou Avery being a detestable 'every company's got one' villain with no skills other than playing office politics.
    [ ]The computer stuff was heavy handed symbolism even for this show.
    [ ]The episode focused on probably mosts 4 favorite characters, Roger, Peggy, Joan and Don - but given those 4 characters central roles it should have been more enjoyable. I hope it is worth it later for putting Don & Roger in the same - get back to building something state so that they team up together.

I didn't think Bert Cooper was as anti-Don last week as he proved to be this week (last week Bert said; "I don't like how this agency is talked about" and I assumed it meant general lack of creative juice, but now I think it means the Don Hershey's episode). I think a mis-play on the show-runner's part. It stung more to see Bert put Don down, but it should have been Cutler doing it. If Bert thinks that little of Don and wants him to quit, Bert plays the stolen identity card that Pete told him about back in season 1. Supposedly the only reason to keep Don around was the cost of his partnership shares but if he's a non-entity they could & should (out of self interest) expose that and reclaim the shares. I'd think only Roger (maybe Pete but 50-50 and too greedy) would protest this and Roger has no power. The only reason Bert wouldn't do that is if he doesn't want an internal fight with Roger or if he's worried about press. If it is the latter then offer Don a half-price buyout in exchange for not being exposed.
Clearly the partners settled on the Don work conditions with the assumption that Don will either implode or provide them good value before getting fed up and quitting, but neither of those are as lucrative as voiding his partnership sales.

The final episode next summer may very well end with, not only the implosion of Don, but the implosion of SC&P. I hope a lot of story lines very well wrap themselves up. Don probably has as much dirt on his partners as they have on him. I'm really interest in what the H3ll Bert actually does.
 
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The final episode next summer may very well end with, not only the implosion of Don, but the implosion of SC&P. I hope a lot of story lines very well wrap themselves up. Don probably has as much dirt on his partners as they have on him. I'm really interest in what the H3ll Bert actually does.
You may be right and my Bert scenario occurs after Don & Roger try to take back or blow up the firm on their own. Then maybe Don has one more move before the Feds come for him.

I just don't think that kind of pyrotechnics is what this show is about though. Its a layered deep dive into our inner selves via the mirror of the 60's. So the questions aren't does the firm or anyone live or die, it is who are we and can we be someone else, can we change, can we portray something different outside than in and how does all of this impact and change us and the situations we navigate through (not much of an elevator pitch!).
 
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I can't believe when Roger didn't bang the flower girl they showed on the porch, especially once his daughter went to hit the sack with the hippie!!
 
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I wouldn't read too much into Cooper's reaction to Don, though the put down was annoying. Don's foray was on some penny-ante matter that was a waste of Cooper's time. It reflected Don's boredom, and Cooper's a blunt guy. I wouldn't be surprised if he was trying to give Don a helpful kick in the rear end in his own unhelpful way.

Regardless, I am more certain than last week now that Don's on the assent and Lou is living on borrowed time. I will enjoy watching him get abused. The listen to my back approach he took with Peggy was it for me. Time for a comeuppance. I hope the writers make it good....
 
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I thought Cooper's comments were subtle yet powerful kick in the ass.

Is this not the best series ever? Do you ever like something so much, yet you can't totally figure out why? That's this show for me.
 

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