‘Mad Men’ Preview: Buckle Up For 7 ‘Dense’ Episodes, Says Matthew Weiner After realizing that I needed two premieres and two finales, it changed the pacing of every other episode. These episodes are more focused on the main characters than ever before — and I’ve got a lot of main characters. There’s no room for digression this time. The first seven feel like (the story arc of) a whole season,” Weiner says. The historical backdrop of the era (presumably early-ish in 1969) is an important factor as always but Weiner hints that historical events won’t be as prominent as they were in season 6 for Don Draper. “Last season more than any other season was about the history of the time. It was 1968 as a model for Don,” Weiner says. “I felt very much that Don’s anxiety was the country’s anxiety. I felt it in real life here. I felt last year (2013) was very hard on people.” The brainstorming process for season seven that Weiner and the writing staff went through at the start of the season was in keeping with the “Mad Men” tradition, except that they realized it was now-or-never for some ideas. “At the beginning I always look through all of the pieces of paper in my pocket where I’ve written down things. It’s always ‘Roger says this’ and ‘Don thinks that.’ These people are on my mind a lot. I don’t know what I’m going to do with those thoughts now. I guess I’m going to have to think of other people” to write for, he says. I really wish AMC would stop this half season bs but, otherwise, I am looking forward to this.
I cannot wait to find out where Don is after being asked to take an indefinite leave from the firm and Megan essentially leaving him. Was Breaking Bad that much more popular than MM in it's final two seasons? The premiere drops tonight with very little fanfare -- no "after-show" to discuss the episodes.
Breaking Bad's ratings grew over time until it was a huge hit (for cable). Mad Men's ratings have been pretty stable rather than grown, and never been as high as Breaking Bad ultimately ended up during season 5 1/2.
This was my favorite Mad Men season premiere in a while. Switching back to an hour was a good move. They jumped right into it. I like where Don's situation is right now, even though I'm sure he doesn't. It's realistic and I'm glad this is the way they went. I wouldn't put it above the S1 or S4 premieres but it feels almost up there with them. The outro music, "You Keep Me Hangin' On" is the second time in the series where I was more familiar with the '80s version of the song. I agree with Peggy, Freddy's delivery of his pitch was mesmerizing. It's a conversation piece. What they've done with Pete through me a loop. Megan looked like a pirate with the head band.
This was the most boring premier episode. However, I did enjoy seeing Pete looking like a Malibu Ken doll.
Kind of a typical opening, I thought. No earth shattering revelations or shocking situations, with the possible exception of Roger's. He's living in a "crash pad"? That acid worked him over. Joan is so great. One of the things that is so impressive about the character is that she realizes what her shortcomings are and instead of allowing them to stop her, she does what she needs to do to minimize their impact on her life. She really leveled the playing field with little mister MBA. She had him asking for her advise. What was with Ken, though? He asks Joan to pretend to be his flunky and after she pulls his nuts out of the fire by giving the Butler marketing guy reason to delay his recommendation to pull the account in-house, he gets pissed. Damn, Megan is sexy. That slo-mo shot of her getting out of the MG and walking up to Don in that little mini dress with Stevie Winwood declaring just why he, and we, can't help but love her so, is superb. Loved her manager. Just as smarmy as he should have been. This show's attention to detail is just phenomenal. The color T.V. console Don gave Megan looked exactly like the one my mother brought home in the same year, 1969. The fuzzy in and out picture was also quite period, though if Megan lived near the top of the canyon, I would have thought her reception wpuld have been better. So, since Ted doesn't like Cali, wonder if this will lead to Don taking his spot. That seems too pat to me. I was thinking all during the hiatus that Peggy had been promoted to head of creative for the firm. I had forgotten about that guy, Lou. He doesn't appear to have near the talent that either Don or Peggy, and is a Draper style A-hole to boot. Uh oh, the firm now has two black women working for them. Whoa! Well, on to Betty and her husband and the kids
Lord Garth, I remembered your thread but since you posted here I will follow your lead. Kim Wilde? I had completely forgotten about that. I thought everybody thought of the Supremes first. The one in the episode was more of an obscurity to me, Vanilla Fudge never made the cut for Classic Rock radio where I lived. It had a nice "bad trip" sound to end the episode. So good, in fact, that I feel a little stupid for not seeing Don behind it immediately. A pretty low starting point this season. When Richard Nixon invoking "the better angels of our nature" is one of the few upbeat notes, that's a fairly grim episode. I felt particularly bad about how Peggy was screwed over. Still, if anyone in the cast can overcome, it's her. Don just seemed out of synch. Twice he told women he had to get back to work, and it's clear he literally has to get back to work. He's losing his mojo. At first I thought the Lost Horizon reference was maybe too obvious: You can stay there with the pretty girl but it's not the real world, and she can't come back with you or she'll die. But it could also be a larger reference to Don being in a fantasy world, where he'll someday have to realize he's getting older but not happier the way he's been living. Is Roger's main function now to be a comparison point to show that Don could be worse off? He's in a weird scene, man. Poor Ken Cosgrove, but that was pretty funny. Austin-Healey. Jessica Pare is great because she can look like a glamorous actress but still come across as insecure and at times awkward, in a very natural way.
Yeah, well, that thread died a Page 2 Death, it had been more than a week, and we didn't talk about any episodes themselves. If anything, we were talking more about Breaking Bad. Mix that in with moderators now being able to merge threads if needed; unlike when I was a mod. So I figured, "Why not? I'll just go with the flow." I don't care if TrekBBS calls that emoticon "beer". In this thread, it's an Old Fashioned.
Interesting how Don and Peggy's stories basically paralleled. I had gone into the season thinking would see Don bottomed out and Peggy on top. Instead they're both adrift, personally and professionally. They are even both plagued by homes in need of repair. I also really enjoyed the juxtaposition between our first scene with Don and our last scene with Don. When we first see him getting off the plane in LA he looks like the classic Draper we all know, practically in American James Bond. But then at the end he's cold lonely and pathetic, more ironweed then Goldfinger. In regards to the rest of the show it's pretty obvious that one of the themes is how at that point in our history California was coming into its own as the Golden State whereas New York was in deep decline. As such I suppose it makes sense that Pete (who, all his flaws has a tendency to be one of the more forward thinking members of the firm) would embrace Los Angeles even if he missed Manhattan.
Something I just remembered; Megan got a call back for the show, "Bracken's World". As I recall this was a show, I think, about some aspect of show business, but what made it such a great reference in the show is because of how well Megan would have fit into the cast. As I recall,there were gorgeous women who looked a lot like Megan all over that show. And I think it debuted in 1969 or '70 which also puts it into exactly the right timeline. Watching this show is like stepping into a time machine.
Boring as a premiere but an above average standalone. Awesome Joan story! I hope Peggy and Don don't end up starting an agency to compete against SC&P, that would be lame. But she and he are perhaps the only ones who "care about the work." For all the good it's doing them. Never thought I'd see Pete happy, no perceivable strings attached.
I'm so sorry. I couldn't speak without my lower jaw. I finally located it under the breadmaker in the kitchen. It was busy Sunday. Did Don turn down extramarital sex?
I'm not sure. I was confused by the scene. At first it looked like he was coming onto her, but she backed away. Then later she appears to proposition him, but he then appears to turn down. Anyone else care to weigh in? That was Neve Campbell in that scene. I would never have guessed, but saw her name in the closing credits.
I think that's exactly what happened. I'm not sure why it happened, however. I think it had something to do with Don being obsessed with getting back to his non-existent "work." He made a similar comment to Megan about why he couldn't stay in LA longer.
Well, Don is being the Cyrano for Freddie Rumsen to present his ideas to Peggy. I should have known that watch campaign was really Don's work.
To be honest between Don being kicked out of SC&P and the strained relationships with his family, I don't think he has it in him anymore. He can't work up the nerve to have an affair. He's completely deflated, down there included. He's lost any sense of security he had and he can't work up the nerve to do anything except hide behind Freddie. As shown, when he met with Megan in California, he's not in the driver's seat anymore.
Not to mention all the booze he pounds down is bound to take a toll on a guy in his 40s. Speaking of which, I sort of wish that they weren't doing the Don alcoholism story as they seem to be doing. To some extent it's realistic given how much he drinks. On the other hand it seems an almost too pat explanation for his downward spiral.
This episode hit all the right notes between the work-front and the home-front. Grilled to perfection. I'll keep it spoiler-free for now but this is my favorite season so far, even though we're only two episodes in. Maybe doing two seven-episode batches that can stand on their own even if they're connect wasn't such a bad idea. They don't have time to beat around the bush, so now they have to get right to the point. I like it.
Yeah, lots to like in this episode. The "teleconference" that deteriorated into a 60's version of "can you hear me now? was hysterical. Peggy's meltdown over the roses was funny but really pathetic and blaming por Shirley was just too petty. Boy, Lou in just two episodes has shown racist, sexist, possibly anti-semitic tendencies, and a lack of talent. I wonder if this is a setup to bring Don back in his place. Still, seems to pat to me. I enjoyed the scene between Dawn and Shirley in the breakroom. That may have been the first Mad Men scene with all minorities. The return of Sally. Did anyone catch what she told her roommates she would do until 1975 to put "Betty in the ground"? Sally isn't as mature as she thinks she is, but is a lot more mature than Don thinks she is. Her angry response to more of his lies was child like but her heartfelt response to Don's respecting her enough to tell her the truth about the job showed how much she has learned. Don put on that suit only because Dawn was coming over -- the mighty have fallen. Although I really don't think it will be Don, and I don't think it will be by suicide (already did that with Lane), one of the majors is likely to die by the end. I'm still thinking it will be Roger. He seems to have such little purpose and appears to be getting more bitter and dissatisfied by the episode. Plus he is not above living dangerously. Pete is such a pain in the ass, I have a hard time maintaining interset in hisstorylines. Well, I guess next week we find out where Betty is this season.