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Mad Men, Season 5. General Discussion Thread (spoilers welcome)

God, Roger is a tramp. Seriously. :cardie:

I felt for Megan. My parents embarrassed me by fighting in front of others more than I care to remember. It effing sucks when they can't even reel it in in front of family. Megan's learned to do the say hello to my dysfuntion dance. No wonder she's empathetic. She hates the drama. I feel for her.

Mona looked like she's thriving. I wonder what Pete's up to in the previews. I felt bad for Peggy but in a way her mother's right. Living together is a trap. Somebody always ends up wanting to get married, you combine finances, then everything is a disaster when somebody leaves. It's great to be with someone long term and not be married, but keep your own place. It's better. I think Peggy's lying to herself that she's satisfied with Abe not asking her to marry him.
 
Interesting episode. Peggy's mother is upset because she's shacking up and Megan's father is upset because she got married.

I didn't even catch what Don's daughter saw when she walked in on Roger.
 
Although I enjoyed this episode, it seemed to meander quite a bit. Wasn't sure what the take home message was.
I'm also starting to wonder if Fat Betty Draper and Thin Harry Crane have been written out of the show. I know there's only so much you can squeeze into 50 minutes with an ensemble cast, but isn't January Jones one of the leads of this series?

I think Megan's dad might be an antagonist for Don. I hope so.
 
She was 8 months pregnant and then went on to give birth during the filming schedule. They had to write around January Jones. That's life sometimes. Weiner says her character will be back full time next season.
 
Thoughts on this week's episode:

Creepy Glenn is back. Nepotism is not a good thing.

As usual, Roger got the lines of the night, at least during his meeting with Don. OTOH, people talking about their acid trips are boring, not unlike a frat boy saying he was 'soooo wasted..."

Interesting that Megan's mom apparently married a much older man who cheats.

Megan and Don made a great team at the Heinz dinner. It'd be nice if this was a precursor to him growing up. But, boy, who was ready to shoot Mr and Mrs Cosgrove right then?

The dinner: Leland Palmer! Yeah! Kind of surprising theyd bring in Ray Wise for what seems to be a part with limited potential plot wise

I like Ginsberg. I don't like Abe.

Don reads James Bond. But of course.
.
 
Julia Ormand, perfect as Megan's mom. She is still a beauty and actually gives Megan a run for her money in that area. But giving Roger oral at a party attended by her husband, daughter, son-in-law, and his daughter puts Mom in the 'ho category.

I wonder what dreams Megan's father was referring to when he told her she had given up on hers. The acting maybe.

Loved Megan's quick thinking at the dinner. Don has to be wondering how he got so lucky going from Betty to this talented, classy, and smart beauty. I think the more painful outcome for Don - more painful than getting caught cheating - would be to watch this woman grow up and away from him while he does everything he can do to keep her. Again, much more interesting than another philandering storyline for Don.

Watching Megan's parents, I think we can see where she gets her passion and smarts.
 
So, who's going to get pitched down the elevator shaft? Shades of Rosalind Shays.....that'll date me. Dammit, I hope they don't kill off Pete.

Speaking of, he's playing a dangerous game. He obviously wants his life to change; he doesn't like the suburbs or his marriage and he's subconciously looking to caught to force the issue. Banging Howard's wife is all a part of his psyche. She's meek and somewhat unhappy, lacking in confidence just like Peggy was at the beginning of it all. He feels like a "rescuer," though I double he's in love with this woman. He's just a port in a storm for her as well. Howard is the quintessential ass; I don't feel sorry for him a bit. I hope he doesn't own a gun if he ever finds out about Pete. It was a trip watching Pete bang little Rory Gilmore.

Don was more understanding of Megan than I thought he'd be. Score one for him. He actually gained some wisdom in life along the way; Betty should never have given up her modeling work.....but it wasn't just the life in the suburbs, was it Don my dear philanderer? Tension brewing between him and Peggy. Pretty shitty of him to blame her. My mouth dropped open when she told him to shut up in front of God and everybody. :eek: Peggy's pretty adrift emotionally, but she was right about Megan. She shouldn't be there taking up a spot that could go to someone else if advertising isn't what she wants.
 
Hearing an actual Beatles recording blew my mind! It's not easy to get that approved. Last season they had to use an instrumental of "Do You want to Know a Secret?"

"Tomorrow Never Knows" being chosen was not random. Surrender yourself to the void.... Looking down an elevator shaft. No not suicide. I think it fits with my theroy that Dick Whitman will let go of his Donald Draper persona. With inspiration coming from Megan leaving adversting.
 
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Wasn't surprised at Pete stepping out on Trudy in such a stupid way. Yeah, it certainly looks like subconsciously he wants to get caught as an excuse to blow up a life he finds suffocating.

Was a bit surpassed that Don showed Megan such understanding and support to be an actress.

Was really surprised when Peggy actually told Don to shut up in front of others. The fact was there was no chemistry between them for their little acting scene. Peggy is really growing, but at heart I suspect she still sees Don as her mentor.
 
Donald Draper said:
Hearing an actual Beatles recording blew my mind! It's not easy to get that approved. Last season they had to use an instrumental of "Do You want to Know a Secret?"
Click to expand...

Yes, but you do realize that single song clip is probably what got the Walking Dead budget slashed, don't you?;)
 
Random thoughts about this week's episode:


Some interesting foreshadowing of the world to come: Don's grousing about top 40 songs replacing music written for a project applies to both ads and movies/TV. Howard's wife complaining about the "hobo problem" in NYC is funny when you consider how bad it got in the late 70s on. The old song the client found foreshadowed the Beatles. The scene where they told Don "you cant smoke in here." It almost make me wonder what Peggy replacing Megan at the test kitchen and the 'that's the kind of girl Don marries' (followed by Peggy's glare) means.

Both Pete and Peggy were faced with what they thought was the need to lie to someone about that person's spouse with very different results. Interesting parallel.

Megan is really a 'daddy's girl' isn't she? She just can't decide which daddy to please.

As noted above, Don is trying to avoid the mistakes he made with Betty. This brings me back to the idea that Don is a bad man trying to be good.

So...why wouldn't Megan want to do the commercial if she wanted to act?

I was glad Don seemed to not care for that Beatles song. Not everyone back then liked the Beatles. My parents are Peggy's age and to this day neither likes the Beatles (my dad subscribes to the 'rock and roll went downhill since since Buddy Holly died' theory and my mom is more of a folkie). So it made sense to see Don, an older guy pick up the needle in apparent disgust.

Pete is alternatively the most hateful and most pitiable man on TV. And, sadly, possibly the most realistic.

Every episode should have at least one scene of Don and Roger drinking and talking.
 
the G-man said:
Donald Draper said:
Hearing an actual Beatles recording blew my mind! It's not easy to get that approved. Last season they had to use an instrumental of "Do You want to Know a Secret?"
Click to expand...

Yes, but you do realize that single song clip is probably what got the Walking Dead budget slashed, don't you?;)
Click to expand...

Apparently the song cost $250,000 after Matt Weiner made a personal appeal to fans of the show Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
 
Re: Mad MenNo, Season 5. General Discussion Thread (spoilers welcome)

Don's too scared to let go of the persona publicly. I can't see him ever fully letting go. I see him and Megan breaking up now that she's upset the apple cart. She'll move farther and farther away from him, or he'll perceive it as such. With his love toy/ideal Megan at work, everything was in place. She'd never become "like Betty"....bitter, sad at having to give things up. Megan loved what Don loved, or so he thought. She was accessible and exciting to him. Notice how amorous he got when she came up with the Heinz pitch that saved the agency from getting canned? Now he's going to wonder if she's lying to him about this, that, or the other thing. He doesn't want a sad, weepy, failed actress as a wife. He'll start to resent that she could just quit and pursue her first choice dreams. The divide between Don's generation and Megan's is huge.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Roger Sterling is up to no good with those skis. It's scenes like that that make me nervous that Pete keeps a rifle in his office.

Peggy can be very perceptive, sometimes. "I'm not the one you're mad at, so shut up!" Indeed. I wonder if Don will ever be able to truly forgive Megan for dashing his fantasy of Super Don and Wonder Megan: The Dynamic Duo of Madison Avenue.
 
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Is it just me, or is this show turning into a desultory soap opera about some people who work at an ad agency? Maybe that's all it ever was.

Anyway, it's still lots better without Betty. I like Pete getting more stuff to do. He's a weasel but an interesting weasel.
 
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