Mad Men, Season 7: Discussions, spoilers, reactions

[the G-man]

I'm calling it right now: The only way Don Draper will survive 1969 is if 7B does any skipping and crosses over into 1970. SC&P doesn't have to buy out his Parternship...

Damn. The reference to whose office he now has went totally over my head until now. I think you just nailed it.

I think Joan is done with Don. Peggy obviously is...

I don't think Peggy will ever be done with him. Ultimately the entire thrust of the series has been that Don and Peggy are the loves of each others lives. I don't necessarily mean in a sexual or romantic sense. However, each of them gets the other in ways that nobody else does.

Why don't Betty's kids love her? Hmm. She wouldn't drop making her son feel bad all day and into the evening, for trading away her sandwich to a poor girl who didn't have one.

Joan Crawford thinks Betty's a bad mom.

I really feel bad for poor Henry Francis sometimes. For The most part he's probably the most decent guy on the series. He tolerates Bettys nonsense and he seems genuinely kind to her children. If ever there was a cautionary tale for don't steal another man's wife he's it.

^ Despite trying to convince himself otherwise, I think Don has essentially been finished with Megan ever since he realized she wasn't going to be his permanent advertising protege. Could they really be winding down the Megan character? Probably not, although I really wouldn't mind if they did. Her Hollywood ingenue storyline really doesn't interest me at all.

More to the point, it does seem as if her relationship and Don's has reached a logical and sad conclusion. Breaking it off with Don the way she did was probably the most mature decision she's ever made. Not because Don's a bad person and not because she's a bad person. But because the two of them have really become the poster children for the phrase "irreconcilable differences."

 

[dansigal]

I get a strong feeling that Don witnessed, in all that time that he waited, how bad things were getting at SC&P and the only reason he didn't take that offer and wipe his ass with it is because he wants to view the train wreck first hand. He wants things to get so bad that they'll be begging him to return to his old position.

I interpreted this entire thing differently. I feel like the entire season so far has been playing on our expectations of what we think old Don would do and then completely flipping them around to show us that FINALLY he is beginning to change and learn from his past mistakes. We have the scene with Neve Campbell on the plane, where we expect him to take her up on her offer and he declines. Then we have the scene this episode with the blonde in the restaurant and it cuts to that scene of him knocking on a door with a large number on it, expecting it to be the top floor right next to the elevator, but instead it's Don going to see Roger, literally with his hat in his hand to ask for his job back. Old Don would have gone to woman's room and would have never gone to beg to Roger. Then finally we have the final scene where they give him the offer to come back to work, laden with so many insulting conditions, there's no doubt that the purpose was to get him to quit so they wouldn't have to forfeit the non-compete. Old Don would have balked immediately at those conditions, and it's what I expected would happen, and we see it in his face for a second, before he reconsiders and says "Ok'

 

[Dorian Thompson]

I loved Peggy's blunt response to Don.

 

[ALF]

The references to boobs and milk this episode were plentiful. Did I miss any?

• Ginsberg does a boob squeeze gesture
• Betty complaining about the teacher's boobs coming out of her blouse
• The other parent making a joke about which teats to milk
• Close up of said teats being milked
• Betty drinking unpasturized milk out of a bucket
• Jean sleeping soundly on Betty's bosom

 

[dansigal]

So far two episodes this season and two references to LA fires being started by discarded cigarettes...

For the record, third episode, and third mention of no cigarettes somewhere with flammable material (Betty and no smoking in the barn)...

 

[Lord Garth]

I guess they figured he was desperate enough to agree to any deal, but that's a fairly big gamble: If he didn't take it their firm will still be somewhat directionless and they're still paying Don to look for a job with the competition if they can't afford to buy him out. The arrangement with Lou seems like it will be unworkable, but why are they so attached to him? Surely they can see he's mediocre at best, and buying out his contract must be cheaper than Don's.

The Partners deliberately set up the stipulations that they don't think Don will be able to stick to. They're trying to set him up to fail.

I don't think they're attached to Lou so much because of Lou but because he's Not-Don. Better, in their view, to have a Head of Creative who's predictable than someone who might torpedo another account like with what happened to Hershey's.

Now that they have Hershey's, they'd be easier to keep if Lou is heading Creative than Don.

SC&P wants a reigned in Don Draper but, like Betty, what they don't want is Dick Whitman. Dick will never be accepted in that world. He has to be Don, a Don who's what they want him to be.

 

[the G-man]

So far two episodes this season and two references to LA fires being started by discarded cigarettes...

For the record, third episode, and third mention of no cigarettes somewhere with flammable material (Betty and no smoking in the barn)...

Maybe it's time to start of death pool for Don: jumping off the balcony or cigarettes?

 

[dansigal]

So far two episodes this season and two references to LA fires being started by discarded cigarettes...

For the record, third episode, and third mention of no cigarettes somewhere with flammable material (Betty and no smoking in the barn)...

Maybe it's time to start of death pool for Don: jumping off the balcony or cigarettes?

My money's on Meg and her out of the way apartment

 

[the G-man]

For the record, third episode, and third mention of no cigarettes somewhere with flammable material (Betty and no smoking in the barn)...

Maybe it's time to start of death pool for Don: jumping off the balcony or cigarettes?

My money's on Meg and her out of the way apartment

I'm still not convinced Megan's not going to end up murdered, Sharon Tate style

 

[Mister Fandango]

They've been showing the ending of the series at the start of every episode from day one.

 

[ThunderAeroI]

Probably, but that is sort of silly. I wounder if it will be like a living life before your eyes right before impact and a fade to black. Maybe the more important question will be, do we fade to back before impact or after.

 

[ALF]

Now that they have Hershey's, they'd be easier to keep if Lou is heading Creative than Don.

I believe Ogilvie (rival firm?) got the Hershey's account, Lou casually informs Roger about it in the premiere.

Has anyone postulated that the series ends with Don not jumping from a window but being pushed?

 

[J.T.B.]

The Partners deliberately set up the stipulations that they don't think Don will be able to stick to. They're trying to set him up to fail.

Right, that's what I was saying, also. What I was questioning was why they would offer him something with so little value for him, which he could easily refuse and say "See you in court." It seemed more like they wanted him to refuse outright, rather than "tricking him" into accepting something he couldn't live up to. Which would make sense if they just wanted him to go away, but they said they didn't want to buy him out so it seemed like they would have offered him something more encouraging to take the deal. I guess what I mean is, if the other partners were really that confident that their hand was so much stronger than Don's, I didn't think it was set up that well. They seemed somewhat unsure and tentative, too. It was minor, but it did take me out of the show for a second.

They've been showing the ending of the series at the start of every episode from day one.

A room in a building collapsing and the floor dropping from under the occupant, who falls through the air to end up apparently unharmed on a couch?

I believe Ogilvie (rival firm?) got the Hershey's account, Lou casually informs Roger about it in the premiere.

That's right, and Roger seemed like he couldn't care less.

 

[dansigal]

The Partners deliberately set up the stipulations that they don't think Don will be able to stick to. They're trying to set him up to fail.

Right, that's what I was saying, also. What I was questioning was why they would offer him something with so little value for him, which he could easily refuse and say "See you in court." It seemed more like they wanted him to refuse outright, rather than "tricking him" into accepting something he couldn't live up to. Which would make sense if they just wanted him to go away, but they said they didn't want to buy him out so it seemed like they would have offered him something more encouraging to take the deal. I guess what I mean is, if the other partners were really that confident that their hand was so much stronger than Don's, I didn't think it was set up that well. They seemed somewhat unsure and tentative, too. It was minor, but it did take me out of the show for a second.

I don't know the law, maybe just by turning down that offer, it would be the equivalent of Don quitting and therefore maintaining the non-compete and not being owed any continuing salary. Firm would then not even have to buy him out, just pay him dividends when they are offered? Maybe, i don't know...

 

[Jonas Grumby]

Has anyone postulated that the series ends with Don not jumping from a window but being pushed?

Actually, I'll be somewhat surprised if Don goes out that window at all. Now if I were watching Breaking Bad, I'd be expecting it, but I've not really noticed Mad Men being quite so blatantly telegraphic.

I guess what I mean is, if the other partners were really that confident that their hand was so much stronger than Don's..."

I'm pretty sure none of them are confident of that. With the exception of Roger--and probably Burt--I suspect each of them see Don's return as a personal threat to their own ambitions.

 

[gblews]

I get a strong feeling that Don witnessed, in all that time that he waited, how bad things were getting at SC&P and the only reason he didn't take that offer and wipe his ass with it is because he wants to view the train wreck first hand. He wants things to get so bad that they'll be begging him to return to his old position.

I interpreted this entire thing differently. I feel like the entire season so far has been playing on our expectations of what we think old Don would do and then completely flipping them around to show us that FINALLY he is beginning to change and learn from his past mistakes. We have the scene with Neve Campbell on the plane, where we expect him to take her up on her offer and he declines. Then we have the scene this episode with the blonde in the restaurant and it cuts to that scene of him knocking on a door with a large number on it, expecting it to be the top floor right next to the elevator, but instead it's Don going to see Roger, literally with his hat in his hand to ask for his job back. Old Don would have gone to woman's room and would have never gone to beg to Roger. Then finally we have the final scene where they give him the offer to come back to work, laden with so many insulting conditions, there's no doubt that the purpose was to get him to quit so they wouldn't have to forfeit the non-compete. Old Don would have balked immediately at those conditions, and it's what I expected would happen, and we see it in his face for a second, before he reconsiders and says "Ok'

Uh huh, this is another reason why I don't see the show ending with Don's suicide; he is actually becoming a better person right before our eyes. Besides that, he has pretty much seen rock bottom already, he's been "fired', had his Dick Whittman identity revealed to his children, and Megan may already have left him (and he perseveres).

I can see a major character death at the end, but probably not by suicide (already did that). But even though I think we MM fans tend to read too much into symbolism (this show has taught us that), the firery death scenario is intriguing to me. But I have no clue who might go up in smoke.

 

[Pondwater]

I'm going to go with Ted, even though he's a recurring character.

 

[dansigal]

I can see a major character death at the end, but probably not by suicide (already did that). But even though I think we MM fans tend to read too much into symbolism (this show has taught us that), the firery death scenario is intriguing to me. But I have no clue who might go up in smoke.

Sometimes MM can be obnoxiously blunt with its symbolism, but even so, I'm going to be horribly disappointed with the laziness of the writing if this show ends with Don in any way falling off a building.

 

[Pondwater]

I think Don will die an old man in 2007.

 

[the G-man]

Uh huh, this is another reason why I don't see the show ending with Don's suicide; he is actually becoming a better person right before our eyes. Besides that, he has pretty much seen rock bottom already, he's been "fired', had his Dick Whittman identity revealed to his children, and Megan may already have left him (and he perseveres).

Don's potential fall/death could be an accident, however.