"Mad Men" on AMC (US) - (Spoilers Within)

[Worf]

I never really got into watching Mad Men but maybe it's a good thing that they've decided to end the show now. You do know what's coming fashion-wise, right? The dreaded leisure suit! :eeek: My dad had a burgundy one that he wore with a blue flowered shirt - I refused to be seen with him in public when he wore it.

They've ALREADY had a character, Joan's Cali boyfriend, bedecked in a leisure suit. I had to scrub my eyeballs for half an hour afterwards.

Worf

 

[The Good]

Yeah, Joan's new boyfriend has been wearing a leisure suit, a very garish one. Has anybody (primary, secondary characters) on the show worn a Nehru suit yet, or are we already past that point in fashion? Compared to leisure suits, I don't think Nehru suits are bad.

 

[EmergencyIan]

The "Betty" character doesn't bother me, so much. However, I understand what you guys mean as far as the character being irrelevant goes. I'm not sure if the producers or network have any obligation to January Jones, but as far back as May 2013, she said "Goodbye won't be an easy one for the cast. It will be very sad. We are all so close that we will keep in touch, but I don't think we will ever have this kind of experience again -- from the relationships we've made to the success we have had, to the cultural impact [of the show]." She seemed to know or believe that she would be around until the end of the series.

- Ian

 

[MrBern]

FYI Matt Weiner was on Conan chatting about the finale
http://deadline.com/2015/05/mad-men-finale-spoiler-matt-weiner-conan-video-1201422691/

 

[MrBern]

Its not jsut the early 70s, the late 60s had plenty of kooky sartorial nonsense for hipsters
Is that Harry Crane or Austin Powers?

Ringo 1968

George 1968

 

[The Good]

I don't usually have anything against longer hairstyles (mine resembles The Beatles' length around 1965), but I think it's all the wild colors and patterns that are to blame in making the scarf/ascot/cravat look too garish. In themselves, I think cravats are fine, but for both Harry Crane and Austin Powers, there's way too much going on with the rest. Ringo looks all right in that picture, but his extremely long sideburns, combined with the mustache, make it very dated to the times. The hair length could be several inches shorter in the back. George's clothes are too wildly counterculture for me to justify.

I wouldn't normally expect Mad Men characters to dress like that, except in some cases, like with Harry Crane, Stan Rizzo, and some of the other creatives in the office. It's safe to assume that Don Draper won't take fashions that far. It would betray the viewers' notion of Draper's personality, if he were to wear such bright, multi-patterned clothes, all the while having longer hair and facial hair. The wider ties and lapels are Draper's more conservative approach to dressing fashionably, being in line with his personality, but as we've seen, they aren't among his best looks.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

she's pointless to the plot.

Can't agree with that. She remains an important character in the series.

*quite a bit of Don's development in the past couple of seasons has come via his divorce and his children. They could have written it just with his children, but it gave the entire scenario depth and realism to keep Betty on the roster. By doing so, they also gave depth and realism to the children themselves. Character development. Character development. Character development. Love it.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Can't agree with that. She remains an important character in the series.

*quite a bit of Don's development in the past couple of seasons has come via his divorce and his children. They could have written it just with his children, but it gave the entire scenario depth and realism to keep Betty on the roster. By doing so, they also gave depth and realism to the children themselves. Character development. Character development. Character development. Love it.

Yeah, it's just not there for me. She's a tangential character, and an irritating and completely uninteresting one to boot. She provides nothing of substance, only a distraction. As for the children, only Sally is of any consequence,as the other two have never even aged over the last 10 years, which is a bizarre bit for a show that sort of prides itself on "progress". There was no point to having Betty in the script while Sally was off at boarding school. They finally killed her off, but it was five years too late, IMO.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Spoilers for penultimate episode! (May 10)

I haven't been thrilled with this final season, but... I think it's very interesting that a series that has primarily been about how people fight change and growth is showing us a series of endpoints where many of the most formerly intransigent characters have indeed grown, and demonstrate something like acceptance and grace. In just this episode...

Pete, of all people, has grown into some wisdom. He's reuniting with Trudy - in better times, they were the most functional couple on the show - recognizing his mature love of her and Tammy, and he's leaving NYC and CT behind for an exalted position in Wichita. Sure, he's still going to be petty and difficult, and who's to say that he and Trudy can make it work, but he seems to doing something smarter and different.

Don has gone full hobo, says that he used to be in advertising, is nearly completely honest with the veterans, and gives advice/escape to the latest in a line of young con men in whom he sees his younger self. He ends the episode with no possessions and no responsibilities... finding something akin to Buddhist serenity on a Midwestern bus stop bench.

Childish Betty - who didn't want to even hear about Grandpa Gene's "arrangements" a few years ago - shows incredible maturity in her reaction to the devastating news. The scenes with her and Sally and Henry were heartbreaking, demonstrating that maybe she actually has more talent for psychology than we realized. To folks who think that Betty is an unrelated tangent to the series' main storylines that should have been dropped years ago... No. (Since Sterling Cooper & Partners is finished, Joan and Don have left, etc., what is the main storyline now?) Someone (else) was bound to die of cancer, and as to what this means for Sally, the boys, Henry... and Don, we'll have to wait until next week.

I have been mostly annoyed at the slow-burn, redundant storytelling this season, and all the plots that seemingly go nowhere (e.g., Don is trapped in a dinky town with car trouble and goes to a VFW function)... but there are moments where plotlines are really landing that are genuinely moving and satisfying. It's been a helluva ride!

 

[HudsonHawk]

Spoilers for penultimate episode! (May 10)
Childish Betty - who didn't want to even hear about Grandpa Gene's "arrangements" a few years ago - shows incredible maturity in her reaction to the devastating news. The scenes with her and Sally and Henry were heartbreaking, demonstrating that maybe she actually has more talent for psychology than we realized. To folks who think that Betty is an unrelated tangent to the series' main storylines that should have been dropped years ago... No. (Since Sterling Cooper & Partners is finished, Joan and Don have left, etc., what is the main storyline now?) Someone (else) was bound to die of cancer, and as to what this means for Sally, the boys, Henry... and Don, we'll have to wait until next week.

I think shows like this have to be careful they don't try to keep up too many storylines. Don is obviously the main one, with Peggy, Pete and Joan as secondary ones. Roger, Stan, Ted, Kenny, Harry, etc are all supporting to characters to that. Likewise, Betty should be. She only existed for the juxtoposition of Don's alternate life. Once they divorced, she became pointless. I assume we've seen the last of her, Henry and the boys, as well as Pete and Trudy, and that next week will focus on wrapping up Peggy and Don. At least I hope. Hopefully they don't mail it in like the producers of The Sopranos and Lost did.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Once they divorced, she became pointless.

Not true. If even the book titles, book storylines, and paintings on the conference room walls are significant, a major relationship in his life certainly remains significant to the depth of this show. I don't think people are used to seeing TV at this level, so they apply standard filters to it. Not that I'm calling anyone stupid. It's not always natural to process the new and different. You can be a great open water fisher, and then walk into a stream with some fly tackle and be as lost as a city-slicker tossing their first line.

http://www.lippsisters.com/2015/05/06/don-tasks-him/

http://www.lippsisters.com/2015/05/12/trends/

 

[HudsonHawk]

Not true. If even the book titles, book storylines, and paintings on the conference room walls are significant, a major relationship in his life certainly remains significant to the depth of this show. I don't think people are used to seeing TV at this level, so they apply standard filters to it. Not that I'm calling anyone stupid. It's not always natural to process the new and different. You can be a great open water fisher, and then walk into a stream with some fly tackle and be as lost as a city-slicker tossing their first line.

http://www.lippsisters.com/2015/05/06/don-tasks-him/

http://www.lippsisters.com/2015/05/12/trends/

I'm not sure what those links are supposed to provide, but...no, she's not relevant as far as I'm concerned. Not even a little.

BTW, thanks for calling me stupid in such a backhanded way. That certianly lessens the blow.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

I'm not sure what those links are supposed to provide

only that this show is deep in layers, and here are a couple of ways in which it is. examples is all.

BTW, thanks for calling me stupid in such a backhanded way. That certianly lessens the blow.

I wasn't, and I tried to make that clear. I obviously failed to do so, so for that, I apologize. I was only trying to say this show is different and can demand a different way of viewing. No different than some books or whatever. It isn't light viewing, and most TV is, even most of the best TV is. It's subtle. Like the Buddy Holly song thrown on there at the end. It's not so obvious that the telling of Pete and Trudy's story doesn't end with their scene. His father died in a plane. They're going to use the new learjet service like a taxi, and then we have Buddy Holly dying in a small plane.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I wasn't, and I tried to make that clear. I obviously failed to do so, so for that, I apologize. I was only trying to say this show is different and can demand a different way of viewing.

Then perhaps we should quit. Just put down the shovel.

 

[MrBern]

SethMeyers LateNight jest
[video=youtube;cbz-4XlLMfw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbz-4XlLMfw[/video]

 

[MrBern]

Well even if the he doesnt go to jail, at least it was referenced in 'Milk&Honey Route' episode with is stress dream about being pursued by cops...

It would seem so beside the point if he did go to jail. The entire identity theft thing always struck me as a metaphor for the conformity of the '50s / pre-******* '60s - where "everyone" assumed the identity expected of them. Also, it gave his character incredible internal conflict, etc., all good plot device tactics, which also echoed the internal conflict everyone had in conforming to the expected identity of the times versus who they really wanted to be.

 

[nick123]

I'm not one for television series, but I watched about three hours of the marathon last night. What a show.

 

[MrBern]

BTW, a recommendation for Mad Men style locations for a toast in NYC
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/16/travel/touring-new-york-with-mad-men-in-mind.html?_r=0

 

[MrBern]

low key interview with Jon Hamm
[video=youtube;_9B-ltt07to]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9B-ltt07to[/video]

 

[Zemke Fan]

FWIW (and I didn't check posts below), I hereby predict that a "Lite" will go off in Don's head!