Mad Men - Spoilers Ahead

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I searched for a Mad Men thread here but was confounded not to find one. Surely some fellow Gamers with Jobs must make time for this excellent show. And after the Season 4 finale I want to talk and I hope you do too.

[size=16]Spoilers Ahead[/size]

I was a little upset when Don kissed Meghan on that balcony. Faye has been so great and it made for a profound moment to demonstrate Don has changed. Not that I would have been able to resist, Meghan is very attractive. But as the inevitable always does, it happened. And then we were left with a pretty sweet morning bed chat and The Milkshake scene, as it will be referred to henceforth.

I feel my childhood may have played into my reaction here but when that milkshake spilled and Don got angry I tensed up. I was preparing for the ensuing screaming but instead heard a soothing voice say "Don't be upset, it's just a milkshake." And immediately, just like the characters in the scene, I was relieved.

Dick + Anna '64
Sally's questioning about this graffiti prompted a sort of admission by Don of who he really is. His return to Anna's house deeply affected him. And it may be, from here on out, we are watching Dick Whitman.

After Dick's contemplation in his room he returns to the pool grinning ear to ear and has more fun with his children in 5 seconds then, we've witnessed, Don have in years. Although the marriage proposal to Meghan was shocking and abrupt, it now feels like it was the right thing to do. Sally knocking over that milkshake may have earned her the mother she has always deserved. How I would love watching Dick develop a great relationship with his children next season, Sally especially.

Peggy is awesome. She killed it during her pitch to that pantyhose company. As usual, her accomplishment was overshadowed by Don. Her face when she learned of the engagement said an awful lot. And the little closed-door Don and Peggy moment was priceless.

The obvious thing would be to kill off Greg and have Roger assume his rightful role as father to Joan's baby. That would be the obvious thing. Which, if this finale proves anything, will not happen.

Betty has been so insufferable lately and her treatment of Carla was reprehensible (even though Glen is really creepy). But I still felt a little sorry for her. I think the positioning of the whiskey bottle in her closing scene with Don was poignant. And it hits close to home.

Anyways, thanks to anyone that took the time to read my thoughts. Just had to get them out of my head. I hope some of you will share yours as well.

Glen is creepy and Betty has good reason to not trust him with Sally, but as usual her response was out of line.

The whole proposal was just crazy. We kept expecting it to be a dream sequence. I guess Don just got caught up in everything... seriously though, he's the last guy who needs to get married now.

Filthy skimmer -- we're just starting season 2 on BluRay -- checking in. Mad Men firmly cements my desire for Christina Hendricks. Firmly. That is all.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

The whole proposal was just crazy. We kept expecting it to be a dream sequence. I guess Don just got caught up in everything... seriously though, he's the last guy who needs to get married now.

Initially I thought it was a dream sequence too. By the look on her face, so did Meghan(I actually thought she was going to say no). Alas, it was not. And prior to this episode I would have completely agreed with you about Don being the last guy who should be getting married. Now I'm conflicted.

He has been digging out of his rut the last couple episodes. Of course, that was with the help of Faye. Don's visit to Anna's house and her niece's pronouncement "I have my whole life ahead of me, so do you." possibly combined to truly affected Don's(Dick's) priorities. If Meghan really makes Don feel like himself and her relationship with his children continues to be strong then the engagement could be a positive thing.

ColdForged wrote:

Mad Men firmly cements my desire for Christina Hendricks. Firmly. That is all.

Right there with you buddy :p

Dimmer complained that Mad Men is a soap opera. As wrong and very very stupid as he is, that proposal was the one moment where I thought, "Well, that's a soap opera moment right there."

When you spell out the events that happen on the show, yeah it does sound like a soap. Don just got divorced and started seeing a woman he works with while sleeping with his secretary. Joan slept with another man while her husband was off at war and got pregnant, then lied about an abortion to her lover. But really, it's how they treat the events that separates it. The Female Doggo-fest about sexist double standards between Joan and Peggy after they found out about Don's engagement was perfect.

Also, why is Betty such a crazy person? Have we ever been given a reason why she acts like that?

If Meghan really makes Don feel like himself and her relationship with his children continues to be strong then the engagement could be a positive thing.

That doesn't explain the end scene where he was awake in bed, seemingly having insomnia again with Megan sleeping on his chest.

I kind of hoped they would end it on the scene where Don and Betty walked away with the whiskey bottle in the middle on the table. That scene, especially the end, was so damn good!

DanyBoy wrote:

Also, why is Betty such a crazy person? Have we ever been given a reason why she acts like that?

Well she was married to a guy who hid his true identity from her while cheating on her relentlessly. That might push my crazy buttons too...

As far as the engagment to Megan - I think Don is a character who almost always acts on immediate impulse, without a whole lot of forethought. Which is great for brainstorming amazing ideas on the spot for his clients, but not so great when it comes to personal relationships.

I thought Faye was great for him too, I was shocked when he dumped her like the office ashtray.

chaosmos wrote:

Well she was married to a guy who hid his true identity from her while cheating on her relentlessly. That might push my crazy buttons too...

She was crazy WELL before that. To me she's stuck in a "Women must be proper and perfect" mode while at the same time extremely childish when she doesn't get her way, which is almost always since she is also spoiled as hell.

chaosmos wrote:

As far as the engagment to Megan - I think Don is a character who almost always acts on immediate impulse, without a whole lot of forethought. Which is great for brainstorming amazing ideas on the spot for his clients, but not so great when it comes to personal relationships.

I thought Faye was great for him too, I was shocked when he dumped her like the office ashtray.

Yeah he's impulsive as hell. I was shocked when he proposed to Megan because I liked Faye. Maybe Faye's speech to him about coming out as Dick and the fact Faye can hold her own against him coupled with Megan's uh.. "motherliness"? and Faye's ranting about kids was the straw.

Dr.Ghastly wrote:
chaosmos wrote:

Well she was married to a guy who hid his true identity from her while cheating on her relentlessly. That might push my crazy buttons too...

She was crazy WELL before that. To me she's stuck in a "Women must be proper and perfect" mode while at the same time extremely childish when she doesn't get her way, which is almost always since she is also spoiled as hell.

I think Betty is so unhappy because she's trapped in a life she doesn't really want: the idyllic Leave It to Beaver 50s housewife, when now it's the 60s. The rest of the world is starting to move on. I think she believed it was Don making her unhappy and although he sure wasn't helping matters, she really hasn't changed anything in her life by moving on to a new husband. And I've never gotten the impression that Betty really likes her kids at all.

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Dr.Ghastly wrote:
chaosmos wrote:

Well she was married to a guy who hid his true identity from her while cheating on her relentlessly. That might push my crazy buttons too...

She was crazy WELL before that. To me she's stuck in a "Women must be proper and perfect" mode while at the same time extremely childish when she doesn't get her way, which is almost always since she is also spoiled as hell.

I think Betty is so unhappy because she's trapped in a life she doesn't really want: the idyllic Leave It to Beaver 50s housewife, when now it's the 60s. The rest of the world is starting to move on. I think she believed it was Don making her unhappy and although he sure wasn't helping matters, she really hasn't changed anything in her life by moving on to a new husband. And I've never gotten the impression that Betty really likes her kids at all.

I think she likes her kids, she just expects her daughter to behave exactly like she does. She's definitely caught in a crossroad of societal change, she is just handling it like a child. Even her infatuation with her current husband was a throw back to what she sees as "the good ole times." Hell, look at her interaction with the neighbor boy. She gave the kid a lock of her hair and tried to bond with him when she felt no one understood her.

Sorax you should amend the title of the thread with Spoilers Ahead so that people know what to expect before they click through.

As for the finale.

A lot of people had problems with it, several saying the show had jumped the shark! To that I say, what the hell are people doing when they say they are watching the show? Because they are certainly NOT watching the show. A lot of people see the marriage proposal as coming out of left field, but if you were paying attention that moment was foreshadowed in several episodes leading up to the finale.

Just a heads up, this list is not in any particular order.

The episode where they show just how similar Don is to Roger Sterling, and we know full well what happened to him after his divorce, and just how impulsive he is.

Faye tells him at one point before they started dating that he is the type of the guy who would get married within a year of his divorce. He's rash and impulsive. That was the first massive tell by the writers to the audience. The question than becomes who would it end up being? Would it end up being Faye herself? They certainly tried to make it look like that but than showed us several times how she wasn't the perfect match Don would be looking for. Meghan however proved she was the one on several occasions.

All the moments with the kids in front of Don. Which ultimately sealed the deal on the trip.

She proved herself to be a great secretary who could take care of him. For example keeping an eye on his drinking without making him ever feel bad about it. Making sure he got the Beattles tickets etc.

The night she seduces him in his office telling him there are no strings attached, and than proves it too him.

All of it I am sure was part of some sort of plan by Meghan to win him over in the end. Every chance she got she tried to show Don how she could be the "perfect" women for him. I put perfect in quotes because when I say perfect I mean she does everything to make Don believe she is what men would consider the ideal women back in the day.

What's great is that the show has done a really good job through Peggy, Joan and even Faye this year, to show how hard some women struggled to gain some sort of power and control over their lives and the men in their lives by proving they can be just as good as any man. And they are all bitter and jaded in some way. But than we have Meghan who seems to be happy and smart who managed to get what she wanted by playing into the role society gave women back in the day. It's fantastic.

Of course I expect there to be more mayhem next year as Don finds a way to self destruct as he always seems to do. We caught a little glimpse of this as he lays in bed awake, with Meghan in his arms.

As for Betty. She is a child. She never grew up and thinks that she should get whatever she wants when ever she wants it and than throws a tantrum every time she doesn't get her way. Sure she has had some raw deals especially when it came to her marriage with Don, but the way she deals with the trauma in her life proves just how childish she really is. She is completely irrational and petulant. I can't stand her. Did anyone else notice the eyes she was making at Don during that scene in the house? I have a feeling she may already be regretting her new marriage as her husband doesn't let her get away with her tantrums like Don used to.

Did anyone else notice the eyes she was making at Don during that scene in the house? I have a feeling she may already be regretting her new marriage as her husband doesn't let her get away with her tantrums like Don used to.

Oh yeah I did, and I loved when her face just stopped moving when he told her about the engagement. She just has to be so perfect and proper but she really comes off as not giving a sh*t (which to a degree is true so far as to how it affects her)

As for Don's proposal, oh I agree with you that the signs were there and that the milkshake sealed the deal (in a larger way). That doesn't mean I wasn't shocked he proposed to her with the ring Anna(..or her sister) gave him.

There's impulsive and there's (now) Don Draper.

It's a great show, the acting is superb and yes, the plot line sounds like a soap but this show behaves nothing like a soap.

Don's a tragic hero, his impulsiveness will brake him just like it made him. The letter of quitting tobacco, all of his affairs, starting a new company, blowing off customers, refusing to sign an official contractual agreement, wanting to go off to Paris with . He'll pay for all of it in the end.

Betty _is_ an immature woman; she behaves like a 10 year old brat in so many occasions that I lost count long ago. We've been shown numerous time of her being a lousy mother because she hates being a mother. I'm guessing next season will be Don fighting for custody of the kids now that he has a wife that is good with children and the kids have taken to her.

Faye's comment while being dumped is incredibly accurate "let her know you only like the start of relationships". While it could be interpreted as the rant of someone being dumped, viewers know that she hit the mark perfectly.

Hobbes2099 wrote:

It's a great show, the acting is superb and yes, the plot line sounds like a soap but this show behaves nothing like a soap.

Don's a tragic hero, his impulsiveness will brake him just like it made him. The letter of quitting tobacco, all of his affairs, starting a new company, blowing off customers, refusing to sign an official contractual agreement, wanting to go off to Paris with . He'll pay for all of it in the end.

Betty _is_ an immature woman; she behaves like a 10 year old brat in so many occasions that I lost count long ago. We've been shown numerous time of her being a lousy mother because she hates being a mother. I'm guessing next season will be Don fighting for custody of the kids now that he has a wife that is good with children and the kids have taken to her.

Faye's comment while being dumped is incredibly accurate "let her know you only like the start of relationships". While it could be interpreted as the rant of someone being dumped, viewers know that she hit the mark perfectly.

Faye absolutely called that sh*t right.

I think Don's impulsiveness in business is good, in personal life bad, and he has a hard time seperating the two which is where his drama comes from.

Yeah, but Megan's hot. I rest my case.

Rat Boy wrote:

Yeah, but Megan's hot. I rest my case.

But she could never be an actress, cuz of her teeth.

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

Yeah, but Megan's hot. I rest my case.

But she could never be an actress, cuz of her teeth.

I like how they fit the dialogue to the actors/actresses in this show. I always did find Megan's teeth to be a bit distracting. or there's Joan's line of "Yes, they're bigger!"

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

Yeah, but Megan's hot. I rest my case.

But she could never be an actress, cuz of her teeth.

IMAGE(http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/3981/monmotivators11.jpg)

Y'all have said everything I noticed. The only thing I wanted to add is how much I love the innocuous scenes with no dialogue, or irrevelant dialogue just setting a certain mood. "Did you get the pickles?", the aforementioned scene in the house between Don and Betty, etc.

1. It was awesome in the second to last episode for Don to whip it out to show he was bigger than anyone else.
2. I am sad that he could not change. His character needs a strong woman that he can be truly open with. But to a point, you can only ignore your pleasures for so long. It is obvious he likes to have the power, he likes younger women. I do not think he could bear to be with a probing, smart woman for longer than a few weeks.

Season 5 prediction, Peggy becomes the one healthy woman relationship in his life and he lets her into his world.

Whoa, Roger Sterling's book is "real."

Season 5 Delayed to 2012
This is very disappointing. Particularly the allegation that AMC requested 2 characters be cut per season. A show this extraordinary having to arbitrarily remove characters from the story? I understand the financial implications but there has to be a better way.

F*ck Pete right in his stupid face. How dare he cheat on the goddess Allison Brie?!?! I hope a hundred old English farts beat the snot out of him.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

F*ck Pete right in his stupid face. How dare he cheat on the goddess Allison Brie?!?! I hope a hundred old English farts beat the snot out of him.

This.

Plus he is a total creeper, scheming on High School girls.

Oh... is that creepy?

>_>

<_<

Considering how much Pete sucks, it's very telling of how far Roger has fallen that I usually side with Pete when they're at odds. But, very grateful Lane laid the little worm out. Grimy little pimp!

Prediction! Pete kills himself on or before the season finale.

Seth wrote:

Prediction! Pete kills himself on or before the season finale.

I saw some speculation about that given Roger's mild obsession with the window in one of the first couple of episodes. I figure either Roger or Pete is going out that window.

I still can't figure out why I feel compelled to watch this show. The underlings are the only people I remotely care about and I really don't like the new one.

There's been a theory for a long time that the opening credits sequence is alluding to the suicide of Don Draper in the series finale. I have no idea if that's true, but every time he self-destructs I feel like he's inching closer and closer to doing a half-gainer into a parked taxi.

Still my favorite thing on TV, by far. And somehow, with zero nudity, the current season is at least five times sexier than what's going on in GoT these days.

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