Mad Men

[flipp525]

I think the "Man with a Plan" in that last episode was actually Bob Benson, who's been creeping around in this season far too conspicuously not to play some kind of bigger role in its latter half.

Also, I’m very much over the affair with Linda Cardenelli who, along with her husband, appear to be the only other two people who live in Don and Megan's apartment building.

[Mike Kelly]

When Don had Sylvia holed up in the Sherry-Netherland, or whatever hotel it was, I thought he was trying to get her to go back to her husband, without outright telling her it was over. I expected to see a sly smile from him after she walked out. However, his pathetic "please" when she said she was leaving and his shocked an forelorn expression afterwards, now has me thinking it wasn't his plan at all.

[The Original BJ]

Two other great moments:

Trudy's "I will destroy you" monologue to Pete. It's pretty clear that Don has always been the one in control of his marriages (same goes for Roger), but this moment pretty clearly got to the heart of why Pete feels so emasculated within his.

And Joan lashing out at Don after he screwed up the Jaguar account, despite what she went through, was a great moment for Christina Hendricks, especially because it's so rare for her character to lose control like that (especially at work, and ESPECIALLY with Don).

[Mister Tee]

Mike, you've provoked me to finally write about the show. I've been meaning to for several weeks -- ever since the MLKing show -- but never seem to find the time.

By now the shows since then are blending in my memory, but a few things that stand out:

"Once the Second Avenue subway's finished..." (Explanation for non-NYers: They're telling us now it should be done in a few more years)

The awkward white-folks' reactions to the King shooting when speaking with their black secretaries. (And the reminder that, for all his grisly faults, Pete Campbell has a social conscience that dwarfs his co-workers')

Speaking of Pete Campbell: his pratfall down the staircase was a just about perfect moment. (You almost wonder if it happened accidentally and they kept it in)

Roger firing Burt Peterson again was comedy gold.

A bunch of people on Television Without Pity were complaining about the RFK assassination being "shoehorned in" at the end of the episode. I LOVED the way they used Campbell's mother's dementia to introduce it. And appreciate the fact they haven't felt a need to center an entire show around each assassination. (Plus, I'm not so sure next Sunday's show won't take place the next day, with everyone still reacting. Oh, and maybe we'll find out why Dawn was so pointedly absent throughout this episode)

I love when these shows come up with a song I haven't heard or thought about in decades. One Sopranos' episode ended with Vanilla Fudge's Take Me For a Little While. Friend and Lover's Reach Out of the Darkness isn't in that league, but it sure pushed a nostalgia button.

[Mike Kelly]

"I think it's so groovy now that people are finally getting together..." Despite Don's self-destructive spiral, it's still the best show on TV. Koss headphones - I had the Pro4AAs back then -heavy as hell, but great sound. Liked them so much, I've had Koss electrostatics since 1994, and I never liked margarine, any brand. RFK's assassination footage, still such a sad image.

[OscarGuy]

I'm finally got through with 5 and started 6 with the premiere on AMC's website, but I cannot find the next episode "The Collaborators." Hoping they rerun it soon.

[Greg]

This season's Mad Men finally got into gear, and it did so in a big way. Last night's episode about the Martin Luther King assassination was one of its most powerful ever.

[OscarGuy]

Season 5 JUST hit Netflix, so I am still behind. Finished up the two-part opener tonight, so I won't be able to participate for a little while.

[Greg]

Season 6 starts tonight at 9PM eastern/8PM central.

[Mike Kelly]

Interesting final scene in the bar. It seemed that the bloom went off the rose with Don and Megan, after she stiffed her friend and Don relunctantly got her the audition. With You Only LIve Twice on the soundtrack, after the proposal from the ladies I thought to myself "Bond is back" By the way, if anyone remembers the description of James Bond by Ian Fleming in Casino Royale, it's not too far removed from Don Draper.

[Mister Tee]

I thought it was more than anti-climactic; it was pretty disappointing for a season finale. Not that it negates the excellence of the previous sevearl weeks, but a season finale should have more a sense of summation (closing out elements from the season just past) and of launch (into what will propel the season to come). The last two complete seasons endded with the formation of Sterling Cooper Draper Price, and Don's sudden betrothal to Megan. This show featured...buying new office space? Pete getting a NY apartment? There was also too much time spent on characters about which I don't care (Megan's mother, Pete's inamorata). The whole episode felt diffuse.

It was not without its grace notes. The Don/Joan office scene was nice. And the Don/Peggy movie encounter was stellar. Peggy is obviously just about to seriously raise her stock by coining "You've come a long way, baby"; it makes me very doubtful of the rumors she's being dropped from the show. There were also a couple of unusually memoarble visuals: the five partners framed in windows like a troupe of super-heroes about to embark on a mission; Don walking away as the sound-stage slowly shrinks-recedes.

The script was thematically coherent, as usual (even if not dramatically coherent): the idea of people dreaming beyond their capabilities was articulated by Lane's wife, Megan's mother, Pete -- and then capped with the actual opening lyrics of You Only Live Twice ("once for yourself, and once for your dreams"). James Bond was an interesting overall point of reference for the episode. I didn't actually get this myself, but people with better knowledge inform me the music starting up at the movie meant Don & Peggy were watching Casino Royale, the bungled, non-Connery Bond movie that opened that Spring of '67. You Only Live Twice, a more standard entry, followed in summer. Identifying Don & Peggy with James Bond is interesting, because, though Bond endured through all the societal changes that came (lingering even unto this day), about now it stopped being central to the culture. When Goldfinger and Thunderball opened, everyone I knew saw them and talked about them. You Only Live Twice (and the films that followed) continued to make money, but they weren't any part of the cultural conversation -- which was dominated by films like Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate, only months from opening in Mad Men's time scheme. Associating Peggy and especially Don with this retro part of the culture suggests they'll be struggling to connect with some of the bigger events to come in the next years.

[Greg]

After last week, the season's final episode was somewhat anticlimactic; however, I liked it that Peggy was shown in her new job.

[ksrymy]

I'm refusing to believe any of this until Moss or Weiner make a statement.

If you need me, you can find me in denial.

[FilmFan720]

Also, if you read his quote regarding Moss leaving, it is very vague and doesn't say that she is off the show...my hunch is that Moss is done for the season, but will reappear next season.

Personally, I loved the move of Peggy leaving SCDP, and if that is the end of her character, I would be happy with that ending. I would rather her leave and only appear sporadically then try to pigeonhole ways to get her on the show like they did with Betty much of Season 4.

[flipp525]

http://tvline.com/2012/06/05/mad-men-el ... s-leaving/

Thisisnothappeningthisisnothappeningthisisnothappening.

The source for this "news" is rather sketchy, no? There's just no way that the show will go on for two whole more seasons without the female lead. I'm calling total bullshit on this and I bet we see her in the season finale.

I also bet Matthew Weiner want to string Jared Harris up. He's notoriously secretive about shit like this.