Mad Men

[Tictacbk]

I'm in ©brad's camp on this one.  I found the last time we saw Megan to be the perfect breakup scene/send off for her.  Didn't really need to see her again, and definitely didn't need to see her family.  IF we had to see her again, I would've preferred a small check-in with her -- maybe just that ridiculous scene with Harry.  The check writing scene seemed to serve no purpose other than to assassinate her character.  Very strange. 

At a certain point during the episode (probably around that check writing scene) I started to wonder if I was watching the worst episode of Mad Men (so far).  It felt like a jumbled together collection of stories I don't care about, which is especially troublesome this close to the end.  The doors they were closing felt like they were closing in the wrong way, and the doors they were opening didn't feel like they needed to be opened.  BUT I'm still not officially worried yet because... In Weiner I Trust.


Edit: thought the first episode was pretty great.  Especially the Ken Cosgrove heel turn.

[Pozer]

BUT I'm still not officially worried yet because... In Weiner I Trust.

BUT I'm still not officially worried yet because...

[modage]

Megan's anger towards Don seems completely unfounded. Last we left her she was telling Don that he didn't owe her anything. Now she's some entitled brat demanding all this money? And how exactly did Don ruin her life? She seemed to be enjoying her bohemian existence in Los Angeles. And this is coming from someone who actually liked Megan. They've turned her into this spoiled harpy ex-wife a la Jane.

That was 9-ish months ago in the time of the show and I guess we're to gather that the initial glow of LA is wearing off as she's getting more desperate about her career not taking off. So she's had nearly a year to start building this resentment towards Don about him suggesting they move to LA (and her quitting her plum soap opera gig). I think it's totally plausible.

Also: the Megan stuff seemed to be less about Megan and more about Don since this ep was all about the women in his life and obviously him coming home to an empty apartment is going to help nudge Don towards whatever change he's heading towards. He's already mentioned moving out of this apt, now he has no furniture, offered to skip out on work with Diana, etc. Maybe he'll end up moving to LA, not to be with Megan, but just cause he always seemed happier in California. Though it's hard to imagine him being satisfied without working so who knows.

[Drenk]

Matthew Weiner trying to explain where the camera is.

The masterclass was about In Care Of, we talked about the creative process around this particular episode, but Matthew Weiner being Matthew Weiner, he talked about a lot of things. About the episode, he said that Jon Hamm was recovering from an operation, his voice wasn't good, he had to rest for a day, without talking, before the Hershey pitch. He did it twice. John Slattery forgot to talk in one take after watching Jon Hamm.

Writers thought that Peggy wouldn't say: "Aren't you lucky? To have decisions?" because the grammar isn't correct and that Peggy, being a writer, would be aware of that fact. Weiner said Shut the fuck up to them.

He knows that Sally is the audience. He said that he's Sally too. (And more Pete Campbell than Don Draper.)

That he thought that he had fucked up the last scene of Season 6, that it would only be meaningful for him. Until his producer (I'm not sure it's the producer) said that some people never get that look from their father.

A joke about Jon Hamm saying to him: "Yes, it must be awful to have a bad name."

Something about the fact that they can't avoid an assassination, about a writer on the staff finding the idea of Pete's mom saying that Kenny has been shot, Pete not listening to her because she has Alzheimer. "If I hire you to write on the show, FIND SHIT LIKE THAT! I still have goosebumps."

713 will be five minute longer. The series finale ten minutes longer.

Etc, etc. Another masterclass tonight! I can't wait!

About the new episode: I loved it. Again. You can feel the end. It's weirdly gloomy.

EDIT: Oh, today's masterclass will be "live", it's in...four hours from now, here is a link: http://series-mania.fr/en/video/live-matthiew-weiner/

[modage]

I never thought I would say this (and I think I may be in a boat of 1 right now since most people seem to be complaining that "Mad Men" is spending too much time on new characters instead of tying up loose ends) but I hope the show doesn't go out of its way to tie up too many loose ends! In the first 3 eps we've seen Rachel Menken, Glen, Megan's mom, Dr & Sylvia, etc. So far so good, but I'd hate for it to continue in such a way that it ends up feeling like a checklist of 'whatever happened to _____' with an answer supplied.

[Kal]

I'd hate for it to continue in such a way that it ends up feeling like a checklist of 'whatever happened to _____' with an answer supplied.

I think its totally going in that direction, which may not be bad if they keep doing it in a similar fashion.

What is both scary and awesome is that I have no idea where it's going overall. The great thing about this show every season is that major things have happened in an instant without any previous build up or expectation, so who knows.

I would like to see more Roger and Campbell doing something meaningful.

[©brad]

ugh guys I don't know. This show is limping towards its finale. It has no momentum, even by Mad Men standards. We've covered all of this shit before. These would be fine episodes in season 3 but we're on the home stretch now. 4 more left and we've still seen nothing of substance from Roger, Pete, hell even Peggy really.

Mad Men has always been heavy on metaphors and symbolism and that's why we love it, but so much of this season has felt too on-the-nose. And now we have two episodes back to back of Don standing alone in/outside an empty apartment. And another new lover we don't care about (Joan's).

There was some good stuff last night. I loved the back and forth between Peggy and Pete with Don in the middle. Don's line to Sally was great: "You are a beautiful girl... it's up to you to be something more than that." I will say that like most episodes of this show, I appreciate them more after I've had time to digest everything and rewatch. I just feel this season is missing that 'omg we're nearing the end' buzz you feel as a great series wraps up.

[Drenk]

The video of the masterclass I talked about.

[modage]

The best oral history I have ever read.

Matthew Weiner (series creator): It was 2006, and I had just been fired from The Sopranos for writing an episode where every single character dies on a roller coaster. I had been toying with the idea for Mad Men for a number of years, and since I was currently out of work, I figured I would try pursuing it in earnest. I sat down and wrote all seven seasons of Mad Men in about four hours.

Ed Carroll (President, AMC Networks): At that time, the only thing airing on AMC was a show called Broderick Names Them Roderick, which was a reality show about Matthew Broderick holding divorced men at gunpoint and forcing them to change their legal name to Roderick against their will. We aired this show 24 hours a day. Needless to say, we were looking for some original programing.

Matthew Weiner: I walked into Ed Carroll's office without knocking, and I said, "What about a show where it's Don Draper, baby?"

Ed Carroll: Matt just stood in my office excitedly repeating the phrase "It's Don Draper, baby!" over and over again. I had no idea what Don Draper was, but I said to Matt, "You've got yourself a show."

http://www.clickhole.com/article/oral-history-mad-men-2329

[Kal]

New art in our office

[Drenk]

I have a thing for titles. And now, the last titles are known.

Time & Life
Lost Horizon
The Milk and Honey Route
Person to Person

And that's it...

[Kal]

I do not want this to end.

[Drenk]

Are you guys happy? I'm very happy. Amazing episode. Amazing show.

[modage]

This.

I do not want this to end.

I will say for a show as cryptic and un-fan-service-y as MAD MEN, I am surprised at how much Weiner & co. seem to be going out of their way to actually wrap up every storyline, even minor ones in satisfying ways.

[Kal]

I thought about that obviously when we saw Trudy, but that was such a great scene between them and overall for Pete. They're not wrapping things up in a sloppy way. Same with Lou. Or how Peggy revisited her story. There are so many things happening in each episode already, and they manage to add great twists and turns along the way.