Mad Men

Master D

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Surprised there isn't a thread on here but there's only 2 episodes remaining of this. One of my favourite TV shows ever, really don't want it to end.

Are there any other fans of it?
 

Smudge

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Ive been watching it on SkyGo, only in the middle of season 5 yet though so no spoilers please!
 

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Big fan. Great actors. All of 'em.

I already downloaded the end fyi. Not that anyone cares.
 

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Recently rewatched the whole thing to jog my memory for these final episodes and I enjoyed it more than the first time I watched it. An absolute masterpiece of a show.

Amazing second to last episode, I always seem to love episodes where Pete is one of the main players, I'll probably watch it again before next weeks finale. Don't have a clue how it's gonna end, but it's gonna be emotional!
 

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This week's episode was superb. I think they've kind of nailed it depending on the big 'if' surrounding Don.
 

Master D

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It really is a masterpiece. Everything about the show is pure class.

So many brilliant characters in it and I think the endings surrounding Betty, Pete, Joan might have all been taken care of now. What reminds for Don I don't know, it'll be fascinating how they leave it. That leaves Roger and surely some sort of fairytale ending for Peggy to wrap it up. Pete is perhaps my favourite character, his development has been my favourite. He was so hated at the start!
 
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Smudge

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Wow...I've just watched episodes 11 and 12 of season 5, the ones centring around the deal with Jaguar. Just wow, possibly 2 of the best hours of tv I think I've ever watched.

I can buy into any tv show or film no matter what happens, and I think that's why I love Mad Men. There are periods of 3 or 4 episodes sometimes where plotwise, nothing at all happens. The series is just completely character driven, and every character is so well rounded and developed, it's like they're not characters at all. Even minor characters like Glen, Peggys mum, Trudy are all brilliant. Betty has been less involved this season, but still developing and now Sally is coming into it more.

I've only stopped watching because it's nearly 3am! Itching to know what happens next.
 

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It's a brilliant show, can't wait for the finale.

Anyone heard the rumor about Don ending up being DB Cooper? Was an interesting read.
 

Master D

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Surely they are going to promote Peggy into Don's position at the new company, she will have achieved her dream then and reached the top.
 

allouso

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So, the finale?

I liked it, thought it was quite a fitting end to the series and i'm glad he's not friggin' DB Cooper. Anyway, what did people make of the ending? I suppose Weiner went with the whole "people don't change" narrative and Don ends up back at McCan and makes the Coke commercial himself?

Gonna miss that show :(
 

RavenBish

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Yeah

I mean, we're left with the idea that everyone was happy except Don (and Betty but I'm not sure she was unhappy despite the dying bit). There were some more interesting side-bits like the idea that Sally's come full circle and veered away from being a terrible Don/Betty hybrid and should end up alright. I liked the Stan/Peggy thing because it wasn't a drawn out over-done thing despite the fact it's kind of been 'there' for at least 2 seasons.

I basically accepted Don wouldn't get a tied up ending because it wouldn't be right - DB Cooper, suicide would be cheap and him suddenly finding happiness/purpose wouldn't have been achievable in a 54 minute episode but I still didn't like how they went about it. The scene with the office guy telling his story was good but then it felt like there was one more Don scene after that, not even necessarily with a main character but there's open-ended finales and then there's that, which felt wrong, especially with his little smile at the end and the 'I'd like to buy the world a Coke' thrown in - most seem to assume it means he returns and creates that ad but I don't know about that personally.
 
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allouso

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Yeah

I mean, we're left with the idea that everyone was happy except Don (and Betty but I'm not sure she was unhappy despite the dying bit). There were some more interesting side-bits like the idea that Sally's come full circle and veered away from being a terrible Don/Betty hybrid and should end up alright. I liked the Stan/Peggy thing because it wasn't a drawn out over-done thing despite the fact it's kind of been 'there' for at least 2 seasons.

I basically accepted Don wouldn't get a tied up ending because it wouldn't be right - DB Cooper, suicide would be cheap and him suddenly finding happiness/purpose wouldn't have been achievable in a 54 minute episode but I still didn't like how they went about it. The scene with the office guy telling his story was good but then it felt like there was one more Don scene after that, not even necessarily with a main character but there's open-ended finales and then there's that, which felt wrong, especially with his little smile at the end and the 'I'd like to buy the world a Coke' thrown in - most seem to assume it means he returns and creates that ad but I don't know about that personally.
I thought the final part was obvious. Don is sitting, meditating for once in his life, he smiles when he comes up with the idea for the Coke ad.

I liked it personally. I never expected "closure", i mean that's not how Mad Men works. The idea that Don would change never crossed my mind as there's no way they would have fitted it in one episode as you said. In the end, he didn't change, or at least, he realized just how much he liked creating ads.

Dunno, that's how i saw it anyway.
 

RavenBish

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I thought the final part was obvious. Don is sitting, meditating for once in his life, he smiles when he comes up with the idea for the Coke ad.

I liked it personally. I never expected "closure", i mean that's not how Mad Men works. The idea that Don would change never crossed my mind as there's no way they would have fitted it in one episode as you said. In the end, he didn't change, or at least, he realized just how much he liked creating ads.

Dunno, that's how i saw it anyway.

Absolutely, Don's whole thing is the idea that he constantly escapes, regroups and returns because that's basically his life story so I think even though we see him smile and find peace or whatever the expectation is that if the series continued into the 70s he'd just have another breakdown at some point. My thinking was just that the story behind that Coke ad is quite well-known and it'd seem a bit cheap to say 'and then Don thought of the Coke ad' and I'd be disappointed if Weiner came out and said that because it'd just appear as though he wussed out of writing one big last pitch scene where Don sells the ad to Coke reps back in NY. So it's either an ambiguous ending or it's just symbolism for me, I don't think the smile is a lightbulb going off. I hope not anyway
 

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Absolutely, Don's whole thing is the idea that he constantly escapes, regroups and returns because that's basically his life story so I think even though we see him smile and find peace or whatever the expectation is that if the series continued into the 70s he'd just have another breakdown at some point. My thinking was just that the story behind that Coke ad is quite well-known and it'd seem a bit cheap to say 'and then Don thought of the Coke ad' and I'd be disappointed if Weiner came out and said that because it'd just appear as though he wussed out of writing one big last pitch scene where Don sells the ad to Coke reps back in NY. So it's either an ambiguous ending or it's just symbolism for me, I don't think the smile is a lightbulb going off. I hope not anyway
I think that's how he meant it, sadly.

Also https://twitter.com/emillersmith/status/600142889058902016
 

mistermagic

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It was a pretty sad final season. The big boss gets canned for coming out and telling everyone what his childhood is like and you see how a man struggles when he's outta work. There are a few awkward parts when he returns but ultimately there are too few episodes to develop new storylines (Megan's acting career, Pete's new fuckfriend).
Still, a great show.
 

Master D

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Just watched it. Gutted there's no more now. It's one of those that you will watch again from the start though one day. My favourite ever scene is still in the 1st series, the Kodak camera pitch Don presents.

Thought the ending was great actually. He wasn't going to change much in 30 mins, I kept wondering how they'd wrap it up as the clock ticked down! Don finally at peace of mind it seems, allowing his genius mind to think up his biggest ad idea ever. It's maybe a shame he obviously went back to NY and became Don again but Coca Cola was the one talked about since the inception of the show, it had to be involved in the finale.
 
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RavenBish

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Watched it again and I really stand more strongly behind my initial reaction

I think it's wrong to assume he came up with the ad, I think it's totally ambiguous. The 2 paragraphs from this review I read kind of sums it up for me:

'As Don meditates and finds, if not peace, then some sort of resolution or salve or warmth, does he imagine this commercial, this crowning achievement, a hand-holding nod to multiculturalism and worldliness, on that very spot, crosslegged, overlooking the Pacific Ocean? He catches the idea on the wind and books it back to New York City. He visits Betty, hugs her, tells her he wants what she wants, he’ll do what he needs to. He strides into McCann as his former secretary is walking out. He turns her around. He sits across from a roomful of bigwigs and pitches his heart out. He talks about the Coke machines he saw on the road, in Kansas, in Utah, in Oklahoma, and about the people he met there. He talks about sitting on that green hill, connected to all these different people by this one … thing. A real thing. He describes the girl in the braids and the shirt. They buy it, hook, line, etc. Don is one of the most successful ad men in history, his name in every textbook, on every website. No longer can he say that he “took another man’s name and made nothing of it.”

Or, as Don meditates, he finds something deeper within himself, he finds a simpler man, closer to the “invisible man” from the group, closer maybe to Dick Whitman. He stays in California. He starts a new life. Maybe as a mechanic or a handyman or a painter, even. Something that makes him sweat. Something that uses his hands. Something that makes him stop using all that pomade. And one day he comes home from work to his small apartment. He sits down and flips on the television. There, to his bafflement, is this Coke commercial, a bastardization of his religious awakening at Big Sur. The deep, meaningful, important soul-searching he did on that cliffside is thrown in his face to sell him a fucking soft drink. As much as he hates it, he understands. The world takes your pain, repackages it as a solution, and sells it back to you. No longer can he say “I messed everything up.” That’s someone else’s job now.
 

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I thought the final part was obvious. Don is sitting, meditating for once in his life, he smiles when he comes up with the idea for the Coke ad.
Agreed, there was little ambiguity in it for me while I was watching it, that smile was a moment of clarity and realisation that deep down he's an ad man. Peggy mentioning Coke in their phone conversation makes me further believe that that was what Weiner was going for.

Gutted it's all over, haven't been as sad at a show ending since The Sopranos.
 
A

Alty

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Loved it. The ending worked for me.

Also agree that Pete Campbell's development was possibly the most interesting aspect of the entire show.

Also also, Christina Hendricks is so hot.
 

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I believe that Mccan Erikson are a real ad company, which did the Coke advert.

A superb show, one that will take some time to be beaten, IMO.

My favourite scene other than the Kodak carousel mentioned earlier has to be s1 where Don is sat in the boho bar listening to babylon, it's haunting. A simple, but effective scene.
 

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