Mad Men - the final count down

[Anonymous]

Great recap for last night's episode
http://www.vulture.com/2015/05/mad-men-recap-season-7-episode-13.html

[Anonymous]

^^From this recap:
"There’s only one episode of Mad Men left, and rather than fret over whether or not the series will stick the landing, I’ve taken to thinking of a line from a song that accompanies the final scene of The Sopranos: “Oh, the movie never ends / It goes on and on and on and on.”

If you think of Mad Men less as a very long story than a set of short stories or story-songs with the same characters, moving forward in time in chronological order while not necessarily feeling obligated to sum things up for us in a neat and tidy way, the traditional expectations about endings seem less burdensome.

What matters more on a show like this isn’t the ending per se, but the end note: In other words, it’s less about what happens than the mood of it, the way that final note sustains. “The Milk and Honey Route” felt like the second-to-last bar of a song that’s about to fade out rather than end. The characters that are still alive will continue living. The dream will continue but, like Betty, we won’t be around to see it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But what do we know about Joan? she quits? Does she work again or just becomes a kept woman with her rich boyfriend? I really want more for Joan. I think she has been the most intriguig character on the show.

I think Joan has always wanted to be a kept woman, but it never really worked out for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But what do we know about Joan? she quits? Does she work again or just becomes a kept woman with her rich boyfriend? I really want more for Joan. I think she has been the most intriguig character on the show.

I think Joan has always wanted to be a kept woman, but it never really worked out for her.

But she is LOADED she can keep herself. She said she didn't need to work, but she wanted to because of how far she'd come and the status she had achieved. That is not someone who wants to be "kept".

[Anonymous]

It seems to me that what may happen is that Don finaly gets the freedom he wants...only to have to go back to reality to raise his kids once Betty dies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems to me that what may happen is that Don finaly gets the freedom he wants...only to have to go back to reality to raise his kids once Betty dies.

The other guy will raise them. Don is definitely shedding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems to me that what may happen is that Don finaly gets the freedom he wants...only to have to go back to reality to raise his kids once Betty dies.

Agree.

[Anonymous]

The only story left is Dick's/Don's, by my count.

Joan found the love she told Bob Benson she valued over careerism (when turning down his proposal to be his beard). She cashed out.

The tentacle porn is meant to show that Peggy has the tools she'll need to survive at McCann and quadruple her salary with her next job change, as the headhunter told her she would.

Pete sees what he's thrown away and what he'll be if he doesn't get it back, and with Duck as deus ex machina, will live happily ever after. With ridic amounts of cash, because lear jet stock options in 1970??? (presuming he doesn't bail out of fear in the energy crisis)

Roger is with a woman his own age. ending his professional life on a negative note, though, but he seems to still be rich.

Questions like "but what about that guy Peggy had the good first date with" and "what about Roger, there should be more there" seem to me to fall into "life is ambiguous, not everything will get a bow on it" domain.

The major dramatic question remaining then, it seems, is how don/dick, who is so happy on the road but also happy talking to his kids, is going to deal with Betty's death wrt his kids. If it were just Sally, who's off to college soon, that'd be one thing, but Gene is what, 7? Betty does have siblings, so there are non-Don/Dick options. What will he do?

[Anonymous]

Joan and Peggy move to California to open their own ad business with all of the leftover/conflict accounts.

Don finds Diana, presumably leaves the business happy

Roger had a heart attack and dies, in the arms of his exwife.

Pete moves to Kansas.

Betty dies.

The end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only story left is Dick's/Don's, by my count.

Joan found the love she told Bob Benson she valued over careerism (when turning down his proposal to be his beard). She cashed out.

The tentacle porn is meant to show that Peggy has the tools she'll need to survive at McCann and quadruple her salary with her next job change, as the headhunter told her she would.

Pete sees what he's thrown away and what he'll be if he doesn't get it back, and with Duck as deus ex machina, will live happily ever after. With ridic amounts of cash, because lear jet stock options in 1970??? (presuming he doesn't bail out of fear in the energy crisis)

Roger is with a woman his own age. ending his professional life on a negative note, though, but he seems to still be rich.

Questions like "but what about that guy Peggy had the good first date with" and "what about Roger, there should be more there" seem to me to fall into "life is ambiguous, not everything will get a bow on it" domain.


Absolutely! I agree with this 100%.
The major dramatic question remaining then, it seems, is how don/dick, who is so happy on the road but also happy talking to his kids, is going to deal with Betty's death wrt his kids. If it were just Sally, who's off to college soon, that'd be one thing, but Gene is what, 7? Betty does have siblings, so there are non-Don/Dick options. What will he do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Joan and Peggy move to California to open their own ad business with all of the leftover/conflict accounts.

Don finds Diana, presumably leaves the business happy

Roger had a heart attack and dies, in the arms of his exwife.

Pete moves to Kansas.

Betty dies.

The end.

This is what you think, right? Becuase Weiner isn't going to make it so clear-cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Joan and Peggy move to California to open their own ad business with all of the leftover/conflict accounts.

Don finds Diana, presumably leaves the business happy

Roger had a heart attack and dies, in the arms of his exwife.

Pete moves to Kansas.

Betty dies.

The end.

Haha I was thinking the same except it would happen while balls deep in Marie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Joan and Peggy move to California to open their own ad business with all of the leftover/conflict accounts.

Don finds Diana, presumably leaves the business happy

Roger had a heart attack and dies, in the arms of his exwife.

Pete moves to Kansas.

Betty dies.

The end.

This is what you think, right? Becuase Weiner isn't going to make it so clear-cut.

Well that's how the open ending plays out in my head. I've alread dreamt it.

[Anonymous]

I'm starting to think Don might end up with a totally new identity. He's no longer Don. But as the town in Oklahoma proved, he is no longer Dick and never can be again. I am sure whatever the episode contains the ultimate outcome of everyone will be ambiguous and open ended. The Mad Man has always been falling and will always be falling; the landing is not for us to see.

[Anonymous]

I see Roger staying at Mcann for the 4 years he is obligated to stay. I see him doing nothing...maybe attending meetings so it looks like he is doing something, but they really have no use for him. He will probably die of cirrhosis or cancer within a few years of retiring.

Peggy will become a rock star at Mcann. They wanted Don, but got a dud. Peggy is a mini Don...his protege, only sober and more responsible. She will be amazing!

I am so curious how it will end for Don. It will be interesting to see.