The camera work for the scene where Don walks away from Megan's film set tells me that their relationship is probably going to be over. She is going to get famous and he will cheat on her. I loved the movie theater scene between Don and Peggy. She is his equal now. For the first time.
Agreed. I thought the camera angle of Don walking away while the song "You only live twice" playing in the background was a huge foreshadow of whats to come next season. Even the last scene where the hooker asks if he's alone he's already thinking about it. It's going to be awesome to see the old Don back but that means we'll say good bye to Megan. Pete will get his NY apartment and continue his swinging ways. Roger will forever be a bachelor. Joan might have a greater role. Peggy will be a competitor. All in all, a pretty decent finale after last week's craziness. Man, I can't wait for next season already!
I enjoyed the finale, image that stuck in my head was the 5 partner is the empty floor they were purchasing, all of them looking out of the window. Also think it was great the way they shot that scene with Don leaving the set of Megan's commercial. Bonus points for Campbell getting 2 punches in the face.
Agreed. That was iconic. WIsh they'd have left an empty space between two of them to symbolize Lane...
Good finale and I'm glad it focused more on foreshadowing, instead of trying to top the last two weeks. I agree with the somewhat heavy-handed imagery: Don and Megan's marriage will fail, but not entirely because of her finding success. When Don is watching her casting reel, alone in the office, his face contorted into something other than that of the proud and adoring husband. At the end, it was almost a look of disgust - I believe this is because he saw shades of Betty in Megan. He married two women with outsized dreams, without the means to achieve them, whom he could either make or break. He broke Betty's modeling aspirations and didn't want to copy the situation with Megan. However, he's seen how by giving her what he thought would make her happy, he's actually sealed the fate of his marriage. Never mind that, for the second time, he married an emotionally immature girl incapable of growing into the woman that Don Draper needs. I agree that the shot of the partners in the new space was great. I especially appreciated the symbolism of Joan standing on the red x marking the staircase, showing how she is "moving on up" to equal footing with the men. The change in her personality, by acknowledging that sex is her most potent weapon, is stark; when she thinks that's all Lane wanted out of her, she's acknowledging, post-partnership, that men around still view her as a hyper sexual character and that she may indulge that whenever she wants. Post-marriage Joan is more fun that way, I guess. Does anybody understand tooth imagery? I've heard recently that tooth pain, or loosing teeth, in dreams is supposedly an indicator of stress and/or guilt. I assume that Don's rotten tooth which, coupled with Lane's suicide, caused him to see images of his brother, means something more. But, I'm not familiar enough with what seems to be a pretty common dream/vision (teeth) to make the connection.
My thoughts: Spoiler At first I felt the episode was underwhelming (compared to other season enders) but after letting it sink in, it was pretty good. We had a LOT of crazy moments in season 5, so to end it with subtleties and foreshadowing was appropriate. The absence of Lane affecting the partners, Sterling getting some side action and taking LSD again, and Don handling his guilt via physical pain was good. Didn't really care for Megan being a spoiled immature brat (especially stealing her friend's idea of asking Don for the role in the commercial) but it was essential to Don "walking away" from her career/dream and returning to his man-w**** ways. I don't know about ya'll, but Pete's story has gotten better and better. I'm excited to see where it goes/end. Yes, he's always douchebag Campbell, but the way he's worked to bring accounts for the firm, begged for acknowledgement/equal as a partner, failed attempt to hook up with the teenager from his driving class and have an affair with his friend/train-mate's wife was nice display of a man who is just out of control and depressed (microcosm of Don's life really). I actually felt really bad for him when he was in the hospital room visiting the girl he wanted to run off with, only to find that he's erased from her memory. Might as well say she was lobotomized. Sucks for Pete. Best season of MadMen but the season finale was much tamer than the others.
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Wow, i am shocked you guys thought this was the best season? While I enjoyed it especially the last 4 or 5 episodes i don't think it compares with prior seasons. My favorite seasons are 2-4.
I just got done watching the finale and I thought it was the best season as well. I love how this season rewarded you for watch the previous seasons. It looks like Peggy could become even more powerful than Don in season 6. It looks like she will create the Virginia Slims ad, which will make her the person to go to if you need to advertise to women. I think their next meeting will be very interesting in season 6.
Old to new, Sterling as a surrogate for his dead dad and Joan having been there before Don. I wonder if Joan is on equal footing or she's just the gatekeeper and Cooper and Sterling are dead or disgraced next season. Or maybe Pete is the embodiment of all four: pedigree, position, discipline/loyalty, and drive/talent.
The first trait is subjective, the second one applies to authors rather than a character, and the last three are redundant and questionable criticisms for a drama.
One day my boss called from her office asking if a co-worker, Chris, was still in. I asked two of my female co-workers, and they said he left early. I told my boss over the phone that he was "gone for the day," and the two females yell at me "he left early!" while my boss says okay and hangs up the phone. One of them gets up and comes over to me and says "you really should have said he left early, we need to give our customers the best impression possible," while an older female co-worker looks on and says nothing. A month later I get back my team peer/performance review. I sat in everyone else's from my team, and know everyone got positive feedback due to our unofficial but oft-repeated "no surprises" policy. I get mine and, aside from one comment saying I don't need to get a promotion from being the only jr/associate employee, it says on almost every written section that I "need to strengthen relationships with the rest of the team." I ask what the reasoning for this comment is and the first one that speaks up is the older co-worker saying, "well, there was an issue with how you answered a phone..." Another time, a year later, all of the female employees were gathered around the big screen chatting and watching the Scott Petersen verdict. One of the female employees, coincidentally also named Chris, has one of our biggest customers. This customer keeps calling repeatedly in the span of a few minutes; each time I pick up the phone, he asks for Chris, I get up and go over to the crowd and tell Chris that the customer is calling; and Chris goes over to her desk and assists the customer. After the third or fourth call, each of the same female employees from the earlier story snap at me to "tell him she's on the phone." I ask Chris if she wants me to tell him she's on the phone, she doesn't say anything but I still keep getting derided for interrupting them.
you know the meme "First World Problems"? That epitomizes the characters on this show. I have difficulty relating to their unhappiness, it's unearned and unjustified.
Where do you live? In a Happy Meal box? Every human on this planet lives with self-doubt, second guessing, envy, greed, sexual desire, and trying to define the point of it all in the face of the certain end. The examination of the nuances of that is what makes every book, story and show, (other than Micheal Bay). The context of this show is catching these people doing that at the seminal point in American history when the consumer society we now live in was being shaped.
Exactly, I'd much rather watch a TV show about starvation and genocide. Third world problems are way better to watch because I can relate to them easier. Go troll another thread.
