I think per the storyline, Bob had already been on the Chevy account, helping Ken. That's why they were saying keeping him on the account would help with continuity.
You're right- that makes sense. Perhaps the map just stood out to me a little extra because I'm from Michigan.
"Not great, Bob." But it was great, it really was. This is the best show on television and its not even close.
Don is either getting his comeuppance or a fresh new start on life. Did I miss something, when did Pete decide to move to LA? I thought it was only Ted going? Pete needs a new start as well.
I assume its because they would need an account man there and since he was out of Detroit he would have the opportunity to go there. They could have made it clearer, though.
Interesting season finale which, like all of the show's past season finales, was directed by creator Matthew Weiner. Also, how much we see of The Bob next season may depend on whether or not James Wolk's advertising agency-themed CBS show next season (The Crazy Ones, which will also star Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar) becomes a hit. But then again, starring on NBC's Community hasn't kept Alison Brie from continuing to play Trudy on this show, so I suppose we'll see one way or the other. -G
That was one of the best hours of TV I've ever seen. I have to echo @ImaPuppy's opinion: This is the best show on TV (sorry, Breaking Bad), and it's not even close. I can't believe how powerful those last three minutes were. My word.
Such a great sequence. Bob Benson is the scariest character on the show. I fear for Pete. It was certainly catharsis, from him finally being punished at work to showing his children how he came from the gutter. Very few fictional characters in any medium are as detestable and captivating at the same time.
So, the Hershey thing... Don was just tired of lying? Was that it? But if during that meeting Don sees Ted at rock bottom and makes an instant decision that Ted should go to California, wouldn't he want to secure Hershey, so that Ted could go off and prosper in CA with NY in good financial and creative hands? Or was there a self-serving component to Don's decision to stay in NY-- as there almost always is. Was it just to get distance from Megan? Or is he staying in NY to keep his family together, meaning him and Sally? As noted, that final scene was an amazing moment of possible redemption or renewal or at least minimal repair. But that still doesn't quite answer the Hershey question -- unless his coming clean about his fabricated childhood story was also in direct response to Sally's calling out Don on his lies ("Why don't you just tell them what I saw?" -- what a devestating line.) The Hershey disaster also came immediately after Ted ID's Don alcoholic withdrawal, citing his own father's struggles -- maybe yet again ringing that family bell for Don, and pushing toward coming clean with Sally and with everybody. But it still puzzles me. Outstanding finale. The hoops Pete and Peggy have gone through, just incredible. And that shot of Peggy in Don's chair -- too great.
Storytelling like that makes me love this show so, so much. It speaks to a faith in the viewer and a respect for the pace of the show.
Excellent description. One other thought on this episode: Peggy was quick to point out Don's faults by highlighting how Ted was a good man. Ultimately, Ted was a good man...to her detriment. Which got me to thinking: We are conditioned to admire virtuous traits in others only until those virtuous traits are no longer convenient for the situation we want to find ourselves in.
Kind of occurred to me how strong the "secular humanist" thread was throughout this season. Don eventually gets the understanding (if not necessarily forgiveness) the preacher promised not from Jesus, but from his daughter. There's more to this, but it's late and I need to sleep. One last thought: I can't get over how deep, and thoughtful and faithful to the characters this show is. They are so, so good at deconstruction, and more than any other thing, that's what has raised Mad Men to pure art. I really hope that next season we get to see if they're just as good at redemption. I don't want Dick Whitman to be Tony Soprano.
I'm obviously several seasons behind, but from what I know about the character, I would say that Don/Dick is meant to be an unredeemable character. It's a deconstruction of the mythos of the 1950s family ideal. One of the strongest symbolic scenes in that regard is the family picnic they take in one of the earlier seasons. If Don's life doesn't unravel completely, it would feel a bit like a cop out.
I don't think redemption would be a cop out, if for no other reason than the fact that Dick Whitman's childhood was so awful. Dick/Don's not Pete Campbell or Roger Sterling. And redemption can take more than one form. Dick/Don doesn't cause misery in others wholly intentionally. He really just doesn't know how to act in the world.
I think it did unravel completely in this season. His daughter walked in on him having an affair, his wife seems to have left him and he seems to have been fired from his job. About the only thing that hasn't happened is the government hasn't come to look into the real identity of Dick Whiman. All in all, though, Don Draper has come undone.
Trying to avoid spoilers, but still happened upon this vine post. https://vine.co/v/hzB3eZAaqtQ Holy receding hairline, Pete Campbell!
I had been sort of dreading how they would wrap the series up -- primed for disappointment (simply because they've set the bar for themselves so high). Now I'm incredibly excited for the final season. This idea of California as '...not the Moon' is fantastic. Because it really has been like a different planet throughout the whole show. Throw in Hawaii and Italy, and anything off the East Coast is, in fact, an entirely different reality. Or even Manhattan Don and Ossining Don of the early seasons. When Don says, "I've got to get out of New York," it felt like Lennon leaving the Beatles. Pete Campbell in California. Can you dig it? And I don't think they'll be going for cheap jokes of Pete in a kaftan, or joining a cult like Paul (although that was pretty awesome). But I would really like to see where that goes -- unless of course Weiner simply bails on Ted and Pete altogether, and the final season is all about Don's full separation from his identity and Peggy's rise to power. I can also see Megan becoming a huge star.
Neither Pete nor Roger are particularly awful people. Besides, both are in their spirals already - Roger has to go to Thanksgiving with his ex-mistress who won't let him be involved in the life of his son while Pete is now completely free in the Janis Joplin sense, which is certainly not how he wanted it. I'm most interesting in seeing if Pete is able to begin living his life the way he wants rather than always worrying about what others think of him, and if this clean break can let him reinvent himself in California as his actual self. At least partially. Though please, no Don in AA next season.
More random notes, as the show just keeps buzzing in my head: -- No Arnie closure. I'm fine with that. That storyline was epic and played a huge role in Don's arc this season. Sure, part of me would love to see that confrontation, how Arnie deals with that, how much lower Don could go. But I don't need it and it would probably just be a distraction. -- Minimal body count. Pete's Mom. That's it. I was really wondering if there would be more fatalities, what with Pete's gun, The Bob's Iberian threats, Sally's growing recklessness, etc. I have avoided these "Megan as Sharon Tate" theories because I didn't want my viewing to be colored or potential surprises to be ruined. So Mrs. Campbell sufficed nicely. And... she did love the sea... -- Ted Do folks remember when we first saw Ted Chaugh? This turtleneck'd twirp at some rival boutique who thought he was Don's equal? To think that he's grown into this full character that flashes a knowing look at Don's hands, sits in Don's office and tells him "Please... Have a drink before Hershey. My father.... You can't just stop cold turkey." Who would have thought such a rich story lurked in those early scenes. Did Weiner? Was that really all mapped out from the jump? Amazing.
I think you guys will appreciate Spencer Hall's thoughts on last night's episode (he's a sportswriter but he's mostly just a very sharp guy who writes quite well): http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2013/6/24/4458982/the-last-blathering-on-mad-men-for-a-while Also, some reflection... Last but not least...Sally finally meets Dick:
Great stuff as always Im A Puppy. Thought I'd share this: Mad Men with Captions http://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/the-mad-men-with-things-drawn-on-them-tumblr-is-amazing Some are funnier than others.