Mad Men season finale (OP has no spoilers, but great advice for those about to watch)

[Bucky]

Wow. Don's capacity to screw up his life is a true work of art.

West Coasties: pay attention to Betty's eyes in the final scene. Once you figure out what she's up to, you'll flip!

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

1. omg! WTF! omfg!!

ok, I kid. This has been one of the, if not the best Mad Men seasons. I can't afford cable, and have been using gifted itunes cards to buy the eps.., I am only up to episode 10, and I am thoroughly engrossed. Can't wait to see how it all wraps up, and agree with you about Don. And I am in love with the Sally character. So refreshing to see a child of divorce and neglect depicted in such a true way, as painful as that is at times.

[Duer 157099]

2. (spoiler inside maybe)

Huh? The final scene was Don in bed with you-know-who. Betty's eyes were nowhere in that scene.

I found that scene in the kitchen between Don and Betty as forced and contrived as the robbery and subsequent sex-on-the-street scene between Joan and Roger. It was so awful I didn't even notice anything about Betty's eyes. What? What did I miss?

And... what was Joan's maiden name? I coulda sworn it was Harris, no?

[BlueIris]

3. Joan's maiden name is, I believe, Halloway.

I have no idea what the OP is talking about, re: Betty's eyes.

[Bucky]

6. Explanation below

[Duer 157099]

9. Ah, ok yes, Halloway.

She's been Joanie Harris for so long I forgot her maiden name.

[Bucky]

5. She's got Betty Draper eyes... Betty was planning on seducing Don!

There's a rebroadcast on tonight at 11:00 CST. Look at what Betty does right before Don shows up. She didn't just happen to be in the house on the wrong night. She planned out the whole thing. She was waiting for Don to show up and then just pantomimed like the movers had left that one box behind... the box that had just one cup in it for them to share.

Then, before Don goes to check his hideout for any liquor bottles left by the movies, her eyes quickly dart over to that very spot where he is about to go and get the booze out of the hiding place. She had the whole thing planned out as a seduction, or at least as a dangerous flirtation, because her marriage with Henry Francis is hitting the skids

[Duer 157099]

8. Oh. I thought that was obvious.

The way she picked up the box the minute she heard the door, to make it look like she was just leaving. It was obvious what she was doing.

She played that scene very well. I just thought it was contrived by the writers.

[WinkyDink]

4. Why do all the women speak alike, in that weird "Law & Order Ass't DA" half-whisper?

[Taverner]

7. But she didn't seduce Don...

Or did they do the antler dance off screen?

[sammytko]

10. How could she if the realtor was supposed to show up at the same time?

Would they do it afterwards? Betty made her bed and now has to lay in it.

Lots of people at TWOP hated the finale, but I loved it. I was so happy for Don - kind of weird that I am so involved in this show.

I just started watching it and am playing catch-up thru Netflix.

[Bucky]

11. Some viewers may have disliked it cause this show is so different. However...

Almost all the postings at TWOP later in the evening were overwhelmingly positive--maybe the depth of the characterization just takes a while to sink in with the audiences.

It wasn't until the rebroadcast at 10pm Central that I got how Don's pitch to the Cancer Society on the mentality of teenagers was a perfect description of himself and why he would dump the Shrink girlfriend.

The beauty of this show has always been how they don't waste a single syllable of dialogue. Every single word and every single pregnant pause is there for a reason.

[BuelahWitch]

13. I think I (and maybe others) would have liked it better

if Jon Hamm had more chemistry with the actress who plays Megan. That seems to be hit and miss with him. He's got it with Liz Moss (Peggy), January Jones (Betty), the woman who played Anna and John Slattery (Roger), but I haven't noticed it with any of the women he's had affairs with. I often feel like, oh, Don's shtupping again, time to go to the bathroom! when he's with his paramours. Story wise, I think Don picked the best woman for his kids, so he was thinking of someone else besides himself and little Don, but the two of them together are kind of *blah*.

[Duer 157099]

14. I agree, no chemistry.

It's amazing isn't it? Imagine casting a character specifically to *not* have chemistry, lol

No doubt Weiner did exactly that, though.

The comment about her teeth really bugged me though, because unless she's wearing a prosthetic, those are her teeth. Interesting that they wrote that in. Almost as some sort of apology that Don is engaged to someone who is less than physically perfect or something. Which is stupid, because Don loved Anna and they never made an apology for that.

[SoCalDem]

15. This era was PRE cosmetic-dental care for the masses

rich kids got braces, but the rest of us had to make do with the teeth we got. Many were self conscious about them, because as adults it was one more thing that separated the upper classes from the underlings. Meghan is self conscious about her less than perfect teeth, so her so-so friend picked at her for it..reminding her that she is somehow less-than..

Don;s love for Anna was probably more of gratitude for her not blowing up his life..as she could well have. She was just the wife of someone he barely knew, yet assumed the identity of. His meeting of her was totally accidental (as far as he was concerned) He could have sought her out anytime, but he chose not to. She kept his secret, in exchange for a house in Southern California..They used each other. She got a house & he got a new life.

Don chose Meghan because she is the Anti-Betty.. She has grace & patience and even if she orchestrated their "courtship", she did not let HIM see it. She chased him, until HE caught her:)

[Bucky]

12. No, but she was thinking about it. She definitely schemed to flirt and get him drinking with her.

She even engineered it so that they'd be sharing the same cup. If she didn't have a plan (or at least didn't have a good plan), she did at least have an unspoken goal. Henry is holding her to account, so she's trying to get flattery and attention from Don.

[JoDog]

16. Help for the French impaired

I don't speak French and am curious about what Megan said on the phone to her mother.

Send me a message off-board if it's too spoilery.

Thanks!

[Lucy Goosey]

17. It was nothing earth-shattering...

"Mom, I have news, get Dad right away!"

[JoDog]

18. Thank you!

or, "Merci" I think.

[Lucy Goosey]

19. Bienvenue!

...you're welcome. :)

[blogslut]

20. Spoily!

Yeah, she was totally planning to rekindle the old flame with Don. I got that from closeup of her so deliberately powdering her nose. Well, that sure blew up in her face.