Mad Men Season 5

[Piobaire]

Don't forget this season doesn't have that many more eps and next season is the last. Shows tend to do some crazy **** when they can see the finish line is approaching.

I am wondering if Peggy is gone to make room for that new Jewish kid to get more screen time? They already introduced his father, or at least the guy we're supposed to think is his father, and I can't see that kind of investment unless the plan is he gets more screen time.

Looking forward to see where the Don/Megan and Don/Betty situations end up by the end of the final season.

 

[Bradford]

Actually Weiner signed on for three more seasons last summer, so there will be at least two more seasons after this one ends.

I don't think the show has jumped the shark. Joan made a business move and quite possibly became the first female partner on Madison Avenue. Considering how vital she was to opening the new agency they should have made her a junior partner in the first place, like Lane and Pete, but clearly they still considered her to be just a secretary.

The interesting juxtaposition was in how Peggy is incredibly creative but has to leave the firm for the chance to move up, while Joan ends up as a partner for spreading her legs. The old double standard still exists at SCDP.

 

[KObalto]



Regarding Pete: He was developing into a complex character for some time, but now he's just a greedy, underhanded, one-dimensional person. .

Agreed. If you look back at the first couple of seasons, every time Pete had an idea, Don would shoot it down, but all the ideas were similar to what later became highly successful 60s ad campaigns.

 

[Piobaire]



Actually Weiner signed on for three more seasons last summer, so there will be at least two more seasons after this one ends.

I thought it was just for one more season and have been viewing this season through the lens of it being the penultimate one.

 

[Bradford]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/31/mad-men-matthew-weiner-amc_n_843409.html

 

[Piobaire]

Ah, cool.

Okay, now I'm also wondering why cutting Peggy and the whole Joan thing.

 

[Teacher]



I thought it was just for one more season and have been viewing this season through the lens of it being the penultimate one.

You may be thinking of Breaking Bad.

( )

 

[Manton]

I don't assume that Peggy is really gone. She's always been the female lead on the show, much more than Betty. I think they may choose to focus on her new job.

Then again, that's a pretty big expansion of the cast and I'm not sure they can afford that. Also, January Jones still comes up in the credits as a lead player and she has been in all of two episodes this seasons.

I agree with those who say the Joan move was dumb plotting. Too soapy. So, so unlikely to happen IRL.

 

[otc]

It doesn't seem like it has been said yet in this thread...and I hate to speculate based on the "next week in..." crap,

But maybe the way peggy stays in the story is that Don decides he wants to make a move? The "don't tell anyone" comment to Meghan, the "should I be talking about this" phone call, the disgust at the way his partners moved in on the Joan deal.

 

[Teacher]

It's possible, but I don't really see it. Then again, with the whole "Joan the whore" thing going on, anything's possible.

 

[Piobaire]



It doesn't seem like it has been said yet in this thread...and I hate to speculate based on the "next week in..." crap,

But maybe the way peggy stays in the story is that Don decides he wants to make a move? The "don't tell anyone" comment to Meghan, the "should I be talking about this" phone call, the disgust at the way his partners moved in on the Joan deal.

That's an incredible thought. Not sure how I can see it happening...I mean, Don being Don, is going to require partner status...but it's an interesting thought.

 

[sugarbutch]

The Joan thing is real-world implausible, but within the universe of the show, I think it's consistent with the way they position her as a woman of the '50s and Peggy as a woman of the '60s. Joan, fundamentally, believes that her physical charms are more powerful than her intelligence. Her mistaken belief that Don, on the heels of their recent reconnection, approved of Pete's proposition, simply confirmed her worst doubts.

From her perspective, her prospects must look pretty dismal. She already believes that no man she'd want would want her with child attached; she clearly despises her mother but can't do without her; she craves the respectability of being a married woman so much that she married her ******; and her career has a glass ceiling three inches thick. It's a way out and up. Plus, Sterling, Draper, & Campbell would all shag a female client if it would get the business!

 

[idfnl]



That's an incredible thought. Not sure how I can see it happening...I mean, Don being Don, is going to require partner status...but it's an interesting thought.

Don leaving to start a new thing with Peggy or join her where she is? Isnt that why Peggy left? I dont see it.

 

[lefty]

It's not unreasonable to have them say, "This guy fancies you, can we set up a dinner where you flirt a little?" and have the situation escalate or get out of hand from there. Having them offer her 5% (potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars) in such a cavalier manner to **** they guy is so unrealistic it borders on silly.

Weiner - master of the facepalming subtlety. "You kids take that drycleaning bag and go play outside."

lefty

 

[violethour1951]

The writers tried to create pressure around the situation to make it a touch more realistic -- (1) SCDP had only 2 days between the dinner with the Jaguar exec and the presentation itself; (2) the guy admitted he's too shy to woo women and was explicit about spending a night with Joan; (3) he could sway the other 2 Jaguar execs and completely sabotage SCDP's chances if he didn't get his way.