#madmenfinale

[thisisaboutridingwaves]

A hell of a run.

[madmenseverancepackage-blog-blog]

714 - Person to Person

And with that, it’s all over. We’d like to buy you all a Coke, but we figured a podcast would be cheaper.

Music: “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” by the New Seekers .

[nerd-withglasses]

just a little review of sorts I did for my blog, check it out :)

[derekljones]

Peggy Olson Chased The Wrong Waterfall

As a connoisseur of Mad Men, I’ve come to grips with last night’s series finale that saw Don Draper go to the bottom of the barrel before coming out the other side to produce one of the most famous advertisements ever - the 1971 “I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke” spot. 

Yet, there is one item from last night’s show that has been a thorn in my side since the credits popped up the screen for the final time in the show’s 90-episode run.

The coupling of Stan Rizzo and Peggy Olson doesn’t sit well with me. Over the course of seven seasons, Stan and Peggy have been side by side through a collection of projects and maintained a jovial work relationship.

For example, head back to Season 6 when Peggy was knee-deep in work with Cutler, Gleason, & Chaough. While she toiled away in the office, who was on the other line keeping her company and giving her updates on the latest happenings with her old employer? It was Captain Shaggy, himself,  Stan Rizzo.

So, I get it. There is an obvious chemistry between the two (see Season 7.2′s Time & Life between the two about children).

Yet, when Stan made his big declaration to Peggy late in last night’s show, her response seemed forced, a tad reluctant, confused, and totally unsure. 

Her trepidation made plenty of sense. Just moments before Stan went all Dawson Leery on America, Peggy engaged in an intense phone conversation with Don Draper, who was in the middle of another emotional crisis.

Incredibly, moments after trying to talk Don off the ledge she acknowledged her feelings for Stan.

That’s where we have a problem.

From Day 1 on Mad Men, the undisputed conqueror of Peggy Olson’s universe is Don Draper. Maybe that’s why as Stan pushed Peggy to put Don on the backburner. Otherwise, he would have zero shot of landing her.

Despite their happy ending, one thing still rings true after last night’s show.

Hands down, Don is the most important man in Peggy’s life. While it never played out in a romantic fashion, it was the single most powerful on-screen combination on Mad Men.

Nothing that Stan Rizzo could ever say to Peggy would (or did) ever captivate or frustrate her the way Don did.

When Don laid the infamous “that’s what the money is for” line on Peggy during the epic Season 4 episode “The Suitcase” it launched a tirade where he mentioned himself in the sentence as Jesus. 

She forgave him.

When Don fired money in Peggy’s face during Season 5 and she left for presumed greener pastures, it appeared their relationship wouldn’t recover.

Once again though, she forgave him.

No matter how badly he treated her, Peggy has always been Team Draper. Just as important, Don has returned the favor to her professionally and in the case of last night, personally.

He made three phone calls to the three most important women in his life - Sally, Betty, and Peggy.

If Mad Men drifted into Season 8 or beyond, it’s hard for me to imagine a universe where Stan came before Don in Peggy’s world. After all, much like Don, work normally came first for Peggy. 

I don’t know that a Don/Peggy romantic relationship would have worked. She knows just about all of his tricks.

I just know that Stan wasn’t the long-term answer for this version of Peggy as long as Donald Draper roamed the earth.

[peggyspantsuit]

I was lucky enough to watch the #madmenfinale at the Ace hotel last night. I've been thinking and reading about it all day. Minor spoiler, there was a moment when Joan suggests she and Peggy start their own company. It felt like every woman (and many men, too) in an audience of 1600 cheered immediately, before the line was finished. It drowned out the next few lines. It was awesome to hear that many women cathartically yelling and expressing relief and hope and joy at women building career paths together. I've made no secret of how much Peggy has meant to me as a character. Joan's transformation, too, has been so inspiring. But the women strangers all around me in the room last night made my heart race and brought me to tears, I'm a gusher. All day, I've been imaging these strangers' daily lives in whatever struggles they face at work, and I'm so happy and grateful for the mirror Mad Men offered so many of us, and I'm so encouraged that the thought of women supporting other women got such a visceral and overwhelming response.

[lumineux-reverie]

“Birdie...”

Underwhelming series finale but Weiner did his best nonetheless. He still stands to be one of the most talented TV writers to date and one of my favorites. Nothing was out of wit and everything played out sufficiently smoothly and if not, realistically. We all know that Weiner isn't one for candy-sweet hollywood endings and I think he's at the very least, given all of us as bittersweet an ending as he possibly could've and further, with a lingering taste of hope on the side. Highlights of 'Person to Person' - Roger remains hilariously witty till the very end, executing the best lines on the show. It only seems befitting for him to finally commit to sharing a life with someone his age, even if it has to be with Megan Calvet's deranged french mother. Moderately cute and if anything, Roger seems happy and I'm happy for him. - Pete Campbell with BEAUTIFUL Trudy and the cutest little girl on the show, Tammy (sorry Sally), headed towards a new life in the Midwest and on a private jet at that. But not slowly after scenes of Pete showing his sincere desire to change for the better and it seems this rumored change has done his soul and his attitude some good. - Sally proves to be as cool as she is smart. While Gene seems somewhat like a borderline illiterate seven year old, Sally and Bobby have proven to have the kind, altruistic, tendencies of their dad and the good looks of both their parents and perhaps, a Henry-motivated sense of maturity. The kids will be alright. - Can we talk about Stan Rizzo and Peggy Olson please? Was that a matchmade in heaven or what? I've loved Stan from the moment he stepped foot on the show for his chill attitude and hippie like tendencies and how they contrasted that of Peggy's uptight nature. It isn't surprising that these two end up together and they are both very talented in their own right. Stan loves Peggy so much. Peggy loves Stan just enough. Their moment of confession was cute enough to last me for the rest of the episode. - Joan Holloway-Harris. Her life didn't end in tragedy and she truly did seem happy getting the half of what she wanted. It wasn't the half she truly deserved and if anything, I wish she hadn't been such a feminist and had just settled for the half that was love. She deserved that more than any success in the corporate world because it's something she had never found and presumably will not for a good while to come. - Don frickin' Draper, ad man turned yogi. It's hard to imagine someone who's committed so many mistakes in his lifetime to become fully redeemed in the series finale. In truth, he didn't and wasn't half as well-redeemed as Pete Campbell was. Pete saw his mistakes, confronted them and made the sincere effort to change. In this episode, Don simply and only took the step to realize his mistakes. "I took someone else's name and made nothing of it." had to be the best line of the bunch. I'm glad Don's finally shown the ability to reflect on his actions and though slower than the rest, it is his first and final step to getting to the good place we all want him to be in. - I also just love Ken Cosgrove. - Jon Hamm is also an incredible actor and it breaks my heart to see him cry. January Jones did good this episode, surprisingly. Definitely not one of the best episodes by far but well done, Matt. Mad Men, it's been an incredible journey.