Mad Men 7x08 Reaction

Mad Men has never had a bad episode but this has to be among the least interesting. The Rachel callback does signal the beginning of the end, which is a good thing.

That was quite the lore drop on Clara and this Torkelson that Pete delivered in just a couple of sentences.

You're right that Stan has never looked more attractive than he does now. The '70s style definitely works for him. The moustaches on everybody else are also very true to the era, even if they're less-successful on Roger and Ted. Perhaps the most Dramatic part of this episode that goes past so quickly people often don't notice it, is that Don is telling stories from his REAL past on that date at the opening. He mentions Dick Whitman's family, not Don Draper's family. He's finally accepted that that is HIS history, and he no longer pretends it never happened at all. He's a minor character, but I do like Stevie for how he accepted Peggy's "no". He obviously wasn't happy about it, but he didn't get angry or shout or try to force the issue. He smiled, made plans for the future, and walked out of her apartment. It's a basic decency that we hardly ever see from the men here. For Ken Cosgrove, on the one hand I also want him to get away from SC&P for his own mental health, but on the other hand I do also enjoy seeing him get revenge for all of the slights and insults that have been heaped upon him. Sometimes "spite" is a valid motivation. Oh, regarding why people are laughing about John Mathis's name, there is a very famous real-life signer named Johnny Mathis. So they get a lot of mileage out of that similarity.

Ray Wise is such an effective shorthand for "Dow Chemical is evil". Great casting. Leland Palmer eating a pop tart 😐 Qvnan... V'z xvaq bs fcyvg ba guvf bar: Sebz n cher ragregnvazrag fgnaqcbvag,V qba'g guvax vg'f n irel vagrerfgvat fgbel gb jngpu -- juvpu fubhyq cebonoyl or n qrnyoernxre sbe gur cybg nurnq bs rirelguvat. Ohg cyhzovat gur cflpubybtvpny qrcguf bs "Qba zrrgf (naq fgehttyrf gb erpbtavmrf) gur srznyr irefvba bs uvzfrys" zvtug or jbegu vg? V'ir yvxrq bgure Ryvmnorgu Ernfre cresbeznaprf, ohg V guvax fur'f gur jrnx yvax urer. N zber pbzcryyvat cresbeznapr jbhyq qrsvavgryl ryringr guvf fgbelyvar.

lowkey one of the most depressing episodes honestly. Ken, maybe the show's most morally sound character, being so worn down by years of awful treatment that he takes a job for a company that makes chemical weapons out of spite, the scumbags causing Peggy and Joan to take shots at each other, Rachel dead, Don... feeling like Don again. Nothing about his behaviour here is disastrous necessarily, he's not cheating or being particularly cruel to anyone, but it struck me watching back episode 7 that his speech to Ted about how he felt so much better going back to basics and "doing things he did at the start" recalls what Faye said to him in their last conversation, that he only likes the beginnings of things. 7A was huge progress for him, but now's the big test: Keep doing it when it's not a beginning anymore.

"Is That All There Is" really is Mad Men summed up. IIRC it was originally planned to be the opening theme song

FYI, Don is a creative director, Stan is the art director

After watching Nikola Jokic's historic performance against the San Antonio Spurs, it's now time for Mad Men 🙏🏻