Open “Mad Men” thread

I’ve been a devotee of Mad Men since the show premiered, and now that season two has ended, I’m going into withdrawal.  So, fellow devotees of the show should feel free to say what they thought of last night’s finale.  I liked the parallel between the Cuban Missile Crisis and the power struggle between Don ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

I've been a devotee of Mad Men since the show premiered, and now that season two has ended, I'm going into withdrawal.  So, fellow devotees of the show should feel free to say what they thought of last night's finale.  I liked the parallel between the Cuban Missile Crisis and the power struggle between Don and Duck over the future of Sterling Cooper.  I would have liked just a teensy bit more explanation for why Don decided to return from California (I vote for the kids-- this season showed him to be the more empathetic parent) to his old life in New York.  Contra show creator Matthew Weiner, I do think there's such a thing as being too elliptical.  Mostly, however, I'm in awe of Elizabeth Moss, who plays Peggy Olsen.  I think EW's Karen Valby nails how I felt about her big scene of the show:  Elisabeth Moss made the final case that it was the women who ruled this season and should be commended appropriately come Emmy season. With sublime restraint, and such honest, desperate sorrow, she told Pete that she'd had his baby and that she'd given it away. As he stuttered out bleats of disbelief, she explained herself ("I wanted other things") and gave powerful voice to her private grief. "One day you're there and then all of the sudden there's less of you. And you wonder where that part went — if it's living somewhere outside of you — and you keep thinking maybe you'll get it back and then you realize it's just gone." My mouth was hanging open by the end of the scene, and I felt as dumbstruck as Pete. I hope that when the director called cut, Moss and Vincent Kartheiser shook the scene off of them like wet dogs and then slapped each other five, breathlessly insisting that "You're the best actor ever!" "No you're the best!" "You are!" "Oh my God, when that one tear fell down your cheek!" "And then when your hand lingered on my shoulder!" "We are so awesome!" "Beers on me!" My final question -- will next season begin or end with the Kennedy assassination?  My money is on "end."  UPDATE:  Jon Hamm's hosting of SNL allowed this great spoof of his character:   

I’ve been a devotee of Mad Men since the show premiered, and now that season two has ended, I’m going into withdrawal.  So, fellow devotees of the show should feel free to say what they thought of last night’s finale.  I liked the parallel between the Cuban Missile Crisis and the power struggle between Don and Duck over the future of Sterling Cooper.  I would have liked just a teensy bit more explanation for why Don decided to return from California (I vote for the kids– this season showed him to be the more empathetic parent) to his old life in New York.  Contra show creator Matthew Weiner, I do think there’s such a thing as being too elliptical.  Mostly, however, I’m in awe of Elizabeth Moss, who plays Peggy Olsen.  I think EW’s Karen Valby nails how I felt about her big scene of the show: 

Elisabeth Moss made the final case that it was the women who ruled this season and should be commended appropriately come Emmy season. With sublime restraint, and such honest, desperate sorrow, she told Pete that she’d had his baby and that she’d given it away. As he stuttered out bleats of disbelief, she explained herself (“I wanted other things”) and gave powerful voice to her private grief. “One day you’re there and then all of the sudden there’s less of you. And you wonder where that part went — if it’s living somewhere outside of you — and you keep thinking maybe you’ll get it back and then you realize it’s just gone.” My mouth was hanging open by the end of the scene, and I felt as dumbstruck as Pete. I hope that when the director called cut, Moss and Vincent Kartheiser shook the scene off of them like wet dogs and then slapped each other five, breathlessly insisting that “You’re the best actor ever!” “No you’re the best!” “You are!” “Oh my God, when that one tear fell down your cheek!” “And then when your hand lingered on my shoulder!” “We are so awesome!” “Beers on me!”

My final question — will next season begin or end with the Kennedy assassination?  My money is on “end.”  UPDATE:  Jon Hamm’s hosting of SNL allowed this great spoof of his character: 

 

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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