...so I've watched just about all of Mad Men on Netflix

[OmahaBlueDog]

I'm up to where SCDP has lost Lucky Strike, and Joan is expecting Roger's baby.

Question: Will the show still be fun in the late 60s? Won't watching Don Draper during the "Summer of Love" be like watching someone shoot fish in a barrel?

[Major Nikon]

1. The great thing about the show is you don't know where it's going to go next

I read something that the writers really don't have an intricate plan as far as where the plot goes next. They just have a general idea and let each episode build on the story and then go from there.

We've already seen a bit of Draper's interaction with the free love culture during his philandering in the first season. I think the experience left him with a bad taste in his mouth and I wouldn't expect it to be repeated. Draper is the kind of guy that likes the chase as much as the catch, so he seems to gravitate towards a different type of woman.

[OmahaBlueDog]

2. I'm assuming the Draper daughter will get caught up in the late 60s counter culture

She's like 10 in '65, so she'd be in HS by '69, if they take the show that far.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

3. I've been watching MM since it started and am a big fan.

But for me personally, as the sixties drag on, much of the shine is wearing off. I think the attraction I had was for the late atomic age style, and attitude that it started with. As it moves into the later '60's it starts becoming more of what I was accustomed to, growing up in the 70's. I can't wait to start watching again in March, but its not as alien and alluring.

But, more to the point of your question, is anything fun when its allowed? Also Don Draper is cut from 1950's cloth, I think he's too old to assimilate with the free love crowd. Would love to see a return of Paul Kinsey, though now as a hippie.

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. I don't see the show being as much fun, going forward

It will be interesting

How do Joan and Peggy each deal with the rise of femminism?
How does 'Nam impact SCDP?
Will Betty Francis (nee Draper) lose her damn mind when she doesn't recognize the world anymore (in about a year and a half)?
Will SCDP hire some black artists or copywriters?
Will they all stay on Madison Avenue? Is LA in their future?

[Joe Shlabotnik]

5. I agree totally with your subject line.

but consulting my crystal ball says in reply to your questions;
Joan: no way, Peggy: all in
Nam = Dead hubby
Yes
Yes
both, (hence my wish for Paul Kinsey to return)

But my all time prediction is that the show will end on July 20th 1969 with Betty and Don sitting lovingly together on the living room couch, watching the moon landing.

[OmahaBlueDog]

6. I'm conflicted on the "dies in 'Nam" part

Part of me agrees with you; However, part of me says he's injured, not killed, and then comes back a shattered man with his obviously unfaithful wife, a kid that's not his, and a world he (like Betty Francis) no longer can recognize.

I don't think we've seen the last of Kinsey.

I'm trying to figure out how they'll get rid of Henry Francis. Will he die a 60's type death (wreck with drunk driver), will he be killed by the creepy boy who walked in on Betty in the bathroom and hasn't been right since, or will he end up jailed in a political scandal. Maybe he'll live, but Betty and Don will end up cheating with one another.

I'm still wondering when Pete is going to learn about his/Peggy's child.

I agree that Don /Betty reunite (not sure about remarry, but reunite). I have several end-of-show theories. Theory 1 is that it would end with Nixon's election, which ties the show back to the beginning and the Nixon/JFK campaign. Theory 2 is that it ends with Cooper's death, theory 2.5 is that it ends with Sterling's death. Theory 3 (which appeals to my sense of irony) is that in a world of college students dodging the draft, Dick Whittington is found out and arrested for desertion. I like your theory, actually.

[Bolo Boffin]

7. Pete already knows about the kid

End of the second season, Peggy told him she gave it up.

[OmahaBlueDog]

9. Wow - I missed that

I have to go back and rewatch those last few episodes of S2.

Thanks!

[Joe Shlabotnik]

8. lol, wow, you have better imagination than I do.

Last edited Sat Jan 28, 2012, 03:41 AM - Edit history (1)

I agree about the Vietnam thing. It could go either way, but guaranteed it will go wither one way or the other.... he ain't commin' back 'whole'. Personally I think he is too minor of a character to come back alive and carry all sorts of baggage into the story. (kind of like Father Gill)

Pete Does know about the baby, btw. Peggy told him towards the end of season 3 I think.

Henry... will be written off. Maybe a hint is that S5 Ep5 (according to IMDB) is titled 'Signal 30' which used to be the police code for a highway fatality if I'm not mistaken.

And ya, Dick Whitman on the run would add a whole new dimension to story. Maybe thats why he married a French-Canadian girl.

[pamela]

10. I think Don will feel out of place in the late sixties.

He is everything the younger generation in the '60's hated. We saw a glimpse of that when he met Stephanie, Anna's niece. Not that she was nasty to him but she was definitely not attracted to him.

I'm going to miss the early sixties as this show progresses. The only thing I'm looking forward to about it is to see how some of the younger women change. Not just Peggy but Jane, Trudy and Megan. I can see any one of those three having some interesting storylines in the late sixties.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

11. agree 100% n/t