Let’s Talk About… Mad Men Season Seven – Bony's Whimsical Explorations & Reviews

Hello, and welcome to TV Tuesday- today I’m going to be talking about the seventh and final season of the hit AMC drama Mad Men!

I can’t believe it’s over.

Left to right: Harry Hamlin as Jim Culter, Kevin Rahm as Ted Chaough, John Slattery as Roger Sterling, Robert Morse as Bertram Cooper, Elizabeth Moss as Peggy Olsen, Christina Hendricks as Joan Holloway, Jon Hamm as Don Draper, Jessica Pare as Megan Draper, Rich Sommer as Harry Crane, Vincent Kartheiser as Pete Campbell, Arron Staton as Ken Cosgrove, Jay R. Ferguson as Stan Rizzo, Ben Feldman as Michael Ginsberg, January Jones as Betty Draper, Christopher Stanley as Henry Francis, and Kiernan Shipka as Sally Draper

The last and final season is a chaotic mess. Characters are everywhere with their stories, and plots seem to get tangled up. The season starts with all of our characters. Don is on his way to visit Megan in L.A. since he’s still in New York, but is technically jobless. He is still trying to keep up appearances, using Frank and Dawn, he’s still pitching ideas, and staying connected. Sneaky. That’s what makes it great when Sally goes to his office, and find he’s no longer working there. I swear it’s always Sally who finds everything out about Don. I also just want to mention how much older Sally looks; she’s turning into a beautiful young lady!

We have Lou Avery, an old, grumpy man taking Don’s place, ugh I hate him more than Don and Pete combined (doesn’t help I’ve grown a little soft spot for both of them over the seasons). I hope he’s gone by mid-season.

Although I don’t think he’s going anywhere now that Don has gained himself a job back at SC & Partners. He’s to work under Peggy as a copywriter, and Don is pissed. He thinks he’s so much better than the position so he blows things off, and gets completely wasted. It’s Frank that comes and rescues him. Frank, speaking from experience as he was asked to take a leave of absence back in season 3, I believe it was. That’s when Don shapes up and does what he’s asked. It doesn’t help when he agreed to come back he agreed to rules, and he cannot break them or they will fire him.

Everyone seems to be having secretary issues. Lou doesn’t like Dawn because she’s still talking to Don; Bert doesn’t like Dawn out at reception because of her colour (ugh), and Peggy can’t stand her secretary because she’s getting married. I hate Peggy SO much. Before I get to Peggy, Dawn gets to move up and she now has Joan’s job of controlling the office and it’s personnel. Go girl! Now Joan has an office upstairs because she’s got accounts now. Things are changing!

Now Peggy is a sad lonely asshole. I have no sympathy left for her; she’s just a plain bitch now. She orders everyone around, and half the time doesn’t care about the work they do (that’s why Michael doesn’t like her). She’s still pining for Ted (puke) so when Valentine’s Date roles around and she sees flowers on her desk she automatically assumes they’re from him.

She’s pissed, but then she gets pissed off when she finds out they’re not hers at all, but her secretary’s. Peggy lashes out at her. This whole plot with Ted is frustratingly annoying, and pathetic.

But she has a sweet moment with Julio her neighbour. He’s moving, and he’s going to miss her because he’s always going to her apartment to watch tv. They have a cute bond, who would have thought Peggy could have such a bond.

Peggy also goes on a date with Matheson’s brother-in-law in which they have a very good time and they plan to go to Paris together. Is she finally starting think about things other than work? Haha, nope since that doesn’t go very far.

Pete starts off completely different, he’s all hugging Don, it’s weird. But he’s back to his good old self in no time demanding things, and expecting that he be entitled to things that he needs to work for. Ugh he belongs with Peggy. But he’s with Bonnie, an L.A. real-estate agent, I don’t really care for her, she just bugs me, she’s always so bubbly.

Michael takes a freaking turn for the worst. The company decides to finally get a computer, and it’s a very big change. Some don’t care (like Peggy) others are going crazy, just not as crazy as Michael. The humming of the machine drives him to profess his love to Peggy, and to cut his nipple off. Ew. That’s the end of his character. Wow I never saw that coming.

Now I have to talk about Bob Benson because I can’t figure him out, which is the whole point. He’s pretty much fooling everyone at SC&P because he gets insight that Chevy is leaving the company and Bob is getting the account, which means he’s leaving, it’s all really weird with him. He’s also fooling Joan, but I finally got my answer to his orientation, not that it matters. But he asks Joan for her hand in marriage, claiming he could give her everything, and she says she doesn’t want him to marry a girl, and she wants to marry for love, and not for safety and insurance pretty much.

Later Joan finds herself in California for the company, although we don’t see her doing anything for the company but she finds a new man, Jim who just kind of comes out of nowhere. But he can’t stay with her because she still has a young son and he’s already raised his kids. This puts a strain on Joan, and she realizes that things are not easy. She almost leaves her son for this guy- how could she do that?!? But Jim comes around. Thank god.

Roger is having a crazy season, or his daughter is. His daughter has run away to be with hippies, and he tries to understand her, and tries to get her to come home back to her husband and son, and she throws it right back at him, which I understood. She used his absence in her life to justify her leaving her son. I feel bad for her poor son, and the whole situation is kinda shitty.

Don and Megan are going through a shitty divorce. It’s dragging on, and I know it’s meant to show how painful the divorce is, but it’s getting super annoying to watch. Don is trying to sell the house, but that is a challenge. I love how Megan takes everything from Don, leaving his apartment empty.

And obviously Don is seeing another woman. He will never be able to stay alone.

Then he just ups and leaves. He sees a plane out the window while they are in a meeting with a client, and Don just walks out, and he’s on this journey, not really sure the purpose of it; I don’t think he knows either. I think he’s tired of pretending to be Don Draper.

Betty’s got a smaller role this season. We barely see her, only to fight with Henry and Sally, but this leads to seeing more of Bobby. Poor Bobby wants to runaway with Sally, that was a cute scene.

But she does decide to go back to school for psychology because she thinks she can be a shrink because people like to talk to her.

We get hit with a BIG bomb. Betty is diagnosed with lung cancer. Holy crap. She doesn’t want treatment because she knows her last year of her life will be a strain on her family, and she doesn’t want to put them through that. When Sally cries when she reads her mother’s letter, ugh so sad.

Half way through the season, as they are watching the men land on the moon, Bert dies. So sad.Ken is also having quite the season. His father-in-law is retiring, and that changes the company. This leads to SC&P wanting to let go of him. He thinks about taking his time to write another novel, but instead he decides to leave, and become head of advertising of Dow Chemicals and fires SC&P.

As the season and series winds down, the drama does not. The SC&P goes through yet another change, because why not? McCane-Ecrikson takes over SC&P, the building is empty and both Roger and Peggy find it hard to part ways- it doesn’t help that Peggy’s office wasn’t even ready.

I can’t forget Glen comes back and dammmmmnnnn. He’s gotten better looking it. Betty sure noticed haha. He stops by to say goodbye because he has joined the army. Sally is super pissed about it because she thinks he’s going to die.

Glen comes back just once more to say goodbye to Betty, he tries to kiss her and tell her he’s doing it all for her (the army) because he flunked out of school.

In the series finale we see all of our characters moving on to bigger and better adventures. Let’s start with Don, he’s in the middle of nowhere, but finds himself in California where he becomes one with the people. He joins a hippy group and he’s able to feel how awful he has been as a person.

Betty is still dying, and Sally and Bobby are helping out. It’s so cute when Bobby tries to cook dinner.

Joan has left McCan because she doesn’t agree with how they do their business. They are willing to buy her out of her partnership with SC&P because it doesn’t mean much to them, and they give her half, which Roger tells her to do. This gets the wheels turning, and she asks Peggy to join her in starting a new company altogether. Peggy turns her down, so she does it all herself, go girl.

Peggy finally finds love! With Stan haha. They profess their love over the phone while in the office; it was actually really sweet. So they stay at McCan as happy as clams.

Roger finds himself with Megan’s mother Marie. Those two are funny. Roger retires from the business, which I think is for the best.

Pete gets a job in Kansas, and he pleads with Trudy to take him back so they can move together and be a family. That was a cute scene. I’m glad they are back together.

This TV show has been a roller coaster of events, and for the most part it was very enjoyable. Not a show I’d likely watch again, but a show that is definitely worth a least watching once.