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Originally Posted by Reaper16
(Post 8671835)
It all comes down to whether Don can handle Megan as actress. I mean, that's been a large part of season 5, but maybe this commercial makes Megan's career take off. He either accepts it, or he regresses as a character. Which isn't that interesting, IMO.
What might be interesting is if Megan leaves Don. One line in favor of Don being the old, cheating Don (or at least a Don without having to worry about staying faithful to Megan): when Don tells Peggy "that's what people do when you help them - they get better and move on." And Don did help Megan land that commercial.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Reaper16
(Post 8672312)
Now I'm thinking hard about that scene where Don watched Megan's screentest. What say you, CP? Did Megan's screentest show great promise as an actress? Or did it confirm that she doesn't have the stuff to make it?
I'm debating between the two readings. On one hand, Don could realize that she's got the stuff to be successful, and decides to help her on her way towards success...knowing full well that her success will drive them apart.
On the other hand, Don might just see in her screentest the same expressions that she uses in their marriage, which would be upsetting. So he is casting her aside by helping her to "get better and move on."
Or he knows that, like her mom said, she's chasing a phantom...he knows she'll never be a real artist, so he helps her get into commercial acting...knowing that advertising is the death knell of her artistic dreams. She then becomes a diminished person in Don's eyes -- much closer to Betty (remember, she was a model!) than the Megan of earlier this season. Which makes it considerably easier for Don to cheat on her, then.
And even if Don is sincerely trying to help Megan, his help makes it psychologically easier for him to cheat on her. So, like Lane's wife tells Don earlier, Don's gesture of help is mostly done for selfish reasons.
Most of the signs point to Don reverting back to full-on adulterer mode. That isn't that interesting to me; it feels like the show stalling Don's character arc to milk out a couple more seasons that the show actually needs. BUT I very much appreciate the mystery behind exactly why Don's little cliffhanger moment happens.
For a season in which Mad Men laid its themes more bare than it ever has (to the point of being frequently on-the-nose, ESPECIALLY in the finale), the last 12 minutes or so with Don brought back the mystery that this show as always thrived on.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Reaper16
(Post 8672623)
Yeah, the more I think on it (after my third full re-watch) the more I get convinced that Don is gonna' sleep with that woman at the bar. I think that analysis from The Orange Couch is correct when it asserts that Don is accepting the bad parts of himself. Too bad the show had to use that dentist scene to get him there; I think that might just be the worst scene in Mad Men history. Talk about overdoing it.
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I'm not going to go nearly this in depth with why I think he's going to cheat. Only a couple reasons.
1. When things have been seemingly perfect for Don, that's not a good thing for him. He always needs to fix something.
2. Don hasn't cheated since he got rid of all of his Dick Whitman baggage. That seems to be back with both Sally asking and him seeing his brother. However, it could just be said that he hasn't cheated since then because he's been with Megan since then, so I guess that could go either way.
I don't know, as with any person who is addicted to something, sometimes they get sober for a long period of time before relapse. I don't think it would make the show worse if he has another extra-marital affair. Maybe if he does, Megan will handle it differently than Betty did, and that could be interesting to watch.
Either way, I'm upset that we have to wait many months to watch the best show on TV again. |
