Mad Men Season 5 running thread

Agreed.

In my mind he stands for what wins out when the dreams of the 1960s die. He runs the office.

 

I almost wish that they had never had the Campell rape/coercive sex scene with the au pair, because I think that makes it impossible to evaluate him as a complicated character. It makes him utterly irredeemable, much like Joan's husband, and I think that's a writing mistake for a major character with nuances.

 

But . . . but . . . with no more American Tobacco, Sal could actually come back!

 

Is Pete the guy who falls/jumps off the building in the opening sequence?

If that opening has any meaning, someone's taking a dive before this show concludes

 

The shape of the head -- and the fact that "he" is a smoker -- clearly identifies the falling man as Don.

Whether plot imitates the opening art remains to be seen.

 

In the first season Harry Crane was supposed to have jumped to his death after getting fired but the writers changed their minds. Rich Sommer spoke about this and how he was completely unaware how close he was to being off the show.

 

A couple of episodes back, Roger was talking with the new young copywriter about opening the windows and throwing something out. That could be read as foreshadowing, but probably was just an intentional misdirect by Weiner.

 

The way Pete was emasculated I wouldn't be surprised if he did use that gun but on someone else.

 

I think this is more likely, as it would be more in character for him to shoot someone else than himself.

 

I think if Pete pulls the trigger of a gun, or tries to carry out some action involving the gun, the result will not be what he intended.

 

I wouldn't say a character has to actually go out the window for the opening to have "any meaning." Do you really think we saw if not the climatic scene of the series, a pivotal one, before any of the actors actually appeared on screen?

Perhaps the "meaning" of the opening credits is Don is man who feels like he is a free fall.

 

The opening is entirely symbolic. If not, it's a about as clumsy as you can get