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Don at the table with his two kids in the last scene. The family is all together.

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I got a father/daughter vibe in the dance scene, but the family scene in the diner was Mom and Dad (Peggy/Don) with son (Pete)

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I think they had to write bob benson out of the script because he's on another show

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If you’re talking about The Crazy Ones it got cancelled. [sniff]

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but i cant help but wonder if megan is hiding something back in CA that she doesnt want don to know about.

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I got that vibe as well. Especially when he mentioned coming out and she said “When?!” in a kind of worried/nervous tone.

It would be very convenient if Megan would just shack up with some Hollywood producer type. Hell Don would probably just give them his blessing at this point.

Alright, fellow over-analyzers, help me out on this. The midseason finale is called "Waterloo." Here are some key points about that battle that may be important here:

-Napoleon returned from exile, assembled a new army, and decided to attack his foes one by one before they could unite and defeat him
-He made a tactical blunder/miscalculation (waited for the ground to dry before attacking, thus giving reinforcements time to arrive) that led to his defeat
-Realizing he had lost, Napoleon abdicated power to his son and fled the country, eventually coming under British protection
-He lived a few more uneventful years and then died

Is the Burger Chef pitch going to be Don's Waterloo? If so, who does he leave in charge? Peggy?

The phrase "your Waterloo" is also a common phrase for basically the hardest thing you'll ever have to do. For Don, I could see walking away from Megan after he's worked so hard to make it work being "his Waterloo". By the same accord, walking away from SD&P could also be "his Waterloo".

If you want to be more literal, he certainly "attacked" Cutler and Lou at the PM meeting aggressively. Could the Burger Chef pitch be his miscalculation if he pitches the new idea, they pass on it. End of this 1st half of season.

In the 2nd half, Lou and Cutler use Don's pitch as a scapegoat to railroad Don out of SD&P over Peggy's objection. Don get's exiled to California to live out the rest of his days. Without Don there to fight it with Roger, SD&P is finally acquired by McCann. They liquidate Lou. Peggy ends up starting her own agency.

"To meet your Waterloo" means to arrive at a final, decisive moment that results in your defeat.

So who's Waterloo/defeat will we be seeing? I'm betting it's not Don's but Lou's or Cutler's.

That's what I said! Booby traps!

Did anyone else find it interesting that they completely dismissed the JFK assassination? Nothing more than Don's passing glance at the morning paper?

Considering it happened 6 years earlier, it was just an old newspaper.

It was also when he and Betty broke up. It was symbolism and foreshadowing.

[This message has been edited by Unthought Known (edited 5/21/2014 12:02p).]

possibly because it happened 6 years prior and was a major part of the series when they went through that timeline.

Haha. Damn. Nevermind.

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Did anyone else find it interesting that they completely dismissed the JFK assassination? Nothing more than Don's passing glance at the morning paper?

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Do you even Mad Men, bro?

"Kennedy was shot? Huh. Where's the fondue pot?"

Total mental-lapse. Maybe that's what happens when you watch the DVR at 1 AM on a Monday night.

Carry on...

hahaha, there was a split second for me too when I saw the paper and didn't realize it was old, and I wondered what the hell was going on...

I was confused at first too

It's also what happens when AMC spaces out the episodes as far as they have. It's really easy to forget little details like that.

For example, I went back and watched parts of the episode where Lane killed himself to confirm that the Mets pennant Don found in his office this season was hanging up in there (it was) and saw the scene where the agency gets its first request for a fee vs. commission structure from a potential new client. The partners were completely baffled until Lane explained it to them (Roger was especially clueless), which I suppose adds some level of significance to this year's scene in which Joan explains it to the business school professor since it shows how far she's come.

I'm sure there are a million more little details that we've all forgotten about due to time. I guess the good news is there will be plenty of time before the next "season" to go back and re-watch the entire series as many times as you want.

and harry didn't even F the jaguar pig

Didn't Harry also basically dress Joan down after she was made partner? He was pissed she was being made partner(over him I'm sure) and in front of her he basically said "we all know why they made you partner" or something?

Last season IIRC...he pissed her off with some statement about it.

I think a common theme among almost every character involved with the firm at one point or another is this anger and sense of "do you all not understand how important I am to this company?!?!" that they have to deal with in their own ways. They all feel they are crucial to the firm's success...and they all are in one way or another, but the sun still comes up with or without them the next day.

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I guess the good news is there will be plenty of time before the next "season" to go back and re-watch the entire series as many times as you want.

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Definitely doing this before the final seven next year. Going to knock out every episode one last time, probably starting this fall and into the new year.

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Joan may also loathe Harry and the success of the TV department from way, way back when she filled in and helped Harry read scripts and work on product placement.

She was infinitely better and more intuitive than Harry was. Yet they took her work and sent her back to her desk. Now Harry's still blundered along and finds himself at the same partners' table with less effort or skill than she perceives he should have.

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Didn't Harry also basically dress Joan down after she was made partner? He was pissed she was being made partner(over him I'm sure) and in front of her he basically said "we all know why they made you partner" or something?

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Yes and Yes. He also went over her head when she tried to fire his secretary (who I'm pretty sure he was banging, and I'm wondering if that's his baby she was so obviously was carrying).

Harry has developed competence in parts of his job, but he definitely has fallen up at times. And he has never recognized Joan's competence and business savvy; he's never seen her as anything more than a secretary. He has gotten increasingly dismissive and sexist against her, and openly treats her with disrespect....and the other partners let him get away with it.

For the over-analyzers:

http://www.vulture.com/2014/05/10-theories-about-mad-mens-mid-season-7-finale.html

Any significance to Don packing up the work gear at his house early on in the episode? Perhaps i missed something?

He knew Megan was coming to visit him so he wanted the place to look clean and presentable because he thought she'd go straight to the house when arriving.

She surprised him at the office instead.

I think Roger's daughter is still going to die. Might be wrong, but something bad is going to happen in Roger's life.

from that article, these two stand out to me... although some of the others were interesting as well. however, theory 1 is very plausible.

wow

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Theory 1: Don gets a letter that says the Department of Defense is investigating him for posing as Don Draper and deserting his military post.
As the helpful DVR description of “Waterloo” notes, Don will be “troubled by a letter,” a statement that sparked a flashback to the season-four episode “Hands and Knees,” when DOD officials questioned Betty as part of a background check on Don. (“Do you have any reason to believe Mr. Draper isn’t who he says he is?” one of the G-Men asked.)
That background check happened because Pete had finally landed North American Aviation as a client, and also because Megan, then Don’s secretary, unwittingly filled out a government form on Don’s behalf without sufficiently flailing her arms and screaming so Don would know he shouldn’t sign it. Pete took a bullet for Don, squashing the $4 million account in order to eliminate the possibility that Don would be investigated. But somewhere, in some government office, that form peppered with Don Draper red flags is still sitting there. Perhaps its information has even been sucked into a database housed in one of those dreadful computers Harry Crane loves so much. And perhaps it could resurface, especially if Betty gets background-checked as part of Henry’s attempt to become New York’s Attorney General. (Betty mentioned Henry might pursue that job in episode three of this season, “Field Trip.”)

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and, wow

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Theory 3: The ‘Don Is D.B. Cooper Theory’ will come to fruition.
By now, Mad Men obsessives are well aware of the Don/D.B. Cooper theory that has been circulating online for a while. It’s summarized thoroughly in this Medium piece, as well as in this Slate interview with Geoffrey Grey, author of a book about Cooper. (It has also been roundly mocked, which is not an inappropriate reaction.) The gist: Mad Men will end with Don revealing himself to be D.B. Cooper, a well-dressed man who hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines flight in 1971, then jumped out of the plane and, depending on whom you believe, disappeared or died ... but only after smoking a cigarette, drinking a couple of bourbons, and charming some flight attendants first. It’s a tantalizing theory, one bolstered by that purposely vague AMC promo, which shows Don on an airplane and declares, “It’s all up in the air.” The problem is that a D.B. Cooper reveal seems more likely to happen, if it happens at all, in the series finale, not the middle-of-season-seven finale. Or, you know, not at all.

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[This message has been edited by annie88 (edited 5/21/2014 4:30p).]

D.B. Cooper? They cannot be serious with that.

They, and other sites have been running with DB Cooper for so long. I cant believe these people still think that.

This is Mad Men. Not Nip/Tuck.

Watched the season 2 finale today. Striking resemblance between Duck Phillips and Lou Avery. In this episode Duck is to be made president of the company when the British take over. Duck gives a boardroom speech about minimizing creative's control of the firm, and how they need to focus more on television and revenue. Don reveals that if Duck becomes president then he is leaving "If this is the firm you want...good for you. I won't be a part of it" - Duck didn't know about the Don not having a signed contract - he thought he could own him with the non-compete.

Also in this episode Pete confesses his true love for Peggy and she destroys him with the reveal of the baby giveaway - "I could have shamed you into being with me forever, but I didn't want to" - he's devastated and she finds peace with God as the Cuban Missile Crisis looms over everything.

I can't get enough of this show.

[This message has been edited by Internetfan02 (edited 5/21/2014 6:59p).]

Watching end of season 4, found a major Bert Cooper meltdown over Draper's actions that we missed discussing as reasons Cooper is not supporting Don anymore:

After the company loses Lucky Strike Don randomly decides to take out a page in the NYT declaring he's done advertising for tobacco companies.

Cooper: "I never thought you had the stomach for a partnership. I'm no longer a part of this agency. We've created a monster"

At the time I think we thought Bert was fading into obscurity and wouldn't be missed anyway - who knew he'd still be a power player in the agency 4 years later?

Don Bert Cooper, the trust fund baby?

Now that it's finally here, this (half) season is no doubt ending way too soon. These past six weeks/episodes have gone by in a blink. That said, I still find myself pretty pumped for tonight. All I'm really rooting for is the inclusion of the moon landing (been waiting years to see how they use that) and a conclusive end to Don and Megan's relationship (even though I like her character more than others do, but their relationship has definitely run its course). Intrigued by all the office drama, but I'm not super-invested in it. I feel like I'll be fine with whatever happens on that side of things.

As for Megan, I actually went back and re-watched that scene from last week where she's cleaning out her NY closet, and now I really do feel like there's something more going on there. Someone on here suggested a few days ago that she was hiding something back in LA, and I thought that seemed a little paranoid at the time, but now that I've seen the scene again, when Don says he's coming to LA at the end of July, she not only has a super-surprised/"oh crap" look on her face, but she blatantly diverts their meeting to a neutral location. The first time around, I genuinely bought her reasoning (her simply wanting to "get away" with him to some place that's not NY or LA), but now, not so much. The "end of July" bit was pretty specific (and also when the moon landing happened), as was how blatantly Weiner potentially set up an out-of-town get-away (hinting at that being a plot point). I could obviously be totally off base, though. We might not even see Megan this ep, and they may very well save the moon landing for the first episode next season. Who knows. Just wanted to go on record as saying something seems uber-suspicious about whatever Megan currently has going on in LA...

[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 5/25/2014 4:41p).]