So, at the S3 finale party, my sister turned to me and said “It felt like the final episode of Angel.” The gathering together of people felt like the way that each member of Angel’s crew spent their last day as meaningfully as possible, and then gathered for the final showdown.
I called her the next day to tell her I thought it felt more like the final episode of Angel S4, where they all go to Wolfram & Hart to work. A total game-changer that changes the venue and the very concept of what their work is.
So a few days later I saw this.
Tonight’s Mad Men may go down as the most dramatic television reboot since Alias destroyed SD-6, since Angel Investigations took over Wolfram & Hart.
I adore that kind of confluence.
23 Responses to “Shut the Door. Not Fade Away.”
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Awww, now you've made me miss Angel! Is it on Netflix or better yet on Hulu yet?
I never watched Angel, but I found the S3 finale had a bit of a West Wing vibe. It just had that spirit of camradarie and defiance that you see in classic TWW episodes like 'Two Cathedrals'. I loved it.
I think camraderie especially is a new thing for Mad Men. The structure of the Sterling Cooper floor meant that the men were private and powerful behind their office doors and the secretaries were all exposed in the pool. There were more rivalries and power plays than actual friendships.
But at the new office you've got men and women, young and old, all mucking in together. Don and Pete will be doing their own typing and answering their own phones. Even Trudy, a housewife, has an active role to play. There is a sense of team spirit, instead of a hierarchy. It's very refreshing.
It's good that the characters who make up 'Drapers Eight' already have a lot established relationships between them – Joan/Roger, Pete/Peggy, Don/Roger, Don/Peggy, Roger/Bert, Joan/Peggy, Don/Pete, Harry/Pete, etc – I've missed ALL these relationships in S3 so I hope we'll see a lot more of them in S4.
@ 2 falafel- I agree with 90% of what you said, but there's just one point where I disagree with you. I think Joan will be answering the phones and typing. Of course, I'm sure Joan will also be helping Harry read scripts.
They're probably going to be a small office when they move, which means much more interaction.
Our Joan is smart enought to know that if she wants something different in the work place, now (Season 4) is the time. If hubby is away at basic training and then posted overseas, she might decide to go for it. I hope so!
Never watched those other shows mentioned.
You could also compare it to the usual Buffy season finale: circumstances would contrive to make Buffy (read Don) feel isolated, her world coming to an end (literally, in Buffy's case). Then her friends would rally around her to defeat the Big Bad.
Best season finale game changer: S2 Battlestar Galactica. Baltar puts his head down on the desk, when he picks it up it's a year later. That was a finale. Too bad the show went down hill the next year.
*worries*
Vinnie was in both episodes!!!
And in both MM/Angel his character was not well liked; but rallied for good in the end.
Rumor has it that they might cast this 6'8" actress/model as Don Draper's new love interest in season 4. She's 210 pounds and would outpower him constantly, signifying Draper's disempowerment at the hands of the '60s.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/img/2009/glance/tallmo…
Don't stab Pete!
#8 Rumor Mill,
I can't stop laughing.
Thanks for the pic. The funniest thing? That's about how tall my younger stepdaughter will be, at her full adult height. (She's currently 13 1/2, almost 5'8", and built like a licorice whip.)
Especially if the kid continues on her quest to eat the world.
I heart Angel, but I hated the arc that Cordelia took at the end. I heard it was all because Joss Whedon got mad that she was pregnant. Also I have to say that Vincent was not a welcome cast member for me…he was annoying.
In contrast, Buffy ended perfectly.
#11 JS,
I agree about Angel, the Cordy storyline bit and I never liked Connor, except for that brief moment when baby Connor was taken away by Holtz. Buffy ended almost perfectly for me with the exception of Anya dying and Spike going up in flames.
Not a follower of Angel, Buffy, …etc…
It felt very superhero-ish to me. Assembling the team, each with their own talents. A Justice League if you will. Or X-Men. Whichever.
Don is of course, Superman.
I actually didn't say it reminded me of the finale. I'm not an Angel expert, and so I don't know if it was the final episode or one leading up to it. Sorry, Deb. It was when Angel finally reveals that he is not turning evil but trying to bring them down from the inside, and each of the Angel-Scoobs come around and join him. The meetings, first with Bert and then Roger and the momentum was building–that is what reminded me of Angel, even if it is an inaccurate match.
Well, I said this …
http://iamatvjunkie.typepad.com/i_am_a_tv_junkie_…
I love a good game changer. And I've always preferred working in a small shop with camaraderie and a Trudy bring in every kind of sandwich.
Roberta, that may have been the next-to-last episode. But that night at the party, I heard finale. Doesn't matter. Still cool.
@#13,
Don, of course is Batman…double life, conflicted inner soul, tormented childhood, personal set of values…
#15 Joe – And a cake!
#17 dance – I guess that makes Peggy Wonder Woman? Pete is clearly Robin, the eager young go getter who doesn't always get it right.
I'd say the last three episodes of Six Feet Under also fell in to the "everything changes" category. (spoiler alert) Even though it was very much an ensemble, Nate was your entrance in to that world, and the person that connected everything, and when he dies you know that your time with these people is over, too.
@#17. Ha! As soon as I re-read it I thought duh, Batman (My favourite SH – just a messed up guy w/ toys, no powers other than lots of rage)
Pete is SO Robin it's scary.
Peggy is Batgirl: Goody two shoes & dutiful daughter Barbara Gordon …and then she dons her suit to let lose her inner self and kick ass.
#19 LAbaby – The same Barbara Gordon that Melinda McGraw plays in The Dark Knight? (Commissioner Gordon's wife)
#20 Melinda McGraw's Barbara Gordon is not Batgirl. The daughter we barely see in The Dark Knight is Batgirl.
#21 Hazel – Yeah, that thought occurred to me before posting, but I knew The Dark Knight/Batman Begins haven't necessarily been slavish to the time line set up in the comics. Good to know! And the Melinda McGraw thing is still a nice little thing connecting the two universes (Mad Men & Batman).
TNT shows ANGEL on its website, tnt.tv I think.