re: Mad Men Premiere: Season 7 Episode 8 "Severance"

Hey I met Colin Quinn after a show a couple weeks ago. He was cool as frick.

I had no idea that was Neve Campbell:

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At first I thought the waitress was that hippie chick he used to bone.

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Yep, initially thought he was dreaming, then thought she might be the one that got hooked on heroin.

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I'm a little confused on a couple things, what the frick was the story with the waitress? Did she really think she just needed to bang Don because they left a C note? I didn't get her last line about brining in a date either? I was thinking she's a prostitute but now I don't know..

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She was a symbolic character. She represented every woman Don's had experience with. She had a similar bouffant (yet dragging) hair style that we saw with Betty. She even resembled Betty if you think of them as sisters or cousins. She obviously made Don think of Rachel. She was a hard working girl, like Peggy. She was able to give Don a little sass with advice about death, which to me was reminiscent of how Joan has spoken to Don in the past. She was a random girl that Don could sleep with.

And most telling, she was a prostitute, much like Don grew up with as Dick. Don saw this in her the moment he laid eyes on her.

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Can someone remind me a little about Rachel and Don, why was the sister mad at him?

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Rachel was one of Don's typical flings except she was not only beautiful and sensual, she was smart and business-savvy. Don wanted to be with Rachel and Rachel wanted to be with Don, but since Don had a family and because of the kind of guy Rachel knew Don to be, it didn't work out. Both of them regretted it.

I'm sure Rachel experienced heartache over it and the sister being a sister hated Don.

Many fans of the show assumed Rachel would come back at some point in the plot to be Don's girl when he turns good. I know when I saw her in the coat, I predicted it was Weiner's way of leading into this, but he killed her off quickly to (IMO) squash any hope that Don has a happy ending.

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Roger was an arse and it was great to see Ken drop the boom on him. No more of that from Rog hopefully, he's way too good of a character normally.

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I think Roger's always been an arse and a shitty father and a selfish prick, but he's that selfish prick you love because he's funny, witty, rich, and bangs OT 10s.

What was most sad for me in this episode was Ken. Ken had a way out. Ken had THE way out. Attractive wife with old money offering to pretty much let him be a stay-at-home-dad who writes novels on a picturesque farm, with bucolic backdrops, children already born, and ideas from a career that could lead to a series of novels that mimic the Mad Men series.

But he couldn't do it. As he told Don, he couldn't bring himself through the doors. That was more figurative to me than literal. He was sucked into the work world, just like Don, just like Pete, and he wanted to keep playing the game. If you've seen The Wire, it's just like the drug "game" in that show. You can't leave the game. Never can leave the game.

Cindy: https://instagram.com/raineyqualley/

I'm just glad I'm not the only one who was a bit lost with the waitress stuff.

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Also, holy multiple meanings on the "You’d rather find new creative than pick a girl?" statement.

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can you expand on this a little bit? guess it went over my head

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Pete solidly smug as always

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Pete Campbell is awesome! Him telling Ken he would look great on a book jacket. hahahah.

Good episode, I'm glad it is back, even though I had to spend most of the weekend getting caught back up, that damn break was to long for a show like this.

Also Joan sucks even more now if that is possible.

My thoughts on the episode:

-I was expecting more of a pick-up from last season, rather than a new season feel. Not a big deal, but I threw me off in the beginning. I know it's been said plenty before, but the year hiatus is too much for a show of this kind. I started trying to catch up by watching the first half of season 7, but I had to go back to season 6 to really remember what was going on.

-I thought the diner waitress resembled the hippy-chick that invited Don over for dinner with her boyfriend to sell him her art, but I guess it was supposed to be Rachel.

-I'm not familiar with the Jacob's Ladder story, but I looked it up, and there are definitely similarities. However, I can see this being a Megan Draper/Sharon Tate situation.

-Good for Ken. He did have an easy-out, but it's good to see that he landed in a great situation.

-The guys from the department stores were douchebags, but it's pretty difficult to feel any sympathy for Joan at this point.

The imagery in that closing scene was fantastic. It almost seemed like Don was going back in time, with the way that diner looked.