Mad Men Finale and the Lost Perspective Sauce

Five years ago today was the finale of Lost.  Last night, it was Mad Men's turn.  I didn't mind the former as much as others, although it is seen as casting a dark light backwards on the rest of the series.  The latter?  I am still trying to figure out the ending, but it was an excellent episode of an excellent show.

Mad Men Ends In Life, Not Death

As usual, see you after the break

Mad Men Game Goes Down to The Wire

Quickly to the break given the spoiler-ific episode:

Mad Men Game: Antepenty Time

On Wisconsin!?

Mad Men Game: If Corporations are People

If corporations are people (as the US Supreme Court seems to think these days a la Citizens United):

Mad Men Dead Pool Belated but No One is

I just watched the recent episode of Mad Men thanks to my trip to Brussels.  It was a delightful one since any Sally episode is a delightful one.  Spoilers dwell below:

Mad Men Dead Pool Game: Limited Progress

This week's episode did not have any direct implications for the game, but let me speculate below the break:

Men Mad Dead Pool: It Begins

So, those who laughed, and said there will not be that much death in the last seven episodes, where are you now?  Oh, laughing at our contestants who completely whiffed as Rachel Menken/Katz was not on any one's draft board.  Yes, that blast from the past was missed by all of the contestants. 

Lots of death imagery, including Don's obsession with a waitress named Di, so expect more to fall before we are done.  Will anyone die by moustache?  Seems likely given Roger's and Ted's. 

Some potential problems for our contestants as many drafted candidates were not seen at all:

• Wendy: no Duck, Fred, Greg, or Gail.  However, Greg's death would take place off-screen. 
• Noah: None of his characters were seen at all with Jim and Lou likely exiled forever and Bob Benson?  Noah went old, but he also put his money on the irrelevant.
• Rob: Pete is, of course, around, but the others not so much.  Henry and Harry are certain to show up, but Ginsberg and Sterling's daughter?
• Chip: Only Sal is unlikely to be seen at some point.  Hmmm. 

The only thing for certain is that Vegas was very clever at setting the over/under of Don's romantic partners at three.  Only the sharps bet the over.

Six episodes to go.

Mad Men Dead Pool Draft

Will dropped out, so I decided to five deep in the draft for the Mad Men Game with the following results:

Players	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5
Wendy	Roger Sterling	Duck Phillips	Fred Rumsen	Greg Harris	Gail Holloway
Noah	Jim Cutler	Lou Avery	Jim Hobart	Mona Sterling	Bob Benson
Rob	Henry Francis	Michael Ginsberg	Pete Campbell	Harry Crane	Margaret Sterling*
Chip	Don Draper	Ted Chaough	Bobby Draper	Megan Draper	Sal Romano

* Rob picked Sterling's daughter, not his wife, but got the name wrong so I have corrected above and below.

Wendy's first choice is a good one--as all but Rob had Roger in their top three.  Her love of dogs might explain Duck as her choice in the second round.  The pick who slipped further than expected was her fourth round pick--anytime you can bet on a rapist who is currently in an unpopular war to die, you have to do it.  He would have been my second pick, but I have often been wrong on these things.  Matt Weiner is not aiming to service the fan demands or else Greggie would have bit it by now.

Everyone but Noah got their first pick, but Noah can take some solace in getting this next four choices and lucking out (in my view) with a terrific fifth pick.  Bob Benson is the sleeper in this game, and I already have money in Vegas on him biting it as the odds were 23-1.   Except for that last pick, Noah's strategy seemed to be betting on the old guys to bite it.  Jim Hobart was a sneaky pick, as a side character who runs McCann Erickson, he could die at any time....


Rob made an excellent choice with his first pick, as what can happen in Betty's storyline besides becoming a widow?  Hmmm.  Rob did seem to focus his choices then on the dysfunctional folks--Ginsberg is already certifiable, Pete is also a rapist, and Harry shows has poor judgment except in his rare Cassandra moments.  Margaret Sterling is a sneaky good choice since she is prone to joining cults.  Vegas has set the odds on her appearing at all in the next seven episodes at 7 to 1.  His next pick would have been Glen Bishop, and I think that would have been a better choice given Matthew Weiner's willingness to engage in nepotism.

Finally, Chip really does not like the Draper family: Don, Bobby and Megan?  Don is a sound bet.  The time frame is too late for Megan to fall victim a la Sharon Tate to the Manson folks, but LA is a dangerous  place.  Ted?  He might crash his plane.  Sal?  Unlikely to be seen again.

I still am in need of a tiebreaker.  Hmmm.  Ok, in what year will the show's last moments take place?

How does Vegas view the odds here?  Wendy is the favorite at 3-1 due to the combo of Roger, the dogkiller and Joan's ex.  Noah is almost a co-favorite at 7-2 as his line up of old plus Benson seems most promising.  Rob's odds are 12-1 since he may get lucky with one character, but more than that?  Unlikely.  And Chip actually is not that far behind--one good car crash and he can take the entire game.

I will try to post updates along the way, but I will be out of the country on April 19th.  Good luck to all!

Belated Mad Men Game

I have been busy with other stuff, so the Mad Men Dead Pool will be holding a moderated draft.  I will take lists of twenty characters (IMDB is your friend) from each contestant of who they think are likely candidates to die, and then use them to draft for each player.

We have five players, and I have used cards to choose the draft order:

1. Wendy goes first since she "drew" the 9 of clubs;
2. Will goes second since he "drew" the 7 of spades;
3. Noah goes third since he "drew" the 5 of diamonds;
4. Rob  goes fourth since he "drew" the 2 of spades and then the seven of hearts and then the Queen of diamonds to break the ties with
5. Chip who goes fifth since he "drew" the 2 of diamonds, then the seven of clubs before the eight of spades.

With a snakelike draft, I will take the top choice from Wendy's list and put that player in Wendy's pool. I will then take the top choice from Will's list (excluding Wendy's choice) and put that player in Will's pool.  I will then take Noah's top choice (excluding the Mad Men cast members already picked) and so on. 

The order will be Wendy, Will, Noah, Rob, Chip; Chip, Rob, Noah, Will, Wendy; and then repeated.  So, each player will have four players in their dead pool.  The one with the most dead Mad Men characters wins.  Deaths must be confirmed.  If off screen, then we will need on screen discussion to be definitive.  I will, of course, make all decisions and am the final arbiter.  It is my game ;)

I forget what folks suggested as tie breakers which were excellent, so each player will submit not just a list of ten names with the characters they think will die (most likely at the top, less likely at the bottom), but also their favorite tie breaker.  I will then quickly decide which tie breaker is the one I will use and then get their answers for the tie breaker.

Ok?  Clear?  Maybe not.  Well, let's see how it goes.  The deadline for the draft lists is Saturday at 5pm EDT via email. If the contestants cannot figure out my email, they deserve to lose.  That way, I can "run" the draft Sunday morning and have it posted before the first episode of this last set of seven episodes.

Okey dokey!

All We Need is Love?

Pondering Sonny and Cher:

What do South Park and Mad Man Have in Common?

Shenanigans!!!

Aggressive Montreal Women

Ok, just fictional ones played by real ones (although see this cracked on myths about women being the less aggressive gender):

Madly in Crisis [updated]

While we ponder Peggy's absence, spoilers await below the break.

Mad about Sally and all the Beautiful Girls

Oh, what can do we do to help Sally?  Not much as the show is fictional and set in the past, but she is so desperate.

Mad Men on the Rebound

Not the show, just the man?