# Mad-Men: 7.08 "Severance" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920 "2015-04-05T22:06:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/1 "2015-04-05T22:06:12Z")
[QUOTE=AMC] Don attempts to track down a friend; Joan tries to solve a problem with an account; an unlikely person sets up Peggy. [/QUOTE] Happy Easter! **Mad Men** is back for [del]season 8[/del] “season 7B”. AMC’s been running a marathon, and I’m in the processing of watching my season 7A Blu-rays. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/2 "2015-04-06T03:08:25Z")
Well, I guess Don’s gotten his mojo back. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/3 "2015-04-06T03:13:55Z")
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but based on Nixon’s speech we’ve jumped ahead to April of 1970 (last up was July of 1969). I loved Ken’s revenge, but I can’t help think it would’ve been even better for him to keep them in the dark, collect his severance, and then surprise them. 🙂 Either way he’s going to make their lives a living Hell just for the fun of it. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/4 "2015-04-06T03:17:37Z")
Was the waitress the hippie girl from Babylon episode he gave the big check too? Look similar to her? Am I completely wrong? ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/5 "2015-04-06T03:21:56Z")
The waitress reminded him of Rachel Mencken. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/6 "2015-04-06T03:26:49Z")
> [@porcupine](#): > > The waitress reminded him of Rachel Mencken. See, I didn’t see the resemblance, but I know she’s what got him thinking about his past. I thought maybe it was someone else from his past that triggered old memories, but he just couldn’t recall who. Rachel was important to him, so it was her that his vague recollection dragged up. Obviously I’m over thinking it, but I didn’t see the resemblance. I have a terrible memory for faces, so I’m sure the simpler answer is right. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/7 "2015-04-06T03:33:54Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but based on Nixon’s speech we’ve jumped ahead to April of 1970 (last up was July of 1969). I loved Ken’s revenge, but I can’t help think it would’ve been even better for him to keep them in the dark, collect his severance, and then surprise them. 🙂 Either way he’s going to make their lives a living Hell just for the fun of it. You are correct. [April 20th, 1970.](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nixon-announces-more-troop-withdrawals) Ken’s revenge was great. I expected him to write his novel but instead he finally used his father in law’s connections. He couldn’t have executed it better. I hope that they explore more of this. Other than Peggy’s budding romance, that whole show was bleak for everyone. What a downer. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/8 "2015-04-06T03:36:54Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > See, I didn’t see the resemblance, but I know she’s what got him thinking about his past. I thought maybe it was someone else from his past that triggered old memories, but he just couldn’t recall who. Rachel was important to him, so it was her that his vague recollection dragged up. > > Obviously I’m over thinking it, but I didn’t see the resemblance. I have a terrible memory for faces, so I’m sure the simpler answer is right. I think that that’s what they were trying to convey but the whole thing was just strange. Roger leaves a big tip because he was being a dick and to show off to the ladies. Then Don comes back and the waitress assumes that she’s supposed to fuck Don in the alley. Then she says that it was a one time thing. Why not make it a zero time thing? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/9 "2015-04-06T03:58:24Z")
I assumed that men have bought her time before but when she saw Don come back again, she wanted to nip it in the bud and not have him think she was going to go out back every night he wandered into the cafe. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/10 "2015-04-06T05:42:53Z")
I didn’t see the resemblance either, and there was nothing showing that Rachel’s appearance was a dream - I thought Don was hallucinating. However, Don’t line “I’ve lived in New York a long time. I brought cake” was one of the best Mad Men lines ever. But I’ve been there. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/11 "2015-04-06T10:35:13Z")
It was amusing that the audience is put in the position of sympathizing with Cosgrove, when he’s being fired in large part because of his class and ethnic prejudices toward the people at McCann. Poor guy is going to hate his new job, too; he’s one step further removed from creative work. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/12 "2015-04-06T10:48:52Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I didn’t see the resemblance either, and there was nothing showing that Rachel’s appearance was a dream - I thought Don was hallucinating. > > However, Don’t line “I’ve lived in New York a long time. I brought cake” was one of the best Mad Men lines ever. But I’ve been there. What did the sister’s “I know who you are.” line suggest? I don’t recall whether Rachel was married at the time or any other details such that she might have been pissed at Don. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/13 "2015-04-06T11:33:14Z")
Rachel had confided her feelings about Don in her sister. He was married at the time and not Jewish. Not exactly a great person for Rachel to get involved with ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/14 "2015-04-06T12:18:42Z")
Did anyone else get a really different vibe from last night’s episode than the rest of the previous seasons? I can’t put my finger on it, or, apparently articulate what I mean, but everything just looked and felt “off” somehow. Obviously the styles have changed reflecting a new era but it feels like more than that and I can’t quite figure it out. Maybe it’s just as simple as Weiner & Co. being that damn good that I’m experiencing all the social changes along with the characters(?) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/15 "2015-04-06T13:14:21Z")
The mustaches didn’t seem quite right-- too long on the sides. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/16 "2015-04-06T13:26:19Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The mustaches didn’t seem quite right-- too long on the sides. My BIL had the same mustache in the early 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/17 "2015-04-06T13:30:02Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > It was amusing that the audience is put in the position of sympathizing with Cosgrove, when he’s being fired in large part because of his class and ethnic prejudices toward the people at McCann. Poor guy is going to hate his new job, too; he’s one step further removed from creative work. I think that’s in large part because we didn’t SEE Cosgrove behaving badly. That said, while Cosgrove has typically been one of the best behaved characters, watching the first season again shows he was as “boy’s club” as any of them back then. Cosgrove was an accounts man so I didn’t see the “removed from creative” thing so much as the oddity of Cosgrove moving into his father-in-law’s old job after Cosgrove’s wife was talking about how miserable it was for her father to work there for so long. You’d think she’d offer more resistance (though we didn’t see the decision happen). My wife quipped that the mustaches made everyone look like they were in Witness Protection. I didn’t even _recognize_ Ted in his first scene (on the couch, watching the models). ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/18 "2015-04-06T13:33:46Z")
Roger’s Mark Twain-ish mustache ages him by 20 years…Peggy seems to have found herself a live one…Joan has lost weight, looks spectacular…that’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/19 "2015-04-06T14:13:28Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Did anyone else get a really different vibe from last night’s episode than the rest of the previous seasons? I can’t put my finger on it, or, apparently articulate what I mean, but everything just looked and felt “off” somehow. Obviously the styles have changed reflecting a new era but it feels like more than that and I can’t quite figure it out. Maybe it’s just as simple as Weiner & Co. being that damn good that I’m experiencing all the social changes along with the characters(?) I felt that way as well. It made me think that the show was ending at the right time. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920/20 "2015-04-06T14:23:02Z")
Mustaches!! Of course Roger has to have one, but Ted’s was kind of interesting. It’ll be interesting to see what Rachel’s death does to Don - as Di said, death kind of mixes you up. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-08-severance-open-spoilers/716920.md?page=2)