‘Mad Men’ Preview: Buckle Up For 7 ‘Dense’ Episodes, Says Matthew Weiner- After realizing that I needed two premieres and two finales, it changed the pacing of every other episode. These episodes are more focused on the main characters than ever before — and I’ve got a lot of main characters. There’s no room for digression this time. The first seven feel like (the story arc of) a whole season,” Weiner says.
The historical backdrop of the era (presumably early-ish in 1969) is an important factor as always but Weiner hints that historical events won’t be as prominent as they were in season 6 for Don Draper. “Last season more than any other season was about the history of the time. It was 1968 as a model for Don,” Weiner says. “I felt very much that Don’s anxiety was the country’s anxiety. I felt it in real life here. I felt last year (2013) was very hard on people.”
The brainstorming process for season seven that Weiner and the writing staff went through at the start of the season was in keeping with the “Mad Men” tradition, except that they realized it was now-or-never for some ideas.
“At the beginning I always look through all of the pieces of paper in my pocket where I’ve written down things. It’s always ‘Roger says this’ and ‘Don thinks that.’ These people are on my mind a lot. I don’t know what I’m going to do with those thoughts now. I guess I’m going to have to think of other people” to write for, he says.
I really wish AMC would stop this half season bs but, otherwise, I am looking forward to this.
