Mad Men "A Little Kiss"

 

I found myself terribly excited to catch up with the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce folks last night.  I've missed them and I haven't had the wait most fans have (since I caught up with all 4 seasons on McStreaming).  It's been off of TV for something like 18 months.  That's a really long time for a show to be off the air.

They provide us with some previouslies, which amount to Joan being pregnant with Roger's baby while her hubby is off at war.  Don's divorced and engaged.  Pete is married to awesome Trudy who tends to henpeck him a bit.  Lane is lonely.  Betty's not happy but then that's an impossibility.  And we're off!

There are some African American protestors on a picket line outside the building.  Some yahoo jerks drop bags of water on them, which they find hilarious.  Turns out they're Y&R ad men and this pleases the folks at SCDP.  Roger, never one to miss a juvenile prank himself even takes out an ad in the paper claiming their company to be an equal opportunity employer.

Hi Sally!  Good morning, my favorite person on the show.  You seem to be all settled in Dad's new place along with your brothers. Speaking of, that little brother of yours is, what, like 16 months old?  You'll have to forgive me.  I'm trying to put a length of time on this.  Hilariously Don drops the kids off and they're riding up front with him and his arm is as close to a seat belt as they're gonna get.  Nice.

Pete!  Still a weasel.  He's taking the train to work these days.  One of his train buddies shares tips on avoiding the "emotional" little woman at home.  How about the emotional little women that is Pete?  He's all pissy about Roger's lack work at SCDP and goes over the edge a bit when Roger shows up at a meeting with Mohawk airlines.  Pete calls a partners' meeting and declares that he wants the silver fox's office.  They come very close to patting little Pete on the head.  Roger gives in and forces Harry out of his office and into Pete's.  Maybe Harry will walk face first into that dumb column just like Pete did.

Don's wife, yep...wife, Megan, has graduated from secretary but apparently she's designing coupons or something.  She wants to throw Don a surprise birthday party for the big 4-0.  Meanwhile Don's lightened up a bit and is being kind of nice and patient.  Peggy doesn't like it.

Speaking of Peggy...she's pitching to Heinz for a bean campaign.  She wants to use this fancy new camera to choreograph a bean ballet.  Sadly the Heinz guys don't get it and Don doesn't really back her.  They want beans to be cool again.  Cool like hippie protestors and college kids.

Party time!  Most of the office is there except for Joan who is at home with baby Kevin and her mom.  Roger and Jane ruin Don's surprise part of the party.  Peggy is still with the hottie beatnik who freaks out a guy headed off to war.  Peggy gets snippy with Don about having to work over the weekend and Don just looks at her.  Megan's gift to Don is a song.  Something French and annoying about Zoobie Zoobie Zoo*.  She's a hit to the entire party.

 Roger to Jane: Why don't you sing like that?

Jane: Why don't you look like him?

That ad SCDP placed gets Joan's mom in a tizzy and she mistakes it as an ad to replace Joan.  Apparently her mom doesn't watch the show because it's impossible to replace the figurehead of a ship.  Picture it, I'll give you a second.  Joan heads in to work with baby Kevin in tow and Lane reassures her that they're barely scraping by without her. 

Speaking of Lane, my favorite sexy-ugly Brit, he's still kinda lonely but finds a wallet in a cab.  Instead of trusting the cabbie to return it he takes the matters, and the photo inside, into his own hands.  He has a very flirty phone conversation with the wallet owner's girlfriend, the lady in the picture and even tries to get her to come down to SCDP to meet him.  The wallet owner shows instead and Lane is bummed.  Poor Lane.

Megan is sore about Don not appreciating the party she threw him but he's never been big on parties or attention.  She proceeds to clean the apartment in her undergarments and yells at Don while doing so.  This turns them both on.  I think Don really loves her, by the way.  I'm with Peggy, it's strange.

A number of African American applicants are patiently waiting in the lobby for an interview.  I guess they thought it was a job ad too.  Thanks to the Y&R stunt they collect resumes and will be hiring an African American secretary.  The times they are a changin.'

Wow, I really missed this show!

*UPDATE: Zou Bisou Bisou.  Geeze, you'd never know I took French in high school and college.  I should really look these things up.

Mad Men - Season Four

The Late Miss Blankenship - Season 4's John Deere incident

FINALLY!  It's taken me quite a while to finish up the 4th season of Mad Men.  I watched the first seven and then took a long break and forced myself to watch the last six.  At least my wait for season 5 won't be as long as everyone else's. 

4.1 Public Relations - Really, Don? A 'tute?

4.2 Christmas Comes but Once a Year - This episode was like a Christmas present.  Glen's back!  There's Freddy!  It's like old home week.  We get introduced to Dr. Faye Miller who I'm sure Don will sleep with but they don't have tons of chemistry. 

4.3 The Good News - Lotsa time with Joan who is trying to get pregnant even though her husband is heading off to basic and probably Vietnam after.  Don goes off to California (where he goes when in some emotional crisis) to find out Anna's dying and to hit on her niece, Stephanie.  Anna can't die because Don's soul will go with her.

4.4 The Rejected - Kenny's back!  Why can't they bring Sal back?!?!  Peggy's got a new friend who has some artsy fartsy friends of her own.  Speaking of, Helloooo Abe!  He gets the best line of the episode, "Sorry. For somebody to sell their soul they've gotta have one."  Pete and Peggy share a last look which seems like closure for them.  Pete's wife is pregnant and Peggy's getting a life so I guess that wraps things up for them.

4.5 The Chrysanthemum and the Sword - We meet the infamous Miss Ida Blankenship, Mad Men's comic relief.  Sally is way more interesting than Betty and I'm not saying this because I dislike Jones so very much. Don proves his worth with the scheme they pull on Honda.  This was probably a stand out episode for me.

4.6 Waldorf Stories - aka "When Roger Met Don."  Jonathan! Another Whedonverse alum joins the crew at SCDP.  Peggy continues to be awesome which shocks me because I had never given much thought to Elisabeth Moss before.

4.7 The Suitcase - This one is Peggy-heavy and the better for it.  We get tons of location changes and lots of Peggy and Don talking.  If they ever did another My Dinner with Andre I'd want it to star these two (or a feature length of dinner with Abed and Jeff).  This was another stand out for me.  My favorite exchange went as follows:

   (Peggy and Don are eating at a Greek diner and Peggy looks up at a painting of the Parthenon)
   Peggy: Why is there a dog at the Parthenon?
   Don: That is a roach.  Let's go someplace darker.

4.8 The Summer Man - This one had a noir feel to it; the most obvious signifier being Don's use of voiceover.  I did love that Betty's new husband doesn't let her get away with her crap.  It bugged me that there was no John Slattery (who gets the best lines) but he wouldn't have fit into the emotion of this episode.

4.9 The Beautiful Girls - I liked this one a lot but maybe because there was great Sally stuff.  Plus this is when we say a fond farewell to our Miss Blankenship. You rocked Roger's world once and we were blessed to know you.  Now Don can go back to attractive secretaries he wants to screw.  The last shot of Joan, Dr. Faye and Peggy was a great one.  Each has no idea what's to come.

4.10 Hands and Knees - The closest Don gets to being found out.  It must have SUCKED for him to go to Pete for help.  Someone only I'd care about: Susan May Pratt ("the best g.d. dancer in the American Ballet Academy. Who are you?") is the desperate mother of a teen with an unwanted pregnancy.  She chats with Joan in the doctor's office, mistakenly assuming Joan is there with her daughter too. We know that Joan is there to fix her recent indiscretion with Roger.

4.11 Chinese Wall - Lucky Strike leaves SCDP (hmm, it must be close to the end of the season for them to pull some story punches).  Trudy has her baby and Pete's at work, natch.  Also I now roll my eyes every time Don starts making out with a secretary.  Sir, you are a walking 60s stereotype.

4.12 Blowing Smoke - I wrote tons of notes on this one but will focus myself.  I have this weird joy every time Glen shows up but maybe it's because I know he equals distress for Betty.  Betty's just jealous of Sally, right?  Speaking of, we get tons of Sally and I want to thank the writers for it.  It's kind of funny that Betty is in more need of a (child) psychologist than Sally is.  Don is making enemies left and right and giving no apologies. Leave it to Peggy (in a dress that I'd buy today) to put a smile on Don's face.

Roger, as usual gets the best line, "Well I gotta go learn a bunch of people's names before I fire them." 

4.13 Tomorrowland - Poor Joan gets a promotion (title only) and still gets to push the mail cart around.  I recognize this model girl that pops in and according to IMDB she's was an ANTM contestant.  Cool. Once again in crisis Don ends up in California but is only at Anna's now empty house for a moment.  So Don falls in love with and proposes to his secretary but not only because she can really see him but because she can take care of his kids for him too.  I wonder how long until he cheats on her. We find out Joan has kept Sterling's baby and mostly all her husband cares about is if her boobs are any bigger. Seriously?  Has he met her?


Overall the show was solid.  I wasn't nearly as impressed as I was the first season but it's been consistent from seasons 2-4 and not a lot of shows can say that (ahem, Lost).  I am truly curious as to how things will pan out for SCDP (now SDP?) but I'm getting tired of the big shake ups at the end of every season.  I'm only left with a few questions beyond what the agency will look like.  What will Don's new life look like?  Will he buy a house in the burbs?  Is Freddy Rumsen still around or did I miss something?  Will Betty ever relax?  Or will Sally kill her while she sleeps?

Late to the Party - Mad Men, season 3

It'd be wrong to talk about season 3 and not give you the amazing Joan Harris on accordion

Overall season 3 was fine.  The first season, as with many shows, was still the best.  This season felt a bit more like it exists only to set up the big change for season 4.  The second tier folks were around but had much less to do.  I don't remember them doing the thing I loved most about season 2 which was that final shot of each episode holding so much symbolism it was ridiculous.  There was one awesome last line of an episode which people who have seen the show would appreciate.  On Halloween one of Don's neighbors says to him, "And who are you supposed to be?"  Who indeed guy who is now on Buffy's new show, who indeed?

Here's where I'm at with the characters:
-I still don't like Betty but I'm pretty sure the writers have stopped trying with her.  Don went off on her towards the end of the season and I rewound it and watched it again.  Have I mentioned how much I dislike January Jones?  I'd say hate but I don't know her personally (but I hear people that do know her personally don't like her much either). 

-As much as I don't like Betty I'm starting to love any time her daughter, Sally (played awesomely by Kiernan Shipka), opens her mouth.  That girl not only gets some great lines but gets to ask the questions no one else dares.

-I never thought I'd care much about Peggy but I'm liking her more and more.  She lacks a filter (usually with Don) that most on which people would pride themselves .  Of course a woman like Peggy asking for more money (really to be equal with her male counterparts) probably didn't happen nearly enough back then. It's refreshing to see a woman ask for what she's worth, even if she gets shot down. Also she's a woman who is down for new experiences and you have to respect that.

-Speaking of worth, it was great to see everyone realize they were up a creek without their Joan paddle.

-Burt Cooper, who is largely ignored on this show in deference to Roger Sterling (John Slattery) and Don Draper (Jon Hamm), is just adorable.  He's not as much of a push-over as people would like to believe.  Honestly I just think he's a realist who would retire but loves his work too much.

-Pete would be NOTHING without Trudy.

Episodes of note:
-3.2 "Love Among the Ruins"
As soon as Don spotted his daughter's teacher frolicking with the children around a maypole (?) I said out loud to no one in particular, "Oh he's so gonna hit that."  He did but at least she held him off for a little while.
-3.3 "My Old Kentucky Home" aka John Slattery in blackface.
Wow.  Just wow.  This would probably be as close as they get to a musical episode and there was plenty of singing and dancing. It was great to see so many people could sing or dance. Plus Peggy tries illegal drugs and is still the smartest person in the room.
-3.6 "Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency" aka the John Deere episode
Even though I had never seen the show I knew at some point a John Deere mower got ridden through the office. I had no idea what the result of that was and I'm glad I didn't.  I won't spoil it either except to say that I loved how the guy's bosses wrote him off as being totally unable to do his job anymore. Priceless.
-3.12 "The Grown-Ups"
JFK is dead and now so is Don's marriage.  But all will be well because...
-3.13 "Shut the Door, Have a Seat"
We're outsmarting the Brits and starting a new agency!  They start the agency on Friday the 13th, ominous? Probably not.  Peggy's filter is still off with Don, "You look awful." No 'Hi" or "Hello" or "What are you doing at my house on a Sunday?"  Just, "You look awful." Peggy rocks.

Favorite exchange:
Paul Kinsey: "This is the way the world ends, this is the way the world ends, this is the way the world ends - not with a bang, but a whimper."
Smitty: We get it, you're educated.
--from 3.3 "My Old Kentucky Home"

Late to the Party - Mad Men Season 2

Pete and his shorts!

I really enjoyed the second season of Mad Men.  It's a consistently good show all around.  In fact I think instead of suffering a sophomore slump the writing was even better in this season.  I think the directors are having a bit more fun and are being a bit more creative.

It truly feels like a journey.  But is it a journey for the characters? For the firm? For America?  All of it?  Doesn't matter.  It's an obvious journey of Forrest Gump proportions but it's incredibly enjoyable one.

Some episodes of note:

2.4 "Three Sundays"  The image above was from this episode which may have been my favorite.  It had a different feel to it.  While the story didn't depart from their typical office and home content it sped through, as the title informs, three consecutive Sundays while everyone prepared the pitch for American Airlines.  They relied quite a bit on non-verbals from the background actors (the secretarial pool and no name worker dudes) and it totally worked. It also saw more of Peggy's life and introduced welcomed actor Colin Hanks (!) as Father Gill.  The editing seems heavy-handed but was cool nonetheless.

2.9 "Six Month Leave" My third favorite Murray brother, Joel, shined in this episode.  His drinking problem comes to light and Roger and Don take him out for one last night of boozing before he has to take a forced leave to get dry.  But thanks to Murray's Fred Rumsen and his alcoholic ways, Peggy is given the chance to shine herself.  She hits a home-run with the Samsonite folks and it marks the beginning of a winning streak for her character.  She even ends up getting Fred's office later in the season, though it's not the way she wanted it.

2.10 "The Inheritance"  There's not much to say about this one besides the fact that I think the writers were trying to generate some sympathy for Betty.  Not gonna happen.  Not as long as you have January Jones playing her.  I have furniture less wooden.

2.12 "The Mountain King" This episode took the biggest departure from their typical formula.  In fact you feel like Don is having an out-of-body experience but L.A. will do that to you.  I loved his scenes with Anna, I won't spoil who she is if you haven't seen the show.  There were times I wasn't sure if we were flashing back or in the present but it all added up to being a great episode.

2.13 "Meditations in Emergency" The final episode of the season (note how most of my faves were towards the end?) spent lots of time bringing the season back together.  Big changes are afoot at Sterling Cooper and somehow weaselly Pete comes to the rescue and Don emerges a better man.  Well a better man work-wise.  His private life, though possibly better after his break in LA, will never be what it once was.  Joan, who is growing to be one of my absolute favorite characters, gets some of the best lines.  The poor thing has such a horrible thing happen to her and yet still yearns to believe that the man she's marrying is truly a good man.  In fact it even seems like she might want to connect with Peggy and establish a friendship.  Alas it is not to be because Peggy is a bit more concerned about getting the name changed on the door to her new office. Fred Rumsen, who?

I think the coolest thing about the show is the final shot of each episode.  Those shots speak volumes as to the development of the character and/or the story.  A single light through a window, a lone suitcase on a doorstep, or a conversation not being had do more to push this show forward than the previous 40+ minutes. 

Late to the Party - Alisa's watching Mad Men

Mad Men
Director: various
Stars: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, and Connor from Angel

Watching on: Netflix streaming 

You should have seen my face the moment I found out that Mad Men was going to be streaming on Netflix. 

  

Yes, it was just like that.

Like most of the world I kept hearing what a great show it is.  It not only got nominated often but would win awards.  Jon Hamm, he of the ever present 5 o'clock shadow, is a talented actor and I've enjoyed him in everything I've seen of his.  I just never found myself making an effort.  This was probably due to my already busy TV dance card.  

So after getting through the first season I can now say that I see what all the fuss has been about.  The writing is very strong.  The acting (save for one actress I will never, ever like) is beyond solid.  The stories move along at a great pace.  The character development has been good.  I'd like to see more of the lives of some of the 2nd tier characters but I have a feeling that will be solved over the next few seasons.  We do get peeks now and then of those characters and they've just made me want more.

I'd also like to add how well they deal with the time period.  I want to believe they go overboard with the misogyny but I'm guessing it's pretty accurate.  I am getting a kick out of the costumes which don't look too costume-y.  I can't tell you how many outfits I've seen on the women in that show that look just like something my mom or aunts wore in the 60s. 

I can't wait to start season 2!