Mad Men

[polkablues]

For such a well-cast show, a lot of the guest actors this season have really fallen short.  The neighbor girl in tonight's episode was particularly obnoxious.  Pretty sure she was a student of the University of Smugifornia at Smirkley.

[picolas]

i disagree. i totally bought don's mini-crush. and gosh i hope that's not the last we see of anna whitman. also this episode had a bunch of amazing jump cuts. godzilla, hilarious. and the stewardess on the plane, so tragic..

[tpfkabi]

she was a good macguffin. the whole time i was thinking "surely don won't hit that" and then wham, the news.

the actress reminded me of a young elisabeth shue.

[©brad]

This was simultaneously one of the funniest and saddest episodes of Man Men yet. A few thoughts:

- I love how Jon Hamm is able to separate Don Draper and Dick Whitman so well. When Dick is with Anna you really see a totally different person.
- Don and Lane should get their own show. Holy crap they were hysterical. I need to watch that dinner/theater sequence again because I know I'm forgetting a ton of stuff, but the way they drunkenly screamed at one another from their offices was great. "You know what's going on here... handjobs."
- Love Joan episodes. Why do you think she was crying when Dr. McRapey was fixing her finger? Because her dream is dead? She seemed almost surprised when he fixed her finger, like she's surprised to learn he isn't as incompetent as a doctor as she assumed.
- "You're in advertising? It's pollution!" "Then stop buying things."

Loving this season so far. It's got a certain exuberance that much of last season lacked.

[Pwaybloe]

Hrm, I thought it was a little flat.  I do agree with the notion that Jon Hamm does a good job differentiating Dick and Don.  The handjobs line was pretty funny too. 

I still don't think it's running up as good as season 3 (prove me wrong, Weiner!), but the unknown is what really catches my interest.  The writers can go in so many directions this season.

[Fernando]

the last three eps have been really good, but in last night's wow, all hell broke loose.

[cronopio 2]

HUH?
man this season was sloooooooooooooooow. it's like they split the arc of an entire season into three and this was only that first part.
tv can be slow, but not this slow. by slow i mean very little payoff for giving a shit about the characters.

[modage]

Disagree completely.  Season 3 was admittedly a more difficult season to watch, Season 4 brought the hits week after week.  I don't think the show has ever deviated from it's pace.  It did not start with stuff happening and then "slow" down.  I don't find it slow or boring at all.  Ever.

What kind of payoffs were you hoping for?

[RegularKarate]

Awfully close to shark-jumping this finale, but I have a feeling it's going to pull it off next season.

[tpfkabi]

so if betty hadn't fired the help don probably wouldn't be engaged?

did you gather any symbolism from the final shot - leaving the bottle of wine and cup there?

[cine]

so if betty hadn't fired the help don probably wouldn't be engaged?

interesting. hadn't thought of that. and that's why betty mentioned her that way to don. nice.

no clue where season 5 is gonna head but i'm just waiting for betty to off herself.

[RegularKarate]

no clue where season 5 is gonna head

Cancer

[Fernando]

if cine says she's gonna off herself I better put money on it, seriously, Don is a fuck up and all but Betty really looks like she's about to fall in a sea of depression (probably already swimming in it), she's real close to lose it.


im with mod, on this season a lot of things happened week after week and I really liked the finale, if anything I expected a little more agency wise, but i guess bringing a new client means things could go well on that front next season.

[cine]

she could do it because she doesn't have any redeeming qualities. nobody would be upset. so mechanically, it makes sense.. 

[modage]

Matt Weiner is very cautious of using death as a dramatic device.  He knows a lot of other shows use it all the time to kill off characters but for Mad Men he only uses it if it makes sense.  So far only Grandpa Gene and Mrs. Blankenship (unless I'm forgetting someone?)  It was funny there was a lot of speculation before the finale about Roger committing suicide or Sally being killed, I think Betty is just as unlikely. 

Listen to 60 min interview with Weiner here: http://media.kcrw.com/podcast/show_itms/tt