Mad Men
 

Season 4 premiered tonight. I would have bumped the season three thread but I titled it "season 3," which no longer seems appropriate.

Who saw it? It was a stupendous hour of television. All sorts of shit has happened in the eleven months that have passed (in-story) between the formation of Sterling Cooper Draper Price and the beginning of season 4. The premeir was stepped in the juices of the sexual revolution. It also had a lot to say about the increasing role of the media in the success or failure of things. It was great to see Don fail a little bit, and it was exciting to consider the future implications at the end of Don crafting a public/media persona that is completely unlike his actual personality.

I watched it. Mizzou representin.

Outstanding premiere.

I missed last season, but watched this last night. I was really impressed.

Unbelievable episode. I wish they could find a way to write Sal back in, but with Lucky Strike being their whale, no dice with what happened last season.

Don's distain for Janzen's timidity and hypocracy in selling "two piece" suits seems to have been intentional, as he then asked Bert Cooper for the WSJ writer.*

*Cribbed from AV Club

Is this available on Instant Netflix?

Or rather, does anyone know if S1 is available on Instant Netflix?

No.

Why not?

I dunno. There's plenty of shows that aren't on Netflix streaming. I assume the reason is financially related.

That's lame. We should do something about it.

Sarah Newlin looked totally different.

You know who I really don't care for? As an actress, I mean? Not as a person. I've never met her as a person. But I think Elizabeth Moss is a terrible actress.

Still haven't seen an episode of Mad Men, though. People seem to like her a lot on this show.

Does her acting make you want to reach for a couple of Excedrin? If so, I'd say she's pretty effective.

Nice.

This post contains its own rebuttal.

Have you seen her in anything else? She's aweful. Aweful. In everything else I've seen her in. Aweful.

peggy is the bomb the real acting is in the body language and tone of voice in this show. that is where the action is!

Is the spell check feature mine alone on this BB?

Yes. It won't work for me. Never has. So... learn to live with my mistakes, man. :)

No bathtub hj's for Don Draper (yet)

I normally wouldn't have busted on you over it, but you kept repeating it ovar, and ovar, and OVAR!!

Yeah, I'm pretty much the worst speller you'll ever encounter. And if I get going without double checking myself, it gets super ugly.

Feel free to keep busting me on it. Maybe one of these days it'll sink in.

:banghead:

But seriously, the spell check thing here doesn't work for me. I always get an error message.

What browser are you using?

If you see a word underlined in red after typing, right click on the word, then select the correct spelling.

It's not "forum dependent", it's "browser dependent".

No, he was spelling it correctly. He meant her performance filled him with awe. And he thinks movies with babies are awwful.

Oh and FWIW, I was fairly disappointed with the season opener.

It was such a "uh, okay, no brainer" that I felt it wasn't even necessary.

I fully expected the season opener to be at least a couple episodes ahead of where they started.

Boring.

I which way? I thought where their firm was at the point of the opener seemed about right. There had to be some gray area of startup vs. success/failure.

That's what I mean.

There's no way it would have been a failure, because it's all about Don Draper. So that little exercise was unwarranted. They could have referenced the Ad Age article by following it up with the WSJ. That was way too extrapolated, IMO.

There's a weird vibe going on with the new husband and I'm glad they pushed that a little further. But the daughter rebelling was typical (as was the boy ignoring it all).

We've seen Don cover Peggy's ass all too many times, IMO.

They need to move forward, not try to inundate new viewers to the past.

Entourage pulls this shit each year and it's usually at least two episodes in (if not more) before it's watchable.

Just my take, but without this episode the change in professional persona's that Draper made during that episode would have been pretty odd without it.

He has always been the shadowy brilliant guy that comes out of the shadows to drop his pitch. Now he has become the driving force of the firm and hence the change to the WSJ interview as well as his telling the bikini conservative guys to get the **** out.

I guess that's where we differ: He's ALWAYS been that guy.

Once he realized that his personal life was invading his professional space, he snapped back "into place" and became the calm, cool, electrifying Don Draper we all know.

I think it would have been FAR more interesting if the Korean Vet that interviewed him actually knew a "Don Draper", instead of what occurred.

For the first time ever in this series, I feel that Weiner dropped the ball. He may redeem himself down the line with an episode that ties into this one in a big way, but it still felt like an "introductory" episode to me.

He has never really been the guy he shifted to. Never remotely shared anything publicly. He will always be the same but the shift was to him manufacturing the big swinging dick personality the firm needs.

WTF is Dane talking about? Do we even watch the same shows?

Thanks, man. I usually posting at work so there are a lot of restrictions that require admin approval. I'll hook it up on my home PC though.
:clap:


I need to start watching this show...

Absolutely not. Don changed from the guy whose 'story' is private and irrelevant, because he was the employee who came up with the brilliant pitches, to the face of the organization.
He didn't want to pitch a story for himself in part because it's manufactured, and in part because he loathes parts of what makes him tick.
He thought he could be the face without a backstory, but when it cost them business, he realized the face has to have a story.

Don Draper Scarface arrrrrg

I get that but it's still not "him", as in the real him, Dick Whitman

It's Don Draper, the fabrication.

That's what I found interesting about the opening line: "Who is Don Draper?". It has a double-edged meaning.

I'm glad you all enjoyed, I was just expecting more.

I liked it. There's now a 3rd layer to Don Draper. Dick the pussy, Don the cool, collected, and Don the Don Juan.

Is Glenn the creepiest kid ever?

Didn't realize that Glenn is played by Matthew Weiner's kid.

man I love this show. May be the best thing on television at the moment.

I guess my expectations for season four were way too high because I'm bored with the direction of the show.

This show is sooooo ****ing good.

yes another solid episode tonight -

Tonight we saw the Real Dick Whitman

Okay, I REALLY liked last night's episode.

The writers really touched a nerve last night with both Dick hitting on the young girl and the fate of Anna. For the first time this year, it felt like the story was moving forward. It was a very, very good episode all around.

Although, I hope they don't go all cliche with Joan and her doctor husband heading to Vietnam (he's killed, she's devastated for a while, then goes back to bangin' around).

Peggy looked very nice in the blue dress.

Oh, and merely one week after 'I've got a big ol' Texas belt buckle,' we have a new champ of teh funneh with Peggy's noggin peeking over the cubicle into Don's office. I laughed well past that scene.


'No, the jockey smokes the cigarette.'

oh dude, I liked when lane was yelling japenese better than those two parts, I thought peggy was kind of creepy on that part. I guess I look at too many of those "you'll shit bricks" pictures. It seems slower this season, still awesome.

Slattery directed the most recent episode. I thought he did a bang-up job, except for the long stare between Peggy and Pete near the end between glass doors. Unnecessary.

I would get her so pregnant.

I'm finding this season to be very obvious and not intriguing at all. Everything that's happened (outside of cancer) has been pedestrian at best.

I truly expected more.

I don't know why, but I find that I disagree with you almost all the time on things entertainment related.

I think they are setting us up for something massive, kind of the calm before the storm.

That japanese gibberish was indeed funny and I laughed out loud at it, but the visual of Peggy's head appearing in the background was so well framed and stuck with me longer.

You didn't find last episode's whole Pete-growing-into-a-man theme intriguing? There was so much payoff for people who've been watching the show from the beginning.

I liked the last episode very much.

but I can understand what you're saying about the obvious factor but if i recall last season started out that way too - but it accelerates quickly at the end of the season.

Much of what's happened this season seems like natural evolution to me, which I suppose is why I'm not finding it as intriguing as previous years.

I really enjoyed the episode featuring Anna but other than that, I'm not left with the "WOW!" factor from seasons one through three.

Again, as I mentioned earlier, I think because seasons one through three were so incredibly strong and resonant, my expectations were probably too high for this season.

I think you're experiencing a little bit of what I did with Breaking Bad this season. But by the end of the season, it had all come together and the season finale was just as insanely awesome as any other episode. I have faith that Mad Men will restore the "WOW" factor for you by the end of the season.

Personally, however, I think it already has.

WOW factor is for impatient audience members.

I still love the show, but if there's something for me to complain about, it's the absence of certain secondary characters I really liked.

If a show is going to keep my interest, it had better not become predictable, which is exactly how I've felt about this season, save one episode.

What made this series interesting in past seasons is that they were simultaneously introducing modern day audiences to home and office life in 1960's Manhattan, while slowing unraveling the tale of Dick Whitman/Don Draper.

I feel that the show's been on autopilot this year and it certainly hasn't been "Must See" TV, as it was in the past.

It doesn't feel any different to me than the early part of the show's thrid season did. It is must-see TV for me because of its characters and strength of writing. I don't need to be "surprised" all the time; somethings have to logically happen. And I am also fine with a very slow pace. Few seasons of TV were slower-paced w/ less action that season 3 of Breaking Bad. Few seasons of TV have been as good as season 3 of Breaking Bad.

That's cool, Man. I'm not insulting anyone, I'm just sharing my thoughts, which I understand have been contrary to the members participating in this thread.

I know. That's why I wasn't all "YOU'RE WRONG" in my post. Just giving my thoughts back. Discussion, I think they call it.

Thanks.

I'll be sending you a coupon for a Taco Bell Cantina taco in appreciation of your willingness to discuss.

LMAO

I think there's something to be said for a show delivering a particular amount of WOW for a number of seasons and then starting a new season with decidedly less WOW. I don't think it's necessarily impatient to feel like something's a little off; it's more about adjusting to your expectations being subverted somewhat.

I did not believe the start of Breaking Bad season 3 was any lower QUALITY than the previous seasons, but it didn't quite have me obsessing over immediately seeing the next episode the way the previous seasons did. When I adjusted expectations, my appreciation for the material caught up with its quality.

In the case of Mad Men, however, I think it's been classic Mad Men all the way this season.

Amazing episode last night! It was much closer to what I'd expected for the entire season. Hopefully, this trend will continue.

As you know some people are quite fond of surprises.

I've been rewatching season 1. There seems to be a definite intention amongst the season 4 writers to touch on season 1 plot points. Therapy, Betty acting like a child, Glenn, Pete's arc, etc.

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wellll then don't click on the thread until you are caught up. All of these threads have always allowed current and past talk freely. Its only future spoilers that need spoiler tags.

Psst, that was a Roger Sterling line from the episode [when he crashed the Honda meeting, referring to him being surprised that the meeting was going on, and snarking the Japanese [ie, Pearl Harbor] potential clients]. I used it because Dane seemed pleasantly surprised by the quality of the episode.

Plus, even if it looked like I was complaining, I don't know how saying an episode is 'amazing' actually would be a spoiler.

You're right though, humor is so much better when thoroughly explained.

:drool:

Jon Hamm and Elizabeth Moss just locked up Emmys for next year (note that Breaking Bad won't be eligible for next year's Emmy's since season 4 won't begin until June or July for some reason). LOCKED UP. That was probably a top 3 episode in the history of Mad Men. Incredible.

Agreed on all points.

Pretty good. Could have done without Doug Philips trying to shit in Roger's office. Although, it was slightly amusing.

yup, I just finished watching it and thought the same thing, for me that was best episode of the whole Mad Men series.:clap:

Orchiectomy -the word that its mere utterance threatens to self-fulfill.

"I'm glad this is an environment where you feel free to fail" Ouch!!

Anyone watching Peggy last night get an overwhelming urge for Swiss Cake Rolls?

Loved the handhold callback to the series premiere.

Yes, I'm that important.

Boneriffic, yet totes SFW.

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