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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 28, 2013 1:52:41 GMT
Now that Lola is up to speed on Mad Men, perhaps she'll join me in my frenzied hope for April the seventh to hurry up & get here. Anyone else? Mad Men Special 2-Hour Premiere April 7 9/8cIf you're new to or out of touch with the show: www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men/new-to-show
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Post by lola on Mar 29, 2013 14:53:01 GMT
Maybe I can use the link Mark provides above. We don't have cable and last year I struck out finding a place online. It is fun watching as a marathon with library DVDs, but it puts you hopelessly behind the plot curve.
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Post by lola on Mar 29, 2013 16:04:31 GMT
Sorry to read from his spoiler that Mark had personal experience with how Lane would have looked. That method has to be among the most horrible for survivors. I had to fast forward/watch that part through my fingers.
I watched the first, surprise party, episode partway, then set it aside thinking I didn't care to finish. The next day I changed my mind and was glad I had. I think the creative team still has what it takes, and look forward to another season.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2013 11:58:29 GMT
Just watched the concluding episode of season five. In the last couple of episodes the show has really hit its stride again & I'm hooked all over again. Me too. I'm all caught up and eagerly awaiting the new season. Is it just me or does anyone else have the intense dislike of the character Megan? I hate the way she looks (although the clothes are pretty cool), walks, talks..... There's something about her mouth that I find creepy..... On the other hand, I love her mother, brilliantly played by the ever elegant Julia Ormand.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 3, 2013 20:19:01 GMT
Well, she's certainly not a very nice person. I think I commented elsewhere that just as Betty was the perfect 1950s style beauty, Megan is absolutely a style & looks personification of the 60s ideal.* And both of them are unformed people, girls really, who simply soak up the benefits of looking the way society likes them to look, but with no character tools to deal with real life. Of course Don chose each of them for that very reason and is incapable of understanding why his choices ultimately leave him feeling flat. And yes, Julia Ormand couldn't be more perfect. *that pouty pushed-out upper lip thing was way too prevalent in fashion pics from back then. Re: types for various periods, this is a fun site: pinterest.com/bettyboo1234/vintage-fashion-models/Look, I found a picture of you & me on it!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2013 21:13:01 GMT
Oh!! I love, love, love it!!!!!
As for the assessment of the Megan character, I do see what you're saying. She does remind me of someone I knew from that era albeit someone younger. She wore all that trendy clothing and a lot of it expensive. I was quite content in my Levis and t-shirts. One of T's favorite episodes of Season 5 is when Megan on her way out the door hands Don a copy of The Beatles album, Revolver and tells him to listen to it and in particular the track "Tomorrow Never Knows". It's a brilliant scene with all the flashbacks of the episode and what is going on in all there lives and then he cuts it off in semi-disgust/despair. I think it may also have been directed by Hamm but I'm not positive.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 8, 2013 22:44:37 GMT
Who else saw the season premiere last night? Before going any further, I want to say that since this is a dedicated thread to the series, that we simply assume it will contain spoilers. That way we don't have to be so circumspect and anyone not caught up on the show can just avoid this thread until they're up to speed. So ........ great beginning, although to me a little boring in the Roger talking to his therapist parts. Before seeing this episode I saw a review headline that said something like "Fat Betty has become WTF Betty". Ain't that the truth! What was up with that bizarre & icky rap she had with her husband about the girl Sandy? And even stranger, in the rest of the episode Betty was more of a responsible adult than she's ever been. I can only assume the clunkily edited part with the doorman's heart attack was in order to introduce new characters. And speaking of characters and devices, the photograph session on the stairs must have been to allow the office characters to pass in review for us viewers. That was Joan's only appearance in the episode. Peggy remains interesting, but so far there is nothing new in her character's development. Honestly, it's been so long since the last season that I'd forgotten major points concerning her. Who is the man who called her during the Bowl game & who is Ted? And who was the man Roger was objecting to at the funeral gathering -- his ex-wife's husband? I think the scene is being set for Megan to leave Don. The scene of Don barfing was kind of shocking -- things are finally catching up to him.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2013 23:50:37 GMT
We watched it. I felt like it kind of dragged a bit and fell flat in many respects.
The guy on the phone with Peggy was a co-worker and Ted is her new boss.
Betty was indeed bizarre. I suspect that "little" Sally is going to start up with some major adolescent acting out real soon. Just a hunch.
I missed not seeing Joan but for a brief few.
I think you're right about Don and Megan. His character is darker than ever. The doorman I think will be more in evidence and yes, I believe that was his intro into the season with more of him to come.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 9, 2013 0:28:17 GMT
I think there will be more of Dr. Rosen & his wife, too. That was an odd little bit of business, with his somewhat excessive complimenting of Don on his looks.
Yeah -- good call on Sally. I'll bet you're right.
Ditto on the dragging. although I'm always more lenient on pilots and season premieres, so expect better in the future.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2013 19:53:22 GMT
Watched episode 2 of the new season last night.
You were certainly correct about Dr. Rosen and his wife (I can never quite catch what her name is) being more of a presence. Were they ever!
Not a whole lot of action from regular characters.
I was fairly bored with most of it. Again, I felt like it dragged too much, and it was dark and grim, which can work if it isn't boring. I don't know if I'm in for the whole season at this point.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 15, 2013 23:48:01 GMT
I had to avoid this thread until I could watch episode 2. (Episode 2 is really episode 3, due to 1 & 2 being shown as one episode. What would have been wrong with having an extra long premiere episode & then just numbering things normally?) Anyway ~~ I can't figure out how I missed so much stuff! I've been looking at synopses online to figure out what's what. Things I missed: a) The fat Jaguar guy & Joan -- although now I'm thinking that happened so long ago that I simply forgot. b) Don & Sylvia (dr's wife) -- did I fall asleep? was it cut from the video I saw? I didn't know about their affair until this episode. c) The whole development in Peggy's career -- again, so long between seasons that I guess it just didn't stick with me. I think we'll see the end of Megan some time during this season, & not too far in, either. The whole business of Don scuttling the Jaguar guy's idea was called dishonor by Roger, whereas it seemed like a shrewd & necessary move on Don's part to me. Two things were used as historical background that pinpointed when the episode was supposed to be taking place. That was the 1968 Tet offensive, which began January 30 and Johnny Carson's interview of Jim Garrison on January 31, 1968. I don't exactly find the show boring. It's always had excellent tension & leisurely character/plot development. However the hiatus between seasons breaks up our involvement in these lives to the point that we almost need a cliffhanger to keep us hooked, plus the lag forces the producers to build in what are essentially re-introduction scenes, such as is happening with Peggy right now.
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Post by lola on Apr 16, 2013 2:11:37 GMT
Logging on to confess I'm too cheap to get cable and too chicken to use a free website that sent up a little storm of popups, some of which wanted a credit card # though they promised not to use it, and lots of scary buttons saying Click to Download.
So I'm going to rest up and read these -- don't worry about spoilers -- until I get my nerve up to try again.
The fat Jag guy was too creepy for me to forget; of course, I just watched the whole season in a few Mad days. I think Megan is OK. Watching too much marital bliss is almost as annoying as watching couples fight, though.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2013 16:07:43 GMT
I did as you Lola and watched all of the previous season in a few Mad days so the developments were very fresh in my mind going into this season.
Ditto on the fat, creepy, sweaty, pasty white Jaguar sales man....Yuck!! I don't know how you could have missed that Bixa, it would have made an impression. As for Peggy's relocating at a new agency, it was fairly downplayed so I can see how it could be confusing.
Don just kind of ended up in bed with the Dr.'s wife with no obvious as far as I could tel,l lead into.
I'm not quite sure about Megan leaving. I wouldn't miss her if she did, I find her that annoying a character.
Much of my boredom etc. also stems from having to tolerate all the interminable commercial interruptions and that it is on at 9p.m. when I'm generally reading my Sunday NY Times at the end of the evening before beddy bye....
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 17, 2013 17:15:34 GMT
What's bizarre is that I remember Joan firmly stating that she wanted a partnership, but not really knowing why.
It has to be admitted here that I watch pirate tv*. On the one hand, it means that I can mostly control when I get to see an episode and also that I view them with no commercials. On the other hand, it's not the first time that I've found out there were things missing in what I saw. A friend was addicted to The Big C on her satellite tv, as was I on pirate tv. We'd been discussing an episode & to my confusion she was mentioning all kinds of things I hadn't seen. I found the episode somewhere else & upon re-viewing, lo & behold, bunches of pertinent stuff had been left out of the first one I saw. I assume in the process of cutting out commercials, other parts might get axed accidentally.
Anyway, I'd say to tape the show to watch later, at a better time for you & skipping the commercials. There are just under 20 minutes of commercials in any 60 minute episode of Mad Men -- more than enough to disrupt the dramatic flow.
I agree about not missing Megan & ditto about not liking to look at her. However, I think she was important as a part of overall plot development, as a cultural marker of a type of female role in the 60s, plus she helps round out our picture of Don.
Lola, don't download anything. Click away from anything wanting a sign-up. Immediately turn off all pop-ups or pop-unders. Eventually you'll figure out the safest places to go.
* Any Port in a Storm does not promote nor approve of using such sites.
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Post by lola on Apr 18, 2013 17:47:06 GMT
Yes, Bixa, I think in my situation pirating isn't really ethical since I could spend the $ easily. If I lived out of the country, away from Charter Cable's easy billing system, it would be a different story. The workman is worthy of his hire, and so are the fine folks at AMC.
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Post by lagatta on Apr 21, 2013 2:43:37 GMT
I don't watch TV (though nowadays there is stuff I can watch on the computer) and confess I don't understand the dislike for the Megan character, admitting that of course here she is described in glowing terms since she is from Montréal, and because she is supposed to represent some kind of break (?) from the postwar conformist mentality. Is she a phony? Or just another Stepford wife?
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 21, 2013 6:49:08 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Apr 21, 2013 9:04:14 GMT
Mr. Kimby and I have recently watched the first season, courtesy of interlibrary loans. It started just slowly enough that we ALMOST quit watching after 2 or 3 episodes. But we stuck with it and were fairly hooked by the season's end. We are simultaneously watching Californication (finished season 2) and Breaking Bad.
We don't have cable so are always eons behind the times, but on the other hand, never watch a clunker series because they are all fully vetted by the time we see them.
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Post by lagatta on Apr 22, 2013 3:35:13 GMT
Well, what I saw in that clip didn't particularly endear me to her, but confirmed that he was an arch-jerk, and more than a bit of a racist, wanting her to speak English to her mother because mother understood it.
That chemical orange sherbet really looks nauseating!
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 22, 2013 3:59:43 GMT
LaGatta, that's a clip from earlier in another season. I chose it because the whole episode made me fairly sympathetic to Megan. However, later in the series we find that she's really not that nice of a person -- sneaky, dishonest, and manipulative.
As far as Don griping about the phone conversations, I thought that was a good piece of script writing, perfectly capturing how things are thrown out in marital fights that aren't really germane to the subject of the argument.
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Post by lagatta on Apr 22, 2013 11:48:31 GMT
I don't get the impression that anyone is particularly "nice" in that series. Though that is nothing to the original (British) "House of Cards". The MPs, Lords, Cabinet Ministers etc have the morals of a biker gang, just better manners...
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 22, 2013 15:09:50 GMT
You should give it a try if you can start from the beginning. I'd say there is nothing quite like it on tv, and it's beautifully produced. I think any of us old enough to remember the late 50s to the early 60s can enjoy it from the cultural references alone. Well, "enjoy" isn't always the right word, as there are times you will seethe with fury reliving the attitudes of the bad old days.
So who has watched last night's episode?
To me the best parts were the business with the Heinz ketchup account, particularly the two encounters between the rival agency people. Is Peggy being positioned as an on-going adversary for later in the series, or is this part of making an eventual return to Sterling Cooper more interesting?
Don & Megan are definitely moving toward a break-up. I doubt that she'll be a returning character a la Betty once that happens. Is he actually falling for Sylvia? Nice possibilities for messy kicking over of traces in that relationship. How did you all feel about his reaction to her crucifix? As an indication that he might feel what they're doing is wrong, it was pretty clunky & seemed placed as a segue into Sylvia's saying she prayed for him to find peace. It didn't work for me as a deep moment, but perhaps is showing there's a future for them beyond boffing.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2013 22:22:44 GMT
I missed last evening's episode because we had company for dinner. The synopsis sounds spot on. I suspected last week that Peggy would in some kind of fashion make her way back to Sterling Cooper. She seems fairly frustrated creatively with the nerds she's been assigned to supervise. A vast departure from her creative team at SC. And, I think she really misses the camaraderie. Megan leaving Don or vice versa seems inevitable.
I think you're right Lagatta about no one being particularly nice. They are in the advertising business after all. Nice people don't survive in such a cut throat business. Megan's career choice of wanting to be an actress suits her character which is shallow and narcissistic.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 30, 2013 4:50:08 GMT
WOW ~~ tonight's episode was excellent. It really shone in all the ways that make viewers stick with the series. Everything was handled beautifully and none of the many opportunities for cheapening the moment were milked -- very deft touch throughout.
For me, the then-news, now-history tragedy that unfolds in the middle of the episode was wrenching. It was so exactly like being back at that moment that I caught myself straining to hear the early news reports of the shooting, as though I didn't know the outcome.
Joan's inner brittleness showed through with that them&us hug she administered -- such a contrast to Peggy's spontaneous and empathetic hug.
I absolutely loved the way Peggy's moment of happiness was handled. Elizabeth Moss is brilliant.
But the real surprises of the episode were a) showing Megan as a deeper person with genuine feelings for Don's kids; and b) Don showing real insight into himself and unbending to be a real dad to Bobby.
The Betty & Henry relationship continues to be somewhat boring, but I admire Weiner for keeping it going, both as a comment on male & female roles of the time and as needed background for the personalities of the children.
And hey ~~ wasn't that an absolutely perfect choice for the movie that Don & Bobby go see?
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Post by bixaorellana on May 13, 2013 6:30:16 GMT
It looks at though at this point I am the lone anyport eyeballs watching in the wilderness. You all are missing out!
The show is really taking off in different directions all at once, with some characters gaining much more importance & upsetting the complacency of many of the Stirling Cooper regulars. And Don is still enigmatic, but different aspects are now showing through the chinks in his armor.
This episode (season 6, episode 7) was directed by John Slattery. It packed in office upheaval, familial angst, a whole psychosexual mini-plot, plus some well-wrought workplace ego posturing, all beautifully paced and completely believable. The last three minutes of the episode were right up there with the best of Mad Men dramatic moments.
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Post by lola on May 13, 2013 22:43:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 5:08:34 GMT
I may give another episode a try one of these days, but since it is my absolutely least favourite period in history, it gives me absolutely no pleasure to see any recreation of that time, well done or not.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 14, 2013 17:16:04 GMT
Aw, thank you, Lola. And thanks for the link to that excellent article. I don't totally agree with her about every single thing, although all of her points but one have merit. The one I take issue with is that Don is too heavy -- a "drag", as she puts it. Incisive as Nussbaum is, I think she's fallen prey to expecting the regular way tv series unfold, in which main characters essentially remain the same throughout, however many seasons the show runs.
Mad Men has the sensibility and structure of a novel and Don is its protagonist. His evolution, along with the other two most well-realized characters (Peggy & Roger), is logical and ongoing. I just hope the series doesn't get into that hurtling-towards-the-end mode and hasten his eventual whatever just to wrap things up.
Did you mean an actual or a metaphorical leap, Lola? If the latter, it will be interesting to see that if he does crash, will he bounce back up as has been his pattern since the show began.
Kerouac, try to set aside your prejudice in order to give the show a chance. Despite the many articles praising the show for its period verisimilitude, that's not what it's about. In one way it can be seen as a timeline of how we got to where we are today, set in the form of various character studies. It's also worth watching for the very different pacing that sets it apart from regular tv fare. And the feeling of strangeness caused by seeing a time and events you remember presented as history is somewhat unsettling but absorbing.
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Post by lola on May 15, 2013 1:40:09 GMT
I've read a couple of comments along the lines of: "Don will jump out a window at the end of the series" a la the opening graphics, or otherwise buy the farm.
Agree, they don't need to wrap Don up just to go out with a bang. Too cheap.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 29, 2014 2:01:13 GMT
Well, it's been a year since anyone commented on Mad Men, but I need to do so now.
First, though, coincidentally germane to Lola's last two comments, I recently read that the dramatic leap has always been a conjecture, simply because of the opening credits & the way all of us assume the silhouette man is Don.
At any rate, anyone who watched last season knows how Don crashed. This season dealt with the aftermath of that, I'd have to say not that well as far as riveting tv watching goes. However I just this minute finished watching the final episode (#7) of season seven, and I have to say WOW. My three favorite characters, Don, Peggy, & Roger got to shine and their solitary or interactive moments were tone-perfect and entirely consistent with the people they've become since we first met them. There was the trademark perfection of MM's involving us in a historic moment as it unfolded, plus a completely unexpected bit of whimsy at the end that worked against all odds. It was the compelling Mad Men of old and once again I'm hooked, but now stuck waiting until the final seven episodes of the series air in Spring of 2015.
And gawwwwwwwd, Joan is a bitch, just as I've said all along.
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