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Madmen season 4

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Matty
This season has been fantastic. Last Sunday's episode was especially strong.

Punanny rules the world.
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I agree. Can't match season 1 but great rebound season. I don't like to see Peggy gone though. I like her. (assuming she really is gone.)

I still don't know the root of Layne's financial crisis. I went through about 10 pages of threads at imdb assuming I would not be the only one asking the question - but so far I am. I can keep going back further but someone here must know ???


:dunno:
 
personally, i have some problems staying with the latest shows based in the 60s/70s (besides that 70s show, which was good shit) ... odd since i am enjoying magic city (based in the 50s :dunno: ) i really cant explain it. could be some things arent pleasing to the eye or just the squareness of the dialog... ill give it a shot this week
 
Mudcat
I agree. Can't match season 1 but great rebound season. I don't like to see Peggy gone though. I like her. (assuming she really is gone.)

I still don't know the root of Layne's financial crisis. I went through about 10 pages of threads at imdb assuming I would not be the only one asking the question - but so far I am. I can keep going back further but someone here must know ???


:dunno:
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I thought it was something to do with his sons costly education but I could be wrong.
 
That kind of rings a bell but there must be more to it. There was definitely a line from Layne during a phone conversation about paying some guy to keep him out of jail. Unless maybe he was speaking idiomatically?

I don't know. If I can't get a definite answer here I will dig deeper at imdb. I need an answer.
 
RayRay
do i need to start this show from season 1 ep.1 ? i think i tried to watch a few of the first eps. and couldnt get through them...i guess ill try again
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If you already tried it and couldn't get through the episodes, it's probably just not for you. I mean, no harm in giving it another shot but lots of people are not into it.
 
I have no idea either re:Layne. This Brit guy on the phone sounded like he was blackmailing Layne about some citizenship- or residency-related bullshit, I think. :dunno:

The show is quite a bit about the era, about its different (sub)cultures and the emergence of consumerism, among other themes. But more generally, if you wanna sum it up, it's a drama about sex, power and desire, with the crazy-fast social changes of the 60's as a backdrop. It is soap opera-ish at times. Most TV shows are.

I think it's smart as fok, but I can understand that it doesn't have the same appeal as other primetime shows.

Season 4 was a letdown. Seasons 1, 2 & 5 are standouts as far as I'm concerned.
 
RayRay, you wanna see the redheads tits from episode 1, you're feeling the effects of 2nd hand cigarette smoke by episode 4, you're considering getting tested for an STD by episode 6, you're probably wanting Peggy Olsen to not return by end of season 1 and midway through season 2 you're enraged at how simpleminded and easily influenced American consumers are.

Personally I liked the show but more because it was available for instant streaming on NetFlix and I have ample time while at work to fuck off streaming video.
 
Matty
The show is quite a bit about the era, about its different (sub)cultures and the emergence of consumerism, among other themes. But more generally, if you wanna sum it up, it's a drama about sex, power and desire, with the crazy-fast social changes of the 60's as a backdrop. It is soap opera-ish at times. Most TV shows are.

I think it's smart as fok, but I can understand that it doesn't have the same appeal as other primetime shows.

Season 4 was a letdown. Seasons 1, 2 & 5 are standouts as far as I'm concerned.
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I don't think it addresses the era much at all. Consumerism, yes. But as far as social issues, it's chickenshit. It sets itself up to do so, but then does absolutely nothing with it. Situations like the black/white couple with Paul Kinsey and his girlfriend, the firing of Sal, and the rise of women in the workforce are all touched with white gloves. You mean to tell me that in the middle of the Civil Rights movement that NOBODY on the show is judgmental or even slightly critical of an interracial relationship? Are you supposed to assume that NYC is THAT progressive in that era when - to this day - it remains highly ethnically segregated? They go to the marches. That's as much as it will deal with. Don finds out Sal is gay. But nothing comes of it until Sal denies the advances of Lee Garner Jr. which subsequently gets him fired? So, Don has no problem with that (and, in fact, tells Sal that he should allowed it to happen)? In the early 1960's? Come on. Chauvinism in the workplace is dealt with a little bit, but Peggy gets her job as a copyrighter without so much as the flip of a lightswitch. There is no opposition to it at all. To me, the issues of the time are merely touched. They aren't incorporated into the plot of the stories at all. This show could just as well be set in ancient Greece albeit without the advertising components.

I actually despised Don Draper at first. His character does eventually show some signs of vulnerability though, and he becomes moderately likeable. The writers do a good job of tetering between those two sides of him. And as an actor, he does a good job of what you assume is some self-contemplation, but he never seems to change. In that respect, he becomes a well-developed but often disappointing character because you want him to better himself. It's an excellent device to keep a viewer tied to the show, but how many times can you see the same thing before you just give up on him? That's a fine line.

I certainly like the consumerism angle as well. In that respect, it's certainly unique. I believe that I've let it be known how I feel on that issue. Daft must feel relieved to know that he's not the only sheep that they target.
 
Don Draper does evolve a whole lot in Season 5. The race inequality stuff also comes back.

In many ways we're all more or less impervious to the drama of our times, impervious to the big picture. We're all in our own bubble. Bits of the world we can't relate to are background noise. I think the show is brilliant in that it brings all these elements in contact with Draper et al. and they're more or less aware of it. Copy needs to be written and clients need to be schmoozed to death. An industry like advertising does not stop to smell the roses.

I call that realistic, smart writing.
 
Matty
Don Draper does evolve a whole lot in Season 5. The race inequality stuff also comes back.

In many ways we're all more or less impervious to the drama of our times, impervious to the big picture. We're all in our own bubble. Bits of the world we can't relate to are background noise. I think the show is brilliant in that it brings all these elements in contact with Draper et al. and they're more or less aware of it. Copy needs to be written and clients need to be schmoozed to death. An industry like advertising does not stop to smell the roses.

I call that realistic, smart writing.
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Many may be impervious to social issues in the sense that perhaps contemporary decorum and legislation that is later deemed insensitive or even deleterious may be accepted in that era, but that doesn't mean that the rationality and behavior of those people is already progressive which the show seems to portray. I wouldn't call it stopping to smell the roses, but simple personal intolerance. Certainly, those people would have opinions on those matters. Their jobs can't possibly consume them that much.

I just think it's writing made to not offend its potential audience. Is that realistic or smart? For their bottom line, yes. But as a realistic depiction of the era? Not really.
 
MonkeyF0cker
that doesn't mean that the rationality and behavior of those people is already progressive which the show seems to portray.
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Well, it *is* NYC. :DUH: :spinner:

Yeah, good point. Not sure that the Don Drapers of the time were as laidback and unopinionated about race and gender equality. But Draper is also one of them extremely focused and mission-driven individuals. I buy it for the most part. :dunno:
 
Okay I got some answers. So if anyone else is interested:

It all goes back to that critical phone conversation with his lawyer (where he viciously barked at his wife to go away).

Lane's trouble is that he owes the British government 8K in taxes. Apparently setting foot on English soil would land him in jail. That's why he manipulated his wife into thinking he really wanted to spend Christmas in New York rather than going home. And of course that's why he gleeped 8K from the agency.

Something about the fact he owes for money earned on American soil somehow makes it more treasonous. I don't understand that but anyway, big picture, tax trubbles is what it is. He has been a horrible manager of his personal finances - and of course, being the CFO for SCDP (and very private and reserved by nature), he can't just admit the truth and ask for help. So he began his path of credit lines under false pretenses, trying to get himself a bonus, forging the cheque, manipulating Joan away from accepting cash etc. etc.

So the big question is, will it blow up in his face? If it was any other show, I'd think yes definitely, but Mad Men very frequently flies in the face of expectations.

Will Don sleep with Joan? Maybe not.



Anyhoo - apparently when Lane isn't taking a beating from his father or delivering a beating to Pete Campbell, he is mucking up his shit.
 
Yes they did! And Christina Hendrick's reactions were some really great acting which I don't think I knew she had in her.


Lane's arc was obviously the main feature but I liked more than just that. I liked the development of the daughter and how that was presented. Sometimes small truths can be powerful.

Don's meeting with the dudes from Dow was pretty kick-ass.

Gotta say though, I did not like the final scene where the kid is driving and Don helps him steer. I don't know what they were shooting for with that but it didn't ring true for me on a couple of levels.

But that is a mere quibble. 9.5 star episode.
 
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