Mad Men

[Reaper16]

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.

[Reaper16]

I think he's just a gladhanding suckup, willing to trade his sense of shame for climbing the ladder, a new Pete Campbell only without the neurotic ego. Which is to say: the successful wave of the ****ing future.

[Thig Lyfe]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

I think he's just a gladhanding suckup, willing to trade his sense of shame for climbing the ladder, a new Pete Campbell only without the neurotic ego. Which is to say: the successful wave of the ****ing future.

This is where I am, too, although the inconsistency in the story about his father gives me some pause. Maybe he listens to that new age self-help bullshit to give him confidence as he closes in on nabbing Dick Whitman?

[OnTheWarpath15]

Interesting theory:

http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2013/06/rea...d/#more-262909

[underEJ]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Interesting theory:

http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2013/06/rea...d/#more-262909

HA! from the comments:

"I’m not sure if they can kill of Megan. Isn’t that why they cancelled Luck?"

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Thig Lyfe

This is where I am, too, although the inconsistency in the story about his father gives me some pause. Maybe he listens to that new age self-help bullshit to give him confidence as he closes in on nabbing Dick Whitman?

1.) it suggests to me that he's willing to lie about his personal life to move up the ladder. Nothing more (at this time)

2.) I don't even know why there would need to be a government agent out to nab Dick Whitman. Aren't there other, more contemporary draft dodgers and etc. from the Vietnam conflict that they should be focusing on?

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Interesting theory:

http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2013/06/rea...d/#more-262909

Holy crap. That's fascinating. Probably too clever by half, but still.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Interesting theory:

http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2013/06/rea...d/#more-262909

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

Holy crap. That's fascinating. Probably too clever by half, but still.

The implication of that scene is either that:

a.) Megan is already dead, or else Don wouldn't be able to see her as he was drowning

b.) Megan will die in the near future and one's visage at the time of death carries on throughout the afterlife and also your "soul" or whatever exists outside of time, hence Megan's being able to place itself "backwards in time" to talk to Don's "soul."

c.) those totally weren't spirits of Megan and the private from the season premier but just meaningless hallucinations from Don's oxygen-deprived mind; there was no supernatural element introduced to this realist drama.

Probably c.)

[Art Vader]

Pete Campbell hitting the J was a great ending.

[Thig Lyfe]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

1.) it suggests to me that he's willing to lie about his personal life to move up the ladder. Nothing more (at this time)

2.) I don't even know why there would need to be a government agent out to nab Dick Whitman. Aren't there other, more contemporary draft dodgers and etc. from the Vietnam conflict that they should be focusing on?

Maybe Don has done shit we don't know about!!! What if he worked on a secret ILLEGAL project or something?!!?

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Thig Lyfe

Maybe Don has done shit we don't know about!!! What if he worked on a secret ILLEGAL project or something?!!?

Hick: "This is the annual convention of the Illinois branch of the Ku Klux Clan, and we're hap..."

Dick Whitman: "What if you spelled Clan with a K instead of a C? Call your selves the KKK for short? Its catchy."

Hick: "You've got a bright future, young man."

[Demonpenz]

nailed it.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Did you miss the greatest thing ever?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/whitneyjeffe...-greatest-even

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

Did you miss the greatest thing ever?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/whitneyjeffe...-greatest-even

http://www.vulture.com/2013/06/adam-...v-history.html

[Baby Lee]

Mother of ****ing God!

Has any one checked the newswire? I fear G.R.R. Martin might be dead and Matthew Weiner killed him.

****ing out Red Weddinged the ****ing Red Wedding.

That might have been the most perfect hour of television. You wanted it over immediately, and to go back and time and unsee what you saw, and yet never wanted it to end.. Keep going. . . Keep pushing. . . Rip off ALL bandages. . . Burn this ****er down!!

And it came from so many fronts, all presaged by Roger's invocation 'not all surprises are bad.' Slow burn, signs of progress, breakthroughs, reveals, then one rug, then the wrecking ball, then the twin towers fall.

Peggy's little misunderstanding with Pete's doddering mom, thawing the ice with Pete. Ted realizing Peggy still has options. Sally's budding adolescence, with a crush on a new guy marked for slaughter. The war hits home, Don handles it with grace, then oversteps, bringing on Ted's righteous anger, leading to detante and a new understanding and appreciation. Don delivers a genuine life changing blessing to a friend . . . and a lover, and saves his daughter heartache. Through this, Ted endures his wife's dissatisfaction.

Then Pete receives confirmation of his worst fears and fears he didn't even know to fear in one fell swoop. Sally's crush becomes distressingly real. Her father is unambiguously unmasked. The realities of all Don's life's choices hit home at once [and to paraphrase the words of Barry Zuckercorn, 'those were balls.' Balls presaged IRL in the gossip pages before the season started]. Pete is alone, without sustenance, with a lot of knowledge he never wanted. Sally is crushed and unmoored, unaware of the good surrounding the bad she's witnessed. Don faces the admiration and gratitude of all except the only female that matters in the end, in her presence no less.

And in the end, Ted proves to be everything his wife desires while she sleeps feet away with a novel on her chest.

That is Shakespearean shit, people. That is not TV, it's not HBO, it's Matthew ****ing Weiner.

Hallelujah!! And Holy Shit!! Where's the scotch?

EDIT: And another stinger, last time we heard "not all surprises are bad?" When Don told Sally that, when Betty was pregnant with her, they thought she'd be a boy.

[siberian khatru]

It was a fantastic episode -- right down to the Moshe Dayan poster. I LOL'd while also wondering WTF.

Oh, and Bob confirmed my suspicions. EDIT: Actually, only that he's willing to play for both teams. I'm still not sure exactly what game Bob is playing.