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.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Rewatched this afternoon, and HOLY SHIT:

Megan's friend who she back-stabbed for the part ("I'd ask you who I have to sleep with, but I don't think you'd like it) and the blonde who approached Don in the bar at the end...

Same person?

Searching for screencaps...

[mikeyis4dcats.]

no

[Buck]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

It all comes down to whether Don can handle Megan as actress. I mean, that's been a large part of season 5, but maybe this commercial makes Megan's career take off. He either accepts it, or he regresses as a character. Which isn't that interesting, IMO.

What might be interesting is if Megan leaves Don. One line in favor of Don being the old, cheating Don (or at least a Don without having to worry about staying faithful to Megan): when Don tells Peggy "that's what people do when you help them - they get better and move on." And Don did help Megan land that commercial.

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Now I'm thinking hard about that scene where Don watched Megan's screentest. What say you, CP? Did Megan's screentest show great promise as an actress? Or did it confirm that she doesn't have the stuff to make it?

I'm debating between the two readings. On one hand, Don could realize that she's got the stuff to be successful, and decides to help her on her way towards success...knowing full well that her success will drive them apart.

On the other hand, Don might just see in her screentest the same expressions that she uses in their marriage, which would be upsetting. So he is casting her aside by helping her to "get better and move on."

Or he knows that, like her mom said, she's chasing a phantom...he knows she'll never be a real artist, so he helps her get into commercial acting...knowing that advertising is the death knell of her artistic dreams. She then becomes a diminished person in Don's eyes -- much closer to Betty (remember, she was a model!) than the Megan of earlier this season. Which makes it considerably easier for Don to cheat on her, then.

And even if Don is sincerely trying to help Megan, his help makes it psychologically easier for him to cheat on her. So, like Lane's wife tells Don earlier, Don's gesture of help is mostly done for selfish reasons.


Most of the signs point to Don reverting back to full-on adulterer mode. That isn't that interesting to me; it feels like the show stalling Don's character arc to milk out a couple more seasons that the show actually needs. BUT I very much appreciate the mystery behind exactly why Don's little cliffhanger moment happens.

For a season in which Mad Men laid its themes more bare than it ever has (to the point of being frequently on-the-nose, ESPECIALLY in the finale), the last 12 minutes or so with Don brought back the mystery that this show as always thrived on.

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Yeah, the more I think on it (after my third full re-watch) the more I get convinced that Don is gonna' sleep with that woman at the bar. I think that analysis from The Orange Couch is correct when it asserts that Don is accepting the bad parts of himself. Too bad the show had to use that dentist scene to get him there; I think that might just be the worst scene in Mad Men history. Talk about overdoing it.

I'm not going to go nearly this in depth with why I think he's going to cheat. Only a couple reasons.

1. When things have been seemingly perfect for Don, that's not a good thing for him. He always needs to fix something.

2. Don hasn't cheated since he got rid of all of his Dick Whitman baggage. That seems to be back with both Sally asking and him seeing his brother. However, it could just be said that he hasn't cheated since then because he's been with Megan since then, so I guess that could go either way.

I don't know, as with any person who is addicted to something, sometimes they get sober for a long period of time before relapse. I don't think it would make the show worse if he has another extra-marital affair. Maybe if he does, Megan will handle it differently than Betty did, and that could be interesting to watch.

Either way, I'm upset that we have to wait many months to watch the best show on TV again.

[Saulbadguy]

I think you guys analyze this show way too much.

[Red Brooklyn]

God knows I analyze things to death. Because I enjoy it. So this might be a little hollow coming from someone who loves to dissect art and entertainment, but... surely there's never been a more appropriate or necessary show to analyze than Mad Men. It's built for it.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Saulbadguy

I think you guys analyze this show way too much.

My mind doesn't understand this criticism. It's built to analyze things. For me, if something isn't worth analyzing and discussing then it isn't worth doing.

[Saulbadguy]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

My mind doesn't understand this criticism. It's built to analyze things. For me, if something isn't worth analyzing and discussing then it isn't worth doing.

I never said it wasn't worth analyzing or discussing. It might not be worth analyzing/discussing to this level, however.

Don't you feel cheated when it doesn't take the turn you believe it should take? How about disappointed, when it does take the turn you expect it to take?

[Thig Lyfe]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I don't think he will.

He's learned a great many lessons this season. Though in the end, it's possible that one of them was that death comes for us all...in which case he may just tell discretion to kiss his ass.

Ultimately I think what we saw from Don was growth. I think that's the dichotomy we'll see between young Don (with his aspiring model wife, Betty) and a wiser Don. I think Wiener wants his audience to see growth in Don. If Don bangs those girls, we're literally right back where we started in season 1, episode 1.

HE'S GONNA GET BALLS DEEP IN DAT ASSSSSSSSSSSS

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Saulbadguy

I never said it wasn't worth analyzing or discussing. It might not be worth analyzing/discussing to this level, however.

Don't you feel cheated when it doesn't take the turn you believe it should take? How about disappointed, when it does take the turn you expect it to take?

I feel neither of those things, unless the turns taken are poor ones.

Thing is, I don't see what I or anyone else in this thread have been doing as excessive analysis. it seems like the appropriate amount.

I really have an inability to passively watch things, admittedly.

[Art Vader]

Peggy dies on the plane ride back, Cooper dies of old age, Sterling disappears never to be found, Campbell flips out/goes on a gun rampage/gets life in prison, Joan passes away from STD complications, Don jumps from the top of the building.. mimicking the opening credits, Zombie Lane comes back and takes control of company.

[Demonpenz]

Lane is reincarnated as the Gieco Lizzard, Megan gets braces and gives birth to a young Cindy Crawford. Cindy Crawford crows up and has a one night stand with Eric Nies. Old Burt Cooper, Don, Megan, and Eric Nies dance on a water platform on "the grind" on 90's MTV

[BigRedChief]

I dont think Don returns to his womanizing ways. Been there done that. Don, the charector cant grow being the womenizer.

He's defintely done with this wife.

[Demonpenz]

all him and his wife do is fight anyway

[MoreLemonPledge]

Don is going to replace Brian Jones in the Rolling Stones. It was slyly referenced to earlier in the season.

[Buck]

Bump for Sunday