182 replies to this topic

[Christian]

Tyler, on 28 March 2012 - 03:41 PM, said:

Jason Panella, on 28 March 2012 - 02:35 PM, said:

I still can't look at Pete Campbell without seeing Connor from Angel, though.

I can't look at Campbell without wanting to pound his face in.

I share this Campbell problem, from episode 1 on.

[Jason Panella]

Tyler, on 28 March 2012 - 03:41 PM, said:

Jason Panella, on 28 March 2012 - 02:35 PM, said:

I still can't look at Pete Campbell without seeing Connor from Angel, though.

I can't look at Campbell without wanting to pound his face in.

These two comments are not unrelated.

[Anna J]

http://petecampbells...ace.tumblr.com/

[Ryan H.]

andrew_b_welch, on 28 March 2012 - 02:27 PM, said:

One thing I'll be keeping an eye on is how the theme of "power" plays itself out over the course of the season, as that seemed to be the recurring theme of the premier: the advantages of power, how those in power are perceived by those with less power, etc.

Oh, definitely. I think there are going to be many power struggles in season 5. The show has taken us to dark places for individual characters before, but I think this seasons is going to give us a collective breakdown of the whole ensemble of characters as they are all pitted against each other. This opener had a pretty ominous undercurrent, and the creators have explained that this is the season where everyone seems to be out for themselves. I'm bracing myself for all these relationships to crumble.

Christian, on 28 March 2012 - 03:45 PM, said:

Tyler, on 28 March 2012 - 03:41 PM, said:

Jason Panella, on 28 March 2012 - 02:35 PM, said:

I still can't look at Pete Campbell without seeing Connor from Angel, though.

I can't look at Campbell without wanting to pound his face in.

I share this Campbell problem, from episode 1 on.

I was warming to Campbell--it seemed he was making progress--but it seems that he's going to regress this season.

[andrew_b_welch]

Who saw last Sunday's episode? Anyone?

Okay, well here goes. Watch out, people. Spoilers ahead:

Does anyone have any thoughts on

Spoiler

Betty's close call with cancer? Personally, I'm wondering if she's really out of the woods. Part of me thinks she may actually have cancer but is hiding it from Henry and the others. That sounds cruel, but in her mind I think she'd be doing it to spare them any grief, much like her friend hasn't told her kids about her own illness. Anyway, that's my take. Otherwise, I'm not sure why they'd take the episode in that direction. I hate it when shows throw in cancer as a red herring, just to make us feel something, and I'd like to think that Mad Men wouldn't resort to such a cheap tactic unless they had a good reason for doing it.

[Anna J]

Andrew:

Spoiler

If it truly was just a scare and nothing else, I'm don't know that it necessarily was "just to make us feel something." It served to wake Don up to his own age and mortality in a way that even Anna's death didn't. The chasm between him and "I just want to hang out with my friends!" Megan has grown very deep over two episodes, and meeting that rosy-cheeked tween at the Stones concert made it worse, because now he's worrying about Sally's innocence and worrying about Betty's life expectancy, and by extension his own. He knows that he lives harder than Betty in every possible way.

It is possible Betty's faking the close call and she really does have cancer. I hadn't thought of that but I wouldn't be surprised. At any rate I'm feeling more empathetic toward Betty than I have since season 1.

Also, Pete Campbell is my favorite character on the whole show. "It's a Chip-and-Dip!"

[Anna J]

All four seasons of Mad Men are $9.99 at Target.com.

[Ryan H.]

Is it just me, or is this the best season of MAD MEN yet?

Last night's episode was dynamite.

[andrew_b_welch]

Ryan H., on 16 April 2012 - 06:56 PM, said:

Is it just me, or is this the best season of MAD MEN yet?

Last night's episode was dynamite.

Last night's was absolutely a killer episode. I don't know where they're taking Pete, but they're doing it very well. I loved the repeated dripping motif, and I thought that, visually, Slattery did a great job--the cutting from scene to scene was fantastic.

But the

Spoiler

face-off between Lane and Peter

? That was absolute gold. One of my all-time favorite Mad Men moments ever.

[Ryan H.]

What was astonishing to me was that Don was the voice of Pete's conscience. And I *loved* Cosrgrove's Ray Bradbury-like short story to close it out. But I'm a Ray Bradbury nut.

And yes, the Lane/Campbell fight is pure gold.

Edited by Ryan H., 16 April 2012 - 07:06 PM.

[Tyler]

Just popping in to mention I finished the second season, and it's *much* better than the first season. I can see why people get excited about this show now.

[Darren H]

"There was chewing gum in his pubis!"

[Tyler]

Just finished watching season 3. I liked the season overall quite a bit, although I have to admit The Office did the whole "going rogue and starting their own guerrilla company" storyline better (and 7 months earlier) with the Michael Scott Paper Company.

[Ryan H.]

Heresy, Tyler. (But I never did much care for THE OFFICE, even when it supposedly good.)

Anyway, the most recent episode--"Far Away Places"--is getting a lot of conversation because of the drug use, but I was more struck by how bleak and depressing the episode was. I don't think MAD MEN has had such a downer of an episode before. I don't think things are going to get lighter, either. These episodes has established that the trajectory of this season is a downward spiral. It's going to get ugly.

Edited by Ryan H., 24 April 2012 - 08:29 PM.

[andrew_b_welch]

Ryan H., on 24 April 2012 - 08:14 PM, said:

I don't think MAD MEN has had such a downer of an episode before. I don't think things are going to get lighter, either. These episodes has established that the trajectory of this season is a downward spiral. It's going to get ugly.

I didn't think this one was quite as depressing (or creepy at the very least) as the last one, with Pete. But I would agree, wherever this is going, it's not going to be pretty.

[Ryan H.]

The one with Pete was creepy, but I didn't find it as depressing. At the very least, I didn't find it as desperate, and there was a lot more comedy throughout that episode to pick me up. But I don't really feel for Pete Campbell, so I was more of a distant observer there, and was more than a little pleased when he got his comeuppance.

But this episode hit me square in the gut. The desperation is everywhere, spreading even to characters who I thought were a little more stable than the others. There was very little humor to break anything up. And the violence of that final section tipped me right over the edge.

[Anders]

Ryan H., on 24 April 2012 - 08:14 PM, said:

Heresy, Tyler. (But I never did much care for THE OFFICE, even when it supposedly good.)

Anyway, the most recent episode--"Far Away Places"--is getting a lot of conversation because of the drug use, but I was more struck by how bleak and depressing the episode was. I don't think MAD MEN has had such a downer of an episode before. I don't think things are going to get lighter, either. These episodes has established that the trajectory of this season is a downward spiral. It's going to get ugly.

Ryan, did you ever watch the UK version of THE OFFICE? I couldn't bring myself to watch the American version, but I think the UK version is just about one of the most perfect shows ever.

Yeah, this episode was pretty dark, but it was also inevitable. I'd been waiting for Roger to get tired of Jane officially for a while. And the Don/Megan stuff we saw coming in the season opener as far as the undercurrent of violence in their relationship anyway. I think Don genuinely wants things to work, especially after his comments to Pete last episode. But he has no idea how to relate to women apart from misogyny. Also, Ginsburg's revelation was interesting, but I saw it coming when we were introduced to his "father."

Oh, and I loved the use of The Beach Boys during the LSD sequence. Fantastic stuff.

[Ryan H.]

Anders, on 24 April 2012 - 09:12 PM, said:

Ryan, did you ever watch the UK version of THE OFFICE? I couldn't bring myself to watch the American version, but I think the UK version is just about one of the most perfect shows ever.

I've seen some of it. From what I've seen, I do prefer it to its American counterpart, but I'm not what you'd call a fan.

Anders, on 24 April 2012 - 09:12 PM, said:

Yeah, this episode was pretty dark, but it was also inevitable.

Oh, yes. But I didn't expect them to pile it all into a single episode. The way the structure layered these character's relational distingrations gave them a heft they might not have otherwise had if the moments had been sprinkled out through the rest of the remaining episodes.

[Anders]

Ryan H., on 24 April 2012 - 09:19 PM, said:

Anders, on 24 April 2012 - 09:12 PM, said:

Ryan, did you ever watch the UK version of THE OFFICE? I couldn't bring myself to watch the American version, but I think the UK version is just about one of the most perfect shows ever.

I've seen some of it. From what I've seen, I do prefer it to its American counterpart, but I'm not what you'd call a fan.

Do check it out. It's only 12 episodes and the Christmas Special (which is really key to the whole thing). I don't even know if I'd call it comedy in the end. It's something much more.

[Jason Panella]

Chiming in to say I've had a similar experience to Tyler. We finished season one and ended up liking it, and finished season two not to long after that and absolutely loved it. We've intentionally put our viewing on hold — at the rate we were going, we'd blaze through the remaining available episodes on Netflix streaming and just get bummed out when we finished. I think we're going to pick up with season three in a few weeks.