Mad Men - Season 4

Advance reviews have been excellent. I'm looking forward to seeing how the events of 1964 influence the show. The Beatles craze started in February. Freedom Summer was in '64, also known as the Mississippi Summer Project. For the world of advertising, one of the most significant moments was the infamous Daisy ad (which only aired once, in September, but we still see it today; it was quite an uproar at the time).

According to a review that I read in the paper, the season starts at

I'd have to answer, "Yes".

It would be a good idea to buy or rent the earlier seasons and catch up also.

Don't know your age, but it is more fun when you have memories of the 1960's

"Johhnnnn, MARRRSHA!"

Great start to the season!

I'm sure you can start watching now (I started watched Buffy as S4->S7, S1->S3), but I have to believe it's better to start at the beginning and work your way up. Otherwise, you'll know a lot about where the characters are going when you watch those earlier episodes, and you won't know where they came from this season if you don't watch the earlier episodes first. You'll still get a lot of enjoyment watching out of order, but you'd get more enjoyment watching in order.

Living in the house your ex paid (and pays) for rent free with your new man in asking a lot. It'd be different if it were just her.

The new advertising agency has a long way to go, but has already come a long way since we left off.

Don continues to have only a passing relationship with the truth, and he's one of those people who gets rewarded for lying (he's good at it). Then again, some would say that's the essence of a successful ad man.

For awhile there it was difficult for me to remember how last season left off. It almost looked like a flashback because all the main characters from the old agency were at the new one, even the original bosses.

there were alot of people not at the new agency.

what was the john marsha thing?

i do find it intersting that everyone is starting to see things wrong with betty. makes me wonder if they are pushing to her having something or just really going insane.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shane D 

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what was the john marsha thing?

 

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They were riffing on a popular Stan Freberg parody of soap operas.  It was one of his (if not his) first routines released on record in the early 1950s and is compiled on a lot of his "best of" releases.
 

^ I know John/Marsha is a soap opera parody but I recognize it from a Looney Tunes cartoon.

Frigging brilliant.

Clearly, Don is/was going through some self-loathing.  The end of the episode seems to signal an end to it.  We've never really seen what an unleashed, untethered Don Draper is capable of accomplishing.  I guess we'll see now.

I'm not sure we'd get into political advertising, Sam.  I don't think the show ever has.  But, the Daisy ad is certainly the kind of daring/envelope pushing advertising Don Draper would be going for.  And, SCDP seems to be modeled after DDB.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quentin 

Frigging brilliant.

 

Clearly, Don is/was going through some self-loathing.  The end of the episode seems to signal an end to it.  We've never really seen what an unleashed, untethered Don Draper is capable of accomplishing.  I guess we'll see now.

 

I'm not sure we'd get into political advertising, Sam.  I don't think the show ever has.  But, the Daisy ad is certainly the kind of daring/envelope pushing advertising Don Draper would be going for.  And, SCDP seems to be modeled after DDB.

The WSJ interview was Don putting a faux second floor on Don Draper.  Given he invented himself from almost whole cloth once before, if he pulls it off again, he will not only be the man he was describing and "playing" in the interview, the new agency will probably have a real second floor.  Then again, maybe they will just have a conference table, and either way, Don will be secretly miserable. :)

 

I don't know if he'll be secretly miserable or not.  One of the great 'secrets' of this show is that we still don't know what Don REALLY wants in life.  Maybe he's finally embracing his true self?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken_McAlinden 

The WSJ interview was Don putting a faux second floor on Don Draper.  Given he invented himself from almost whole cloth once before, if he pulls it off again, he will not only be the man he was describing and "playing" in the interview, the new agency will probably have a real second floor.  Then again, maybe they will just have a conference table, and either way, Don will be secretly miserable. :)

 

Great start to the season. Loved the new offices, but I was a bit sad that so many of the supporting players no longer have a role, particularly Kinsey. But I guess it would strain believability to bring everyone along for the ride…
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quentin 

I'm not sure we'd get into political advertising, Sam.  I don't think the show ever has.  But, the Daisy ad is certainly the kind of daring/envelope pushing advertising Don Draper would be going for.  And, SCDP seems to be modeled after DDB.

In the first season Bert Cooper was very eager for Sterling Cooper to handle advertising for Nixon 1960 campaign. If I remember correctly the firm even purchased prime ad time in major markets, creating problems for the Kennedy. There were not any overt Nixon spots depicted though. 

The actor who plays Cosgrove is in the title credits, so we're going to be seeing him at some point as a regular ;)

I thought the premiere was terrific. Very funny in places; the dialogue in the beginning was great. Very disturbing in places, as we see the changes in Don - paying prostitutes, sadism, losing it with clients. He made it very clear that he has no patience for so-called family values. Also disturbing was Sally's behavior.

It's a joy to watch such a well-written, well-acted, and well-produced show.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul McGowan 

Is it possible to start watching this show now, after not seeing a single ep thus far.

I dont even know what this series is about, but vie heard good things.

I'd at least catch the premiere, as it has a hook that runs through the storyline that'd be ruined by dropping in now.

The most recent 'This American Life' has some interesting stuff on the relationship between Julian Koenig and George Lois, mostly about Koenig's jealousy over Lois taking credit for his work.  Recall, that Don remarked that he saw 'Koenig's hand' all over Smitty and Kurt's portfolio.

Didn't think Roger would cave on the Santa suit.

It was tough seeing Don's secretary all crushed up inside.
 

I think Roger and Don remembered what happened to Sal after crossing Mr. Lucky Strike.

Don is one cold man, but we've seen that before.

I loved how she laid out the Elizabeth Taylor ponds ads as "this is how it should go...."  I'm wondering how big a role Peg is going to get, I love everything about her storylines.

It's tough to stand on principle when the vast majority of your business is funded by one account. In that situation, it rang true to me that Roger caved. It also rang true to me that Don didn't speak up, though I've no doubt he wouldn't have donned the suit were the spotlight on him. Don would have smooth talked his way out of it, even when faced with the pressure of possibly losing the account. Don may have taken over someone's life, but his success is his own. He's smart, and he's cool under pressure.

Well...he WAS smart and cool under pressure.  Right now, he's pretty much a messy drunk...'pathetic' was a great way to describe him.  He is FAR from on top of his game - otherwise he'd be bangin' Phoebe AND the Doctor woman AND the debutante.  But, they all spurn him easily.  He's become obvious and pathetic and a drunk.

And, cruel to boot with the way he treated his poor secretary.

I wonder if the Doctor woman is right - if he WILL be re-married within a year?

It was nice to see Glen again. I assume by the last season, he'll change his name to Tex Watson and join the Manson family.

I agree, far from the top of his game and surprising to see him rejected by the Doctor woman, as you call her. But, Don's been on a constant downward spiral since the beginning of the show (don't the credits show that after all?) but somehow always gives the impression to everyone else that he's solidly on his feet 

What I find interesting in this season so far is how much focus they are putting on his personal darkness.  In previous seasons the focus was on the successful pitch, the girl he got, the glamor and success.  This season its about the nights he goes home alone, his frustrations and the firm's early struggles, most of all his coldness towards women and his sad estrangement from his family. 

I think it's a master stroke by the writer to focus so much on his hero's humanity and vulnerability.  It's all about probing and potentially, disproving the show's basic premise that in America, you can have a fake identity, a broken home life, little moral character or regard for other people, but if you succeed in business you will have respect and admiration from everyone around you.

Don's forehead vein had me thinking he was going to have an aneurysm when he was hugging Anna goodbye.
 

I think I'll have to try a Godzilla movie to ring in the new year...

"Dick + Anna 1964".  A sweet declaration of love or an epitaph?

I think Anna's passing is also the final passing of Dick Whitman.  Only Don Draper will remain and he's starting out as low as it goes.  But, his battle between 'what he wants vs. what's expected of him' should end with him giving the inimitable Don Draper a solidified identity.  I'm just not sure what that will be.

Boy, Joanie's husband is a tool who treats her like a child or an ornament.  She's also stuck in a crappy place.

Lane and Don on the town in what amounts to an evening of hilarious ribaldry combined with pitiful loneliness was some of the best TV of the year.  I don't know what was funnier - Lane barking pidgin Japanese in the theater or his Texas belt buckle rant!

The Godzilla scene joins the Lawnmower scene from S3 as one of the best combinations of tragic/comedy.  There are shows nominated for "Best Comedy" that don't have moments that good.  Estimating the percentage of attendees getting handjobs?  Classic