First time MAD MEN on Blu-ray viewer: What's in store for me? (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

My brother has recently started watching MAD MEN and has
fallen in love with the series. He is now on Season 2.

He has been endlessly urging me to start watching this show --
so much so that he bought me Season One on Blu-ray.

I started watching the first 4 episodes of Season One last night.

I'm sort of lukewarm to the show at this point. The characters
are rather interesting, but I haven't gotten to anything in particular
that has "hooked" me into wanting to watch another episode as
soon as possible (though I plan on at least finishing the first season).

I know this show has been extremely popular over the years.

Just wondering what I should expect in upcoming episodes/seasons
that might make me a huge fan.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

The show took a little while to grow on me as well, but I came to really enjoy it. Things are a bit mysterious in season 1, and it's very focused on cultural differences between that time period and today. Don's backstory comes to the forefront more in seasons 2 and 3, so they may be a little more interesting for those of us to whom the period stuff's appeal is more curiosity than nostalgia. I personally found season 4 to be very soapy, but a lot of other people think it's the best of the series, so YMMV.
Like Dexter, the show's appeal comes more from its colorful characters than from any particularly exciting plotting. Which is not to say that the stories aren't good.
We're about 5 episodes into season 5. So far it's been mostly excellent, albeit with some rather dark overtones to go with a few classic moments. However, the episode we watched last night was the most bizarre of the entire series -- it was more like a Twilight Zone anthology than a Mad Men episode! Hopefully things will return to normal next time. (We're an episode or two behind the current broadcast, watching it On Demand.)

 

[Matt Hough]

There are some big revelations concerning Don in season one as well as in later seasons, and those are rather astounding and are what hooked me to the show.

It was the Peggy story in season one that spoiled what I thought was an otherwise flawless season.

BTW, I think all of the previous seasons have been reviewed here in their Blu-ray versions, Ron. (I did the first season, and Michael Reuben did the second as I recall). You might want to check those reviews for further thoughts and discussion of the season.

 

[Patrick Sun]

This is how I sum up Mad Men (from the current season's thread):
"The strength of this show is how it showcases subtext from the world of the 1960s, reflects it into the face of the world today, making it relevant television if you like such fare. If you simply watch it for plot plot plot, it might not be your cup of tea."
Just keep watching, pretty soon, the show will just seep into your subconscious, and you'll look forward to the next episode and and then the next one...

 

[ScottH]

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein /t/320421/first-time-mad-men-on-blu-ray-viewer-whats-in-store-for-me#post_3921634
I'm sort of lukewarm to the show at this point. The characters
are rather interesting, but I haven't gotten to anything in particular
that has "hooked" me into wanting to watch another episode as
soon as possible

I'm all caught up to the very latest season 5 episode, and that's still pretty much how I feel. But I've stuck with it, so I guess that says something. I will say I'm enjoying this current season probably more than any of the others.

All that said, the writing, acting and production is all top notch. Sometimes I just have a hard time buying that it's anything more than a soap opera set in the 60's.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Fine, post deleted.

 

[Josh Dial]

There are some major spoilers in there, Steve. You may want to edit some tags in there since the audience for this thread is someone who is quite vulnerable to spoilers

 

[ScottH]

Yeah Steve that's cold man.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Dude, what were you thinking???

 

[joshEH]

First time MAD MEN on Blu-ray viewer: What's in store for me?

A riding lawnmower.