Mad Men Season 6 (1 Viewer)

[doug zdanivsky]

Another good episode.. Harry finally shows some chutzpah.. Should have passed on the money, but yeah, I woulda taken it, too.. At least he had a good last word..

 

[TravisR]

But didn't Harry at least have the initiative to want to start up a TV division when no one else did? I think that counts for something.

If I remember correctly, he suggested that they start a TV department because all the other agencies had one so he was just following the leader and giving himself a promotion rather than bringing anything special to the table. Once again, he has value to SCDP and I understand how he feels he's owed but from what we've seen (or what I remember since it's been years since I've seen the early seasons) he hasn't done anything exemplary at the job unlike other people working there.

 

[mattCR]

Though probably more than Pete, who basically just landed Clearasil to lose them.

 

[Matt Hough]

Don's hypocrisy is a real turn-off for me. I loved all of the show dealing with the business side of the agency, but the personal stuff with Don is rather repetitive now and doesn't hold my interest.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Don's hypocrisy is a real turn-off for me. I loved all of the show dealing with the business side of the agency, but the personal stuff with Don is rather repetitive now and doesn't hold my interest.

An opinion I have seen expressed quite frequently this week on the web.

 

[mattCR]

Lots of great moments last night:

* Joan's Awkward hug ranks very high in my list of Mad Men great comic moments out of tragedy

* The argument over the cost of MLK's shooting on their advertising that got heated.

* Peggy's realization that her live in NYT man really does love her and sees a family future with her; changing her whole view of the apartment hunt

* Megan & Peggy winning a Clio on a night where people could care less

* The insane home insurance "vision" that came the night MLK died from his ghost..

 

[Doug Smith]

Another great Rogerism - "he talked me off a roof once, I kind of owed him".

 

[RobertR]

I love the evocation of a certain time. 1968 was an incredibly tumultuous year.

 

[TravisR]

1968 was an incredibly tumultuous year.

I wasn't alive in 1968 but it's amazing to see how many big things happened all in one year.

 

[Quentin]

A snoozer episode. Some golden moments, I suppose - Peggy's smile, Joan's awkward hug... But, overall I found it pretty boring.

Don's confession to Megan of his shortcomings/emotional struggles was interesting, but I'm really getting tired of broken Don. He needs to start evolving.

 

[Josh Dial]

Does anyone think it's possible that this season's cheating has all been in Don's head, and that the audience is being purposefully mis-led regarding his evolution? There have been a few lines of dialogue hinting that way (one in particular). I'm not personally sold on the idea, but I'm not completely closing the book on the matter, either.

 

[ScottH]

But, overall I found it pretty boring.

That's what Betty will do.

 

[Matt Hough]

Well, we now see where Betty's storyline is going this season. Wonder if the hair will go back to blonde and if she'll start crash dieting?

I liked the episode. Yes, 1968 was a tumultuous year, and one barely had time to recover from one shock before something else seemed to suggest the country was doomed. I remember the entire year as unsettling and full of despair.

 

[TravisR]

I thought Betty was actually pretty well utilized in this episode. With Henry's job, you have to see his part in the response and that is going to have to include Betty. Plus, I like being reminded that she's spiteful enough to send her three children and ex-husband through a riot.

 

[ScottH]

I thought Betty was actually pretty well utilized in this episode. With Henry's job, you have to see his part in the response and that is going to have to include Betty. Plus, I like being reminded that she's spiteful enough to send her three children and ex-husband through a riot.

I don't necessarily disagree, and for the record, I didn't think the entire episode was boring. But maybe they could have had Betty in the episode without actually showing her.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Good episode.. I liked the hug, Don's opening up to Megan.. Betty had me fingering the ffwd button, though..

 

[Tim Gerdes]

A snoozer episode. Some golden moments, I suppose - Peggy's smile, Joan's awkward hug... But, overall I found it pretty boring.

Don's confession to Megan of his shortcomings/emotional struggles was interesting, but I'm really getting tired of broken Don. He needs to start evolving.

I get the distinct impression, like "The Sopranos" before it, (on which Matt Weiner was also a writer) one of the key themes to "Mad Men" is, fundamentally, people don't change. From the very first time we saw the opening credits in Season 1, the way things are going to play out has been pretty obviously telegraphed, with the stylized image of Don Draper falling through space.

If you are watching "Mad Men" expecting Don to evolve or become unbroken I think you are ultimately going to be disappointed.

In my opinion, this is what makes both Don and Tony Soprano such fascinating characters. Neither show was ever as much about plot or events that large segments of the audience seem to want. Instead they've been character studies about fundamentally unhappy people who superficially try to change their behavior, but ultimately fall back to their self-destructive ways.

 

[Quentin]

I get the distinct impression, like "The Sopranos" before it, (on which Matt Weiner was also a writer) one of the key themes to "Mad Men" is, fundamentally, people don't change. From the very first time we saw the opening credits in Season 1, the way things are going to play out has been pretty obviously telegraphed, with the stylized image of Don Draper falling through space.

If you are watching "Mad Men" expecting Don to evolve or become unbroken I think you are ultimately going to be disappointed.

In my opinion, this is what makes both Don and Tony Soprano such fascinating characters. Neither show was ever as much about plot or events that large segments of the audience seem to want. Instead they've been character studies about fundamentally unhappy people who superficially try to change their behavior, but ultimately fall back to their self-destructive ways.

Except Tony Soprano alternated between bouts of anxiety/insecurity/depression and megalomaniacal peaks of ego and meanness. Yes, ultimately he didn't change - he was a bad guy. But, he constantly changed in small ways and dealt with a wider range of character issues and problems.

Don has become more one-note than he even was in the first few seasons. He walks the line of alcoholism and depression but never really talks to anyone about it or indicates ways he can overcome it. His relationship with Dr. Faye seemed to be one chance to talk about it and attempt to overcome it but that was nipped in the bud. He cheats and compartmentalizes. And, he has moments of creativity. And, we get brief moments of him almost reaching happiness.

I have no problem if he never finds happiness and ultimately self-destructs. But, i want to see some character movement/evolution up and down the ladder along his journey to the inevitable end. He's becoming static, boring, and one-note.

 

[Tim Gerdes]

Don has become more one-note than he even was in the first few seasons. He walks the line of alcoholism and depression but never really talks to anyone about it or indicates ways he can overcome it. His relationship with Dr. Faye seemed to be one chance to talk about it and attempt to overcome it but that was nipped in the bud. He cheats and compartmentalizes. And, he has moments of creativity. And, we get brief moments of him almost reaching happiness.

While true, Tony was a sociopath, I think Don's trajectory is largely the same but with more nuance. To me the largest difference between the characters is that Tony was under the care of a psychiatrist and medicated for much of the series, which allowed for more of the smaller changes you cite.

Don, realistically for the late 1960s, is not in therapy and more resistant to Tony than the idea of change, partly because the culture was much different then. But largely I think this is because Tony suffered from physical anxiety attacks, whereas Don is merely depressed. To me the examples of rejecting Dr. Faye or Don's compartmentalization don't seem very different from any of the small changes Tony would occasionally make, before falling into his usual pattern. In fact I think both men are really only using their coping skills to manage their careers. Don's small changes allow him new moments of creativity, because really his job is fundamentally what Don Draper is. So any positive step in his life is going to result in a momentary career boost. It isn't sustainable though, and we know, I think, how ultimately it will play out.

I'm not sure what evolution or movement you would like to see that would be both believable and true to the character, but I do think yours is at least a fair criticism, as opposed to the generic "nothing every happens" complaints we seem to get more and more of each season.

 

[Dheiner]

While Don may be "depressed", my read on him is that he is what used to be called a sociopath. He has no conscience, or at best a severely blunted one, he only seems to regret things that cause him discomfort.