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Mad Men: Season Five (1 Viewer)

mattCR

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I think that's where the show nails it. It's very true to life, not everything is a comic riff or a downbeat moment.. it's not all drama or comedy. That's what made Roger's moment so damn funny.. it was so somber in that room before he walked in and cracked that line that I almost choked when he said it. And it was played perfectly - he didn't deliver it like a punchline waiting for a laugh, it was delivered like it was a statement of fact, which made it all the better.

This is a show that uses nuance and setting in a way that is fantastic. There are episodes I have watched repeatedly and I marvel at the performances to make everything ring so true. When I think about the top ten scenes of MM I'd show people, that's one of them.. though the Carousel is definitely the top moment in the series for me.
 

joshEH

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mattCR said:
I think that's where the show nails it.   It's very true to life, not everything is a comic riff or a downbeat moment.. it's not all drama or comedy.   That's what made Roger's moment so damn funny.. it was so somber in that room before he walked in and cracked that line that I almost choked when he said it.  And it was played perfectly - he didn't deliver it like a punchline waiting for a laugh, it was delivered like it was a statement of fact, which made it all the better.
This is a show that uses nuance and setting in a way that is fantastic.  There are episodes I have watched repeatedly and I marvel at the performances to make everything ring so true.   When I think about the top ten scenes of MM I'd show people, that's one of them.. though the Carousel is definitely the top moment in the series for me.
Another very similar moment for me is the, "Roger-puking-oysters-all-over-the-carpet"-bit back in Season 1 -- such a great moment of sudden, disgusting gross-out humor delivered out of left field amidst all the pompous, corporate-'60s-white-people serious-mindedness and Brylcreem. What was especially hysterical about the whole sequence was how long it went on. It almost rivalled Charlie's taxicab "blood-puking" this season on It's Always Sunny...
Then again, Slattery needs to do more comedy, period, once the show ends. Loved his appearance on 30 Rock a year or two back.
 

Josh Dial

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Originally Posted by mattCR /t/317541/mad-men-season-five#post_3898380
though the Carousel is definitely the top moment in the series for me.
Easily the best moment of the series for me, too. Honestly, one of the finest moments of television.
 

mattCR

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Season 1, Episode 13 "The Wheel"
That episode ranks up there very high on my list of "best episodes" of any series.
 

joshEH

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"Where are you going this early?"
"Staten Island. Shut up."
The first half-hour seemed a little...off. But then things clicked into place with that party-scene. What fun that was, and Weiner really started cutting lose.
I suspect I'll be in the minority, but I fucking LOVE Megan. What a batshit-insane character, and I don't mean that she's insane, but only that she's perfectly off-kilter enough to keep Don satisfied (for now). He tells Peggy that Peggy doesn't know her at all, but I wonder if DON knows her at all, and I wonder if that's not why he's so attracted to her.
It can backfire and lead to something like the party-scene, but it could also lead to her cleaning up their place in her underwear and subtly controlling him. She's a fascinating character, and I'm curious about where their relationship is going.
It's interesting too that even though Don tells Peggy that she doesn't "know" Megan, Megan clearly doesn't "know" Don as well as Peggy does. Sure, she knows his secrets. But she doesn't know the pain, really. It's an interesting dynamic, and I like that it's bleeding over into their work-life. He can't separate the two anymore, and even though he says he doesn't care about work, I wonder when he'll start to again.
And if, by the time he does, it'll be too late. Strong premiere.
 

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Zou Bisou Bisou is now one of my all time favorite songs...
That said, I'm curious if Megan was faking her anger at Harry's comments. After all, she WANTED everyone to go home and have sex. She absolutely knew what her 'show' would stir. Her real anger was she was the only one who DIDN'T get sex.
I don't think she is batshit crazy...crazy like a fox maybe. She has a VERY high opinion of herself without being a bitch about it. She thought her show would start the sexual flames in the entire room and the fact that Don was pissed made her more angry than anyone could imagine. She left the office KNOWING he would come after her (or at least expecting it the way she expected the sex) and she sent the maid away and got into the black lace with one motive. Her 'scene' worked magically. I have never seen ANYONE with the power over Don that she has...and she knows how to wield it. Of course, she had me at Zou Bisou Bisou...
Don is such an ass.
The only question now is when does the air come out of that balloon. I don't see Don Draper being led around by his dick for too long. Even though she is amazing. He will eventually tire of it, lash out...and then we'll see the dark side of Megan. It may be ugly.
 

Joe_H

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I enjoyed the episode a lot, at least partly because Betty wasn't involved in it at all (though I do wonder if Sally is now spying for her mother, because she seemed suspicious).
Isn't Don's third child too old in the beginning of the episode though? Last we saw him, he was only a few months old, I thought. Based on Joan having only recently had the baby, this can't be much more than 7 or 8 months since the last we saw him, right? I'm assuming Joan found out maybe two months or so in. He looked much older than a year old to me.
 

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joshEH said:
I suspect I'll be in the minority, but I fucking LOVE Megan.
I loved her line about "What's wrong with you people? You're so cynical. You don't smile, you smirk." because it's something that is accurate about the characters (and because that same line can be said of me and all my asshole friends). What I most liked about her is that while she's new to her job and might not be that good at it, she seems to legitimately try rather than a woman like Betty who would just act like her position dictates that she's owed the job and respect.
Isn't Don's third child too old in the beginning of the episode though? Last we saw him, he was only a few months old, I thought. Based on Joan having only recently had the baby, this can't be much more than 7 or 8 months since the last we saw him, right? I'm assuming Joan found out maybe two months or so in. He looked much older than a year old to me.
I have no clue what age babies look but I'm pretty sure that Gene was born in S3 (1963), it was October or November 1966 when S4 ended and it's now June 1967. I guess that makes Gene about 4 years old.
EDIT: Wrong, it's 1966 and not 1967
 

Joe_H

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TravisR said:
I have no clue what age babies look but I'm pretty sure that Gene was born in S3 (1963), it was October or November 1966 when S4 ended and it's now June 1967. I guess that makes Gene about 4 years old.
Oh, I guess I got mixed up and thought he was born some time in Season 4. :D Thanks.
 

Josh Dial

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Originally Posted by TravisR /t/317541/mad-men-season-five/30#post_3910572
I have no clue what age babies look but I'm pretty sure that Gene was born in S3 (1963), it was October or November 1966 when S4 ended and it's now June 1967. I guess that makes Gene about 4 years old.
You are correct that Gene was born in 1963 (in an early month of the year), but season 5 begins Memorial Day 1966, so Gene is about three years old. The kid looked to be about that age.
 

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Josh Dial said:
You are correct that Gene was born in 1963 (in an early month of the year), but season 5 begins Memorial Day 1966, so Gene is about three years old.  The kid looked to be about that age.
Oops, you're correct, it is June 1966 (by the end of the ep). That's what happens when there's no new episodes for a year and a half and when I didn't rewatch the previous episodes before the season premiere. :)
 

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"Campbell vs. Sterling" looks like it's going to be fun this season.
I love that the show allows us to soak in the little things. Rather than seeming all Forrest Gump-y, with some artificial cultural checklist, the show uses the period to tease out details on where these characters are at in their lives.
Like Megan's song, which some at SCDP might've found slightly dorky, was of that moment, so it still managed to seem sexy and chic. Contrasted with Peggy and her boyfriend, who were drunkenly doing a dance a few years out of step:
74e730a6_350x197px-LL-8eaadf31_PEGGY-DANCING.gif

Did anyone else get the sense that shot of Don and Megan on the ground was intentionally posed to look like a piece of Pop art, or something? (Kind of reminded me of Season One, when they did the shot of Roger and Joan meant to look like an Edward Hopper painting.)
Also, it'd be awesome if Harry was so stressed over his Megan-comments that, next episode, he showed up fat again.
 

Sam Favate

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Thought it was a great premiere, with lots of humor. The show will no doubt get more serious as the season goes on, but it was nice not to have everyone immediately in dire straits.
 

joshEH

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130c2d1e_350x374px-LL-99f3363b_qxMeH.jpeg

Roger gets the Spirit Award™ for this one -- he was totally on fire Sunday night. He was zinging everybody like it was his job, which as it happens, is pretty much what his job is at this point.
I think what Don likes about Megan is that she's something of a mystery. That's what keeps him intrigued. But what's interesting about the fact that Megan knows Don's secret is that despite her knowing that, she still doesn't know what kind of a man he truly is.
It almost seems like Don only half-learned his lesson from "The Suitcase." He figured out he had someone he could trust, but rather than continue to confide in her, he finds a hot young thing, and thinks all it will take to get him to heal some of those wounds is to tell her everything. But he's still being emotionally distant (think about how he broke down with Peggy in that same episode).
I don't see him being emotionally vulnerable with Megan. He's too caught up in playing the alpha-male bullshit.
 

joshEH

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Also, one of my favorite moments had to be Pete's face when he saw Peggy pushing the baby carriage. Joan's office-visit really was a wealth of great character-moments.
"We're not hiring, no matter how buxom his mom is."
"...Oh, Don."
10d62140_313x436px-LL-73730cbf_weneedtotalk.jpeg
 

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