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Mad Men: Season Five (1 Viewer)

Josh Dial

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Originally Posted by joshEH /t/317541/mad-men-season-five/30#post_3911297
I don't see him being emotionally vulnerable with Megan. He's too caught up in playing the alpha-male bullshit.
We're catching Don at a watershed point in his life. Most of the ties to the real Don Draper are gone (Anna, most notably); most of things Dick Whitman gained by stealing Don's identity are gone, too. Betty, old flames, Sterling Cooper, the old house, et cetera. Heck, even most of the old accounts are gone. There's a new firm, very much in its infancy, striving to carve out its own niche in the ad world. So too is Don Draper.

Everything that defined him, outside of his kids and his raw talent, was arguably stolen or premised on a lie. He tried to re-invent himself once, and while it succeeded in many ways, the cost was high. Now, it seems as though he's poised to re-invent himself again, but this time, it will be, for lack of a better term, honest. The question, then, is whether he'll fall back on his old ways, or if he can truly change. We saw glimmers of the change in the milkshake scene in the season four finale. Was that a high point, or a turning point?
 

Matt Hough

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Originally Posted by Josh Dial /t/317541/mad-men-season-five/30#post_3911303
We're catching Don at a watershed point in his life. Most of the ties to the real Don Draper are gone (Anna, most notably); most of things Dick Whitman gained by stealing Don's identity are gone, too. Betty, old flames, Sterling Cooper, the old house, et cetera. Heck, even most of the old accounts are gone. There's a new firm, very much in its infancy, striving to carve out its own niche in the ad world. So too is Don Draper.

Everything that defined him, outside of his kids and his raw talent, was arguably stolen or premised on a lie. He tried to re-invent himself once, and while it succeeded in many ways, the cost was high. Now, it seems as though he's poised to re-invent himself again, but this time, it will be, for lack of a better term, honest. The question, then, is whether he'll fall back on his old ways, or if he can truly change. We saw glimmers of the change in the milkshake scene in the season four finale. Was that a high point, or a turning point?
Very astute observations!
 

Sam Favate

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If Don's 40 in 1966, that makes him 20 in 1946 - perhaps slightly too young for WWII (but not really). When was the episode in Korea where Dick and Don crossed paths? Don would have been 24 in 1950 and 27 in 1953 (the length of the Korean War). He was hardly a kid (relative to that time period) when that incident occurred. Also, if Sally was 10 in 1965 (season 4), she was born in 1955, giving Don a scant few years to come home from the war, meet Betty, sell fur coats and start a family.
 

TravisR

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Sam Favate said:
If Don's 40 in 1966, that makes him 20 in 1946 - perhaps slightly too young for WWII (but not really). When was the episode in Korea where Dick and Don crossed paths? Don would have been 24 in 1950 and 27 in 1953 (the length of the Korean War). He was hardly a kid (relative to that time period) when that incident occurred. Also, if Sally was 10 in 1965 (season 4), she was born in 1955, giving Don a scant few years to come home from the war, meet Betty, sell fur coats and start a family.
Looking at Wikipedia, they were married in May 1953. Maybe it's been mentioned in dialogue but I'm guessing that the exact time that Don was in Korea has been kept deliberately obscure so they don't trip themselves up in terms of continuity. I'm pretty sure Don has said that he enlisted in order to get away from his monstrous family so I could buy that he joined up as soon as the war broke out (I think that's mid-1950) and was out by the end of 1950. 2 to 2 and a half years would be enough time for the rest to occur.
 

joshEH

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At this point, I just want to see Betty, Harry, and Jenna Maroney all starring in a "ME WANT FOOD" spinoff/crossover-project.
Hamm can even pull a Sellers and guest-star both as Don and Hook-Hands Drew™.
 

ScottH

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Originally Posted by Michael Henry /t/317541/mad-men-season-five/30#post_3912550
Was that a fat suit or did she pile on some pounds?
Is that a serious question? That makeup was worse than the Peg makeup in season 2.

While last week showed how great this show can be without Betty...this week showed how much she can bring the show down. I was torn on the phone call where she got the news because on one hand I would love to see her killed off, but on the other hand I didn't want the countless story lines centered around her it would likely lead to.

I'm loving that it seems they are making Roger more of a focus this season. Although I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that it seems they may be going down the alcoholic path with him. They better not give him a reason to stop drinking.
 

TravisR

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ScottH said:
Is that a serious question?  That makeup was worse than the Peg makeup in season 2.
Eh, I can't think of a better fat makeup job than the ones on Mad Men. Not that you see many examples of fat makeup but when you do, it usually looks like The Nutty Professor where the person's skin is really smooth and latex-y. Both of the Mad Men ones seemed pretty realistic to my eye. When Peggy started getting fat early on, I actually wondered if Moss had gotten pregnant and the show was trying to hide it.
 

ScottH

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Originally Posted by TravisR /t/317541/mad-men-season-five/30#post_3912612
Eh, I can't think of a better fat makeup job than the ones on Mad Men. Not that you see many examples of fat makeup but when you do, it usually looks like The Nutty Professor where the person's skin is really smooth and latex-y. Both of the Mad Men ones seemed pretty realistic to my eye. When Peggy started getting fat early on, I actually wondered if Moss had gotten pregnant and the show was trying to hide it.
Yeah, see I totally get that Nutty Professor vibe with the 'Mad Men' makeup. I watch on a 120" screen so that may be part of it. When they first showed Betty last night it looked so comical I thought it was gonna be some sort of weird dream/fantasy sequence.
 

Tim Gerdes

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ScottH said:
Yeah, see I totally get that Nutty Professor vibe with the 'Mad Men' makeup.  I watch on a 120" screen so that may be part of it.  When they first showed Betty last night it looked so comical I thought it was gonna be some sort of weird dream/fantasy sequence.
I had the exact opposite reaction. I knew January Jones had been pregnant and first thought—before they delved into the cancer plot—that Mad Men was doing the worst job in television history of hiding an actress's pregnancy-related weight gain.
I wonder if the story line was deliberately created in response to her pregnancy.
 

joshEH

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She was eight months or so pregnant when they shot last night's episode. Although, yeah, it looked like she was wearing the same fat-suit they made Lee Adama wear on Battlestar.
(I'm hoping I'm not the only person who got a chuckle out of the whole, "Don-trying-to-get-the-Rolling Stones/Betty-trying-to-get-diet-pills" parallel.)
Given the gusto with which she went after Sally's sundae at the end, she might be heading towards M. Creosote territory.
It's also pretty obvious Henry was not a fan of Betty running and telling Don about her health scare; maybe not so much telling Don, but not telling him that she told Don. FWIW, Don might be better as an ex-husband than he was as a husband.
Is there anyone who didn't like Pete's nice, "HEY ROGER GO FUCK YOURSELF!" meeting at the end?
 

Patrick Sun

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I laughed at that bit from Francis.
Looks like Pete's balls finally dropped in place.
I was thinking the producers really have it in for JJ, and put her in the fat suit/make-up. Either way, hilarious bits sprinkled in about women, age, and weight.
Is Megan (Jessica Pare) contractually obligated to appear in lingerie or swimsuits this season?
 

Josh Dial

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The "It's always darkest before Don" line was another great Roger zinger.
 

Aaron Silverman

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The Romney gag was funny but not exactly subtle.
Pregnancy doesn't usually make a woman's face puff up like that. Maybe she was doing a Deniro-style method-acting eating binge. :)
 

joshEH

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Evidently this episode was shot first before any others this season (including last week's premiere), according to Sepinwall, the better to give Hamm time to prep directorially, and to let Jones shoot at least one installment before giving birth (and giving the producers a write-around for her eventual leave of absence).
"Do you want the last one?"
"There were twenty! I thought you were getting them for your family!"
Henry has always been kind of a dick to Don, but that phone call was a new low.
7258cc08_350x197px-LL-9dea4429_tumblr_m1u2u6qaNN1qzd86po1_500.gif

At times, Fat Betty looks like Anna Gunn. Or one of the many iterations of Anna Gunn, that Breaking Bad has given us.
 

TravisR

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joshEH said:
Evidently this episode was shot first before any others this season (including last week's premiere)...
I had read that he had directed the premiere so when he wasn't listed as the director last week, I wondered what happened. Flip flopping the order explains it.
 

Stan

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This may be one of the best shows on television, but after literally forcing myself to watch about 75% of it, I can't continue. It's got great costumes, sets, writing, etc. But it's a time period I'm not enjoying.
I was a small child during its time period, and guess I had a big pair of rose colored glasses on at that time.
I know life wasn't Leave it to Beaver style, but I have a much more pleasant view of how things were. Obviously very naive and I sound like I want to live in the past, but apparently it was a very idealized past. Things were beautiful, people were nice, polite and decent. Very much a cliche, but things were pleasant.
Maybe to many Doris Day movies. Or a little later music by the Carpenters during the midst of the Viet Nam war. I wasn't exposed to shows like this and now find it painful and boring to watch.
Didn't mean to hijack the post, it will be my last, so no more Mad Men complaints from me.
 

Albert_M

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The comment about Romney Sr was a throwaway line. There won't be any heat.
Nelson Rockefeller and Romney both wanted to be president at that time and would run. Obviously that would make them rivals and the comment is one of the little things the show does to show context.
 

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