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"Mad Men" on AMC (US) - (Spoilers Within)

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The lovely missus and I are of two minds (does that add up to four?) on the season premier.

The obvious thumbs down: Waaay too many "house" ads. Has any network even approached the level of self-promoting we get from AMC?

And, what's with that ending? Is that "for real"? Or is it another of Don's quasi-hallucinatory vision things? You know, like those encounters with the ghost of Adam? Or those dream sequences?

I wasn't of an age to detect anything but the most obvious signs of marital infidelity in 1968 (I assume it's New Year's Eve '67/'68, although if it were made explicit in the episode, I didn't catch it), but I'm left wondering how a person couldn't know his or her spouse was "seeing" someone else, especially if said spouse was engaging in that canoodling with a neighbor in the very same building, and, on top of that, a neighbor with whom one is one friendly terms. Seems to me a person would have to be either extraordinarily naive or willfully ignorant not to know it.

A thumbs up for what's happening in Life of Roger. His late middle-age existential crises ring true with, uh, certain people of my age. (Gulp.) He doesn't suffer illusions over what he means to the others in his personal orbit, or in the wider world. The death of his mother and then the shoeshine man brought that into focus. The Roger character wants to understand more. He doesn't wish to suffer illusions. No Pollyanna, he. And while he sometimes behaves downright shabbily, he's a quite sympathetic character.
 
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Messages
10,181
Location
Pasadena, CA
We watched the first couple seasons then it got stupid. Tried it again last night and I think it's awful. Writing, acting, etc etc just have me stumped as to how this show is so popular? Count me as "not getting it"...
 

AmateisGal

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Mixed feelings on last night's episode. Feels like Don Draper is moving backwards instead of forwards, picking back up bad old habits (adultery and heavy drinking) that I thought were things of the past. I don't know if it rings true...I also wonder if this may be the last season.
 
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10,883
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Portage, Wis.
Feel the same way. I said to my ma, 'Yup, Don's being Don again.'

Mixed feelings on last night's episode. Feels like Don Draper is moving backwards instead of forwards, picking back up bad old habits (adultery and heavy drinking) that I thought were things of the past. I don't know if it rings true...I also wonder if this may be the last season.
 
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10,941
Location
My mother's basement
Don was a wreck waiting to happen. Now it appears to be happening.

The drunkenness (and vomiting) at the funeral (such as it was) for Roger's mother. The drunken exchange with the doorman. This from Joe Suave?

His pitch to the Hawaiian hotel people. That went over like a lead balloon.

And really, Don, the messin' around with the surgeon's wife is just plain reckless. Waaaaay too close to home.

Meanwhile, Betty appears to be pulling herself together. Last night's Betty was a much more admirable character than last season's. And Megan is situating herself to do just fine without Don, as Peggy has done already. Perhaps Joan will make an honest man of him? Oooh, wouldn't that be juicy? That would just kill Roger.

It's Peyton Place meets Madison Avenue.
 
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Worf

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Welp I guess the women of America can go back to their HATE - LOVE relationship with Don again. But hey.... we all backslide... The demons awoken by that soldier's wedding... curious. I liked what the PFC said though...

"next time I'll be man that can't sleep at night talking to strangers."

Worf
 

Lily Powers

Practically Family
Mixed feelings on last night's episode. Feels like Don Draper is moving backwards instead of forwards, picking back up bad old habits (adultery and heavy drinking) that I thought were things of the past. I don't know if it rings true...I also wonder if this may be the last season.

I've read that Season 7, next season, will be the last.

To me, Don's moving backwards is in a sense moving forward, at least from a creative viewpoint, so while he's making rotten choices, it's good TV. My thoughts are that Megan is very absorbed in her acting career and blind to the reality of her marriage. And did you notice that neither of them wear wedding rings? Was it like that last season?

What I found thought provoking was that Betty and Don - hot, fashionable and on fire in the 50's, are now the slightly tired, not-up-to-date, middle aged people being passed over by the younger generation as obsolete and out of touch. Don especially seems unwilling to modernize himself, as his old ways/ideas always worked in the past, so why wouldn't they work now?

Over all, not giving the season opener a standing o, but the visuals are alluring and I'm hooked on the story line, so not going away just yet.
 

Barbigirl

Practically Family
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915
Location
Issaquah, WA
I understand the perception that the show was hit and miss but I think they are setting the scene for many things to come. It seems to me that is how they have done it in the past...a slow episode and the next one POW. So I for one will be watching for the POW in the next two weeks.
I think watching transition in fashion and attitudes fascinating.
 

MrBern

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4,469
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DeleteStreet, REDACTCity, LockedState
I love the minutia of all the photography references.
The publicity poster for this season is a lovely illustration.
Interesting to see the depiction of photography in the episode.
Tho many of the details were fudged. Like the hawaiian snapshot projected for the neighbors.

And as someone who's taken vintage Leicas & kodachrome to Hawaii,I was truly amused.
image.jpeg


BTW, Leicas were used for plenty of war photography. Which is part of the dark aspect of the premiere. The Tet Offensive is looming as 1968 begins.
eawar.jpg
 
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Messages
10,181
Location
Pasadena, CA
I thought the exchange between Roger and Mona (his first wife) was pretty good:Roger: "Remember the last time we were on this bed when it was covered with furs...? (suggestive look) It would be soothing."Mona: "Soothe yourself."
Zemke fan: Jake??? #98??? Me too.As for Mad Men, sorry, it's just so freakin' cheesy. I went in wanting to like it but I find even the clothing and sets (the kids in the home with family) was so forced that I couldn't take it! Just not for me I'm afraid...
 

Doctor Strange

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5,253
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Hudson Valley, NY
Butte - This was absolutely NOT the episode to pick up with after not watching since season 2! Almost any other one from the last couple of seasons would be a better choice.

Frankly, I thought it was the worst season-opening episode to date. While it certainly advanced lots of ongoing plots/characters and dealt with most of the show's major themes, it was not enjoyable. It didn't have the sense of fun or surprise that the show usually includes in even its most downbeat moments. It just laid there!

I was very disappointed, and I hope it doesn't bode badly for the rest of the season/series.
 
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...

What I found thought provoking was that Betty and Don - hot, fashionable and on fire in the 50's, are now the slightly tired, not-up-to-date, middle aged people being passed over by the younger generation as obsolete and out of touch. Don especially seems unwilling to modernize himself, as his old ways/ideas always worked in the past, so why wouldn't they work now? ...

Quite perceptive there, Lily.

The Don Draper character could prompt a discussion on just how much of any person is an "act," or a myth, or a fabrication of one sort or another. It's a bit exaggerated in the case of Don Draper (the assumed identity and all), but it might lead a person to ponder to what extent we become the versions of ourselves we conjure up. That all of this would take place in an advertising agency, where it's all about appearances, further drives the point home.
 

Hemingway Jones

I'll Lock Up
Bartender
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6,099
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Acton, Massachusetts
The direction is also pretentious at times, veering on the incomprehensive. The entire heart attack scene with its shifts in time was just bizarre and jarring. It may have worked in the hands of a more competent director. The sets too appear very artificial. Nothing seems lived-in. I wish that they would take some cues form the films of the time.
 

Worf

I'll Lock Up
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5,207
Location
Troy, New York, USA
Now it remainds me of a Sunday morning Comic Strip that used to appear in the Daily News in the 60's and 70's called "There Oughtta Be A Law" that was based in the then modern office environment. For a long time it was SEVERELY dated... the men wore spats and suits with vests and the boss smoked a cigar everywhere. Before it's demise everyone suddenly showed up in long hair and leisure suits and open collars. I hadn't thought of that Comic Strip in DECADES suddenly it popped into my mind last episode... sad.

Worf
 

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