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

[AmateisGal]

Holy cow. This confirms why I still love Mad Men - all the symbolism and subtext. It's so much fun to watch just to find all of that stuff.

 

[The Good]

I've read that article, and I'm hoping it's not true. I think it would be awfully sad if it happened. It wouldn't make me appreciate Mad Men less, though, as there is something to still be gained through tragedy.

After watching the latest episode (I recorded it), I'm wondering if Bob is trying to date Joan, or if they are just friends spending time together? A part of me hopes that he is another nice guy on the show like Ken, but there is something sinister about him simultaneously. Ken's comment to him when he had learned he catered to the funeral of Roger's mother, combined with the fact that Bob both mentioned that his father died and has been brought back to full health, is disconcerting. If he even went to a brothel with Pete, he's a sleazy guy, too. Despite this, he is at the moment, the most interesting character this season, as you can never be too sure what he's up to.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

The Bobby 5 jokes were funny. It's nice to see them poke fun at themselves.

 

[Doctor Strange]

An interesting roundup of theories about eager-beaver Bob Benson:

http://www.vulture.com/2013/05/who-is-mad-mens-bob-benson.html

 

[The Good]

My favorite theory is that Bob may be a spy for another agency, or possibly the government. This could also affect Don and his identity theft in Korea. Bob could also just be a nice, but ambitious go-getter type as well.

 

[Lily Powers]

I've read that article, and I'm hoping it's not true. I think it would be awfully sad if it happened. It wouldn't make me appreciate Mad Men less, though, as there is something to still be gained through tragedy.

After watching the latest episode (I recorded it), I'm wondering if Bob is trying to date Joan, or if they are just friends spending time together? A part of me hopes that he is another nice guy on the show like Ken, but there is something sinister about him simultaneously. Ken's comment to him when he had learned he catered to the funeral of Roger's mother, combined with the fact that Bob both mentioned that his father died and has been brought back to full health, is disconcerting. If he even went to a brothel with Pete, he's a sleazy guy, too. Despite this, he is at the moment, the most interesting character this season, as you can never be too sure what he's up to.

You mention Bob's conflicting statements that his father had died and also been brought back to full health. That, coupled with the "army trained nurse" he says helped his father makes me wonder if he might be a son that either (the real) Don Draper or Dick Whitman didn't know they had. He does have more than a passing resemblance to Don/Dick.

 

[AmateisGal]

Good episode, and I was hoping to learn more about Bob Benson. I think he is genuinely a good guy - but there's something going on there and I can't wait to find out what it is.

Question: who was the dead soldier Don saw at the party?

 

[Doctor Strange]

It was the one whose wedding he attended in Hawaii back in the premiere.

 

[AmateisGal]

It was the one whose wedding he attended in Hawaii back in the premiere.

Okay. That's what I thought, but wasn't sure. Thanks.

 

[tonyb]

The lovely missus and I can't be the only ones growing increasingly impatient with the barrage of ads we're subjected to in this program, especially during the last 20 minutes or so of each episode.

Our nomination for the most obnoxious of those ads are the ones for Dish Network.

 

[Young fogey]

The dead soldier was the man Don met at the bar in Honolulu the first episode this season, at whose beach wedding he was best man.

 

[AmateisGal]

The lovely missus and I can't be the only ones growing increasingly impatient with the barrage of ads we're subjected to in this program, especially during the last 20 minutes or so of each episode.

Our nomination for the most obnoxious of those ads are the ones for Dish Network.

I always watch it on Amazon On Demand - no ads there.

 

[Worf]

The lovely missus and I can't be the only ones growing increasingly impatient with the barrage of ads we're subjected to in this program, especially during the last 20 minutes or so of each episode.

Our nomination for the most obnoxious of those ads are the ones for Dish Network.

Three words for ya bro.... "DVR" and "FAST FORWARD" - We do it every time. Record at 10 and watch at 11 minus all that crap!!!!

Worf

 

[tonyb]

But you're working on the assumption that I can get my increasingly decrepit analog-era brain to figure out all that gee-whiz stuff. I think DVR means "digital video recorder," right? Does that mean I gotta buy another gizmo, or is it all somehow built into the cable setup and the flatscreen I already got?

Without the ads, I'm guessing the show runs something like 40 minutes, rather than the 62 minutes or so with the ads. I'm beginning to think of it as the Vanity Fair of TV shows -- you know, there are so many ads that it can be had to locate the editorial content.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

This last episode kept me on the edge of my seat. Holy cow! Especially didn't see Don's near-death experience coming.

 

[Worf]

But you're working on the assumption that I can get my increasingly decrepit analog-era brain to figure out all that gee-whiz stuff. I think DVR means "digital video recorder," right? Does that mean I gotta buy another gizmo, or is it all somehow built into the cable setup and the flatscreen I already got?

Without the ads, I'm guessing the show runs something like 40 minutes, rather than the 62 minutes or so with the ads. I'm beginning to think of it as the Vanity Fair of TV shows -- you know, there are so many ads that it can be had to locate the editorial content.

Fair enough.. get yourself a Hi Def cable box, your cable provider probably offers it already, it'll cost extra, and usually the DVR function is built in. You go to the program guide, highlight the show you want to record, press the record button and voila... it'll record that show. You've also the option of programming the DVR to record the show whenever it's on, new episodes only etc... It is truly not as hard as it sounds or seems. They've really made em much more easy to operate as us boomers slip into decrepidity... myself included! You're right though... you lose about 20 some odd minutes of drivel... "Use the force Luke"...

Worf.

 

[Worf]

One thing I've learned watching the ole Donster the last three weeks. He's NOT cut out for hallucinagenics... period. If he can't handle hash... he damn well never drop any of the Owlsley... period. Boy best to stick to scotch and weed.

Worf

 

[Doctor Strange]

Fair enough.. get yourself a Hi Def cable box, your cable provider probably offers it already, it'll cost extra, and usually the DVR function is built in. You go to the program guide, highlight the show you want to record, press the record button and voila... it'll record that show. You've also the option of programming the DVR to record the show whenever it's on, new episodes only etc... It is truly not as hard as it sounds or seems. They've really made em much more easy to operate as us boomers slip into decrepidity... myself included! You're right though... you lose about 20 some odd minutes of drivel... "Use the force Luke"...

Worf.

You may also be able to essentially watch DVR style without paying for a DVR... if your cable system offers "Free on Demand" within their On Demand menu. That's how my sister (who can't stay up late enough to watch live) has been watching: the new MM episodes show up on the AMC Free on Demand menu a day or two after the show premieres, and you can watch it - and fast-forward through the commercials - without paying for DVR.

 

[AmateisGal]

This last episode kept me on the edge of my seat. Holy cow! Especially didn't see Don's near-death experience coming.

Yeah, that surprised me, too.

 

[Doctor Strange]

One thing I've learned watching the ole Donster the last three weeks. He's NOT cut out for hallucinagenics... period. If he can't handle hash... he damn well never drop any of the Owlsley... period. Boy best to stick to scotch and weed.

Worf

That was a pretty exteme reaction to hashish - rather unbelievable, actually. But they're following a well-established trope:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarijuanaIsLSD

I was actually a little more concerned to see Pete toking up: he's already paranoid and thinks he's being unfairly persecuted. I don't know that you'd want to be magnifying those feelings!