MAD MEN on AMC - Season 6

They're doing a Breaking Bad (only with fewer episodes):

http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/2013/09/mad-men-serves-seven-and-seven/

Seems a little stingy to only give us one extra episode out of the deal, but there you go.

New thread: MAD MEN on AMC - Seasons 7(a) & & 7(b)

(Also this be my 10,000th post. Yay me)

Five or six episodes in. The MLK episode was straightforward and very good. Not sure about the merger yet--seems like a narrative contrivance, may get better. In the RFK episode, two things bothered me: 1) Pete Campbell losing his temper (with his mother, with his secretary) is sometimes plain bad acting; 2) Don's control stuff with his neighbour's wife was really silly and not worth whatever point was being made (one that has probably been made countless time already anyway). I was starting to feel music was disappearing, but "Love Is Blue" worked surprisingly well, I liked the Mitch Ryder song (think I knew it, but never associated it with him), and Friend & Lover's "Reach Out in the Darkness" as a backdrop for RFK was perfect.

The Doctor Robert, Quack M.D. episode--bizarre. But first "Reach Out in the Darkness," now Mama Cass; the people who made this, they're 100% in sync with me again.

"Reach Out of The Darkness" might be the show's greatest music cue--so perfect in contextual nastiness & irony.

The Doctor Robert, Quack M.D. episode--bizarre.

And very funny.

This season is where the quality started to wane for me.

I'm so invested in the characters at this point, I'm still immersed in everything, and there are still great moments and sequences. On the whole, though, I agree. Three problems: 1) there are so many characters, some of them are by necessity falling by the wayside--they don't really seem to know what to do with certain people (e.g., Bert Cooper; even Peggy's in a rut). 2) Don's philandering isn't that morally interesting anymore, just repetitive. When he's in the middle of his affair with the neighbour's wife, and he has a fit about Megan's kissing scene, you'd think even he'd be aware of the irony. 3) The increasing...irrelevance of the campaigns? When Don or somebody gets really excited about a campaign now, I'm often thinking "You still think stuff like this has anything to do with what's going on in the world?" Not always, but often.

It isn't as good as the previous one but I think this is the funniest season. All the stuff with Pete and his mother is hilarious.

I think most people (including me) lost patience with Don's cheating; perhaps the writers thought it necessary for him to get to that point but I thought it was boring to spend as much time as they did on it.

not to give anything away for clemenza but the neighbor-cheating thing has a payoff that's central to Don's character, and which wouldn't have made sense to happen as part of his earlier affairs

Appreciate that. I know it's weird to be responding to comments about something in progress that you've seen--I'll try to be clear where I am.

I do agree that the whole "you are my prisoner in this expensive hotel room" was ridiculous but I think that was kind of the point, to show how Don's tricks/obsessions are tired and outdated and stupid by this point

Finished up last night. Yes, the payoff to Don's affair with Sylvia was big. (Curious if she'll be back in Season 7--would assume so.) The last few episodes were all over the place but pretty good. Liked the way the '68 convention was integrated. I find Pete an ongoing annoyance at this point, and I'm surprised so much time is devoted to him. (I found all the stuff with his mother unnecessary.) One character who's gotten more shaded and compelling as the story moves along is Ted. Glen's return at Sally's boarding school was excellent. Joan jumping the gun on Avon (and getting confronted by the other partners--first time, really, she seemed completely at a loss, and that added some complexity to an already great character), Glen's return, and Ginsberg going off on the war were all good. Hope there's lots of Sally and Betty in 7. Lots of bumps along the way--I wouldn't call it a consistent show anymore. Reading back through this thread, I was surprised by the Megan-is-dead theory; that had never occurred to me at all. The two external realities that I would think have to play a role in 7 would be the war (even more so than what there's been so far) and black militancy--there's been a progression from invisibility (the elevator operator who was reluctant to answer a direct question) to a tentative civil-rights era presence (Dawn) to, I would assume, something more urgent and confrontational.

After wondering why music was no longer important, it came back in a back way in the last few episodes. "(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me," "Piece of My Heart," "Porpoise Song," and "Both Sides Now" all excellent.

I find Pete an ongoing annoyance at this point, and I'm surprised so much time is devoted to him.

never heard this opinion before!

Pete is a combo of broad comic relief and just, for me, a really interesting creation as a character. He's allowed to be despicable and sorta sympathetic at the same time.

like, he's basically the one character who always shows his cards. and that's endearing in this crowd.

He's unusual, for sure...His weirdness just grates on me at this point for some reason. He has the occasional quiet moment that I like, like his season-ending goodbye to his daughter. (His wife is almost as weirdly stylized as he is.)

After wondering why music was no longer important, it came back in a back way in the last few episodes. "(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me," "Piece of My Heart," "Porpoise Song," and "Both Sides Now" all excellent.

This was a good time for The Monkees on TV--One of the US nostalgia channels had recently started airing the reruns again, and "Goin' Down" was prominently featured on an S5(A) ep of Breaking Bad. I saw them on tour that summer and they played those clips alongside some other stuff ("Last Train To Clarksville" in After Hours for one) right before they took the stage.

The Monkees probably should have turned up even earlier: their backstory would make them Don's or any Madison Avenue guy's dream band. (Not a criticism, I'm a fan.)

Pete Campbell: My mother can go to Hell! Ted Chaough can fly her there.

Surely you laughed at this? Or his line about her brushing her teeth? Classics both.

i love that line so much

The scene where Pete and Peggy were cringing at thoughts of his mother having sex was funny, yes. Now and again he makes me laugh. I don't like him at all when he's shrill and argumentative.

How about tapdancing Ken?

I grew to love Ken more, you see him a lot less in recent seasons and I hope he gets some more scenes at the end.

They really missed an opportunity to get tapdancing Ken in a dance-off with Ray Wise/Leland Palmer (his father-in-law, actually). That might be the single strangest scene in the whole series thus far.

Took another look at the season-ending last couple of minutes before putting it away. Truly beautiful: Roger & Joan's son in the fedora, the short scene between Peggy and Stan ("This is where everything is," the shot that duplicates the iconic graphic), and "Both Sides Now" starting up immediately when Don says "This is where I grew up." And the look he and Sally exchange, and the little black kid on the porch. The inconsistency of Season 6 aside, I don't know if there's been a better two minutes in the whole series.

Ordered 7A today.

season 6 had some amazing stuff in it, after the lull (IMO) of 5. 7(a) is a cracker.

I'm in the middle of rewatching 6 now, really digging it. And remembering some of the giant bummers to come.

last scene of S7A is a killer.

Is 7a on Netflix yet? Might want to revisit before 7b. We rewatched s1-4 last Summerin a zombie state after our baby was born, and it was wonderful.

Not yet, dammit. From what I've heard, it's set to show up on Netflix the same week that 7b starts up. Which means, for us, yet another season we won't be able to watch in realtime since we won't catch up.

Good day to mention a line that's stayed in my mind the past few days, Roger from the MLK episode: "Man knew how to talk. I don't know why, but I thought that would save him. I thought it would solve the whole thing." The line seems dismissive at first, but--allowing that maybe I've giving the benefit of the doubt my favourite character on the show; I can't remember offhand how he is when it comes to race elsewhere--I don't think so. He says it completely unfiltered, with resignation but also with a lot of admiration, I think. He's an advertising guy to his core, and knowing how to talk is how you solve problems. He would like for "the whole thing" to be solved.

Um roger in blackface bro

That was pre-acid Roger.

Totally forgot about that--that was so hard to watch. But I'll hold to the idea that he doesn't mean what he says dismissively...I can't reconcile the two.

I dont think its dismissive but it is... blithe i guess? Roger is p blithe about everything.

I think Roger meant it too but there's way more than the blackface performance.
The way he jokes about the reception room being full of black people. I'm sure he made a joke about Dawn. Obviously his very strong prejudice against the Japanese.

But even after all that he's still one of the most likable characters.

One of the funny things about pre-acid roger is that he's essentially identical to post-acid roger (which becomes really clear in s7a)

Roger is one of those people who would probably like for everything to be 'solved' but hasn't ever for a second wondered if he himself might be part of the problem.

Haha yes

I remembered his vitriol with the Honda contingent on the way home (mixed up with the war, though hateful regardless). Frederik describes Roger well. In any event, his reaction to MLK's assassination was true to his character, and (I think, anyway) oddly bittersweet.

So.... a question about the finale. In that scene where Don Draper hugs the lonely man who feels invisible, why does he relate to that man's particular pain? Draper of course is the obvious opposite of invisible: handsome, charismatic, successful. So why did that man of all people strike a chord? It can't just be "Don Draper feels lonely inside, too," can it?

it's an expression of gratitude for the man providing Draper with a hole that he can fill w advertising

It can't just be "Don Draper feels lonely inside, too," can it?

A big part of it, as basic as that may be. It worked for Citizen Kane.

Don Draper might not be, but Dick Whitman is definitely invisible. Even when people look straight at him, they don't know he's there.

How much does Dick Whitman really differ from Don Draper? Seems like the personality is coherent.

Though if the wounds stem from his past, and his neglected upbringing, it would make sense that struck a chord. It just seemed like his concerns were much more immediate than that

Hadn't made the Citizen Kane comparison but wow there really is a lot of it there

I think I said something to this effect up-thread, but it seemed to me that Don saw the lonely guy as the living embodiment of the audience for his advertisements. He feels an intense empathy towards this audience, and (I think) we're meant to think of the lyrics of the Coke ad ("I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony" etc) as what Don wants to communicate to the world, to people like the lonely guy.

Oh, this isn't the last mad men thread.

Huh. When I rewatch the show I'll have to see if that's true. I always assumed the show was a little cynical, because advertising is kind of an insincere thing, but I guess it's true Draper always tried to find the underlying emotion behind each campaign/message.

Weird that he has this enormous empathy toward the world, but hardly ever acts on it (beyond superficial ways).

? He acts on it all the time!