Confessions of a MAD MEN Virgin

TELEVISION Specific Shows
41

“Red Faced”:

-Hurray for no doctor-patient confidentiality for women! (Sarcasm, if you’re wondering)

-John Slattery is now my favorite cast member who isn’t Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, or Christina Hendricks. He really rocks it this episode, especially with the not-overdone drunk acting, and the scene on the stairs culminating in surprise vomit.

-Character-wise, I love that we learn a little more about Roger and his past in World War II.

-Yeah, I’m… starting to get why people don’t like Betty much. I still find her interesting, but I can’t help but agree with the psychiatrist who says she’s childish, or speaking-for-the-audience Helen going all “WTF are you doing giving a lock of your hair to a nine year old?!”

-Pete’s monologue about what he’d do with a fresh kill was creepy as hell. Was it supposed to be? Because I found Peggy’s reaction rather odd.

-Gun safety? What’s that?

42

I don’t know if you’re watching on DVD or Netflix Instant, but if you’re on DVD, watch the cast commentary on this episode. Kartheiser talks about how he went to Weiner with misgivings about the monologue and Weiner’s response was ‘You have to understand, back in the 60’s, this speech would get you laid.’

The 60’s are right when that Davy Crockett/Marlboro Man ‘man’s man’ started to exist only in fiction (and advertising), so expressing a desire to go back to that was new and kind of hot.

43

I basically marathoned five seasons of this show over the last three months. It was exhausting but very satisfying. I love it when shows live up to the hype. My favourite season is tied between 4 and 5.

44

General thoughts on “The Hobo Code”, “Shoot”, and “Long Weekend”:

-Peggy, join me at Camera 3 for a moment: PETE IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU. Drop his ass!

-Of course Bert Cooper would recommend Atlas Shrugged as reading material.

-It’s nice to see Peggy moving up in SC, even if it’s step by step.

-The scene between Sal and Elliot at the restaurant is one of the most painfully sad in the entire series so far. As mistreated as gay people still are in this country, it could easily be so much worse.

-Don gets high! And has a flashback to his shitty childhood! That was a terrific scene, especially in how it ends. I especially love how hilariously blunt little Dick Whitman is about being a “whorechild”.

-Creepy as Betty’s psychiatrist is, he has a point about her mom. Which of course she dismisses.

-Yeah, telling a kid you’ll kill their dog if they trespass again is a pretty dick move. But so is trying to shoot the guy’s pigeons in retaliation. That being said, it didn’t look like Betty actually hit any of those pigeons (which makes sense; do YOU think she’s ever held a gun in her life, even a BB rifle?), so it’s all OK. And just the sight of her doing it is funny.

-Betty is creepily attached to her dad, something Don seems to notice.

-Roger and Joan’s conversation about The Apartment: geeky AND character relevant!

-Another painfully sad scene dealing with homosexuality: Carol confessing that she loves Joan. Hendricks plays this moment wonderfully; a mixture of shock, confusion, and even perhaps delight flits across her face before she buries any real feelings.

-John Slattery does some of his best acting yet in the aftermath of Roger’s heart attack.

-I sincerely doubt Don would be able to get away with slapping a heart attack victim in the face nowadays. I like how the constant theme of keeping up appearances plays into this; there’s no way in hell Don and Roger are going to say what they were actually doing there in the office.

Last three episodes of the season, up to bat!

45

You know, “Indian Summer” was a damn good episode, but “Nixon Vs. Kennedy”? Holy shit. Pretty much every scene works on every level, especially the turning point when Pete first tells Don what he knows. Then it’s on goddamn fire through the scenes with Rachel, Don talking with Pete again, Bert Cooper’s “Mr. Campbell… who cares?” EPIC BURN, and the interspersed Korea flashbacks. And I still have one more episode for this season!

Oh, and the impromptu performance of Kinsey’s play was hilarious.

46

AResurrecting this thread.

Just started watching this. Episode 1 out of the way. Is it worth sticking with?

47

A[quote name=“Stale Elvis” url=“/community/t/143705/confessions-of-a-mad-men-virgin/30#post_4275482”]Resurrecting this thread.

Just started watching this. Episode 1 out of the way. Is it worth sticking with?[/quote]
Yes, it is.

I find the seventh season to be a crushing disappointment, and there are some weird lulls in the second and third seasons, but there’s a lot of brilliance throughout.

It peaks in season five.

48

AOh man. Loving this. I’m halfway through season 3 and they’ve just sacked Sal for refusing the advances of the Lucky Strike guy. Im absolutely crushed for him. Don’t tell me how this turns out.

49

I can’t even rank these seasons. They’re all just so great.

50

AI can!

5 > 4 > 1 > 3 > 6 > 2 > 7

51

FINE:

Among the best television ever produced:

Five

Two

Six

Four

Really, really, really, really good:

Three

One

Seven Pt 1

52

Season 6 was the only season I found repetitive and dull. I think S2 might be my second favorite season after 5, which I agree is the high point.

Granted, this is based on the Mad Men sliding scale. It’s ALL amazing.

53

Yeah, I was thinking “wait, which one is four? Oh, shit, that’s the one with The Suitcase, that has to be up there!” And so forth and so on.

It really is a miracle of a show.

54

AI’m loving how I actually care about the characters. Sal’s been fired but I hope he comes back - just want shit to work out for him but I can’t see it ending well. And the biggest surprise is Joanie - first shown as the shrewd office partygirl, she’s developed and shown to be a very fragile girl outside of the office.

Don is just a complete asshole through and through.

55

There are many, many, many “Don Draper is a dick” moments still to come.

“You people” might be the worst he ever was on the show, though.

56

A[quote name=“Mangy” url=“/community/t/143705/confessions-of-a-mad-men-virgin/30#post_4281510”]Season 6 was the only season I found repetitive and dull. I think S2 might be my second favorite season after 5, which I agree is the high point.

Granted, this is based on the Mad Men sliding scale. It’s ALL amazing.
[/quote]Isn’t S2 the one where Don takes that awful trip to California and hangs out with that creep and his daughter? That always drug it way down for me.

And S3 gets bogged down in the Suzanne Farrell thing, though it has some other good stuff.

S7 is the only season that flat-out doesn’t work for me.

57

The California two-parter in season two is fantastic! Much better than the Suzanne Farrell plotline, which has its charms but is part of a season as a whole that can’t really figure itself out.

58

A[quote name=“Boone Daniels” url=“/community/t/143705/confessions-of-a-mad-men-virgin/30#post_4281552”]The California two-parter in season two is fantastic!
[/quote]
I’ve always hated it, at least until we find out who Don is there to see. Feels more like pretentious soap opera to me than anything.

I get tired of Betty in S2/S3. “The Fog” is one of the worst eps the show has.

S4 is a nice, confident reset for the show. S5 is the peak. S6 feels like it should have been the end. S7 is interminable and clunky.

59

AThere was a reason I saved this article. When you finish Season 4, read this:

http://tigerbeatdown.com/2010/10/18/no-o…your-love/

60

We’ve been trying to finish the back half of season seven for a couple of years now, so we finally took the plunge and jumped back into this show at season four.

I forgot how good S4 was. So many all-timers in this one.

Also, Abe is the worst. I knew he was the worst before, but his mansplaining, patronizing bullshit about capitalistic paradigms takes on a whole new light in the aftermath of last year’s electoral shitshow.

In short: Abe woulda been a Bernie Bro.