›

Mad Men Season 4

fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
edited July 2010 in Strut Central
the season premi??re was mad weak.

i think i am souring on this program...
«1345678

  Comments

  • UnherdUnherd 1,880 Posts
    Started slow, but built to a pretty satisfying conclusion. If you've watched this far, you should know that this is how the show generally works.

    And I think its a little early for such proclamations..
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    not making any sweeping proclamations other than to express my generalized disappointment with last night's episode.

    i have been a big fan of the show for some time and perhaps it was all the build up but there were so many false and annoying notes that i was just distracted. that final scene with the pan out or whatever of don being "engaging`made me cringe and think that was the opposite to what was intended.

    believe me, i really don;t want this show to "jump the shark".

    edit: the critics have pretty much unanimously praised the episode
  • UnherdUnherd 1,880 Posts
    crabmongerfunk said:
    not making any sweeping generalizations other than to express my generalized disappointment withlast night's epsiode.

    i have been a big fan of the show for some time and perhaps it was all the build up but there were so many false notes that i was just distracted. that final scene with the pan out or whatever of don being "engaging`made me cringe and think that was the opposite to what was intended...

    . believe me, i really don;t want this show to "jump the shark".

    I hear you, although I had the opposite reaction to the last shot. To a point, I agree, it was kinda missing that crackle until the end.

    Obviously, they made the choice to have the first episode show the transition beginning, as the company goes from shaky start-up, to one that's getting its footing. This could be foreshadowing a shift, where the show is more focused on plot than characters, or alternatively, it could just be a way to thrust us into the new world of season 4, laying the groundwork for a plot arc that stays close to the slow-burn of previous seasons.

    I just think its a toss up so far, and as I said,the "turn" at the end left me wanting more. B+
  • dollar_bindollar_bin I heartily endorse this product and/or event 2,326 Posts
    Latte Pass

    I'm not sure what you're expecting from the show, but Season 4 episode 1 was totally up to speed for Mad Men. Kinky Don, Sad and Annoying Betty, Competent but Defensive Peggy, Obsequious Pete, Wise Cracking Roger, etc. etc. etc.
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    maybe in a few episodes it will all make sense to me. i hope it does.
  • staxwaxstaxwax 1,474 Posts
    Ok I just saw episode 1 after catching up with some other shows and it blew me away.
    This episode was another huge achievement, writing wise. The depth of this show, the character and story arcs are SO serious, nuanced and deep - simply put, it makes most other scripted fare look mad weak.

    I was very impressed with the kick off and am amped for another season of grown up entertainment.
    Mad Men is back.
  • phongonephongone 1,652 Posts
    Why did you think the first episode was weak, Crab? i think it was good in terms of setting up the multiple challenges that Draper will face this season - both personal and business-wise. Also revealed a side of Don we hadn't seen before - he likes to be bitch-slapped by whores.
  • mylatencymylatency 10,475 Posts
    3 WORDS:
    NOT
    ENOUGH
    JOAN
  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    Unherd said:
    Started slow, but built to a pretty satisfying conclusion.

    yeah, I'll admit, I was feeling a little detached in the early going, but as things started rolling I was drawn in, and the end was fantastic, Draper on some get-creative-with-me-or-get-the-fuck-out snap-off.
  • Digger_Phelps_IIDigger_Phelps_II 174 Posts
    show was good to me....hate to sound cliche but i love the dialogue...little shit like how they made fun of the 1legged writer, don snapping his fingers at grown men to get them to leave, the way he talked to dude that's staying at his house ("EVERYONE knows this is temporary")....the way he owned peggy's 'fiance'....thats what i love about the episodes..those little instances of nothing exchanges that eventually define the characters and their relationships to each other...

    i cant front, when he bought the kids home and his wife wasnt there, for a minute i thought he might find her & dude dead + naked in the garage from CO poisoning
  • TheeeCasualMaleTheeeCasualMale 2,564 Posts
    I thought that was one hell of an episode! They came out swinging right in the first episode. Don getting smacked in bed? The bangin' new SCDP office and logo? Tension between Betty's kids and the new stepdaddy? Pete & Peggy setting up a staged public fight over a ham? Don unloading a full clip on the swimsuit execs at the creative meeting? I mean really, the only complaint I had with it was...

    mylatency said:
    3 WORDS:
    NOT
    ENOUGH
    JOAN
  • goatboygoatboy 371 Posts
    SoulOnIce said:
    Unherd said:
    Started slow, but built to a pretty satisfying conclusion.

    yeah, I'll admit, I was feeling a little detached in the early going, but as things started rolling I was drawn in, and the end was fantastic, Draper on some get-creative-with-me-or-get-the-fuck-out snap-off.

    This was my thought as well.
    Wasn't completely convinced for the first half, but then was geared in for the end.
    To me it felt like one of those episodes in which they had to wade through a lot of plot to set up the season.
    That naturally takes time away from some of the deeper character development.
    Loving the new office though, and the challenges that come with it.
    I have to admit I am ready for the Betty storyline to disappear...
    The show still has legs.
    Looking forward to what comes next!
  • keithvanhornkeithvanhorn 3,855 Posts
    as someone whose seen every episode, i'd rank it in the top 25%.

    the less betty the better.
  • sabadabadasabadabada 5,966 Posts
    Cant get into it. I think the show is for sensitive metrosexual types. it allows them to fantasize about acting like "real men" - drinking, smoking, slapping chicks' asses, while at the same time indulging their interests in mens fashion. The writing is cliche, if you want real midcentury American modernism/postmodernism read Updike and Cheever, plus everything takes forever to unfold.

    P.S. no offense to you KVH, I actually really tried to give it a chance because I know you like it.
  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    wow, crickets as all hell up in here, huh?

    so are people just not feeling the new season?

    I'll admit this week's episode was a bit of a snoozer (any episode that focuses on Lane is going to have concentration issues, especially when you throw in 1/3 of the episode being the Don-as-Dick [Donkey Dick!] yawnfest in CA storyline) but it still had it's moments ... even though it was the oldest gag in the world, on some I Love Lucy style, the mix-up with the roses made me laugh out loud ... and Lane getting laid was nice if a bit uncomfortable ... speaking of uncomfortable, am I the only person who is cringing everytime Don tries to get laid without paying for it? Amazing how he went from the unstoppable seduction machine to creeping out just about every woman he goes after ...
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    not feeling this season one bit. shark jumpage could be imminent.

    what the hell is going on with this show?
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    Wasn't really feeling the magic last night.
  • BrianBrian 7,618 Posts
    for sure thought don was going to drill that white girl
  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    I'm wondering if much of it is the discomfort factor.

    Many of these characters are not looking as cool to us as they did before, as Don keeps forcing himself on women and can only score with the ones he pays (his secretary and a prostitute) and many scenes with him are almost hard to watch.

    Also, there seems to be less going on this season ... not as many characters, no really engaging storylines - we seem to mostly just be following Don Draper around through the rather dull happenings of his days. I'm curious to see where this is all going, and still interested, but can't deny there is a "flatness" so far to this season that is sad to see.
  • BrianBrian 7,618 Posts
    I thought there was going to be more tension at the firm with them barely scraping by but it really doesn't seem like that. I was almost certain that when Lucky Strike dude was taking Polaroids that Roger was going to rage out but I guess not...

    I mean, just something beyond Don moping about.
  • SiskinSiskin 10 Posts
    Harry Crane auto-scooping 3 cookies out of the jar.
    That was enough for me.
  • dollar_bindollar_bin I heartily endorse this product and/or event 2,326 Posts
    It's 1965, beyotches! Hippies are imminent. Anna's niece goes to Berkeley???DANGER DANGER HIPPIES HIPPIES. She gets pot for cancer aunt (SPOILER ALERT!!!!). The show is telegraphing major sociological changes for the US and SCDP; gosh will it put a crimp in Don's Mack? Lane Pryce hopes not.

    I'm seriously enjoying this season, but Matt and the other writers are foreshadowing like never before. Perhaps I will be surprised (and based upon the show's track record, I'm optimistic) but I'm feeling the sledgehammer of message upon my forehead.
  • hogginthefogghogginthefogg 6,098 Posts
    Lane with the t-bone was classic material.
  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    Brian said:
    for sure thought don was going to drill that white girl

    So did he.
  • rootlesscosmorootlesscosmo 12,848 Posts
    Im only on episode 2. roger just suggested they crank the christmas party up to "roman orgy" which is hilarious because they're doing it for lee garner jr. haha.
  • keithvanhornkeithvanhorn 3,855 Posts
    the Lane episode was a little slow but how can you complain about Mad Men when there is nothing on tv that even comes close to it? something is going on with pete in the next episode, i think the pace of the show will begin to pick up.

    is the theme of this season that Don has a vulnerable side?
  • sabadabadasabadabada 5,966 Posts
    keithvanhorn said:
    the Lane episode was a little slow but how can you complain about Mad Men when there is nothing on tv that even comes close to it? something is going on with pete in the next episode, i think the pace of the show will begin to pick up.

    is the theme of this season that Don has a vulnerable side?

    I thought last season's Damages was good, better.
  • goatboygoatboy 371 Posts
    Brian said:
    I thought there was going to be more tension at the firm with them barely scraping by but it really doesn't seem like that.
    This right here is why I am having some problems if any with this season.
    I think they've forgotten that part of the reason people watch and enjoy this show is because it is about advertising, and that the business side of things is interesting to folks.
    I don't want it to solely turn into the Don Draper hour.
    Sure, he's an interesting character, but so is the firm and the work they do.
  • Mongo_SladeMongo_Slade 999 Posts
    I'm enjoying this season. Don's humiliation makes the show feel less like an escapist fantasy.

    I particularly liked Sunday's episode-- there was loads of Joan, the Howdy Doody line and movie theater scene made me fall out, and the Dick & Anna story line was really affecting.

    BTW, in the Christmas party episode, did anybody notice the record-related art direction screw-up? I see at least two things in this screenshot that didn't exist in 1964:
  • sabadabadasabadabada 5,966 Posts
    the rainbow 45 sleeve looks out of place.
Sign In or Register to comment.