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The suave, elegant poster for the fourth season of Matthew Weiner's Mad Men (2007-15)
The following summary of the season contains SPOILERS:
November 1964 - October 1965:
Don Draper (Jon Hamm (Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt (2015-16))) is in bad shape following his divorce from Betty (January Jones (Love Actually (2003))) as the season kicks off, which hurts his professionalism, while Betty lets her frustrations pass onto their children throughout the season, especially pre-puberty-stage Sally.
Things don't go according to plan at brave Joan's (Christina Hendricks (The Neon Demon (2016))) place: Her attractive man, whom she felt compelled to marry after his sexual attack on her, now wants to go into active duty in Vietnam as a military doctor. Don goes from New York to California, where he can't get himself to tell his dear ex-wife that she is dying of cancer.
Peggy (Elisabeth Moss (Get Him to the Greek (2010))) relishes her freedom in the city and goes out with a lesbian from Greenwich Village, while Pete (Vincent Kartheiser (Red Knot (2014))) becomes a father. Senior partner in the ad company now called Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, Roger Sterling (John Slattery (Ted 2 (2015))) is blatantly racist towards Japanese visitors from Honda, while Betty punishes Sally (astonishingly played by young Kiernan Shipka (Fan Girl (2015))) for masturbating by sending her to therapy, the sexual angst of the 1960s thus conveyed powerfully.
Roger remembers to his memoir, which he works during this season, how Don was introduced to the company years earlier as a pushy, glowing, dishonest fur salesman. Peggy fascinates her colleagues with her sexual broad-mindedness but loses her conformist boyfriend, because she prioritizes work. The drinking becomes more of an oppressive through-line in season 4: 'Duck' (Joel Murray (Lamb (2015))) free-falls in drink, tries to get Peggy's help, and Roger and Don are stupid and pathetic on their benders. Peggy fires a young guy, who sexually harasses the girls, but Joan disapproves of her decision, testifying to the complexities of the women's lib issue.
Peggy later rejects a radical romance, and Joan gives in to Roger's advances following a street robbery. Don dates the company's sweet focus group lady Dr. Fay. But so much ends badly: Joan's mistake costs her an abortion; Roger loses Lucky Strike, the company's decisive client, and keeps it to himself. Lane's (Jared Price's (The Boxtrolls (2014)) British character grows substantially in depth in the course of the season) father demands him back in London, and the FBI wants to know just who Don Draper really is. The crisis atmosphere builds while Don succumbs to the charms of another secretary... He infuriates everyone with an anti-smoking ad, and the office has to fire a bunch of people in the middle of the bold offensive. Betty fires the family's maid Carla and moves to punish Sally and to attempt to clear her own mind of her past with Don. On a second trip to California with his kids and new secretary girlfriend Megan, Don proposes to her on a whim, which is later met with cynical expectation from the other women of the office.
The season peters out in this hopeful light with Don newly in love. Matthew Weiner's (The Sopranos (2004-07), writer) Mad Men continues to be an outstanding, beautifully crafted and acted, spectacular TV-series, although the season might be a tad less impressive than the preceding one.
Best episodes:
3. The Good News - written by Jonathan Abrahams (Haven (2011-12)) and Weiner; directed by Jennifer Getzinger (Masters of Sex (2013), TV-series)
Things go awry for Joan. Don is in California and ends up celebrating New Year's Eve in New York with Lane.
9. The Beautiful Girls - written by Dahvi Waller (Desperate Housewives (2006-08)) and Weiner; directed by Michael Uppendahl (American Horror Story (2011-16))
The show's most honorable characters, its women, are at the center here: Don's aging secretary Blankenship passes away in the office, and Sally makes an unannounced visit. The season's best episode. Divine.
Cost: Reportedly approximately 2.5 mil. $ per episode, coming to 32.5 mil. $
Box office: None - TV-series
= Unknown
[Mad Men season 4 premiered on AMC on July 25 and ran until October 17. It consists of 13 episodes running 47 minutes each on average. The season was nominated for 19 Emmys, the most nominations the series received for any season, winning Outstanding Drama Series for the 4th year in a row. It was also honored by the American Film Institute as one of the 10 greatest TV achievements of the year. Mad Men season 4 is among the series' second-highest rated at Rotten Tomatoes, where it is certified fresh at 97 % with a critical average of 9.5.]
The elegant, poignant poster for the 5th season of Matthew Weiner's Mad Men
This is a review of season 5 (of 7) of Matthew Weiner's (The Sopranos (2004-07), writer) AMC period drama TV-series revolving around New York advertising wiz, company co-owner, father and husband; Don Draper (Jon Hamm (30 Rock (2009-12))). The season takes place between Memorial Day (May 30) 1966 and the spring of 1967. Episode-by-episode summaries (contains SPOILERS): 1. A Little Kiss Part 1: Roger is permanently irking dissatisfied Pete. Peggy is sulking about a bean campaign, which doesn't materialize, and the new Mrs. Draper, Megan, arranges Don's surprise 40th birthday, which he hates, somewhat ungratefully. Joan wants wants to go from becoming a mother to going back to the office; and Betty is conspicuous by her absence. 2. A Little Kiss Part 2: Megan is miserable after the birthday party. - Don's cure: sex. Joan thinks she is getting thrown out from work and decides to visit with her baby boy. Lane Pryce returns a lost wallet, and Pete fights to obtain Harry's office. A bad joke leads to a crowd of African-American job applicants turning up in the lobby. 3. Tea Leaves: Betty has gained weight, and her doctor locates a lump, - which is benign. Don and Harry Crane attend a Rolling Stones concert, doing research for Heinz, and Crane is actually funny! Peggy is tasked with hiring a new copywriter for the job; she picks the ominously hyper-energetic Jew Michael Ginsberg. 4. Mystery Date: Joan's husband returns from the Vietnam War, - but announces that he will be gone again, for a year, just 10 days later! She chooses to attack him for it and end the marriage. Meanwhile, the country is gripped by a nurse-sex-massacre in Chicago, which scares, among others, Don's girl Sally, who is in her grandmother's care. Ginsberg impresses at the office, and Peggy lets her troubled Negro secretary Dawn sleep over at her place. Don has a terrible meeting with an old flirt and falls ill. 5. Signal 30: The young guns at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce lose Lane's Jaguar account due to an unfortunate night at a cathouse, which leads Lane to challenge Pete to a fistfight SPOILER, and he wins! And kisses sweet Joan. Ken's secret identity as a short story writer gets out, and he is forced to invent a new alias. Pete feels that he "has nothing." 6. Far Away Places: Roger's new, young wife gets him to go with her to an LSD-party, which lays bare their marriage's flaws, and Roger is relieved that divorce is agreed upon. Meanwhile Don and Megan go on a 'romantic work trip' that turns into a nightmare, as a fight breaks them up. Peggy is also handling crisis at the office; losing Heinz again, giving a stranger a handjob, and hearing Ginsberg's concentration camp family story. 7. At the Codfish Ball: Sally causes granny a sprained ankle and goes with her brother to the city, where Megan's quarreling French parents are visiting... Don and Megan retrieve Heinz during a dinner, with Megan's idea. Peggy moves her boyfriend in, despite her mother's protestations. And Sally observes Roger receive a blowjob from Megan's mother at a lavish cancer benefit ball. Her friend Glen asks her how the city is later on the phone, and Sally declares resolutely; "dirty." 8. Lady Lazarus: Megan announces her wish to pursue an acting career, and decides, with Don's support, to quit the office to this end. Here Peggy refuses to be used as a recipient for Don's marital anger. Meanwhile Pete's restlessness leads him to an affair with his train commuter friend's wife (Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls (2000-07))). 9. Dark Shadows: Betty struggles with her weight, misses Don and tries to hurt him through Sally by mentioning Anna, Don's first, paper-only wife. Don rolls over Ginsberg at the office, and Roger spends a fortune to get a professional win, a new client. 10. Christmas Waltz: Don takes a distraught Joan, going through her divorce, on a Jaguar outing. Harry mets ex-colleague Paul Kinsey, who has become a Hare Krishna monk, bangs his girl and rescues him, by sending him off with 500 $ to pursue his screenwriting dream in Hollywood. Pryce is required to pay back 8,000 $ to ties in England SPOILER and commits embezzlement to get the job done. 11. The Other Woman: Jaguar is about to sign with the company now anyway, and one of their bosses comes with an unusual request: Joan for a night. Pete forces this through against giving Joan a 5 % partnership deal. Peggy realizes that she wants to move ahead and accepts a good offer from a competing company. Don decides to save Joan from degradation but comes too late... 12. Commissions and Fees: Pryce's misdeed is discovered, and he is consequently fired, just as his wife has bought him a Jaguar. SPOILER - Which he immediately tries to kill himself in, unsuccessfully, instead opting to hang himself in his office. Don wants to conquer back a client, and Sally has her first period, - on a secret date with Glen. Don later lets the boy drive them to his home. 13. The Phantom: Pete sees his surrendered, troubled lover, before and after she receives electroshock treatment, and winds up in a fight with a stranger on his way home after. The company is making a killing and is set to expand to the floor above, - and Pryce's untimely death gives them a welcome 175,000 $ cash injection. Megan struggles not getting acting jobs, so Don helps her to a commercial gig, - and hooks up with a strange woman in a bar. Damn it's good to have Mad Men back here in one of the series' best seasons. Season 5 is often painfully good TV drama that at times makes us feel like the free-falling man in the show's credit sequence. Mad Men becomes art. Don's ex-wife and mother of their two kids Betty (January Jones (X-Men: First Class (2011))) has moved more into the background now, which is kind of nice. Their daughter Sally is growing into a lovely teenage girl, and Kiernan Shipka (Fan Girl (2015)) grows with the task and gives a fantastic performance here. Joan and Peggy, acted immaculately by the phenomenal Christina Hendricks (Drive (2011)) and Elisabeth Moss (The One I Love (2014)), also continue to grow as strong, brave women, and especially Peggy is an empowering character to follow. Meanwhile Pete (Vincent Kartheiser (Red Knot (2014))) nurtures his own gloom and self-pity, which I find hard to stomach at times. Mad Men has grown from a good series to a great one, with season 3 masterful as season 5, and season 4 slightly less so. It embraces the hard facts of life, and both the pain and fear is often dense. It is a first class portrayal of the joys and especially the sorrows of adult life. Best episodes: 2. A Little Kiss Part 2 - written by Weiner; directed by Jennifer Getzinger (Orange Is the New Black (2014), TV-series) Everyone deals with various smaller and larger complications differently. 4. Mystery Date - written by Weiner and Victor Levin (5 to 7 (2014)); directed by Matt Shakman (House M.D. (2007-12)) Joan takes a stand towards her returned husband, while Sally and Peggy deal with situations of their own 6. Far Away Places- written by Weiner and Semi Chellas (Rookie Blue (2010-11)); directed by Scott Hornbacher (Billions (2016) TV-series) Roger and his wife try LSD, which leads to revelations, while Don and Megan have a nightmarish trip out of the city. 11. The Other Woman - written by Weiner and Chellas, directed by Phil Abraham (Breaking Bad (2009), TV-series) Hendricks excells, as Joan is pushed to an unusual and unpleasant trade by a randy Jaguar client. 13. The Phantom - written by Weiner and Jonathan Igla (Masters of Sex (2015), TV-series); directed by Weiner Pete is upset by a heartbreaking meeting at the hospital. Meanwhile the company navigates in Pryce's wake, and Don helps Megan to another job.
Cost: Unknown Box office: None (TV-series) = Uncertainty [AMC, regrettably, has not, to my knowledge, made the cost of their Mad Men seasons public. The season garnered no less than 17 Emmy nominations, but no wins, which is indeed astounding and appalling. Mad Men season 5 is among the second highest-rated of the show's on Rotten Tomatoes, where it is certified fresh at 97 % with a 9.4 critical average.] What do you think of Mad Men season 5? How do you rate the different seasons? What is your favorite Mad Men moment or quote?
