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I’ve just started watching this show, and it’s awesome to read these writeups along with it! I was a kid in the early 70s, and I remember what things were like. I remember what people’s kitchens looked like, what the interior of restaurants looked like. What kinds of clothes people wore. Everybody smoking everywhere. I know that’s not exactly the period this show is set in, but it’s close. It is just mind-boggling the attention to detail they put into the look of this show.
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Oct 10, 2023 01:15
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ulvir posted:lol, amazon prime had a 30 second long content warning before the old kentucky home ep. I saw that the other day, and I thought my stream had frozen, it sat there for so long. I am so sorry to have missed discussing this show with you guys during the two years Jerusalem spent writing these up. Two years in which I now feel I was just wasting time and wasting my life by not watching Mad Men. I guess this thread is pretty much dead now, but I wanted to say some things anyway. One of the things the real heavy hitters of prestige TV all have in common is that the main characters were all very brilliantly drawn, fantastically written. To the point that they seem like *real* people with real depths, hangups, foibles, strengths and weaknesses. Sopranos, Succession, The Wire and many others all did this very well. Whereas lesser shows have characters who sometimes do things just for reasons of plot, without legitimate motivations. But this show really stands out to me in the sense that nearly every character we see (with a decent amount of screentime) feels that way. It’s isn’t just Don/Pete/Betty/Peggy, it’s *everybody*. The secondary characters seem just as real, and as far away from cardboard cutouts as it can get. I tried to get into this back in 2007 and while I had a great appreciation for their clothing, the decor, the way everything looked, I didn’t end up watching enough to really appreciate it and “get” it. I’ve still got a long way to go but right now I’d say this is one of the best-written and acted dramas I’ve ever watched. If not the single best one. The other thing I wanted to say is Kiernan Shipka was a fantastic child actor. I’m aware she plays Sally for the entire run of the show, and right now I’m only on s3, so she is still only about nine years old. But she really stood out in s3, and in a way that is quite remarkable for a child actor.
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Oct 18, 2023 00:27
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They took Mad Men away from me. I had subscribed to AMC+ through Amazon, because I wanted to watch interview with the vampire again, and then I saw Mad Men was on there too. I had been binging it, watched like 45 episodes in a month or so and I made it as far as the often-acclaimed episode The Suitcase. That was the last one I saw. I took a break of like three days and when I went back, everything but S6 was pay-to-watch. I am crushed.
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Nov 5, 2023 08:17
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I guess what happened to me was that I got logged out of Amazon. So when I looked it seemed like Mad Men was no longer available to stream for free. Embarrassing. So I’m still watching the show but I’m way back on s4e8. “The Suitcase” seems to appear on every “Best Mad Men Episodes list” and it did not disappoint.
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Nov 29, 2023 07:03
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Jerusalem posted:THAT'S WHAT THE 5 STAR RATINGS ARE FOR! 
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Nov 29, 2023 12:31
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Still on s4 and I have to say the plot development in 4x10 and Don’s near-breakdown in response was completely unexpected, for me. I mean, I’ve known he was always one tiny misstep away from a breakdown over his imposter syndrome or whatever we want to call it, but they way they worked this in was brilliant, and caught me totally off-guard. As did Pete saving his rear end, which was a big moment of character development, I feel. I’ve yet to read the Jerusalem writeup for this one, I need to go do that now. I’ve been watching each episode and then reading his post immediately after. And then sometimes, after reading his writeup, I go back and watch that episode again, completely dumbfounded at how many implications/themes/etc. I missed the first time. You’re a genius, Jerusalem. e: edited to add on top of losing NAA, now Lucky Strike wants to sever. Also Joan’s pregnancy. This has certainly been an episode of many happenings!  e2: now I’m on the next one, and holy loving poo poo things are happening. Okay I promise now to stop liveposting about a show that ended eight years ago MrMojok fucked around with this message at 03:17 on Nov 30, 2023 |
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Nov 30, 2023 02:34
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Finished s4. I had to quit reading recaps for now and just blaze through the last few episodes. I simply could not stop. During this marathon there have been a couple of times when I did nothing but watch Mad Men for 5-10 hours in a row. I’ve only now realized that there is at least one other person watching it for the first time, so I will start spoilering things. The show once again shocked me, when Don proposed to Megan. During that scene I could sort of see it coming but still couldn’t believe it. It felt like watching a car crash in slow motion, and when it happened my only thought was oh, Don… no. It remains to be seen how this will work out for the two of them, but I feel a lot of trepidation about it. It certainly felt to me like the moment he decided, or at least started to think really seriously about it, was when Sally knocked over the milkshake. Don and the kids are so conditioned to Betty’s normal reaction to that kind of thing, but sweet Megan just smiles and jokes, and starts cleaning it up. Very anti-Betty. And I mean, I get what a welcome change that is. But is that a good enough reason to decided to marry her, especially while he’s still carrying on with Faye? No way. Very strange how Megan sort of came out of nowhere, really only emerging as a character midway through this season. At least, as best as I can remember, that’s how it was done. I’m not saying it was poor writing, or a bad thing, it was just unexpected. I did expect Bert’s exit to be short-lived, but then we don’t see him in the season finale, and I’ve got to wonder: was “I’m no longer a part of this agency” his last appearance? Is it now just Sterling Draper Pryce? I felt seasons 1-3 were sort of like a big buildup, culminating in the end of 3 where they go off to form their own agency, and there has been so much wild poo poo in s4 that it felt almost like a different show. And not in a bad way. I loved s1-3 also, it’s just really going in some different directions now. There has been more humor in s4. Also, everybody has been going through changes, and it seems like that’s been the main theme of the season. I need more time to collect my thoughts on all this. I realize this is a little e/n type of poo poo so I’ll keep it brief, but I’ve been in a period of my life where I’ve been doing a lot of self-analysis, and I see a lot of myself in some of these characters. Mostly in Don, but in other characters also. Now, I’m not a womanizer. At all. I do sometimes have problems with relationships and with selfishness. With self-loathing. I also drink too much. Not like I’ve seen Don drink this season (holy poo poo was a lot of that difficult for me to watch), but still. I’m not a bad person, more like a regular person, with good and bad points, just like the people in this show. I am also going through a divorce as we speak, and due to that situation I’m facing *extreme* life changes right now, and I have never been the type of person who enjoys or welcomes change. So in a way I think my deciding to finally properly watch this show came at a good time. It’s given me a lot of things to think about. I think most of the really great TV and movies do that. Perhaps all the introspection it’s caused is helping me to become a better person. And to get over some of the poo poo I’ve carried around with me for years. I am continually amazed at how beautifully written all of these characters are. Little bits of everyone remind me of myself, and of other people I’ve known. They all just seem so, so real, and at levels or realism most other shows never quite reach. Pete and Peggy are still my favorites.
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Nov 30, 2023 10:49
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Oh man I just knew the clothing was going to get interesting since were approaching the late 60s now, but I was not prepared for this e: also I now have Zou Bisou Bisou stuck in my head MrMojok fucked around with this message at 12:26 on Nov 30, 2023 |
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Nov 30, 2023 12:15
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kalel posted:if I were you I wouldn't try to read the most current pages of this thread because I'm terrified of spoilers, but in any case, I truly look forward to your thoughts on the series when you've finished it I am really only reading direct replies to my posts and staying away from everything else, just in case!
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Dec 1, 2023 00:25
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I recently saw that episode. Don just didn’t get “Tomorrow Never Knows” at all, did he. His face had that “what in the world am I listening to” look.
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Jan 8, 2024 18:57
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Every “next time on Mad Men” spot should have just been quick shots of people walking into offices and pouring drinks in the middle of the day
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Jan 12, 2024 20:12
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Speaking of spoilers, did not see Lane’s end coming. I could tell things were going extremely badly for him, but I sure didn’t expect it to end like that.
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Jan 13, 2024 23:16
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I FINALLY got to ”THE KING ORDERED IT!!” I’ve known it as a Mad Men Meme for years now, but had no context. I have to say, that is probably the single funniest moment of the show for me so far. Or, at least, it’s tied with dude losing his toes under the riding lawnmower.
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Jan 18, 2024 06:57
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I just finished. I guess there are a lot of things I can say about it. First, I’m certain that my top three facorite tv shows ever are Sopranos, The Wire, and now Mad Men. This show was absolutely amazing. Second, and maybe I need to think about this a while, but I really hated the end for Sally. I wanted so badly for her to find some kind of happiness. Most of the other characters did!
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Jan 19, 2024 00:35
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roomtone posted:Sally's intelligent, and will - hopefully - have a better life than both of her parents, having seen how they both failed in their own ways, but were products of their time in a way she won't be. She'll be a whole different set of ingredients, and for the most part, improved. I guess what got to me was, the second to last time we see her, Bobby is trying to make a grilled cheese on the stove but he’s burned it, and she tells him to get another pan, and she will teach him how to do it. I took this to mean that Sally, who is growing up, now needs to grow up a lot faster, because she’s going to be both big sister and surrogate mommy. Then the last time we see her, she’s doing the dishes, while Betty sits behind her at the table. Betty, who’s completely given up on everything but making sure Sally knows the location of the dress that Betty wants to be buried in. And then the neighbor kid, Sally’s friend, flunking out of college and getting sent to Vietnam. Ugh. I may need to watch that last episode again but I thought it was a horrible, dreary ending for Sally. I am going through a lot of poo poo in my life right now, so maybe that part of the ending hit me a little harder than it ordinarily would have. I guess for me, it just stood out in contrast to the endings we see for many of the other characters, most of whom find some happiness. Although I do agree with what you said. She’s smart, and she’s had plenty of examples of how not to live her life, thanks to Betty and Don.
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Jan 19, 2024 01:45
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kalel posted:every character's ending in the last two episodes, with maybe the exception of Harry's, can be read as either good or bad and it depends entirely on your personal relationship with that character. that's the genius of it. That’s an interesting point, that I hadn’t thought of! All the more so because I was not a fan of Don. It was a fantastic performance by Hamm, but as the show went on I became more and more tired of his self-destructive antics. However, to me, his ending was showing that he’s managed to forgive himself for the things that he’s done. And managed to find some measure of peace in his life, and I was very glad for him. Greg12 posted:Sally Draper was gentle with her brother in a situation in which Betty Draper would have been mean to Sally. This is also a very valid point. Also, is your name inspired by the show Patriot?
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Jan 19, 2024 20:32
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It really is, and that one plus other posts here have helped me to feel better about Sally.
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Jan 19, 2024 23:50
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