I would consider running away with Don Draper. There, I said it. Sorry, wife.
If you’re unaware of who Don Draper is, then clearly you haven’t been clued in to the wonderful world of Mad Men, which has in recent months become one of my favorite shows on TV. It’s a show that by all rights shouldn’t be as thrilling to watch as it is, considering its content. However, it still manages to be pound-for-pound the best written and acted show on any network, in my opinion.
Mad Men highlights the life of fictional advertising firm Sterling-Cooper in the 1960’s, and covers the slow descent of its Creative Director, Draper, in his personal life. It’s like watching a tragedy in slow motion, full of real characters and framed around a world that was undergoing significant cultural changes. This is pretty much what everybody says about Mad Men and praises it for, but that doesn’t make it any less true. The premise of the show isn’t exciting in the slightest, but it’s done so damn well that it’s hard to care.
Recently, a friend of mine and I had a conversation about this being a new golden age for TV, and shows like Mad Men are the proof of this idea. It’s a show that’s simultaneously hilarious, upsetting and thought-provoking, in part because Jon Hamm plays Don Draper as a man who isn’t any more real than the slogans he creates. He’s as much of a front as the products he tries to sell.
Jen and I just finished the third season up over the weekend, and I remain just as impressed as I was by the first season. The 11th episode of season 3, “The Gypsy and the Hobo”, features one of my favorite scenes from any TV show, where Betty Draper confronts Don over some things that the audience has been waiting for since the show’s beginning. Where most shows would stumble under the weight of something so important to the viewer, Mad Men succeeded and completely crushed it. Afterwards, Jen and I discussed Lost, another of our favorites, and how nearly every time they arrived at a monumental episode they would inevitably stumble or blunder the delivery in some way. Not so with Mad Men. It was definitely a nice change of pace.
Anyway, take a look at one of my favorite scenes of the show, from Season 1, where Don pitches the Kodak Carousel. Truly breathtaking acting and writing, all rolled into one. Obviously, this moment is much better in context, but I think even a simple viewing is enough to see that there’s something about this show that sticks out. I would embed it, but it has been disabled. Those silly AMC-ers.
Anybody else into this and excited for the fourth season next month?
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