Mad Men: Season 4

Season 4 of Mad Men has taken a quantum leap over Season 3 when it comes to intense and intelligent story lines, beautifully scripted and brilliantly acted. Jon Hamm has become, finally, a great actor in this show. In the past he was hamstrung by the character's current dilemma which centered around the telling of his sad past. That, along with establishing, and pruning, the other main characters and watching them bud, kept the stew on simmer for 3 years. In Season 4 the pot boils over and it is wonderful to behold these main characters un-peeling the layers of their personalities before us. This is one of the elements that makes this show an outstanding television drama, one of the greats.I don't have cable or satellite and broadcast no longer exists, so I had to wait until the dvds came out last week. I wondered what it would be like without some of the old mainstays like Paul Kinsey, who I hated as a character but I guess we were supposed to, and the old Sterling Cooper office staff. I needn't have been concerned. The new Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce offices are even more interesting because they were decorated at the start of the Op-Art craze which began in the early 60s as desirable and chic for homes and offices. Roger Stirling's new office is outrageous, a fore-echo of some of the sets you will remember from the original Star Trek or even 2001: A Space Odyssey.I love Don's bachelor apartment in the Village. I don't think its squalid at all, it was New York City gothic; dark, noisy and typical of the times. Now Don's place is probably an over-priced condo, painted off -white and full of designer bounce.I love Roger. He's such a rat but John Slater makes you love him. He's suddenly growing old after this season, losing American Tobacco, losing Joan... he had bags under his eyes in his last scene, very sad. But he'll be back! I miss his daughter, played by Elizabeth Rice. Hope they bring her back again after she divorces that gay man that she married on the weekend following JFK's assassination.I like all of the new characters, especially Jay Ferguson's oddball art director Stan Rizzo. He's a perfect foil for Elisabeth Moss's Peggy Olson. Stan has many facets besides being goofy and quick off the mark with clever retributions. Stan is the prototype for the masculine (he's hunky in a chunky way) yet sensitive, as in vibes, urban man. He's probably gay but not as obvious as poor old Sal Romano. Joyce, Peggy's lesbian friend, has a wry ironic twist to her face which keeps her from being simply a smug village suffragette. I'm not sure about Peggy's new boyfriend, though, Abe I think his name is. She's having great sex though, which is what she wanted. I can't help wondering if Peggy will go for one of Joyce's galpals she keeps presenting to Peggy. That's one of the minor cliffhangers for Season 5 to resolve. I won't miss Dr Faye Miller. It was right that Don should cut her loose, there was something automaton-esque about her. No heart, just neurosis. And Bethany was too young for Don. Megan is perfect for him.All thirteen episodes are first rate, A+, and that hadn't been the case in the first 3 seasons which wavered wildly in the quality of the scripts. Old characters who we liked, like Francine Carlson and even Midge, come back for a scene. Poor Midge, remember Don's first village romance that started the series off, is now down and out, but I won't give out any more spoilers about events that take place. Even rotten old Duck Phillips returns for one last drunken turn.There isn't as much comedy in Season 4, no fat jokes or leering tribes of junior execs zeroing in on the new secretary.This season is extremely adult, dramatic and moving. The music is as great as ever and the sets are evolving with the times. We are now done with 1964 with Don triumphant, and beautifully in love with a wonderful woman and poor old Betty spitting nails. She got just what she wanted. I have to say I love the way Betty insists on seeing a child psychiatrist. She's not nuts, nor is she a hopelessly embittered little bitch. She's evolving too and I started to see some of her early vulnerable sweetness again in the last episode of this season. I didn't hate her like I have done for the past 3 years anyway, though she's thoroughly obnoxious through most of the Season 4 shows as well. And Henry is turning out to be something of a fraud, we could'a told her that. What a class A creep that guy is. I mean seducing a 6-month pregnant married woman! He's scum and there doesn't appear to be much depth to him. I think maybe, I hope, we've seen the last of that character. Next time we see Betty she'll probably be living in elegant squalor in her father's house, like Grey Gardens in better days.In spite of the wrenching stories being told in Season 4 it ends on a very high note of love and absolution. All is not perfect, though. Bert Cooper has a snit fit and stomps out, but he'll be back. The show is greatly enhanced by the presence of Robert Morse. There is much to look forward to with Season 5, and beyond.

Though Season 4 petered out a bit at the end with a few too many plot mechanics and a distressingly predictable and repetetive finale, the first 10 episodes were, all in all, sensational. The Season 3 finale, "Shut the Door. Have a Seat.", set up a delicious situation which was a chance to reinvent all the characters and storylines. Matthew Weiner and company took advantage of the plum they handed themselves and got the new firm set up in cutting edge digs and managed to weave old characters in and out as needed. Overall, the show was fresher, more focused, and more streamlined. This season really did trace the trajectory of Don's downfall from booze and buried sorrow--which culminated in a hit-between-the-eyes moment in episode 6, "Waldorf Stories". It was so perfectly set up that when you got the impact of it, it was truly stunning. (January Jones as Betty Draper was in this episode for one brief scene, but she delivered the three-word line that made Don realize he'd finally hit rock bottom. Interesting the connection those two still have.) From there, we began to follow Don as he made the first real attempt we've ever seen to take control of his demons. This led to what may be the best episode the show has ever produced, "The Suitcase", episode 7. (Or at least equal to Season 2's phenomenal finale, "Meditations in an Emergency".) Primarily a two-character piece for Don and Peggy, it was the episode the entire series had been building to, if only we'd known it. The two had to work overnight on a Samsonite presentation and various demons and frustrations finally escaped and Don got some bad news from California that at last led to a needed breakdown. Written by creator/executive producer Weiner, "The Suitcase" is television at its very finest and may well win Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss those elusive Emmys come this summer. (Weiner, at least, is basically assured another writing Emmy for this masterpiece.) From this point, the financial woes of the newly-formed Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce take center stage and involve a fascinating examination of women's roles in the '60s workplace, as well as a life crisis for Roger Sterling, which provides John Slattery the chance to do career-best work. The final few episodes don't live up to the start. They're well-crafted, but it's distressing to see the plot wheels turning a bit obviously and watch Don appear to begin repeating familiar patterns. However, we never know what Season 5 will bring us.Other delights from #4:--Pete Campbell becomes a man with a backbone and a conscience--Don gets saddled with battle-axe secretary Miss Ida Blankenship, who constantly spouts wildly inappropriate comments and is played to delightful perfection by Randee Heller; this humor is much-needed as a juxtaposition to some of the darker goings-on--Roger writes his memoirs!--Joan leads a conga line!--Some Japanese businessmen are quite impressed by Joan's, er, assets--John Slattery directs a couple of episodes, "The Rejected" and "Blowing Smoke", and proves himself as capable behind the camera as in front--Episode 5, "The Chyrsanthemum and the Sword", features a hilarious caper played on a rival agency and a truly good performance from January Jones. She sometimes gets some flack, but I think she plays an incredibly complex character with just the right touch of lacquered veneer over raging internal chaos. In this episode she ranges from near child abuse to breaking our hearts talking to a child psychologist with a thinly-veiled desperate need to be heard. This episode won the Writers Guild award for outstanding single episode of a drama series. (The series, incidentally, won the award for overall drama series as well.)In all, this was a fascinating season exploring the difference between a character's appearance and their reality. Everyone in a large cast got chances to shine--and they still made room to incorporate some historical happenings which are skillfully woven in.

We don't subscribe to any cable station for TV but we do love movies and have begun to buy some DVDs. My son told me how good Mad Men was and said that I would probably enjoy it. The first season took us a while to enjoy but once we began watching the 2nd season and the 3rd season, we really wanted more. In Season 4 we see the main characters start their own company and come together to support one another. It feels as if they are finally working together. We had not felt that Don Draper's character was very likeable but in this season we discover a lot more about why he is like he is. He has to deal with more loss and we see him go through the motions of grief. Peter's character seems to soften a little and in this season, his wife is pregnant, and there are moments when this pregnancy is seen with a backdrop of Peggy's pregnancy. Peggy and Don have some fascinating conversation and although we sense they will never be good friends, they are somehow supportive of one another, and each others' quirks. The dynamics between them, boss and employee are very interesting and show really good writing. The best scene we think (not to be a spoiler) is when Don seems to be having a real panic attack. It was so good. I had not thought of him as an actor before, he always seemed so "wooden" but this scene towards the end of the season shows a depth to his character and he opens up his "soul" to a new woman (and there have been many as we all know!!!!) I am told the next season isn't so good but this one was really great. I await the next season which I have just purchased..