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Post by suspended poster on Mar 26, 2012 15:09:05 GMT -5
I will be posting a weekly recap of some of my favorite shows. Look for it in a few days.
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Post by suspended poster on Mar 27, 2012 16:54:11 GMT -5
Has there ever been a MM episode with more slapstick humor than the season premiere? Harry Crane’s presentation of the walking stick birthday present to Don, his "negotiation"with Roger or his conversation with Stan in the kitchen regarding sexual feelings toward Megan were absolutely hilarious. Harry has found his niche in the MM universe. It's the same comic relief that Uncle Junior/Chrissy/Bobby Baccala displayed for David Chase. The mentor to MM show runner Matt Weiner. So, it should come as no surprise that Weiner is mining the comedy gold that made the Sopranos so different from other shows. Unfortunately, Weiner is also taking a cue from Chase by delaying the start of the show for 17 months.
But in spite of what're great comedy what stood out the most was the writers’ heavy handed treatment of what promise to be recurring themes. This is my major gripe of Weiner. Unlike Chase who let his audience decide what was happening on the screen. Weiner hits his viewers over the head by telling us exactly what is happening and what will happen with his foreshawdowing.
The episode opened with ad execs water bombing black protestors and followed with Sally getting a glimpse of her step mom’s barely covered backside. Are there more obvious ways to announce that civil rights and the sexual revolution are two topics that will be the focal points going forward? Fans were frustrated by Chase never revisiting the Russians in the Pine Barrens. Chase's explanation was that everything does not get tied up in a neat little bow. This style of storytelling is not the Weiner MO. What you see on the screen will come back at a later date. So, when we saw how many times SCDP’s partners, specifically Pete, Roger, and Lane, struggled to summon their secretaries. There were at least three scenes in which communication via intercom failed to generate the desired result. This is an indication that the women at SCDP are helpless without Joan, the office’s mother hen. Unless Weiner is insinuating that those secretaries aren’t going to stay content fetching coffee and keeping appointment books? Either way, the communication breakdowns fed the screwball slapstick comedic tone of the episode.
The heavy handed narration also extended to the topic of Don’s changed personality. Not only do we see him arrive late for work and cut an appointment free day short to go home and indulge in some afternoon delight, we had to have the changed nature of his character described to us by several characters. Roger says to his face that he knows Don is happy for once, and Peggy vents frustration about her mentor’s new personality. This is something that Weiner's mentor never did. Chase let the actions speak for themselves. He wouldn't beat us over the head telling us Don is changed. Then he has the useless dialogue when Don himself lets us all know that he “doesn’t care about work.” I hope Weiner returns to the more nuanced character development that made Don so fascinating in previous seasons. The guy turns 40 and all we get is a half-hearted monologue about how he doesn’t like his birthday? The show usually has more interesting ways of exploring his internal motivations.
I find myself feeling a bit pessimistic about whether or not Weiner can keep up the level of excellence that defined Mad Men’s first 4 seasons. This season was delayed because executives at AMC wanted Weiner trim down the ever growing cast of characters, and while it’s popular to side with creative in these types of artist vs. executive struggles, I tend to agree that the show has too many personalities to keep track of. Even in a two hour time frame, it felt like scenes were cut short so we could jump back and forth between various individual stories. And we didn’t even get a glimpse of Betty and Henry and the state of their domestic life. Other than Don dropping of his kids at the the house he called the Addams Family home. Btw, love the little callbacks to the 60s with the children all driving in the front seat without car seats. Weiner always gets the little things right.
Lane Pryce is a perfect example of a character that has overstayed his welcome. He may serve as a nice contrast to the firms other executives, but he isn’t interesting enough to carry story lines by himself. I took nothing away from the whole returning the wallet business other than it will be revisited at a later date. This being MM and how we are hit over the heads with foreshawdowing. You know the fat sweaty guy with a vowel in his last name is going to be some sort of heavy that Lane turns for his seemingly increasing money problems. And Mr. Polito girlfriend Dolores will come back again.
Does it strike any of you as fitting that Pete and Don have essentially reversed roles? Pete is now the husband and father commuting from the suburbs while Don is living it up in a penthouse apartment with a hip young wife. It strikes me as further proof that Pete is progressing while Don is something of a question mark. Perhaps the show’s hardest working young account executive will get that corner office before season’s end. Anyone notice the foil muffin covers on top the stove? Also, Pete now rides the train as Don once did. And the color scheme of Pete's house and his kitchen look exactly like the Draper's house in Ossing.
This brings me to another point that I’ve always found troubling: It’s simply difficult to believe that Pete is, as the show tells us, a more gifted account man than Roger. As written, Roger’s character comes across as John Calipari/Rick Pitino the type of person that can sell ice to an Eskimo. While the the eternally stiff, nervous, and ever brown-nosing Pete, who despite his increasing success always carries with him an unmistakable whiff of desperation, is somehow better at convincing skeptical executives to bring their business to SCDP? Pete comes across like a combo of Herb Sendek/Steve DeMeo. But season after season Roger becomes less and less relevant from a business standpoint, even though is personality remain as magnetic as ever, while Pete keeps climbing the ladder. Doesn't pass the smell test to me.
It will be interesting to see how office dynamics shape up as the season progresses. Will Roger and Joan rekindle a romance that brought them happiness and a son(Loved Roger's line when he saw the kid, as well as holding him with a lit cigarette in his mouth)
And what role does Bert Cooper fulfill? The last we saw of him he quit over the NY times ad by Don. Now, hes pulled a Constanza and just showed up,back to work like it never happned The former sage of SCDP was reduced to serving the butt of some last night’s episode’s least successful jokes, and I hope Weiner didn’t bring him back just to poke fun at him.
Lastly, SCDP could end up positioning themselves as a forward thinking agency. First of all, they don't do smoking ads, and now it looks as if they are poised to hire an African-American. Maybe this will be the direction the firm will take.
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Post by suspended poster on Mar 28, 2012 17:12:02 GMT -5
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