I should preface this review by saying that I am a Mad Men fan, and can really only discuss it as one. I can find fault with creative decisions, I can be disappointed, and I can say that characters would never do certain things that they are depicted as doing, but much like a Star Wars fan who’s just seen The Phantom Menace, I still can’t really talk about it as anything less culturally significant than the invention of television itself. It is the fan’s blessing, as well as a curse; any and all objective thoughts are based only on feelings too strong for anyone who was not affected the same way to ever really understand. With that said, I have to say that I was disappointed in the new season of Mad Men. I know that I am in the minority opinion, so instead of ranting and raving, I’ll do my best to distinguish what’s actually a problem from what’s just different from what I loved about the first season. There may be spoilers ahead for those you not familiar with the show.
At the close of the last season, the employees of Sterling Cooper advertising firm were undergoing drastic changes in their lives, both personally and professionally. Don Draper (Jon Hamm), the hot-shot ad exec had just scored a major professional victory by being made partner and defending himself against an attack by Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser), but also a personal defeat by perhaps permanently fracturing his marriage with his wife Betty (January Jones). Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss) had also found success by advancing from secretary to copywriter (a first for a woman at the agency), only for that opportunity to be threatened by the arrival of an illegitimate child, the result of a tryst with Campbell. And very slowly, time marches forward, leaving behind the likes of uber-sexy secretary Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks) and all-powerful executive Roger Sterling (John Slattery), who really have no place in the decade to come.
In this season, that forward march slows to a crawl. While viewers who stuck with the first season were rewarded with a storyline that came full circle in the full episode, there is no such symmetry in this season. All of the familiar elements that made the show a hit are present here: Don’s machismo philandering, Betty’s moroseness, Pete’s mincing, Betty’s earnestness, Joan’s come-hither quality that she lends to absolutely everything she does, as well as new additions “Duck” Philips (Mark Moses) and the Barretts (Patrick Fischler and Melinda McGraw). The focus here seems to be more on vignettes in the lives of these characters as opposed to steadily rising tension, which occasionally leads to some nice moments. There is an extended subplot involving Peggy and her priest (Colin Hanks), which include the most emotionally sincere moments that the series has yet produced. Some much-appreciated depth is also added to Joan’s character, who is just starting to realize how limited she really is in life. Otherwise, most of the season is spent on the growing conflict between Don and Duck’s differing visions for the company’s future, fertility issues between Pete and his wife Trudy (Alison Brie), and Don’s ambivalence towards the life he has made for himself, which is largely unchanged from the first season. There are occasional glimpses into the personal lives of Paul Kinsey(Michael Gladis), Salvatore Romano (Bryan Batt), Harry Crane (Rich Sommer), and Ken Cosgrove (Aaron Staton), but none of them is ever given the attention necessary to make them anything other than window decoration.
It’s also fair to say that this season has taken a much darker, more corrosive turn than might have been anticipated. There is a rape, a fair share of alcoholism, as well as the first actual physical violence between Don and Betty. While this newfound misanthropy seems to be what attracted so many critics and new fans to the show (indeed, it really hit its stride commercially during this season), I found it more than a little off-putting, as if the show had forsaken its careful character work simply to go places that its audience wasn’t sure it had the guts to do.
There are a few things regarding the show, however, that are not really up for debate, foremost among them being the period detail, which tops that of nearly any other recent depiction of the period (even the gorgeous Revolutionary Road). Another is the writing, which was done under the direction of show creator Matthew Weiner. Even when the show is repetitive, slow, or even a little nonsensical, one never doubts the commitment of the show’s authors to push the show in new and challenging directions. Whether or not you agree with where the show goes in this season, you’ll almost certainly be able to say that you hadn’t predicted it.
DVD Bonus Features
If that hadn’t piqued your interest already, the set is absolutely loaded with special features, including the short documentaries “The Birth of an Independent Woman, Part 1 and Part 2” and “An Era of Style”, both regarding the social and stylistic changes of the time period (and how the two often mingle) and various Time Capsule segments about important historical events of the 60s. There’s also a bevy of audio commentaries, with multiple ones from every single episode. There are the expected ones (Matthew Weiner, Jon Hamm, January Jones, Vincent Kartheiser) as well as the unexpected (various appearances by different writers, producers, and episode directors). As a whole, it just serves to remind us how much work goes into this show and how many people’s fingerprints are on it. They’re probably worth the price of the set alone.
"Mad Men: Season Two (DVD)" is on sale July 14, 2009 and is rated NR. Drama, Television. Directed by Alan Taylor, Andrew Bernstein, Lesli Linka Glatter, Michael Uppendahl, Phil Abraham, Tim Hunter. Written by Matthew Weiner, Lisa Albert, Rick Cleveland, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Jennifer Getzinger, Robin Veith, Jane Anderson, Marti Noxon, Kater Gordon. Starring Christina Hendricks, Elisabeth Moss, January Jones, John Slattery, Jon Hamm, Mark Moses, Melinda McGraw, Patrick Fischler, Vincent Kartheiser.
