Guilt? Grief? The casualties of corporate war? If Lane Pryce is the most obvious and pivotal phantom in the finale of Season 5’s Mad Men, he isn’t the only one. In the aftermath of his suicide, our major characters are each grappling with the price of success, and experiencing his death differently, along with a […]
Losing Lane: Mad Men Season 5 Episode 12 (Commissions and Fees)
Sterling Cooper Draper… Harris? Was suicide the only way out for Mad Men’s consistent recipient of the Least Valuable Player Award? In “Commissions and Fees,” Lane’s tragic end is inevitable as soon as his sleight of hand with the books is found out by Bert Cooper; the canceled check for the money he stole from […]
Return to the Dark Side: Mad Men Season 5 Episode 9 (Dark Shadows)
Barnabas Collins? He doesn’t make an appearance, but “Dark Shadows” is an apt title for Episode 9 of Mad Men as our favorite characters do battle with their own demons – and lose. I’ll give the Ray of Light Award to Megan, for her maturing mastery of managing between a rock and a hard place, […]
Mad Men Season 5 Episode 7 (At the Codfish Ball)
Mother Mary Comes to Me? Okay then. Maman Marie is a cool cucumber and a hot number – en même temps! Episode 7 of Mad Men offers an inside look at Megan’s mother and father, their strained relationship, and Don’s father-daughter bond with Sally as she’s growing up bit by bit. Even Peggy’s in on […]
Roger’s in the Sky With Diamonds! Mad Men Season 5 Episode 6: Far Away Places
Tune in, turn on, but don’t drop out? If there was ever any question that Mad Men would bite off a piece of the Psychedelic Sixties, there’s no doubt about it now. Pass the acid tabs at an upscale dinner – hosted by none other than Timothy Leary. And who’s in attendance? At the instigation […]
The Gloves Are Off! Mad Men Season 5 Episode 5: Signal 30
Who hasn’t wanted to clock Pete Campbell? What a juicy episode of Mad Men Season 5 last evening! There were more than a few Laugh Out Loud moments, additional insights into the usual characters, a surprisingly soft underbelly to Don Draper (more exposed than usual), and Pete and Lane take to the ring, in a […]
Fear and Fighting Back: Mad Men Season 5 Episode 4, Mystery Date
Domestic violence, random violence, brutality at the hands of a handsome man. The stuff of fear, surely. And what else? Against the backdrop of an increasingly troubled 1966, the gender gap splits wide open in unexpected fashion in Mad Men’s Episode 4. “Mystery Date” strings together a collection of references to the potentially explosive anger […]
Mad Men Season 5 Episode 3 – Tea Leaves
One more 1960s bias of note, courtesy of Mad Men… Fat, of course.
Mad Men Season 5 Premiere: (Episode 1) A Little Kiss
The real surprise in the Mad Men Season 5 premiere? Not only are Don and Megan married – they’re happy. We rejoin our favorite characters after 17 months of the show’s hiatus, and knowing Don Draper, we expect trouble in paradise. But we’re wrong. Not only has our hero married his former secretary Megan, played […]
Starting With a Kiss? Bliss. . .
Is Mad Men Season 5 really starting with a kiss? Apparently so. And if the episode title isn’t enough to seduce us, I can only imagine that the premiere itself will. Season 5’s “A Little Kiss” Parts 1 and 2 will air tonight at 9:00 p.m. on AMC TV, and all the Mad Men addicts […]