This season was just less focused around Betty. Weiner says there'll be more Betty next season. And that probably means more Sally (possibly even Bobby character development!). This season was about SCDP starting to take off. They got more notable clients and money started coming in at the end. In season four, SCDP lost Lucky Strike and a couple other clients from the ripple.
And the other main plot was the personal life of SCDP (obviously). Don and Megan being newlyweds, Pete living in the suburbs, Roger getting divorced, Peggy leaving due to a lack of acknowledgement/respect from Don, and Lane's tax problem from England.
I wouldn't say the show has gotten better each season, but I'm not really sure how I would rank the seasons. I thought season 5 started off a little slow. It definitely picked up near the end with the last few episodes having some pretty shocking moments. I'm sad that Lane is gone because he was one of my favourite characters. Megan is pretty meh. I don't like Betty so I'm glad we didn't get as much of her. She did have some funny moments when she was on the phone this season though and she was actually likeable in the episode where Sally had her period. Speaking of Sally, she's pretty awesome - the creator's of the show really lucked out with the actress who plays her. Don was okay this season - a little more tamed and subdued than in past seasons because he was settled down with Megan. The final scene hinted that we might get a return to the old Don in Season 6. Roger was awesome as always - he's definitely one of my favourite characters. I wonder how far they will take his LSD storyline. Peggy is another one of my favourites and I liked that she finally stood up and left SCDP. I hope we still see enough of her next season though.
-- you just can't live in that negative way...make way for the positive day
i think S5 while being as in-your-face with the symbolism as Mad Men can possibly get was a great season overall with instant classics such as Far Away Places and The Other Woman and one of the greatest stretches of episodes from Signal 30 to Lady Lazarus
and hey, the punchier symbolism tied into the turbulent times of change during that period in the 60s and the big moments throughout the season
i think for now it ties with S4 for best season
i'm fine with Betty getting less screen time this season
it's understandable plot-wise (Don and Betty have separated and are leading totally different lives while Megan needs more focus now that she's Don's wife) as well as reality-wise (January Jones was pregnant!)
Kiernan Shipka delivered even with her limited appearances anyway and i'm sure we'll get more of her as well as Betty in the following seasons
- why the juxtaposition in 'the other woman' - joan's prostitution and peggy's departure in the same episode?
- there was a prolonged segment of the finale where every scene began with the opening of a door. this spans different characters and different times, and it finally ends when don goes to the dentist. what is the purpose of it?
- is roger nearing the end?
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Je suis toujours serieux. D'autrefois, personne ne me penserait serieusement.
Ive been trying to have this discussion for WEEKS now. Let's do this
1.Season 5 might be the best season of Mad Men; it's either this or Season 3. The reason those 2 rank so high is because they involve change. Mad Men has such good characters and concepts that it begins to stagnate inside its own greatness. Season 3 brought a new setting and a change of roles(Don on top, Roger and Co. forced to appease to his ways) and Season 5 brought us Lane's Death, Don being married, Peggy leaving, and most importantly, Don Draper accepting Dick Whitman.
2. Megan Draper was probably this Season's MVP. We have spent 4 seasons with Don Draper being King ****, wiping his ass on everyone and everything and rarely having to apologize for it. The opening episodes of Season 5 were a shock to the collective systems of Don Draper Worshipers everywhere. The moment she sang Zou Bisou Bisou we knew something was up. Women had seduced Don Draper before but ALWAYS on his terms, ALWAYS in his privacy. People weren't allowed in his home, and co-workers, pssh, Don's happiness was never apart of their schedule. But Megan ended all that. When she got naked and cleaned the floor is when every man in America went "I get it. I understand." There was one girl in the universe who could do that to Don Draper and Megan was it.
3. Best episode was Codfish Ball. Period. That thing is going into the Mad Men All Time List right behind The Suitcase. Those last 15 minutes from Sally's Go Go Boots to Roger getting Dome are the best thing I've seen on TV this year.
4.Megan's Dad had the quote of the season. "Little girls they spread their legs and fly away".
5.Roger doing LSD the best.
6.No Betty Draper is what made this season so special for me. I have never loathed a character like I loathe Betty Draper. She is everything I despise and not in the "Joffrey Baratheon Holy Crap He's Such a Good Villian I Hate Him Way", but in a "I laughed when she got fat and hopes she hangs herself kinda way". That scene where she uses Sally to compensate for her jealousy at the fact that Megan got EVERYTHING she always wanted made me sick. And in that final scene where Sally runs home to her, she's not happy that her daughter needs her, she's happy that her daughter needs her more than Megan. And that Thanksgiving Scene. Just thinking about her makes me angry.
7.And lastly, that scene where Peggy's leaving, and Don goes from sympathetic, to cocky salesmen, to painstakingly regretful was just pure magic. That kiss on her hand said more than he ever could and the longer he held on the more tragic it became. Their relationship has always and will always be the best thing on this show because of how unique it is for OUR TIME PERIOD. In the 60s it was unfathomable.
--
Realo won gold at the Sex Olympics with a BROKEN FRIGGIN NECK.-Voltch
the juxtaposition of Peggy and Joan shows the extreme contrast of what the two women had to do to finally attain a level of power where they would be seen as equals as the men in authority
the two stand for the ideal women of that decade: Joan for the 50s to early 60s trophy women who were expected to be beautiful, take care of families and the daily operations of offices if they were working (SC and SCDP were in a sense Joan's family) and Peggy for the young and empowered take-charge women of the mid to late 60s who strove for independence and equality in the midst of the feminist movement during that time
Joan had to use her body as the means to finally attain power with the company she's been working for for years while Peggy used her brains and talent to break free from Don's control and be her own boss in another company
both had to give up something (Joan some of her dignity and Peggy her longtime relationship with Don whom she saw as a friend and mentor) and they struggled with it but they got over quickly (which in the case of Joan is somewhat admirable as she understands power no matter the cost is exactly what she needs considering her personal situation)
i'll have to check again what you were referring to about that door opening thing
Roger is definitely nearing the end of his "utility" in the office but i highly doubt that he'd take his own life willingly
we might see him wasting away his years in an alcohol and/or drug fueled haze banging all sorts of women half his age but i don't see him as the kind of guy to go out on one grand act of suicide
or maybe he'll just be happy carrying on his affair with Megan's mom without a care in the world till he dies of a heart attack or lung cancer in his 60s
All that and I haven't even gotten to Pete Friggin Campbell. Every time we think Pete Campbell's face can't get anymore punchable, when we assume he can't get any less satisfied with his life, when we believe he can't get more entitled, self important, and self loathing, Pete Campell proves us wrong. He has every bad quality of Don Draper without any of the charisma that allows Don to carry the title Anti-Hero. Pete Campbell is just Anti.
So it is fitting that he gets punched out by a dead man and falls in love with a women who has no clue who she is either. His speech in the finale, while not as poetic as Don's readings about the "catastrophe of his personality, or Roger's cynically existential quips about the nature of human selfishness, carried a weight that might have been heavier because of who he is as a character. He has spent so much time dodging the actuality of his existence through incorrigibly licentious escapism. First he tried to be like Don, until he realized that he never could, that Don was just better. Then he tried to beat Don but with the same result. Then he tried to be Don's equal only to be chastised by Dick Whitman. He wanted his younger teenage girl to prove that his growing age came with some kind of beneficial knowledge that could cure the indignation of his past, only to find out its only cure came at the end of a stiff bed and 500 volts.
So, yes, he has placed bandage after bandage over a wound that needs stitches, and it finally bled everywhere when his wife gave him what he's always wanted. His ending will be tragic, there is no other way out for Pete Campbell. He will be the blank man in the blank suit falling from the edge of the world. And as he's falling, he's going to look back and give 2 middle fingers to god because the building he office he jumps from won't have a window big enough to bring everyone with him.
--
Realo won gold at the Sex Olympics with a BROKEN FRIGGIN NECK.-Voltch
Both women ended the Season questioning with actuality thrown in their faces.
Joan sat in the board room, with a new, and might I add unattractive women, working her former position. She has someone taking notes for her nowadays and even though she does her best to take charge of a situation and show a strong stance, Pete Campbell walks out on her like he would never walk out on anyone else on the Board.
As for Peggy, we see her last in her virginia motel about to get the Virginia Slims account. She seems satisfied until she looks out of her window and sees 2 dogs humping. The symbolism here is 2 part:
She's elevated her position and yet she's still sleeping in crappy motels where as Don and Sal were staying in luxury hotels on their getaway trips. Secondly, someone's always gonna get boned, like it or not. With Don, she always knew she would be on the receiving end, but at least it was familiar. At least it was reliable.
--
Realo won gold at the Sex Olympics with a BROKEN FRIGGIN NECK.-Voltch
still, i think things will still be generally in those two women's favor (well, as much as they can in any story because, you know, conflict)
they're stronger now and i believe they'll be able to tough it out no matter what Weiner throws at them in the following seasons
it's a nice contrast to the main male characters who have come to realize they are empty inside (Pete as realo pointed out), that they are useless and alone (Roger), that they have regressed into their cynical attitude and destructive behavior (Don), and just ended it all in the case of Lane Pryce
it won't be perfect for Joan and Peggy definitely but they've got it much better than the male leads and i think they'll find some measure of happiness that seem to be impossible for Don and co. to ever truly acquire
Ive been trying to have this discussion for WEEKS now. Let's do this
1.Season 5 might be the best season of Mad Men; it's either this or Season 3. The reason those 2 rank so high is because they involve change. Mad Men has such good characters and concepts that it begins to stagnate inside its own greatness. Season 3 brought a new setting and a change of roles(Don on top, Roger and Co. forced to appease to his ways) and Season 5 brought us Lane's Death, Don being married, Peggy leaving, and most importantly, Don Draper accepting Dick Whitman.
it's interesting that you say that seasons 3 and 5 are the 'seasons of change' compared to seasons 2 and 4. i think seasons 2 and 4 are interesting because they show the impetus of change, 4 in particular - we get season 5 as don attempting to redeem himself, but how was he able to do it? by having an entire season of tailspinning beyond belief. s&m, insanely heavy drinking, hitting on anna's nubile young niece, cheating on women in the most creative and abusive of ways (his secretary comes to mind), bullying peggy on the night of her birthday, and finally writing a self, self-destructive letter out of sheer vindictiveness... and then, in the end, he is saved by this angelic creature.
2. Megan Draper was probably this Season's MVP. We have spent 4 seasons with Don Draper being King ****, wiping his ass on everyone and everything and rarely having to apologize for it. The opening episodes of Season 5 were a shock to the collective systems of Don Draper Worshipers everywhere. The moment she sang Zou Bisou Bisou we knew something was up. Women had seduced Don Draper before but ALWAYS on his terms, ALWAYS in his privacy. People weren't allowed in his home, and co-workers, pssh, Don's happiness was never apart of their schedule. But Megan ended all that. When she got naked and cleaned the floor is when every man in America went "I get it. I understand." There was one girl in the universe who could do that to Don Draper and Megan was it.
... and what's so great about megan, as you've essentially nailed, is her ability to challenge don. she is sexually liberated, culturally hip, aggressively talented... beyond simply challenging don, i think she almost threatens him. don's always been able to justify joan's power by thinking of her as an ice queen/ruler of women, and he's never sexualized peggy making her easy to accept... but of the women don has encountered and/or slept with, megan is the only one who both is a good person (some of his mistresses are downright nasty) and is not broken down by sleeping with him (see rachel, faye, the schoolteacher, etc...)
3. Best episode was Codfish Ball. Period. That thing is going into the Mad Men All Time List right behind The Suitcase. Those last 15 minutes from Sally's Go Go Boots to Roger getting Dome are the best thing I've seen on TV this year.
i am partial to the episode where lane and pete throw down. the fight was hilarious (and the reactions too - 'i know we're supposed to let cooler heads prevail here, but am i the only one who wants to see this??) but the whole episode with the dinner party and pete's career ascension and downward personal spiral is fantastic. toss in high business stakes (a car company!), the continued early signs of lane's plummet, and the way it called back to prior episodes' setups so effortlessly, and this might have been it for me.
but tons of episodes were incredible. now i want to go back and rewatch/relive it again just to try to soak it in.
to be continued... might skip to the section on pete...
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Je suis toujours serieux. D'autrefois, personne ne me penserait serieusement.