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Mad Men - Season 6 - Sundays on AMC

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this episode was phenomenal minus the absolutely terrible, ridiculously heavy-handed flashbacks. why does Weiner feel the need to ruin Don's character, ugh. stop it.

I get people's dislike of the flashbacks in general, but this particular episode wouldn't work without them.

The oatmeal ad, Sylvia, and his experience with the motherly prostitute were all tied together. You couldn't really cut one of them out without the whole thing falling apart.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
I get people's dislike of the flashbacks in general, but this particular episode wouldn't work without them.

The oatmeal ad, Sylvia, and his experience with the motherly prostitute were all tied together. You couldn't really cut one of them out without the whole thing falling apart.

I wish we got to hear the pitch, but I guess it doesn't matter.
 
I have to say that Stan getting stabbed in the arm was one of the classic laugh out loud Mad Men moments. Not as hilarious as the lawn mower incident but in the same vein. Stan's reaction was what made it.
 
Nothing will ever match the final episode of The Prisoner. Nothing. I really wanted LOST to end in a similar "LETS GO FUCKING CRAZY" aspect.

And yeah, definitely matched this episode. Don is so fucked up. I'm not sure if the end of the episode is Don actually making his first step this season to dealing with how fucked up he is.

The end of the Prisoner was epicly weird. To think that it aired on TV is amazing.

And I don't think Don's taking a step anywhere, unfortunately. I'd love to see him come to catharthsis and resolution, but that doesn't seem to be the modern style of TV storytelling.


So can we finally determine that Stan >>>>> Sal?

(I've personally known it for ages, but I know we've got quite a few Sal fans.)

I am a Sal fan, but I agree with this. I want both.

Hey, with Gleason dead, don't they need another artist?

I get people's dislike of the flashbacks in general, but this particular episode wouldn't work without them.

The oatmeal ad, Sylvia, and his experience with the motherly prostitute were all tied together. You couldn't really cut one of them out without the whole thing falling apart.

There's a lot of complaining in the reviews about them, too, but how else do we know stuff about Don's past? I like them, personally, even if they do spell things out pretty broadly. I guess you can't feel clever understanding Don if they actually tell you (that's directed to reviewers).
 
I have to say that Stan getting stabbed in the arm was one of the classic laugh out loud Mad Men moments. Not as hilarious as the lawn mower incident but in the same vein. Stan's reaction was what made it.

what the hell did Ginsberg throw, an xacto knife? I thought it was a pen at first, but the way it stuck...
 
Speaking of Ginsberg, after him being introduced as a creative genius in the making last season, is anyone disappointed that that plot kind of feel by the wayside this season? He comes off as no smarter than most other copywriters now – with the exception being when frantic Don called him and Peggy into the office this week and he seemed completely onboard with Don's thinking even though he was sober.
 

bomma_man

Member
Wow that's probably the best representation of speed I've ever seen on screen, aside from the fact that everyone should be grinding their faces off. All those little moments of clarity and epiphany, the lost hours, the way your body an your mind are completely out if sync by the time you crash. Perfectly done.

The episode in general was even good enough to outweigh the shitty flashbacks.
 
Content Round Up - Episode 8 - The Crash

wC6eJNl.jpg


Videos:
- Inside Episode 608 Mad Men: The Crash (youtube vid)
- Next on Mad Men: Episode 609 (please spoiler tag any discussion, youtube vid)
- Janie Bryant on Costumes in Episode 608: Inside Mad Men (youtube vid)

Reviews:
- Sepinwall
- Onion A|V Club
- Salon.com
- Rolling Stone
- The Atlantic
- Esquire
- Slate.com, Part 2, Part 3
- EW.com
- Zap2It
- IGN
- Tom & Lorenzo
- Grantland
- Matt Zoller Seitz
- LA Times
- Tim Goodman, Part 2

Other content:
- AMC Q&A with January Jones
- NY Mag: Did You Catch Mad Men’s Not-So-Pretentious Muhammad Ali Nod?
- NYT Q&A: Aaron Staton Dances Up a Storm on ‘Mad Men’
- Grantland: Mad Men Power Rankings
 

Niraj

I shot people I like more for less.
Now I can't get one scene that I found absolutely hilarious out of my head, yet I don't see it brought up at all in this thread.

It was overshadowed by tapdancing scene, but right after it, after Don chases Kenny down the hall and casually enters creative's room to deliver out of the blue this spontaneous ridiculous pitch

“I know you are all feeling the darkness. There is a way around this system. This is a test of our patience and commitment. One great idea could win someone over.”

I dunno, but I can't stop laughing at the entire sequence

The thing that really sold that was Stan's earnestness in listening lol
 

f0rk

Member
Kind of shows how Breaking Bad says nothing about the effect of meth when I have no idea about what it really does.
 

stewy

Member
Is there a bit of conflict of interest with the show basically being sponsored by Lincoln and them having Chevy as a client in the show?

Are they maybe going to make Chevy seem really terrible and have everything fall apart as a part of some subversive negative campaigning?

Isn't the car being advertised the Chevy Vega? They aren't going to have to do any real writing acrobatics to make that car or Chevrolet seem terrible, if that's the case.
 
Kind of shows how Breaking Bad says nothing about the effect of meth when I have no idea about what it really does.

Breaking Bad is not a show you go to for reference on anything. It's about the characters, not the details of drugs and drug trade or crime.
 

stewy

Member
Ken complained about it at their meeting in the very beginning.


I think it's pretty unrealistic that Ken's first girlfriend would have taught him how to tap dance.

Isn't that line related to the idea of the matronly hooker that took Don's virginity?

"My mom taught me...no wait, my first girlfriend."
 

stewy

Member
That scene about the broken heart was amazing. The look on Don's face, a combination of someone who's completely shattered emotionally and the relief that goes along with thinking the person in front of him understands.
 

Chris R

Member
Does anyone have a clear HD picture of the before and after scene with Don in the hallway where he lost half a day? I tried to make out a difference in his stubble but couldn't really see too much.
 

jtb

Banned
I get people's dislike of the flashbacks in general, but this particular episode wouldn't work without them.

The oatmeal ad, Sylvia, and his experience with the motherly prostitute were all tied together. You couldn't really cut one of them out without the whole thing falling apart.

Perhaps. The episode's appeal to me wasn't really the plot points, but just that really great feverish claustrophobic atmosphere of being trapped in SDCP (or whatever it's called now). I suppose this is a personal taste issue, but I don't see the need for writers to explicitly psychologize their own characters (another pet peeve of mine: scenes with psychiatrists)—especially when they've already done such a great job of writing this character in the present.

We don't really need to know why he is the way he is, imo. It's not like Don is the only person in this world that has self-destructive and misoginyst tendencies, and the whole Oedpial overtones... it was just a little bit over the top and had zero subtlety at all. We get it—Don has women problems and sees every female as a whore, sex as a transaction. Thank you, we got all that a long time ago (and without the need of any flashbacks too). It just cheapens the show.

Isn't that line related to the idea of the matronly hooker that took Don's virginity?

"My mom taught me...no wait, my first girlfriend."

Yup. Echoes of Oedipus all over this episode.
 
- NY Mag: How ‘The Crash’ Retells ‘My Old Kentucky Home’
- AMC: Catch Up on Season 6 With a Mad Men Mini-Marathon This Sunday
If you've missed an earlier episode of the current season of Mad Men, and you wonder what your friends are talking about when they refer to Ken's tap-dance or Pete falling down the stairs, here's a chance to right yourself: Tune in this Sun., May 26 at 1:30PM/12:30c when the first eight episodes of Mad Men Season 6 encore on AMC. The mini-marathon will lead directly into the premiere of an all new episode, "The Better Half" at 10PM/9c.
 
This seemed to be one of the more casting-about Mad Styles in a while. But I did miss the scarf/beauty mark thing, and the similarities between Sally and the whore.
 
tom & lorenzo's columns are so good they've actually changed how i view the show. like i'm constantly looking out for the colours and combinations in ways i'd just let slip past me before.

I always miss them on the first viewing since I tend to be more focused on the characters and plot, but I look for them more closely on the second viewing, when I start to look for more symbolism and nuance.
 

pigeon

Banned
I find the blue/green blue/yellow dynamics really interesting.

Both seem to indicate negative emotions, but blue/green seems to signal nefariousness/belligerence while the blue/yellow seems to signal fatigue and/or resignation.

I think, to put it simply, blue and green go together (that's why it's such a popular color combination at the time period) and blue and yellow strongly contrast (that's why they're so popular for, say, school colors). So the relationships described with blue and green are harmonious -- even to the point of being conspiratorial or adulterous -- and the relationships described with blue and yellow are disharmonious, usually to the point of being in active conflict. It's a very simple but effective move, and the common color allows for a lot of variation.

I'll be interested to see if we get a green and yellow set, although that would probably just make everybody look sick.
 

S1lent

Member
We don't really need to know why he is the way he is, imo. It's not like Don is the only person in this world that has self-destructive and misoginyst tendencies, and the whole Oedpial overtones... it was just a little bit over the top and had zero subtlety at all. We get it—Don has women problems and sees every female as a whore, sex as a transaction. Thank you, we got all that a long time ago (and without the need of any flashbacks too). It just cheapens the show.

I mostly agree with you, but one thing that those scenes do accomplish is make Don more sympathetic, because they provide us with some underlying reasons and experiences that help explain why Don is the womanizing, misogynistic asshole that he is. So in that way I think there is some value to them, even if they are far from the most compelling scenes the show has to offer.
 
I don't agree with what jtb says about how it's so obvious and simple as Don seeing every female as a whore and sex as a transaction.

I think it's a lot more complicated than that.
 
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