2015 Top Ten Dramas

I made the foolish decision to make an end-of-the-year top ten list.  Most top ten lists come out before Christmas, but there was just no time for me to watch what I felt I needed to watch in order to come up with the best possible list.  Given that the holidays provide loads of opportunity of free time, it was also more convenient.  I don't regret that decision either.  The list today, the top ten drama, could have been ably made without the extra time, although a couple shows are in the top ten that I just watched in December.  The comedy list on the other hand would have looked a hell of a lot different.

For my order, I decided to list them backwards from 10 to 1 and then afterwards list the honorable mentions.  I feel by abstaining from listing the honorable mentions until afterwards, you might actually have some doubt as to what will come towards the top.  Also, I don't want to list your favorite show in the honorable mention, you'll get mad and then not read the rest of the post.

Both lists are what I think are the best, but I will admit a certain element of how much I enjoy the show comes into play.  By that I mean, there are a few shows that could technically be described as better than some in the top ten, but whenever I put them in there, it just felt wrong.  It felt like I was putting it in there only because I felt it was supposed to be in there and not because I thought it was one of my top ten shows of the year.

Anyway my opinions are my own and there's really no need to be offended that I didn't include your favorite show.  There's a decent chance I don't even watch it too.  I don't have a specific example for dramas, but I'm fairly certain Bob's Burgers most recent year would be strongly considered for comedy, but I'm just not caught up to the show and it was not possible for me to do so.  I've wasted enough words introducing this list so let's just get on with it.

*I only count episodes that air in 2015.  Most of the shows in this list have the entire season air in 2015, but for shows like The Flash that still follow the traditional network television format, 2015 covers one half of two different seasons.  To stay on that example, I'm not technically counting the first nine episodes of the first season of The Flash.

#10 The Flash - CW (Season 1-2)

I consider this show's placement on the list to be an upset.  I hadn't planned on putting this on my top ten.  I wanted to put it in my top ten, but then I went through the list of shows that I was considering and I didn't seem to have any room for it.  The more I thought about it though, the more I realized it had to be on the list.

The Flash is unlike just about every other recent superhero show or movie in that it purposefully goes for a lighter tone acknowledging that being a superhero would be pretty fucking awesome, especially one who runs at lightning speed.  It's a show well aware of its origins and it embraces those origins.  It has the cheesy, pun-related and comic book dialogue while also retaining an emotional core thanks to a strong cast led by Grant Gustin and Jesse L. Martin.  Plus, it appeals to both comic book fans and people who have never read a comic book in their life (like me).  I've seen enough comments and read enough reviews to know you might actually enjoy this more if you're into the comics, because the creators are well-versed in its history.  But seeing as this is number ten on my list, it obviously appeals strongly to novices in comics too.

There are reasons to watch The Flash and then there is THE REASON to watch The Flash.  That reason is Tom Cavanaugh.  Words can't adequately describe just how good of a performance he gives, specifically in the first season.  He's Barry's mentor and he seems sincere in his intentions, but he also has hidden motives and is clearly not totally on Barry's side.  He's able to play these seemingly contradictory points to near perfection.

Model Episode: "Fast Enough" (S1 E23)

So far the best episode of the show was the season one finale.  One of the joys of The Flash's first season was that it was able to seamlessly blend its monster of the week and its season long narratives.  It all culminates in, frankly, a batshit insane finale.

#9 - Making a Murderer - Netflix 

Given that this was released two weeks ago and I've seen nothing like the cultural impact that The Jinx did when that aired, most of you probably haven't watched this.  (Edit: Well, when I wrote that, it was a true statement.  It's seemingly blown up recently though.)  Well, I'm going to need to take this opportunity to say that you should.  It is very hard for me to put a documentary series on this list - The Jinx wasn't anywhere close to making it - and yet I can't deny that this belongs here.  The show is about Steven Avery, a man wrongfully convicted back in 1985 of sexual assault.  He later gets released and well... find out the rest of the story by watching the documentary.  If you think that was a spoiler, he gets released by the end of the pilot episode and it was also apparently a very famous case.

The Manitowoc County police department is clearly corrupt, BUT this series does show certain things even honest cops might do that terrify the shit out of me.  Like when interviewing potential witnesses, accidentally give them crucial information that they otherwise would not know.  Although if you've seen this series, what I'm referencing is nothing short of despicable.

Model Episode: "Indefensible" (S1 E4)

It's hard to pick a specific episode, but I believe this episode had the biggest impact on me.  It's one of the hardest things I've ever had to watch, mostly because it really happened.  Again, I don't want to spoil, but I'm just getting angry thinking about it.  If you watched it, I'm talking about what happened to Branden Dassey and his appointed lawyer.

#8 - Sense8 - Netflix (Season 1)

This show is responsible for one of my favorite scenes of the year, when the group of sensates all sing along to "What's Up" by 4 Non Blondes.  I don't think my feelings towards that scene can be replicated because I tried to watch it on Youtube and it's just not the same as that first time.  That was the moment I fell in love with the show.  Sense8 is about eight different characters around the world of different ethnicities, sexual orientations, and genders.  They are able to communicate with each other gradually, through their special abilities.

There's something so different about this show.  It's full of the celebration of human life, of the differences in human beings and how we should celebrate those differences.  It's a show with eight characters that couldn't be more different using their differences to overcome the threat to their lives.  It could be characterized as slow and the characters themselves could be characterized as cliches.  To an extent, they do start out that way.  I'm starting to come around to the idea that being a cliche isn't necessarily a bad thing by itself as long as you develop the characters.  Also you could argue it's necessary with such an ambitious idea to familiarize the audience with the characters as soon as possible by creating known character staples.

The cast is quite good despite being full of relative unknowns (full disclaimer: the foreign actors might be well-known elsewhere, but I'm pretty good with actor's names and I've never heard of any of the eight principal characters so I feel comfortable saying they aren't well-known in the US).  Anyway, none of them are weak links.  If there is a standout actor, I'd have to give it to Miguel Ángel Silvestre, who plays Lito.  For the entirety of the show, his story is pretty much completely unrelated to anything else happening and due to him (and Alfonso Herrera and Eréndira Ibarra) it's arguably one of the most compelling.  And Doona Bae, who plays Sun, is also pretty good by virtue of playing my favorite character.

Model Episode - "What's Going On?" (S1 E4)

There's really no way for me to pick any other episode.  This is an episode that takes full advantage of its premise by having every character sing along to a... well it's not a very well-respected song critically speaking.  (I don't mind it, though I was literally one-year-old when it was popular and I have a feeling it being overplayed is a huge factor in why it's disliked among certain circles).  I also rarely can point to one specific episode that makes me love a show and how can I resist picking the episode of Sense8 where everything clicked.

#7 - Jane the Virgin - CW (Season 1-2)

It says a lot that two CW shows made my top ten list.  Seriously, when did the CW become so good?  (Also, I'm sorry iZombie fans, but this won't make my list and it's entirely due to the fact that, hey some really good shows needed to be left off this list).  Jane the Virgin distinguishes itself from other shows I watch because it is entirely different from every other show I watch.  It juggles different tones constantly between being a melodramatic telenovela, a multigenerational family drama, a romantic love triangle, a crime mystery (easily the weakest part, but hey you need to keep Michael involved), and I'm probably missing something else.

I'm not going to write a review of this show anywhere else so I need to say it here. One pet peeve of mine about this show is Jane's writing career.  In order to keep the show somewhat in reality, the writers clearly intend for some things to be realistic, like the familial bond, and some things that could come out of a telenovela.  I get the impression, and I could be totally wrong here, that her writing career is supposed to be at least semi-realistic.  I don't know what it is, whether it's my jealousy at how easily she's able to go back to school post-graduation (I would love to take the graduate program she did, but due to the price and lack of foreseeable income it would generate, I can't) or the fact that the show isn't all that convincing in portraying her as this great writer she's supposed to be, but it just rings false to me.

Anyway, I just had to share that.  I have to give credit to the show for creating a love triangle where both men seem like actual competition instead of the usual love triangle where it's pretty obvious which one is the better option.  (For what it's worth, due to the fact that Rafael's strengths are mostly pretty face and rich, I'm #TeamMichael)  Gina Rodriguez is perfectly cast, able to change her performance for whatever the tone of the scene requires.  Yael Grobglas's performance is so good that the writers know that no matter how bad her actions are, the audience will sympathize with her character.  Lastly, Jaime Camil takes an over-the-top telenovela star whose performance fits that characterization and makes him a character... somehow.  It's great.

Model Episode - "Chapter 28" (S2 E6)

Since I watched the first season in literally less than a week, it was kind of hard to pick a standout episode.  But ultimately I went with an episode that proved the writers were unafraid to try new things.  This episode occurs over three months, a pretty drastic change from its usual format.  I also could have chosen the episode when the "bromance" between Rogelio and Michael starts or the season one finale, which is probably a better representation of everything that makes Jane the Virgin great.

#6 Mad Men - AMC (Season 7 Part Two)

The first four shows on this list represent shows in their first season, so its fitting that I break the trend here with a show in its very last season.  There's not really anything new I can add that hasn't already been written about Mad Men.  Not many shows could have nearly every episode put an end to a character's journey.  Essentially, each episode seemed to have an episode where if if they were the main character, that episode would function as their de factor series finale.  They may have appeared in later episodes, but they did have a specific episode end their character journey.

I don't find anything particularly unique about Mad Men's final season (part two) compared to its previous seasons.  Obviously, given its placement on this list, that isn't a complaint.  I just mean to compliment the virtues of Mad Men's final season (part two), I might as well be complimenting what makes Mad Men, Mad Men.  While I hold the first four seasons higher than the following three - including the final season - what is "average" Mad Men is quite a bit better than everything else on television.

Plus, I think Mad Men stuck the landing for the finale.  I consider the journey more important than the conclusion (which is why I think Lost is still a great show), but I've found instances of picking this list where the finale factored a lot more into my thinking than I thought they would.  It ties everything together.  Hell - and this will probably sound blasphemous to some - it's significantly lowered my opinion of Breaking Bad (at least in terms of best shows ever).  So, thank you Mad Men, for ending the show on a good note.

Model Episode - "Person to Person" (S7 E14)

Well, it'd be really weird if this wasn't my pick after my whole last paragraph said how great it was that Mad Men ended the show on a good note, wouldn't it?  Anyway, I've always found it hard to tell apart Mad Men episodes from each other except for the select few that seem to end up on the "Best Mad Men Episodes" list.

#5 - Rectify - Sundance (Season 3)

I'm going to guess most people have either never seen this or if they did, thought it was too slow.  It's also only six episodes.  How do judge a show that only has the burden of making six episodes over a show that has to make 22 episodes?  Well, there are two ways I'm justifying this ranking.  First thing is first, not many shows have truly great episodes.  I mean you really enjoy a season and usually there's one or two episodes that you can pick out later when you make your "Best Episodes" list in your head.  But most of the time, you enjoy the show for its status quo.

Part of my rankings honestly were looking at the episode titles, reading about them if necessary, and then seeing how many episodes I instantly remember loving.  The whole episode comes into my mind and I want to go back and see that episode.  Mad Men hurt itself because I know a Mad Men episode that blows my mind and none in season seven really did it.  It probably set too high of a standard.  As for the Rectify, I have no problem in saying that there were more very good episodes in this six-episode season than most shows.  In fact, I had this ranked higher, but realized I couldn't simply make the argument that it was true for any of the shows above it.

Rectify is responsible for possibly my pick for the greatest scene of the year.  I would link it to you if I could find a link.  A drunk, depressed Teddy confesses to his nephew about something he did when he was younger.  Clayne Crawford is just spectacular in this scene.  It's one of those scenes where everytime I think of it, I just feel horrible at how often this likely happens.  Great piece of writing.  Great acting.

Model Episode - "Thrill Ride" (S3 E2)

This episode obviously contains the aforementioned scene I was talking about above.  As Brandon Nowalk of the AV Club says "This episode does for Teddy what Rectify does for Daniel."  We see things from his perspective and through other people.


#4 - Justified - FX (Season 6)

Full disclosure: Justified's last episode aired in early April so it's pretty hard for me to specifically remember some of this season.  If you're wondering why it's as high as #4, well I had the same problem with similar shows that ended so early in the year.  I'll have the same problem with some of the upcoming shows as well.  But I did read the episode descriptions for this season, and it brought me back the feelings I had for this season.

Remember that thing I said about how the ending was more important than I thought?  Justified's final season is a prime example of that.  Hearing the names Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins alone should probably be the end of my argument, but this season also featured Mary Steenburgen, Sam Elliot, and Garrett Dillahunt.  There's also the return of Kaityln Dever as Loretta from season two (the series' best season), the always reliable Patton Oswalt, the hilarious Jere Burns (this show is funnier than quite a few comedies actually), and Mykelti Williamson.  The only person missing from the Justified All-Stars is Margo Martindale.  And that was never going to happen.

Justified's sixth season is a season of master plotting.  Sometime in the middle of the season, the plot ramped up to where it seemed like anyone (except for Raylan or Boyd) could die and each successive episode somehow kept the tension as high as could be.  It was to the point where it was the eighth episode and hard to imagine how they could keep up the pace they were at - it really seemed like they'd need to either stall or have the last few episodes be quiet reflection with most of the characters dead or in jail.  And yet, they managed to believably keep the action and tension high into the finale.

Model Episode - "Fugitive Number One"(S6 E11)

Really, you could probably put any of the last few episodes of the season here and not be wrong.  This one stands out to me at least because of two death scenes that are brutal to watch.  For fear that not everyone reading has seen this series - and because I think everyone reading should watch this series - I'll not spoil the deaths, but both scenes just add to this sense of impending doom.  Both were also pretty heartbreaking to me, though none of the characters were "good" people.

#3 - Hannibal - NBC (Season 3)

Rectify made the top five based off its writing, for the most part.  Justified made the top five for its dialogue, pacing, and plotting.  Hannibal makes this list based off its directing mostly.  Put it this way: this director of this movie directed five episodes and the cinematographer of Pan's Labyrinth directed three episodes.  Directors come in and experiment with things to see how they can make use of a presumably small budget.  I think I read a quote from Bryan Fuller telling directors to make it like a pretentious art film.  (He was probably joking)  I can see how the directors followed that, but it's also underselling how good the show was.

Hannibal was perhaps worried about cancellation so the back end of the season dealt with the television show's interpretation of The Great Red Dragon.  Honestly, that's most of what I remember about the season.  Richard Armitage being effectively creepy and strangely sympathetic.  He gives a performance worthy of the character of Francis Dolarhyde.  The show also improves by giving a greater role to Gillian Anderson - always a good move - and making Alana Bloom a much more active and more interesting character.

Hannibal is essentially talented directors with free reign with the writing of Bryan Fuller brought to life by fantastic acting from the regulars to the supporting players.  Hugh Dancy, Laurence Fishburne and Mads Mikkelson - which is the definitive Hannibal Lecter performance for me anyway - all are as reliable as they've always been. Then good luck picking the best supporting actor of this group: Rutina Wesley as Francis' blind love interest, Nina Ariande as Will's wife, Katherine Isabelle as Margot Verger, or any of the actors I've mentioned above.  Seriously, all of them are making me run out of adjectives to describe them.

Model Episode - "Digestivo" (S3 E7)

I'm going to choose the bridge between the two halves of the season.  The first is focused on Will finding Hannibal and the second on the Red Dragon.  Both are good, but here is where we get exposed to an episode of Mason Verger (I didn't give Joe Anderson enough credit for Verger, but I sadly prefer season two's Michael Pitt).  At the end of the episode, the show reframes Hannibal's capture by law by having him give up to spite Will instead of actually being caught.  It fits in perfectly with the show.

#2 - Fargo - FX (Season 2)

I find Fargo and Justified pretty similar in terms of why and how they're good.  They both have unusually excellent plotting that lets the tension stay high.  Both shows make it seem like characters would have to die before the finale, manage to prolong it to the end of the season, and not make it seem like they stalled or faltered along the way.  Both have excellent dialogue that allows it to go slower than you might otherwise expect.  And both have quite the cast to boast with some of the best performances coming from the people you wouldn't expect.

If season one of Fargo was the Billy Bob Thornton showcase, season two is the Bokeem Woodbine showcase.  And the Kirsten Dunst showcase.  And though he wasn't in the whole season, the Nick Offerman showcase.  (Seriously, he was amazing in his drunken state trying to convince Bear Gerhardt to back away from the police station.  There's also Patrick Wilson, Jean Smart, Jesse Plemons, Ted Danson, and the list goes on.  Zahn McClarnon as Hanzee turned out to be a much better character than he initially seemed.

Model Episode "The Castle"

Here's another show where I don't really think you can necessarily go wrong with any answer.  This is the episode where everything turns to shit.  Basically, this is the episode where Hanzee turns on the Gerhardt family, the police are ambushed at motel, Ed and Peggy end the episode running away ("It's just a flyer saucer, Ed. We got to go."), and Betsy falls ill at home.  Again, I don't necessarily know if this is the best episode, but this is definitely the episode where the most seems to happen and that's as good of a choice as any really.  Nearly any episode would apply.

#1 - The Americans - FX (Season 3)

Come on, did you really expect any different - at least for those who follow me on Twitter?  This had to be the choice.  Fargo was a strong contender for #1, but ultimately I was pretty sure that it was mostly due to the fact that it was the series I JUST saw.  I'm a little worried it's too high still.  But The Americans third season was perhaps their best season to date.  (Season two's ending kind of breaks down the more you think about it and season one wasn't as great as either at keeping the story momentum.)

Due to both the viewership and the fact that - outside of people who I've met through the internet - nobody I know has ever watched this show (that I'm aware of at least), I'm not going to go into too much detail about what makes this season great.  The two protagonists, Phillip and Elizabeth, face a dilemma put upon by the Soviet government.  (If you aren't aware of the premise, Phillip and Elizabeth are married undercover Soviet spies living in America who speak perfect English)  One of the characters has no intention of following through on their orders while the other encourages it. Basically, this show excels at identifying perhaps the most important element of marriage - trust - and then making both skillful liars and spies, obviously making trust extremely difficult.

This season also really hammers down the toll that killing and lying and the things required of an undercover spy would have on a normal person.  We FEEL what the characters are feeling.  The show has built up two seasons worth of sympathy to the point where we root for them over the Americans.  This season features a dead body being put inside a suitcase, the most painful and intimate tooth extraction you'll ever see, and many deaths.  Oh and this season also features the dad needing to seduce a girl his daughter's age and it's actually worse than it sounds when you know why specifically he struggles with this.

Model Episode - "Stingers" - (S3 E10)

Wow it's going to be impossible to say why this is the episode without spoiling.  For people who've seen the show though, it's the episode where the primary conflict of the whole season - the conflict that it appeared would last at least to the final episode - is revealed in this episode.  The writing in this episode exceeds even the usual Americans episode as the characters behave as realistic as I can imagine in a situation nobody has surely ever experienced.

Honorable Mentions

Shows once in my top ten
The Leftovers - I would have felt dishonest if it were in my top ten.  I just don't really connect with this show as most seem to do.  I don't want to levy this criticism towards it, but I can't think of a better word: it's just a little too pretentious for me.  I don't think this is true of everyone in the sense that I don't necessarily think other people will find it pretentious.  I just find frequently watching the show that I'm not buying the events are as important as they show is trying to convey.

Looking - I really did want to include this in my top ten, but then I watched Sense8 and then I watched Making a Murderer and it just became impossible to include it on my list.  I don't think I'll get many complaints about this one though.

The Knick - I wasn't really planning on putting it on the list, but then the ending of the second season was about as good a conclusion as you can hope for to any series.  So then it made it's way on, only to again be knocked off by my recent watches.  Anyway, if I had to pick a reason why this isn't on the list, it's probably that I don't find the writing that great.  This show is being considered almost solely due to the director, the setting and the acting.  Sometimes the writing is great, specifically the season two finale, but most of the time it's only average.

The Rest
I enjoyed the third season of Banshee and it had a few of the best action sequences of the year.  I really liked the first season of Better Call Saul, but if I'm being honest it was never seriously considered.  I can't really say why either.  It's just one of those things when I was making the list and highlighting certain shows, and this pretty much immediately was highlighted as an honorable mention show.  The same is said for Game of Thrones fifth season.  I've always thought of this as a good (with occasionally amazing episodes), not great show.  Nothing changed in the fifth season.  iZombie, despite its awful name, is a Rob Thomas show and he's got a pretty good track record.  This is a much better show than you think it is.  Jessica Jones was brought down by mostly one episode, an episode with narrative shortcuts and contrivances.  In fact, I think it's probably the worst episode of any of the shows mentioned on this post. (Edit: I forgot to mention Mr. Robot as another show that is on honorable mention.)

That is my list.  Tell me what you think.

Rewind: Mad Men S5

With the final season of Mad Men returning in April, I will re-watch the first four seasons and watch the following two-and-a-half seasons for the first time.  After each season, I will share my thoughts on the show.

Season 1
Season 2

Season 3
Season 4

The fifth season of Mad Men feels like a radical departure from previous seasons while still being undoubtedly Mad Men.  Don Draper is a dedicated husband who has lost interest in work at a time when the firm needs him more than ever.  Roger Sterling for the first time comes to a sort of peace thanks to an LSD trip.  Peggy Olsen gets promoted by another firm simply because her career would be in stasis if she were to remain at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.  Joan Harris finally leaves Greg, realizing he's a poor excuse for a husband and lives life as a single mother.

That's not mentioning the newest principal character, Megan Calvet.  In between seasons, she became Megan Draper and got promoted into a copywriting position.  Mad Men avoids the easy route by making her both good at her job and largely uninterested in it.  She also seems to be good for Don in a way Betty clearly never was.  This may sound like a weird complaint, but I almost feel like the show went too hard in the other direction here - making her an impossibly good person so that when Don inevitably cheats on her, there's no one to blame but Don.

It's weird because I think Jessica Pare does a fantastic job as Megan - she certainly feels like a person.  But try as I might, I cannot think of one single flaw that Megan possesses.  She's certainly the opposite of Betty in most ways.  However, usually when you think of a character having no flaws, it's mostly because they don't seem like an actual person, but simply as a plot device.  Which isn't a problem here.  But Don rushed into this marriage and you wouldn't really expect him to just happen to rush into a perfect woman for him.  Let's get past that though because obviously that's what Matt Weiner is going for - Don Draper will be Don Draper no matter who he is with.

I think the arc of Don Draper is most fascinating in this season of all seasons, mostly because he finally goes through an arc.  Don has always had a thing for strong woman - I'm not really sure why he married Betty anymore as she is literally the only woman he's had an extended relationship with that doesn't seem ahead of her time.  Anyway, you'd expect philanderer Don to have a problem working with Megan, but strangely he seems happiest and most comfortable when she's working.

When Megan realizes she'd rather become an actress - with the help of her parents (which seriously how is she not more fucked up with those two?) - it seemingly devastates Don.  That's not what seems to get Don back in his natural state though.  It's after Megan asks Don to use his connections to help her land a commercial.  Don would rather she do it on her own and be independent.  Something is lost when she's relying on him to further her career.  I think he loses some respect for her.

Meanwhile, I usually don't talk about Roger Sterling this early in the post as he's more of a side character, but this is definitely the season of Roger Sterling.  For seasons, he's been feeling useless and the end of the fourth season made it official with the loss of Lucky Strike.  So here's a Roger who's actually trying to work - in his own way by stealing clients off Pete.  Pretty much the entire season is a showcase for John Slattery's charms, whether it be his feud with Pete, his LSD trip, or his post-LSD trip where is he as happy and content as he's ever been.

After roughly four years, he finally breaks up with Jane - it was clear that they've been unhappy for a while and the LSD simply enlightened him.  Basically, previously I had noticed that every Roger Sterling story bottled down to the same thing - he's increasingly useless at work and getting to an age where he can't behave like he was when he was younger - and now finally we get something new.  Hell, that's kind of a theme with this season I suppose - Don has new storylines, Megan's a new wife to Don, and Roger.

Plus, Joan finally escapes her awful, domineering husband.  It took him deciding to volunteer for an extra year in Vietnam for her to realize it, but nonetheless it is still a welcome surprise.  At work, she's clearly one of the most vital people, making Lane Pryce essentially useless because she performs most of his job duties.  At home, with the help of her mother, she is learning how to raise a child in a time when being a single mother was most certainly looked down upon.  And I have little doubt when I start season six later, that she will have found herself another man - if not as a husband, at least a potential one.  (Foreshadowed by that great scene at the bar between Joan and Don - which if Megan's reaction afterward is any indication, he won't get away with the same shit he did with Betty, but he'll try)

Another thing Joan experiences is that she's made partner because she sleeps with a client to land an account.  This is strongly encouraged and manipulated by Pete, who's never seemed more dickish than that episode.  Don opposes, but it doesn't matter.  I will say that if there's one character who would get over this fast, it's Joan.  I'm not even sure it will weigh on her given her attitude as the head of secretaries, but this being Mad Men, it could go either way.

Speaking of Lane, he finds his role in the company in doubt since his main function was to transition companies to be more efficient.  Well, this company can't really be more efficient and seems to be mostly skating by from account to account.  Joan handles the finances and day-to-day leaving not much for Lane to do.  One of the better established traits of Lane is that he loves America - ever since he was threatened with going to India, we've known he wants to stay.  Thanks to his move from England, his $50,000 deposit, and his tax troubles, Lane is potentially at risk with leaving.  So instead of asking for the money - probably due to pride -he embezzles money out to pay his taxes.

When it's discovered, it's not a surprise that he would rather stop living life than have to uproot and face the humiliation.  If there's one weakness to his story, it's that the show kind of piled on him in his last episode.  His wife gives him the car and he gets a position in some esteemed club at the exact moment when everything falls to shit for him?  I will say that I did however enjoy that the piece of shit car that won't start causes his suicide attempt to fail.  Enjoy is perhaps harsh, but there's a cruel sense of humor in that.

Peggy meanwhile remains with Abe Drexler from last season.  She gets excited at the prospect of marrying Abe - though probably more due to the societal expectation - but he only asks if he can move in with her.  Apparently, that was highly frowned upon back then, because her mother does not respond well.  But because she is Peggy Olsen, she does it anyway.  I'm interested to see the sixth season version of Peggy Olsen, because her in a new work environment could be one of the most interesting plot developments of her character.

Pete is more Pete than he's ever been.  Despite being responsible for most of the accounts at the firm, he still doesn't have enough.  He has an affair with his fellow train commuter's wife - who to be fair is one of the most giant pieces of shit Mad Men has ever had and that's saying something.  Pete had made something of a comeback from his first season character - mostly because he goes from a spoiled, entitled brat to one who's good at his job.  Being good at your job will make people forgive a lot of your sins.  Well, this season Matt Weiner seemed to remind the audience why Pete sucks.

This may sound harsh, but this season might have been my favorite season and I can't help but think Betty appearing in only four of them has something to do with it.  She gets her own win in the episode when she's there for Sally when she unexpectedly has her first period.  But in order to gain the audience sympathy, the writers gave her a cancer scare and made her overweight.  First off, I can't imagine her letting herself go like that due to her outsized focus on her appearance.  It would have made more sense after she had her kid in my opinion.  Secondly, her compulsion to stress eat came literally out of nowhere.  She's never had that problem.  Mad Men is usually good at setting the groundwork, but they needed something for January Jones to do when she's not dealing with Don so they created this out of thin air.  And lastly, the makeup is completely unconvincing to the point of distraction.

But I went into this season - this is my first season that I've written about that I have not seen before - with little expectations.  I don't know if I thought Mad Men declined, but subconsciously I must have, because I was surprised at how good this season was.  I suppose I just naturally assumed due to the nature of how TV shows usually work.  Nonetheless, season five so far is probably my favorite mostly from the new directions several characters take.  It's my favorite take on Don, it establishes an interesting new character in Megan, Roger has never been better, Peggy's still Peggy, and Betty is marginalized (which - look her character is good, but there's not really anywhere new to take her character at this point - she'll forever be unhappy and she'll probably never grow)

- Because these posts are so long, I'm never able to expound on the acting so I'll just say it here.  Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Christina Hendricks, Jared Harris, and Vincent Kartheiser are all excellent.  I think Kartheiser is perhaps the most underrated of the bunch.  (I already mentioned Slattery above)

- Ken Cosgrove is the most normal, well-adjusted person in this show so there's not much interesting things about him.  His actions when Sterling Cooper Draper Harris (is that the name now?) land his father-in-law accounts was a notable exception where he made sure Pete was in no way a part of it.  I like Aaron Staton's work and I like the character a lot.  Who knew, from the first season, he'd be the most likable person on this show or at least the one who you could easily imagine being friends with?

- Harry Crane's de-evolution is nearly complete.  I heard his character from seasons 1-4 and 5-7 are completely different and he's gone the full way towards being a lousy person.  He's always been clueless, but here he shows no remorse at cheating on his wife.  His episode with Paul Kinsey was certainly interesting as he did a good thing for his friend, sending him away from the cult, while still being Harry Crane.

- I hope I will be able to talk about him more in next season's review, but Michael Ginsberg is probably the quickest character to instantly be compelling as a side ad man.  The loss of Peggy might be felt in the firm, but both due to the talent and the character, the show will be alright.  Good work from Ben Feldman.

- Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce accidentally becomes progressive in hiring a black secretary.  That's a pretty smart way of doing that because no way would they do this on their own and Mad Men writers probably still wanted to do that.

- Alexis Bledel - never seen Gilmore Girls - but she's not that impressive here.

Playlist
1. "Zou Bisou Bisou" - Gillian Hills (sung by Megan)
2. "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" - Dusty Springfield
3. "Ebb Tide" - Ken Griffin
4. "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" - Rolf and Liesl
5. "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)" - The Crystals
6. "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" - The Beach Boys
7. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" - The Beatles (whistled by Don)
8. "September in the Rain" - The Wedgewoods
9. "Tomorrow Never Knows" - The Beatles
10. "Sweeping the Clouds Away" - Maurice Chevalier
11. "The Christmas Waltz" - Doris Day
12. "You Really Got Me" - The Kinks
13. "Butchie's Tune" - The Lovin' Spoonful
14. "You Only Live Twice" - Nancy Sinatra

Rewind: Mad Men S4

With the final season of Mad Men returning at an undetermined date in April, I will re-watch the first four seasons and watch the following two-and-a-half seasons for the first time.  After each season, I will share my thoughts on the show.

Season 1
Season 2

Season 3

I would like to see the popular consensus on the best seasons of Mad Men - of which I'm sure I can find with a simple google search - but I will hesitate until I've seen every old episode.  I'm pretty clear on my ranked seasons so far surprisingly enough: 3, 1, 2, 4.  The third season is proof that a fantastic ending will just about elevate everything before it (whether that be a book, movie, or a full season.)  The first season will hold a place in my heart for its novel-like structure.  And I don't have any problems with the second season like I do with the fourth.

Quality-wise, it's really hard for me to grade episodes against each other, because Mad Men is so damn consistent.  They've definitely never had a bad episode.  So when I say the fourth season is the lowest in my seasons, it's not like I'm saying the show is noticeably worse than the first three seasons.  It's not even that it IS worse, but there are certain things that got repetitive or annoying.

It's not like it's a big variation from previous seasons, but holy hell did Betty Draper become unbearable this season.  Ok, I get what the show is going for.  She clearly wants to be more than a housewife and she didn't realize replacing Don with another husband would fix those problems.  Fine idea.  The problem is that she's exactly the same with her new husband - a vastly better husband and person than Don - except now we can't point to Don being a massive asshole and explain her behavior.  Which I guess is kind of an interesting direction to take the character instead of making her likable all of a sudden.  There HAS to be a way though to compound that and make her sympathetic in some way though right?

Like I said before, through this rewatch through the series, I was looking for my opinion on January Jones' acting ability.  Honestly, I think her performance has something to do with the unbearableness of the character.  She was well-cast in the first season, where her extremely limited abilities were perfectly suited to the character.  But since she has no other mode, the writers are kind of stuck.  I think a better actress - say the wonderful Caitlin FitzGerald on Masters of Sex - would have done more with the material.  I think the writers are letting Jones down a little in this season, but I also sort of think on a subconscious level (or even conscious, but I doubt it) they are afraid to give her more complex storylines.

Moving on, I hope they do something more interesting with Don's annual season-long affair going forward.  This is probably where watching four seasons in a couple months probably hurts my opinion of the season more than if I had waited a year.  Because there's nothing wrong Dr. Faye Miller if you look at her character, but man I am so tired of "woman compromises her character in order to be with Don Draper."  It's gotten to the point to where I'm liking the Bobbie Barrett arc so much more in retrospect, because it's so much different an affair than the other three - which essentially are all variations on the same thing.  The teacher storyline last year was actually less interesting than this, but because it came after Bobbie Barrett, I was probably less frustrated by it.

With that said, Faye Miller does in fact answer a question: If Don Draper weren't married, would he marry one of his "interesting" woman with whom he has an affair?  And the answer appears to be no.  He's basically presented three futures throughout this season: Bethany Van Nuys, kind of a "new" Betty; Dr. Faye Miller, and Megan Calvet, who's kind of a mix between the two it seems.  Van Nuys was never going to be with Don if she knew of his past so that was really never going to work.  And the reason he's not with Faye is actually really simple: she's not good with kids.  That's apparently a deal breaker for Don.

Season four represents a Don Draper in transition between marriages.  His divorce from Betty has left him at a low point in his life, where he makes a pass with anything with a pulse.  Has he always come off as much of a creep as he does in this season?  Before, it kind of seems like woman would just fall in his lap with seemingly very little effort from him.  This season, he might literally fuck anything that walks.  His previous "standards" of not dipping his pen in the company ink falls flat TWICE: the first time to devastating effect removing his most competent assistant ever (yes even over Peggy whose talents are better suited elsewhere) and the second at least coming with a disclaimer from the bedded.

The worst part is that he could have solved the entire issue by being honest with his first dalliance in the first place.  But unfortunately, he has a Mark McGwire level of commitment to not talking about the past.  At least he slept with Megan with the knowledge that both knew exactly what they were getting into, which ironically leads to marriage and not a one-time thing.

I've already seen the two-part premiere of season five, so I know that Megan is more than she appears to be, but there are already hints of that here. It's not as simple as labeling her another Jane - despite the fact that she manipulates her way into Don's good graces, she also seems to get along with his kids and has actual ambitions.  (It admittedly wasn't clear if her ambition was genuine until she in fact gets promoted in between seasons, because she clearly sees the way to win Don's heart is be more like Peggy - something we should all live by.)  It's weird, but I do think Megan was a better choice for Don than Faye, mostly because I can't imagine the latter would have worked out long-term.  Not that the Megan one will either in a likelihood, but it at least has something resembling hope.

Don and Peggy's relationship gets put to the forefront in the astoundingly good "The Suitcase."  Their relationship has been on the backburner since season two so they address all their problems with each other, which have been growing ever so slowly since he saved her from her surprise pregnancy.  But they blow up at each other putting everything on the table, bond while getting drunk, and it culminates when they hold hands the next day.  Don finally acknowledges something happened and it makes their relationship grow stronger.

Meanwhile, Joan is dealing with her husband enlisting without even consulting her, which even Roger finds appalling.  (Roger's opinion of Joan can be succinctly described in a quote of his: "You are the finest piece of ass I've ever had and I don't care who knows it.  I'm so glad I got to roam those hillsides.")  Roger eventually chips away at Joan eventually scoring post-robbery.  She gets pregnant - one of the benefits of Mad Men's time period is surprise pregnancies seem less convoluted as a storytelling device - and decides to keep the baby.  Apparently, Matthew Weiner thought it was being clear she would keep the baby, but I'm not sure how you can read the abortion clinic as anything but ambiguous at best.  (I feel like she would have told Roger immediately as well, but she just lies to him)

Anyway, Joan's importance to the firm is more evident than ever and everyone at least seems to realize it.  She gets promoted, but without a raise, and really what's a promotion without a raise?  And while she finally seems to have a job suited to her talents, it still kind of feels like she could be higher, because there's no question she's as valuable to the company as Don or Lane or Peggy.

Meanwhile, Pete has everything he has ever wanted, but that's still not enough because he will always want more.  He's got a loving wife, which some infidelities excluded, seems to be about the best marriage in this entire show (which wow is that depressing unless someone can give me a better example).  He's a junior partner in an advertising agency, clearly one of the most useful and hardworking people at that agency, and I cannot emphasize enough how good he seems to be at his job.  Remember the Pete back in season one?  He's come a long way.

Peggy continues to excel at work and experiment away from work.  First, she tries to create a new persona for herself for the very vanilla Mark.  I actually had to IMDB his character's name he makes so little of an impression.  (Not a complaint: I have no desire to see more of him.)  That doesn't work and while Don and work cause him to break up with her, there's little question that's a good move for Peggy.  

Peggy becomes friends with Joyce Ramsey, a woman clearly interested in something more than friendship with Peggy.  She leads him to Abe Drexler, a character I hope becomes better because for some reason after awesomely rejecting him, she gets back together with him.  It's probably leftover from his awful decision to write a patronizing letter about the ad agency and think it would just magically make her fall in love with him, but she can do better.  (Again, having seen the season five premiere, I know he returns and my impression of him didn't exactly rise after having seen it.)

I hadn't realized watching the first time, but Roger Sterling's increasing irrelevance and old age is a constant theme throughout the show.  I mean there's more there thanks to John Slattery's performance, but that's basically it if you break it down.  Thus, it of course makes sense that after he is only prominent due to his old-standing relationship with Lucky Strike that at the end of the season, he is quite literally irrelevant.  He longer contributes anything or has any value to the company.  That's always been his greatest fear.

In terms of the side Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce side characters, they get a little more polish than in the beginning seasons, when they were mostly indistinguishable except by one specific thing.  Joey Bard is an entitled, condescending artist who probably thinks he's a "nice guy."  His behavior was like a truncated version of Harry Crane as he at first seems likable, but then quickly grows irritable.  Unlike Harry Crane, he gets fired for disrespecting Joan.  (And in an interesting twist, Joan is pissed at Peggy for firing him, but really I think she made the right move, even if Joan has a point.)

Ida Blankenship provides comic relief in her short run as Don Draper's secretary.  I read there was some people who didn't like the overtly comic tone this took in a way unlike Mad Men, but I didn't mind and Mad Men has always been a stealthily hilarious show.  There's also Danny Strong, who doesn't last long, and to be honest, his character is every Danny Strong character ever: small, meek, and oh so small.  There's also Stan Rizzo, who comes across as a dick immediately, and then less of a dick throughout the season as he becomes smitten with Peggy. (Probably has something to do with her freely getting naked in front of him without letting it impair her work)

Lastly, I've been expecting some great acting from Kiernan Shipka since I've seen a few people refer to her as one of the greatest child actresses.  Last few seasons, I won't say she was bad by any means, but I was certainly confused by her designation.  But this season, I think she definitely elevates and I am starting to understand that praise.

Other Points

- Though I've liked Mark Moses as Duck Phillips, I've never been a fan of his romance with Peggy so I was happy with how this ended.  I wasn't really pleased he is now sadly drinking again and unhinged, because Moses did a good job portraying him as sympathetic.  I oddly lose that sympathy when he's with Peggy though.

- WHY IS GLEN BISHOP ON THIS SHOW?  It gives Shipka something to do when she's not with her mother, but I do not think this show should be devoting so much time to him.  (I am aware he's Matthew Weiner's son and I can't help but think that is impacting his judgment.)

- IMDB tells me that's the last time we see Midge: apparently addicted to heroin and life going downhill fast.  That was the prologue I didn't need to see.

- Goodbye Carla.  They really didn't even try to make Betty understandable this season, did they?

- This doesn't really fit and I don't know how to insert into the review, but I've made it four seasons and I've never said anything about Alison Brie.  I don't have anything to say, except that I want to acknowledge I am aware she is on this show and she is good.

Playlist (Songs from Season Five)
1. "Tobacco Road" - The Nashville Teens
2. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" - Teresa Brewer
3. "Sidewalk Surfin" - Jan & Dean
4. "Old Cape Cod" - Patti Page
5. "Signed D.C." - The Brave New World
6. "Ladder of Success" - Skeeter Davis
7. "Bleecker Street" - Simon & Garfunkel
8. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" - The Rolling Stones
9. "I Know a Place" - Petula Clark
10. "Welcome to My World" - Jim Reeves
11. "Trust in Me" - Etta James
12. "Name Game" - Shirley Ellis
13. "I Got You Babe" - Sonny & Cher

Rewind: Mad Men S3

With the final season of Mad Men returning at an undetermined date in April, I will re-watch the first four seasons and watch the following two-and-a-half seasons for the first time.  After each season, I will share my thoughts on the show.

Season 1
Season 2

As I expected, Mad Men has taken a step back from character arcs in the third season.  The characters aren't changing as much from the beginning of the season to the end of the season like previous ones.  Betty Draper makes the move towards becoming an independent woman, Peggy Olson keeps trying new things to different results, Pete Campbell grows up ever so slowly, and Don Draper stays the same mostly.

Yet again, the Draper marriage takes up a large portion of the season.  Three months after the end of the second season, they appear amicable with Don mostly trying hard to please Betty to little avail.  It doesn't last of course - not only does Don initiate an affair with Sally's teacher - but Betty has a small affair of her own (albeit with no actual sex.)

The marriage is less interesting than one of the defining moments of the season: when Don opens up to Betty about who he really is.  She's the first person he reveals the mostly complete truth about his past as Dick Whitman with very few omissions.  (Naturally, he leaves out his extensive list of woman he's cheated on her with).  And then after he's opened up with her, she leaves him.  Don Draper is sure to go back to his old self if there was any hope before.  (And really there wasn't that much hope.)

Meanwhile at Sterling Cooper, they are bought out by the British ad agency, PPL, with Lane Pryce serving as a liaison.  His tactics prove effective and crude when he purposefully plays Campbell against Ken Cosgrove.  Campbell proves his own usual, whiny self in his reaction to the admittedly underhanded move.  This of course is concluded when Pete calls in sick to interview for another job and he finally gets validation from Don Draper that he wants Pete.

Speaking of the that, "Shut the Door, Have a Seat" is the best Mad Men episode so far and second place isn't close.  Mad Men rarely allows for thrilling and exciting episodes, but that episode is one of the most awesome they've ever done.  The characters rush to make a new company and it's basically a "bring the team together" episode, which I unapologetically love.  My opinion of Mad Men in the annals of classic TV rose solely due to this episode.

Roger Sterling spends the third season deluding himself into believing he's happy with an inferior replacement for Joan, who he really wants to be with.  He has this sense of uselessness pervade throughout the season, culminating in his decision to ultimately help start a new company.  Joan marries a rich doctor, or at least that's what she thought she married.  Unfortunately, her husband proves incompetent and Joan is forced to go back to work.  Although, the new company is a blessing in actuality as its clear she doesn't really want to quit her job (despite attempts to convince herself).  Her husband's financial failures are less of a problem than that he's an abusive asshole.

It's actually funny in hindsight that the writers seem to come to a narrative endpoint with most of its characters.  Joan would never have worked for Sterling Cooper again, Roger was essentially useless in his role, Pete and Peggy seemed to be on his way out sooner rather than later, and Lane was forced to move to a new country if kept at his position with PPL.  Hell, even Don was in the much-feared contract that he was forced to sign which was ironically how he was able to get fired and start the new company.

For the third season, Jared Harris was a great addition, providing a character longing for stability who is the classic company man.  He does everything they want him to do, which means they give him all the positions that nobody else wants.  His wife wants to move back to England, but he just wants to stay in one place so he can have a life.

Ultimately, I don't have a lot to say about this season.  I couldn't say whether this was my favorite season - this show is remarkably consistent if nothing else - but it featured my favorite episode by far.  Ever so slightly, my opinion of this show is rising and at this rate, I may actually consider it one of the best shows of all-time.

Playlist
1. "To Be Loved" - The Pentagons
2. "Bye Bye Birdie" - Ann-Margret
3. "Memories of You" - Ben Webster
4. "Me Voy a Morir de Tanto Amor" - Alberto Iglesias
5. "Song to Woody" - Bob Dylan
6. "Sixteen Tons" - Tennessee Ernie Ford
7. "Dominque" - Singing Nuns
8. "Where is Love" - Oliver
9. "The End of the World" - Skeeter Davis
10. "Shahdaroba" - Roy Orbison

Rewind: Mad Men S2

With the final season of Mad Men returning at an undetermined date in April, I will re-watch the first four seasons and watch the following two-and-a-half seasons for the first time.  After each season, I will share my thoughts on the show.

Season 1

Mad Men is one of the hardest shows for me to write about.  The other hardest show is The Simpsons.  In a way, it's hard to write about them for the same reason: it's pretty damn hard to write about a show specifically designed for episodic analysis.  Episodic analysis has become somewhat popular in recent years.  Any good show, regardless of the need, has a post from AV Club, HitFix, or any number of well-visited television-themed sites hours after the episode airs, analyzing and grading that specific episode.  Most of the shows don't need it.  I enjoy it if it's from a good writer, but really most of the time I'm just wanting to find the perspective of another person and compare it to my own.

Mad Men (and The Simpsons) benefits from post-episode analysis, assuming the writer is given a screener and allowed time to reflect on the episode.  (This is why it's hard for me.  I don't get screeners, thus I'll inevitably miss something.  Plus if I actually take the time necessary to uncover all the depths of an episode, it'll need to be posted the day later, thus removing the timeliness aspect.)  Mad Men is designed in such a way where each episode can stand alone with its own themes.  That's not to say that you can watch any old episode out of order.  But there's always this weird sense of finality when the episode is over that most serialized shows don't provide.  (While The Sopranos dabbled in this, I don't think I can say the same about it.)

I guess this is my way of saying Mad Men is growing on me.  I've made it clear in my previous post that I really enjoy Mad Men, but I can't elevate it to the best shows of all time.  I'm not sure I'll change my opinion, but the second season was just as good as the first, and arguably more impressive an achievement.  Since Mad Men is in essence a show about characters, the only way for me to look at this season is by revisiting all the characters and see their progression.

Don Draper doesn't exactly progress as a character.  It's more like Matt Weiner and the writers reveal more of the character.  Whatever happened in between the end of season one and the beginning of season two - probably Betty finding out Don has been calling her psychiatrist - the dynamics of the Draper marriage have changed significantly.  Don Draper appears to be very sincere and very intent on staying committed to Betty.  But of course that can't happen.  The very things that make Don Draper who he is prevent him from ever staying committed.  To his credit, it's not totally his fault.  Take a verifiable philanderer and give him a woman who might as well show up naked to his bed, he's just not going to say no.

Interestingly enough, this is a different affair from the first season.  He does not seem to enjoy it or even like Bobbie Barrett.  He just can't resist.  Don hasn't exactly grown this season, but he certainly makes a more concerted effort to remain faithful and be a good husband.  Too bad the timing could not have been worse.  Draper's actions in the second season would have gone unnoticed by Betty in the first season.  Hell, she probably would have appreciated him more because of them.  But Betty has changed.

Betty has infinitely more control than she ever had in season one.  But she's still basically a child at the start of the season like she was in season one.  She flirts with the idea of affairs, but does so in a way that a child would and immediately backs off whenever it seems to go anywhere.  And in her cruelest moment of the series thus far, she facilitates an affair between her two stable friends because she's too chicken to do it herself AND then she gets to feel morally superior by shaming her friend.  It's terrible.

Like I've stressed, I remember less about specific details in the third and fourth season and especially so for character progression, but I would guess Betty will be "grown up" in the third season.  Actually participating in affair was emotionally cathartic and allows her to finally start eating.  Couple that with her very mature talk with Sally about what her and Don are going through and I think she's becoming a responsible mother as well.  (I'll forgive her for her antiquated punishments which are probably a sign of the times more than her abilities as a mother.)  Thus, when she accepts Don back, it doesn't feel like a cheat like it could have.

Small note: I'm also looking for my opinion on January Jones, which upon first viewing was not positive.  I was much more impressed with Jones in the first season than I expected.  The second season? Eh.  The cracks are starting to show.  I continued to be genuinely surprised by her until the middle of the season.  I want to say "A Night to Remember."  The rest of the episodes were better, but I think that colored my opinion of her performance in a negative way to where I could never get back to that pleasant surprise.  Ah well.

In the first season, Peggy and Pete were arguably the most important characters behind Don Draper.  Peggy was making her transformation from meek secretary to devoted advertising copywriter.  Pete didn't exactly have as drastic of a transformation, but Mad Men spent a lot of time uncovering the complexities of his character.  This season, both characters' change between seasons, but not really throughout the season.

Peggy Olsen may as well have renamed herself Peggy Draper, because she takes the misguided advice of Don Draper and follows in his footsteps.  Much like Don forgot his past life as Dick Whitman, Peggy forgets her pregnancy and subsequent adoption.  She even takes the advice of a priest, albeit in a way he didn't intend, when she confesses to Pete that she had his baby.  At the end of the season, her actions of emulating Don Draper have led to her own office and she shows no signs of changing that either.

Pete meanwhile finds out his father died in an airplane crash.  Don Draper doesn't exactly care for Pete's feelings, but he at first gives him the counsel he needs to find out how humans react.  But after Duck tries to get Pete to use his father's death to land American Airlines, Don is in a much different mood and shakes him off.  Later on, when Draper disappears in California, Pete doesn't turn him in like he would have in the first season.  And he readily accepts his father-in-law dropping the Clearasil account, because the only reason he even got the account was under the pretext that the Campbells would have a baby.  When Don genuinely praises him for his work, he decides to side with Don over Duck, mostly because Don's praise means everything to Pete.

The Duck-Don rivalry was the crux of the second season.  Duck is envious of the amount of control Don seems to have over Sterling Cooper while Don is defensive of Duck's search for power.  They also seem to have ideological differences about how to approach advertising.  All of this leads to the desperate, yet nearly successful attempt by Duck to have Sterling Cooper sold to an overseas corporation.  In somewhat of an anticlimatic moment that nonetheless is as satisfying as anything on this show, Don simply says "I have no contract" to shut down Duck's plans.

Duck Phillips was a great addition to the cast.  He's a recovering alcoholic who is frustrated that his talent does not match his position.  Due to his alcoholism, he's not exactly a great foil to Don Draper (as it's pretty clear which one will win the impending battle), but he stands out as a character in his own right.  Plus, he's contrasted with Freddy Rumsen, a person whose alcoholism eventually gets him fired.  Actually, he's contrasted with just about everyone in the office, who by modern-day standards surely qualify as an alcoholic.  I'm guessing Duck just doesn't quite handle the alcohol as well as the others.

Lastly, in terms of characters who I'll spend a paragraph talking about, Joan Holloway unfortunately seems to develop in much the way that is expected, in hindsight at least (that's not a complaint.  It's unfortunate because it sucks).  In the first season, there's a hint that she wants more out of the office judging by her jealousy of Peggy's quick rise.  She's given a chance her and is excellent at it, but nobody even thinks she wants it.  What's sad is that if she spoke up, she might be able to get that job, but that's not the type of thing she would do.

Worse, she now has a fiancee who is completely uninterested in Joan being anything other than a housewife.  That was a forgivable sin, because at least you could blame the time period.  But then he rapes Joan in Don's office in one of the most harrowing scenes in television.  And then... she remains with her fiance.  I honestly don't remember anything about Joan past this season so I'm really hoping for more positive storylines for her.

Now, because Mad Men seems to spend time on each character, I'll have to bullet point the rest of the characters.

- Salvatore Romano gets married to a person he seems to truly love, although is completely uninterested in sexually due to his homosexuality.  He and his wife host dinner with Ken Cosgrove, which is the closest he can get to intimacy with a man.  (Masters of Sex also has a sexually repressed gay man married to a woman and a sexually repressed housewife.  In my opinion, MoS does both better, in one case due to better acting (housewife) and the other due to more time spent on it.)

- Ken Cosgrove seems like much less of a creep than when first presented.  Once again, he writes a short story, and while Sal's maybe not the most objective person, it seems genuinely good.

- Paul Kinsey is Mad Men's gateway to civil rights and... well his interests seem less about actual interest and more about showing off how progressive he is.  Joan calls him out for exactly why he's dating a black woman, which is somewhat painful to watch because her speech is pretty racist, but she is completely correct.

- Harry Crane becomes head of television, apparently has resolved his issues with his wife, and is set to become a father.  His disapproval with the civil rights march and his opinion on homosexuality plummet his character down from the seemingly good guy in season one.

- Roger meanwhile leaves his wife for Don's secretary.  His looming divorce leads him to be eager to sell Sterling Cooper.  It's pretty clear Jane Siegel is simply a replacement Joan Holloway since he can't have Joan.  John Slattery continues to steal scenes even when he doesn't have anything significant to do.

- The young talent Duck brings in doesn't make a huge impression, but their arrival is completely worth it solely for the scene when everybody finds out Kurt is gay.  That's one of the funniest scenes the show has ever done.

Looking back at the second season, it's actually kind of impressive how Draper-focused it was.  The three main recurring storylines throughout were the Draper marriage, the Duck-Don rivalry, and Don Draper's past.  Peggy's ascension was more background than at the forefront and Pete was majorly featured in just two or three episodes.  But basically, the second season is all Don Draper.

The past life into Dick Whitman not only provides a chance for Jon Hamm to flex his acting talent, but it's also interesting just because here's a person he's totally comfortable being Dick Whitman around.  Dick Whitman seems a hell of a lot more healthy about who he is - I'm not sure he could rise to where he is in the advertising world, but I do feel like he'd be happier.  Either way, I think the show makes it pretty clear that Don's path to success - forget the past - hurts him.  That doesn't seem like good news for Peggy at this point.

Playlist
1. "Let's Twist Again" - Chubby Checker
2. "Temptation is Hard to Fight" - George McGregor & The Bronzettes
3. "Lollipops and Roses" - Jack Jones
4. "Blue Room" - Perry Como
5. "Theme from a Summer Place" - Percy Faith
6. "Infanta" - The Decemberists
7. "Break it to Me Gently" - Brenda Lee
8. "I'm in Love" - The Pentagons
9. "Early in the Morning" - Peter, Paul, & Mary
10. "Telstar" - The Tornados
11. "Misirlou" - Martin Denny
12. "Cup of Loneliness" - George Jones
13. "Stranger on the Shore" - Acker Bilk

Rewind: Mad Men S1

With the final season of Mad Men returning at an undetermined date in April, I will re-watch the first four seasons and watch the following two-and-a-half seasons for the first time.  After each season, I will share my thoughts on the show.

Before I begin, let me share with you my experience with Mad Men.  Like most people I presume, I did not start Mad Men in 2007 when it aired its first episode.  I started watching Mad Men sometime after its fourth season in 2010.  I'm pretty sure I binge-watched through all four seasons, although I have the faintest memory of how or why I started watching Mad Men.  Since then, I have not seen a single episode.

The final episode of season four aired on October 17, 2010 and the first episode of the next season wasn't until March 25, 2012.  I got Netflix for the first time as a month-long free trial in October of the previous year and didn't have it full-time until January of 2012.  At that point, there were only three seasons of Mad Men on there.  By the time the fifth season reached Netflix - I don't know exactly when but I can speculate that it was probably around the beginning of its sixth season in April 2013 - it had been at least three years since I had watched an episode of Mad Men.  I had become interested in other shows and by the time Mad Men had entered my mind, it had set an end date and I decided to just wait and watch the whole series before its final season.

So I obviously didn't quit watching Mad Men, because I disliked the show.  But I feel I have never truly embraced the show and re-watching this series will give me a chance to remedy that.  Either that, or hopefully I can convey why exactly Mad Men doesn't quite earn its status in my opinion.  Mad Men is generally considered among the best shows of all time, and I've always found that perplexing even as I have enjoyed the show.

Mad Men is an interesting show, because for the life of me, I have very little memory of what actually happens.  What little plot there is on this show is really hard to remember.  I know it's been four years, but I may as well be a newcomer to this series who's been spoiled with some memorable scenes.  But this isn't exclusive to seasons I haven't seen in years - I'd be hard-pressed to describe what happens in this season, which I've watched over the past week.  Seriously, if my father asked me why he should watch this show, I'd tell him not to watch it because nothing happens.

To be honest though, that says more about my father than about Mad Men itself.  Mad Men is about characters - what they do, why they do it, and all the little complexities that define who each individual character is.  The period detail is a superficial reason to watch Mad Men.  It draws you in.  The reason to watch this show is undoubtedly about watching endlessly fascinating characters come to life.  I don't think I'm being hyperbolic when I say Mad Men has some of the best characters of all time in television - Don Draper, Pete Campbell, Peggy Olsen, Joan Holloway.

In the first episode, Don Draper is the ideal self-made men all men aspire to be: he's charming, suave, cool under pressure, and always looking sharp.  Then the show slowly strips away at that, making him literally a self-made man, in name and practice.  (I actually think it was a bit much that he was the reason the real Don Draper died).  John Hamm is amazingly adept at portraying all facts of his character.

The character that probably stands out second is Peggy Olsen.  Some people consider her transformation of character throughout the series to be the best part.  I don't remember enough in order to proclaim that, but it's clear the first season is her discovering who she is and what she wants to be.  By the end that answer seems largely defined by work.  But she tries out other things before finding herself and she's probably not completely done.  But work is a much farther place than she was at the start of the season.

I'm not sure I like the pregnancy aspect that much to her.  I don't know if it's because I know what Elisabeth Moss looks like, but the makeup on her to make her appear fat is pretty atrocious.  Plus, she really doesn't realize she's pregnant until she has the baby?! (This isn't exactly an original complaint, but nonetheless it's ridiculous anyway on a show that largely strives for realism.)

Then there's Pete Campbell, who's equally parts despicable and sympathetic.  I might argue Campbell's an even more interesting character than Draper.  The difference is that most want to be Draper.  Nobody wants to be Pete Campbell.  Campbell wants to be Draper and every time he attempts, he fails miraculously.  But he's also progressive and forward-thinking.

The character of Campbell is only possible in a world where masculinity reigns, or at least the popular image of it.  Campbell so clearly wants to be an alpha male and he is so clearly not.  He wants to be with Peggy, who seems to be her own person, instead of with his wife, who seems happy to be the doting housewife.  (My sympathy extends so far: he's choosing between Alison Brie and Elisabeth Moss.  You can't lose Pete)

Speaking of doting housewives, January Jones is better than I remember.  I remember thinking somehow that Betty Draper worked as a character and that Jones was a terrible actress.  I'll amend that to say that Jones is not a good actress, but works well within the limited range required of her in this season.  But the acting never really gets in the way, because the stiff line readings work in favor of the character.

Betty doesn't have much of an arc.  What is there is her inability to be happy and inability to figure out why.  It's patently obvious why she's unhappy, but since her mother always emphasized the superficial aspects of happiness, she can't figure out why.  She has a good husband, which seems to be the only thing her mother taught her - find a good husband.  Now that that's done, now what?  She wants more out of life, but doesn't appear to know it yet.

There's also Roger Sterling and Joan Holloway.  Holloway isn't quite the great character she would come to be, but Christina Hendrick's performance probably shook the writer's room into making it happen in the future.  She's still fascinating though because of her antiquated beliefs harvested by her ability to survive in the old way of thinking.  She's both challenged by Peggy and confused by why she won't take her advice.  Sterling is a character who doesn't realize he's too old to act like he's young until he has a heart attack.  The rest of his character shines purely from the charm of John Slattery.

The other four - let's call them white advertising execs - don't really distinguish themselves too much with probably the exception of Salvatore Romano.  It's pretty clear he's gay early on, but his confident demeanor belies the fact that he's never indulged on it.  The others pretty much only have one defining feature: Ken Cosgrove is a good writer, Harry Crane is married, and Paul Kinsey is an insecure, jealous shithead.

So far, my opinion on Mad Men hasn't changed.  Great show?  Yes.  Best of all time?  It's not that I don't think it is, it's that I don't even think it's in the conversation. (I wish I was able to define why exactly I feel this why, but the jury's still out, because it would take more than one season anyway)  Still don't mistake that for me not liking the show.  It's an impeccably designed, expertly acted, and well-written series.  I'm not sure I can ask for anything more than that.

Playlist (All songs featured in first season)
1. "On the Street Where You Live" - Vic Damone
2. "Band of Gold" - Don Cherry
2. "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" - Bob Dylan
3. "Great Divide" - The Cardigans
4. "I Can Dream, Can't I" - The Andrews Sister
5. "P.S. I Love You" - Bobby Vinton
6. "Manhattan" - Ella Fitzgerald
7. "Botch-A-Me" - Rosemary Clooney
8. "There Will Never Be Another You" - Bud Powell
9. "My Special Angel" - Bobby Helms
10. "Fly Me to Moon" - Julie London
11. "Agua de Beber" - Astrud Gilberto & Antonio Carlos Jobim

The Shows that Changed Television

Before reading this, I suggest you read the introduction to this site where I say what I'm doing.  

The best, the most noteworthy, and the most impactful television shows on television have been determined not by myself, but a respected TV critic named Alan Sepinwall.  They have been whittled to twelve TV shows from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Breaking Bad.

I'm not going to comment on what exactly Sepinwall means when he says they changed TV shows, but I'm going to attempt to explain.  These are shows that did what no one else in television had done yet and they began doing things that other television shows wanted to.  Also, it was just spectacularly well-done with good writing and good acting.

What I've Seen
The first show that changed television that I've personally seen is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  The name does not do the show justice.  The show has one of the biggest cult followings out there.  Joss Whedon has said multiple times that he'd rather do a show that 100 people love to watch than 1,000 that just like the show. (I probably messed that up, but its captures the meaning of whatever he actually said)

Anyway, this show will easily get its own post, probably a few of them.  I'm restraining myself from going into greater detail, because this post would go on forever if I did.  Anyway, Buffy first aired in March of 1997 as a mid-season replacement on a network that was only a few years old (WB).  It somehow ended up lasting seven seasons and a network change (It switched to UPN after five seasons at the WB).

This is a show that rewards its fan.  It knows what its doing.  It foreshadows many events well before they happen, which makes watching it through a second time almost necessary.  This is a show that references things that happened in Season 1 in its last season.  If you look closely at the dialogue, you'll find a lot of meta-commentary on itself.  I cannot go into anymore detail because I'm choosing to stay in the no spoilers range for now.

So, if you have the time or a new series that you want to watch, ignore the name of the show and watch it.  If you have patience, watch Season 1 first (which I may add is only 12 episodes...) and then get rewarded with the next six seasons.  If you want to get straight into the good stuff, start with School Hard on Season 2, Episode 3, which is the beginning of a two-season run of excellence.  (You might get a bit confused at parts however).

Then there's The Wire.  It's pretty impossible for me to talk about this show, because I probably come up sounding like a babbling idiot.  I think David Simon hates his audience.  His first season introduces many new characters that it takes a few episodes to stop figuring out who is who and what they do.  Then when we finally settle in, the second season decides to abandon the drug trade and targets the working class through stevedores working on the Baltimore port.

Season 4 introduces kids and does a pretty incredible job of explaining how the system failed them.  It's heartbreaking.  It's great television.  The Wire is not a show to watch for happiness.  Basically, the message of the show is about the declining cities in America, the system will fail you, and institutions prevent change (negatively) - among other depressing messages that are pretty much true.  Also, the masterpiece that is Season 4 barely includes the main lead of the show, Jimmy McNulty, which is strange for any television show.

I'm going to save anything else I say about The Wire for another post.

Next up is Lost.  Here's a divisive show.  Lost first aired in September of 2004 and ended its six-season run in May of 2010.   I largely loved the show, though its one of those shows you should not watch unless you have a month of free time, because nearly every episode ends on some kind of a cliffhanger.  Unfortunately, the show tends to mislead its audience and never returns to information that was seemingly vital at the time.  Call it the anti-Buffy.

There is no question why Lost is on this list.   It did a few things that had never been done before.  In conjunction with its regular story, the show did flashbacks on every single episode to add backstory to the characters.  Season 4 and Season 6 also featured something similar which I will not reveal since part of the fun of the early episodes of those seasons were figuring out what was going on.  Warning: This show DID piss a lot of fans off, so keep that in mind.

Next show is Friday Night Lights, which somehow lasted five seasons when almost nobody watched it at the time it was aired.  It's a show about people in a football-driven town.  It's not a show about football.  Important distinction.  It's a show based on a movie that was based on a book written by Buzz Bisinger.  There are talks about a possible movie which would make that movie based on a TV series based on another movie which was based on a book.

Unlike Buffy, FNL was a great show from the start.  Watch the pilot and if you don't like it, your opinion sucks.  But seriously if you somehow watch the pilot and come away disappointed, I can't really suggest you watch the rest of the series.  Most shows need to figure out what they are about and what the audience likes, but this show hit the ground running immediately.

Also, this tip is easy to do since most TV series set in high school do the same thing, but ignore the 30-year-olds who are somehow in high school (I'm exaggerating, but the age thing is still ridiculous).  The only one who looks remotely like a teenager is.... a teenager who plays the coach's daughter.

 Shows I'm still watching
Since I'm doing a chronological thing apparently, I'll start with The Sopranos.  This is the show that basically every other show since can thank for what it did.  I'm only in Season 2, so I can't really explain its impact or what it does very well.

I know it largely started the star of the show being an anti-hero.  He's a bad guy, but we love him.  For example, Don Draper on Mad Men, Walter White on Breaking Bad, Stringer Bell and Omar Little on The Wire - among others.  These are men that we somehow root for even if we know they are terrible terrible people.

It shows how unglamorous and how mundane mob activity is in everyday life.  Sure, there is a lot of killing and these men will do terrible things for money, but the show basically shows how much like a real job it is.  I can't think of a single Sopranos family member except the son (who still has five more seasons to do something) who is NOT manipulative and clever at getting people to do what they want.

The show is character-driven and you rarely see characters act out-of-character.  Lastly, the show is showing the mob as past their prime and on the decline and the end is in sight.  Also, I think it's a commentary on America, but I'm not far enough to comment further.  The show began it's run in January of 1999 and ended its run in June of 2007.  Date-wise, I'm in March of 2000, so I have hardly scratched the surface.

Next is Mad Men, which began airing in July of 2007.  This show is a period piece heavy with a character-driven emphasis .  It's honestly kind of slow, but the fact that it feels like the show is set in 1960, is well-acted, and well done all around makes it a great show.  If this makes sense, the show is like real life so the plot is... almost not there.  However, most people won't watch shows for its plot, they watch it for the characters.

Mad Men undoubtedly did something few television shows attempt and I'm pretty sure none have done it better.  The attention to detail on the sets and the clothes and the attitudes all seem accurate.  (I obviously can't say that it is having not been born until a while later)

It captures the smoking culture, the largely intolerant culture (of gays and sexist attitudes), the acceptance of casual drinking, and at times fits in how characters reacted to famous events back then.  All that keeps the viewer interested for the first few episodes, but the character work keeps them watching the show.  After all, you can't sustain a gimmick for multiple seasons if there's nothing on the surface.

Lastly, there's Breaking Bad.  This is - last season pending - my second favorite TV show behind The Wire.  There's pretty much nothing it can do to surpass The Wire, but I don't think any TV show has come anywhere close to The Wire either.  Breaking Bad is definitely #2 on my list and barring a disaster of an ending, will probably be way ahead of #3.  The show has portrayed a normal guy, who by all accounts is a model citizen, and slowly morphed him into a genuinely evil man who has killed many people for his own gain.  I saw Walter White as inspirational at the beginning of the series and now I'm not rooting for him at all.  Well done.

Shows I will watch
With the exception of 24 and The Shield, I have little idea of what to expect from these shows.  I just know that they're good.  For instance, I have absolutely no idea what Deadwood is about.  I'm pretty sure it's a Western and I'm pretty sure the series ends rather abruptly (not hard to believe given it lasts just three seasons).

I know the series Oz is about prison life, but not much else.  I also know Juno's dad and Mayhem play characters in the series so there's that.  Also, apparently Oz was The Sopranos without the viewership.  It paved the way for The Sopranos with its storytelling, it just didn't get the viewers to be as widely recognized.  It was critically acclaimed, it just wasn't received greatly by the audience.  The Sopranos was.  (So I understand the importance of this to television, as opposed to Deadwood, where I have no clue at all as to its importance)

Battlestar Galactica is the same way.  I know its a scifi show and I know it's... well that's actually it.  I have the benefit of having little idea of what this show was about as before I started getting into TV and that has allowed me to avoid any information at all.  I might as well watch this as if it was 2004, because i have the same knowledge of the show as the original viewers did.

As for the shows I have an idea about, I know 24 is set within one day.  I've heard that the first season is good television, and then it gets a bit ridiculous the more seasons that come (Source: Tim Goodman).  This is the show I am most worried about watching.  It has so many seasons and it's apparently so addicting, that by the time I'm watching what is probably bad TV, I'll already be hooked and keep watching.  So I'm pretty sure I need to stop watching at some point when I get into this show and not watch the entire series.

I know The Shield is about a cop who is willing to kill and break the law to get justice.  That's about it. This is a show though that I knew was around, but never watched.  (As opposed to Deadwood, which I didn't know existed when it aired).

Final Thoughts
Here's something odd that I can't explain: I plan on re-watching each series so far that I've seen, but I have literally zero inclination right now to re-watch Friday Night Lights.  I have an irresistible desire to re-watch The Wire at least once a year for the rest of my life and to re-watch Buffy probably more than two times (already started the first re-watch).  I want to re-watch The Sopranos and Mad Men, not because of an irresistible desire, but because I think I'd appreciate the show a lot more if I did.

Lost has a very small inkling of being re-watched.  I want to watch Lost in chronological order as some super fan has arranged the show to be watched in that order.  I have hardly any desire to re-watch the show as it aired though.  I'm not really sure what the point of telling you this was, but I guess that even though I have a bunch of TV shows, these transcendent TV shows have forced me to make time so I could watch something I have already seen.  I think it's pretty remarkable to make a viewer want to watch a show where they know what's coming.  It's relatively easy to make a viewer curious to watch a show the first time, but to make a viewer watch multiple times is very impressive.  (I can't explain it, but Friends is never old for me and probably never will be.  I'm guessing nostalgia)

Next post: Quirky comedy section gets highlighted with NINE shows that I am still in the middle of watching.