"Mad Men": Anybody else watching/watched it, and love it?

I remembered to watch episode 2 tonight. Very good. The plot thickens!
I feel I shouldn't say much more without doing the spoiling thing! Hard not to.

I've seen the whole thing.

Just put a spoiler alert at the top...I think we're alone anyway!

I lovelovelove this show. Great acting and writing. I can't wait for season 3.

You know, dlowan, maybe the reason I am troubled by the "dumb chivalry" which is still common in the southern US is that I'm suspicious of the thought process behind it. Hmm.

Great!! Another admirer!
I have only seen season I.

I have tried to get season 2 with no luck.

I always found the "chivalry" a damn poor exchange for lack of respect, autonomy and fairness in the world!


Manners is one thing...but that chivalry was always to me posited upon an assumption that we were weak, silly creatures, and full of veiled contempt...or frequently so.

What do you most enjoy about the show, Mac?

Society has certainly changed in my life time. I recall sitting in a dentist's office in the mid-1970s, and lighting a cigarette, commenting to another man in the waiting room that it would probably mean i'd be called in just then.

And you'd light up if your meal took too long...knowing that would bring it!

Good writing, followed by good acting, are always important to me. I love the glimpse into another time that this show gives us. I was alive then, but not paying attention yet.

I work for a big corporation, so all the office politics are very amusing. I loved the advice that Peggy got her first day on the job, too. I should rent that first season to enjoy it again.

Good to see another fan of the show here, mac!

Spoiler, OK? Warning!

So, after episode 2 (very early days!):

Some interesting "blast from the past" moments:
- Don Draper's wife (name?) driving the kids with no seat belts on! There they are, jumping around, making lots of noise, enjoying themselves! They fly around the car when she loses control, because of her "hands problem". But hey, there they are, cutely strewn on the floor of the car. No worries. (A 2009 almost-heart attack in my loungeroom! Phew!)
- Don's wife again. Chastising her daughter (who is busily wandering around the house - face, everything covered in a big plastic bag(!) Eeek! ) for removing her dry cleaned clothes from the bag. There'll be hell to pay if her clean clothes are all over the place!
- The discovery that the first "divorcee" has appeared in the suburban neighbourhood. So worrying for the wives discussing it in hushed tones. The looks on their faces.

Loved Don Harper asking just about everyone he came across "What do women want?" For advertising "research" purposes, mind. What will entice women to buy a radical new product (aerosol deodorant!) for their husbands? His genuinely earnest bewilderment at trying to fathom women & how to manipulate them .... & the answers he received, from folk with different perspectives. Wonderful! Very clever & very funny.

But a really chilling moment (which almost made my hair stand on end!) , right at the very end of the episode: after an expensive dinner in the city with his wife (who seems so happy to have been wined, dined & charmed by her concerned husband ...& away from her usual suburban domain for the first time in ages) ... he sends her off to bed .... & rings her shrink for a report on his wife's first appointment with him! Who obliges, naturally. Incredible.

Spoiler warning:

..... & I think Don's lover/girl friend on the side (Midge, I think. What a name!) is terrific! She is possibly the person with the most integrity, so far ... refusing to discuss Don's wife's problems with him, lest she demean her. Making her terms for the relationship crystal clear. A strong, independent character, not motivated, even slightly, by the "trappings of success" which matter most to him. Odd couple, really.
Interesting, his comment to her: (something like) "You either have everything or nothing". It's also interesting that he respects her & treats he as an equal (well, as close to that as he's capable of treating any woman as an equal.) compared to the chivalrous, patronizing way he treats his wife & her "problem".

The plastic bag and seat belt stuff is very funny!

I was sickened by the shrink's collusion with the husband. Very likely an accurate reflection? The man was paying the bills, of course.

Yes, I think so. And I think, too, he was looking after his investment in his wife & checking on her ability to look after "his" children (who were obviously very important to him, even though he didn't see them all that much). He needed to know that she was stable enough to meet her end of the bargain. I'm wondering if he'll "fire" her if she prooves to be unstable (in the shrink's assessment) , therefore not quite up to the task - as he would an underling in the business, who wasn't living up to his exacting expectations.

See the last episode, Msolga????

Yes, I did.
The episodes seem way too short. They just get you interested & involved & >poof<, they're over for another week!

What'd you think?

I think Don Draper is a very mysterious fellow. This was the episode where he left one of his children's birthday party to collect the birthday cake .... except he didn't return. (Mrs Draper was not pleased! Not living up to his end of the (marriage) bargain. And with all those friends witnessing the event, too!) I assumed he had decided to visit Midge (his mistress), or decided afterall, to pursue his next potential affair (with the very independent Jewish woman - his client) ... but no, there he was, hours later, sitting alone in his car in some very deserted part of town. Smoking like crazy, of course. And introspecting, introspecting ... but about what? We have a lot to learn about this complex, mysterious fellow, obviously. Who exactly is he?

Oh my yes!!!

My lips are sealed, you two. But I'm enjoying your enjoyment very much.

And I'm just itching to know what you & Deb already know, mac!

In last night's episode Don Draper's younger brother appeared on the scene, to Don's enormous discomfort. So Don used to be ordinary old "Dick" in a previous life & deserted his brother, who obviously loved him (& still does) & depended on him. Why this younger brother must be banished without a trace from Don's life is not at all clear ... it cannot be, surely, simply because he reminds Don of a previous, poorer time in his life? There has to be more to it than that! (I considered the idea that he might be Don's son .. but no, Don couldn't be old enough to be his father, surely?) It was a very moving & stressful "goodbye"/banishment by Don. He obviously loves & cares about him .... So why is it not possible to include him somehow in his current life?
Bit by bit, Don Draper's perfect, cool calm & collected ad-man front is showing signs of unravelling. He is suddenly not quite so in control, not quite so cool ... chinks are appearing in his armour & he's looking unsure & vulnerable at times ....

Interesting watching the development of Peggy's character. She is developing very strong ideas of her own. "Something" dramatic will happen with Peggy, I'm certain. Perhaps to do with what she has learned about Don's "secret" life? She may be in a position to excercise some power over him, later on.

I loved all the drama when one of the team actually becoming a published author! Fascinating watching the different male reactions to literary success. Envy, competitiveness, awe & nastiness. Someone in their ranks had made it in big time!

Fascinating indeed, Msolga!!!!

Still as impressed?

Oh yes!
But, as I said, each episode seems so short! Then a whole week to wait till the next one. I think I could happily watch the entire series over a couple of days!

It's really quite a brilliant production, in just about every respect, isn't it?