Mad Men Season 6 [** Spoilers **]

Cosmic Maybe

Any idea when RTE are going to show the new series? I really hope they don't leave it as long as they did with the last one

ScrubsfanChris

Its on SKY Atlantic so I would assume they have the Irish rights. Maybe some time before its on RTE.

Cosmic Maybe

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

Its on SKY Atlantic so I would assume they have the Irish rights. Maybe some time before its on RTE.

I don't know - the last series was on both albeit it was on Sky in the spring but not on RTE until the autumn. Agh! I really hope they have the Irish rights and that they show it soon - I'm having serious withdrawal symptoms

Thargor

Mad Men is on the cover of this weeks RTE Guide, I assumed that meant RTE was going to have it when I saw it in a shop if anyone wants to check it. Even if it was starting this week I wouldnt be able to wait though. Need it in 720p no ad breaks.

The Pontiac

Just watched the season premiere.

Without question the most boring episode I've watched to date. A major disappointment.

camz09

The Pontiac wrote: »

Just watched the season premiere.

Without question the most boring episode I've watched to date. A major disappointment.

Yeah,was kinda disappointed too. Just odd and seemingly disjointed. Hope it picks up next week.

Technocentral

The full Season 6 premiere is available on the AMC website for a limited time, its fairly low quality but watchable if you can't wait for the broadcast over here:

http://www.amctv.com/mad-men/videos/season-6-premiere-mad-men

(DNS workaround needed)

Thargor

Technocentral wrote: »

(DNS workaround needed)

Why not just download it in whatever quality you want

The Pontiac

Thargor wrote: »

Why not just download it in whatever quality you want

I agree. Seems a lot less hassle than a "DNS workaround" for a poor quality stream too.

Surprised there isn't more discussion on the season premiere.

Technocentral

The Pontiac wrote: »

I agree. Seems a lot less hassle than a "DNS workaround" for a poor quality stream too.

Surprised there isn't more discussion on the season premiere.

Its zero hassle, finding and downloading programmes is much more hassle, btw I have downloaded it but haven't watched it yet, only one I could find has 10 minutes missing off the end.

efb

It's scene setting- I enjoyed it.

Thargor

Technocentral wrote: »

Its zero hassle, finding and downloading programmes is much more hassle, btw I have downloaded it but haven't watched it yet, only one I could find has 10 minutes missing off the end.

Ah come on, 2 or 3 clicks for obscure stuff nevermind a major like Mad Men, compared to setting up DNS/messing with IPs etc?

Antar Bolaeisk

Thought it was okay though I always find the season openers to be a bit jarring when they skip the intervening time and you have to play catchup with what's happening.

johnny_ultimate

I found the first thirty minutes a struggle - the editing seemed a bit confused with the chronology and stories jumping around without much rhyme or reason.

Improved from then onwards. Certainly not vintage Mad Men, but setting up potential conflicts and directions for the rest of the season. They seem to be making an effort to give Betty something to do and develop her character beyond 'evil incarnate', which is a long overdue move. Don's narrative - unsure where that's going to go, given the inevitable resignation he conceded to at the end of the last season. Last few scenes here suggested he's in a self-destructive rut he's going to actively try to get out of - hasn't really worked for him before :pac: The way all of the subplots were dealing with concerns of mortality and 'mother issues' was the kind of thematic interconnectedness others try but only Mad Men really gets away with.

Peggy's one-sided phone call with the prie... I mean pastor was a bizarre comic highlight.

It's a season opener (of season six, which is crazy - certainly getting to the point very few high-quality shows have made it past) so only so much that can be said. Not the strongest episode the show has produced by a longshot, but we'll see how the long game plays out.

Technocentral

Loved it, for me the best thing about Mad Men is the characters and their interaction not just specific big things happening like take overs etc or suicides etc, some great dialogue and situations like Don remembering his past life and you get the impression that Peggy knows she's in a second division place compared to Sterling Coopers..., I also love the way the late 60s counter culture is creeping in from the lads getting hairier to Sally's great line in the back of the car

I hate cops!

, roll on the rest, best drama/comedy on tv ever! BTW it must have been my net earlier but the version on the AMC site looks great now.

iguana

I spent the first 20 minutes or so assuming that Don was dying from a heart attack and we were witnessing another of his fever dreams. The scenes were shot/cut in a similar way to how Mad Men tends to do things when reality is not right, like Don's murderous dream and Roger's acid trip. I assumed that he was the one who had the heart attack and his brain was protecting him by making him think it was the doorman. But as the episode went on I figured I was wrong as it went on too long to be a false reality. However a few things make me wonder if I was right, like Don's random puking at the funeral despite seeming fine seconds before, the whole thing about being dead in Hawaii/heaven, the violin case like a coffin and Dr Rosen saying something about Don's purpose being to make people not have to face ugly realities. (Also Linda Cardinelli is not likely to have a college aged child so I'm just not buying her character.) I hope I'm wrong because dream sequences in general piss me off. A whole series of one would be a massive waste.

Dave!

Stan's beard is the highlight so far... Glorious!

Antar Bolaeisk

It was definitely weird to see Don staying the same with everyone else around him changing so much. Also, they've kept it as SCDP and there's meant to have been quite a time difference since the last season. I was expecting it to be changed a little.

irish son

I thought it was an ok episode, for an 90 minute episode it really flew bye.
What name is on Don's lighter, is it Draper or Whitman?

Dave!

irish son wrote: »

I thought it was an ok episode, for an 90 minute episode it really flew bye.
What name is on Don's lighter, is it Draper or Whitman?

We don't see Don's AFAIK, wasn't it the other army dude's lighter that we see? Had his name on it

irish son

Yeah we see the other guys but Don had one too, so they presumably got them mixed up. I was just wondering does anyone remember if we seen it in any previous seasons, I doubt it's important but it's just annoying me

Agent Smith

Did anyone else find Betty and henry's discussion in bed near the start really dark and disturbing?

FouxDaFaFa

Agent Smith wrote: »

Did anyone else find Betty and henry's discussion in bed near the start really dark and disturbing?

I was just coming here to say that! And then she comes home with dark hair at the end. Creeped me out.

The Pontiac

I can definitely see Don and Joan having an affair.

It was really set up in Season 5, when Don didn't vote for her sleeping with the guy from Jaguar to secure the contract. Don is the only guy Joan really trusts and respects.

iguana

irish son wrote: »

What name is on Don's lighter, is it Draper or Whitman?

Must be Draper as the the soldier called him Lt and Draper was the officer not Whitman. But they got mixed up and he ended up with the other guys lighter which he wanted to get rid of. Presumably we'll find out he died as Dawn said she'd contact the military to send it back to him.

Barna77

Did Joan get "bigger"? :eek:

:pac:

5starpool

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

It was definitely weird to see Don staying the same with everyone else around him changing so much. Also, they've kept it as SCDP and there's meant to have been quite a time difference since the last season. I was expecting it to be changed a little.

There wasn't really though. Season 5 took place in 66/67 (the world cup final in 66 featured for example), and the start of season 6 took place at the end of 67, and now into 68, although the office moved into the upper floor since, so obviously a few months at least have passed.

The reference to the first heart surgery was good for dating it anyhow, it took place in Oct 67.

Duck Soup

I agree that they did a whole load of scene-setting - what it portends is anyone's guess. From a purely aesthetic point of view, it's lost a lot of simple cool with the transition into the flower power era. Roger's creeping sideburns and nascent bouffant alone is enough to give me the vapours.

Perhaps that's the point. Don's a product of the depression and the war(s). He's increasingly a buttoned-down square at a time of free expression. My only problem with the first episode is that no one seems to be getting to grips with the new social vibe. They'd nearly need a retread of the Don-amongst-the-hipsters moment or the introduction of a genuine free spirit or two into the agency.

Don's still shagging around so you can see the seeds of destruction of his marriage. Peggy - I don't quite know where they're going with Peggy. She seems something of an archetype - driven career woman, not tied to domestic notions like her mother's generation, feeling she has to work twice as hard as the men to succeed. I'd like to see more of her background and experiences feed into her character. You can see her ultimately coming back to depose Don.

The therapy thing was a nice touch. Roger treats it with the glibness you'd expect, although his doors and bridges riff was one the best bits of the episode. It's at the heart of the late sixties Mad Men dilemma. As religiosity falls away, they're just left with money, booze and fúcking. Life is hell.

Strangely, for Madison Avenue's most famous pork swordsman, I can see free love offending Don. He's used sex to to fix something - abandonment, control, whatever. Screwing for its own sake might confuse the tripe out of him.

Robbo

Sideburns would be the main point I'm taking away from the opener. Lots of sideburns.

camz09

5starpool wrote: »

There wasn't really though. Season 5 took place in 66/67 (the world cup final in 66 featured for example), and the start of season 6 took place at the end of 67, and now into 68, although the office moved into the upper floor since, so obviously a few months at least have passed.

The reference to the first heart surgery was good for dating it anyhow, it took place in Oct 67.

I believe there's only 8 months in between the last season finale and the recent premiere (1967). They just skipped the summer of love, then everybody became hairy (except Don).