Mad Men on AMC • Fifth Season Thread

Parts of the episode (not least the fight) struck me as comically over the top. And was anyone else annoyed by Lane kissing Joan? For me, the whole appeal of their relationship was that they understood and empathized with one another, and their mutual respect kept things platonic. That kiss came outta nowhere, and just seemed like an insanely pointless distraction.

― Dancing with Mr. T (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, April 16, 2012 9:45 PM (48 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i love that this show treats stuff like "mutual platonic respect" like the tv bullshit it is

The kiss was great because we basically needed to be reminded that lane is sort of a putz (and lane needed to be reminded too). Also Joan's response was perfect.

And was anyone else annoyed by Lane kissing Joan? For me, the whole appeal of their relationship was that they understood and empathized with one another, and their mutual respect kept things platonic. That kiss came outta nowhere, and just seemed like an insanely pointless distraction.

no, i liked it. lane's a weak man, though not a bad one, and he was both high on himself (trouncing stinky pete) and feeling threatened (broke, insulted, feeling useless, accused of being "a homo"), basically at loose ends. plus joan handled it magnificently. "Everyone in this office has wanted to do that ... to Pete Campbell." [ellipsis mine]

er, as s.clover said

Also the setup of her getting up, only to open the door and come back.

^ yeah yeah, that's mostly what i meant. just thought the line was funny too.

I definitely agree about Joan's response...maybe I'm not ready to accept Lane as a putz, though. But it seemed forced (from a storytelling point of view), and hastily tacked-on at the last minute.

For some reason it felt like there were a lot more stylized transitions in this episode.

i noticed this. typically the transitions don't really register w/me but a few were glaring in this episode. a couple instances where they tried to sync up actions such as a cut from one character opening a door to another doing the same, and an odd cross-fade of pete's head lining up in successive scenes.

John Slattery's second directing credit i think; the first had the notoriously on-the-nose final shot of three ladies in the elevator

there were some nice touches in his previous episode, i thought, and some less-nice ones. i think the man has talent.

Every time there's an actor-directed episode I can't help it, I picture their character doing the directing.

Surprised there's no talk of "the pact" between Peggy and Ken. There never seemed to be a lot of interaction between those two before and I don't think it feels that believable. Though I think it points to how Peggy is over any sense of loyalty she had towards Don since he begged her to join the new firm.

I sort of like how the show doesn't try to act like we see every meaningful moment or interaction in the characters' lives. Half the characters aren't even in any given episode, so of course stuff like the pact is going to be a little surprising when it comes up. Doesn't make it unbelievable.

Lane kissing Joan seemed more of a little boy wanting his mom to kiss him after a bad day or something. Maybe not to Lane.

"Now with that Charles Whitmore..."
"Whitman," said Dick Whitman.

i worry that no TV show could possibly bear the amount of analysis this one gets. not that i'm not part of the problem. but often it's dispiriting when the show lobs these fairly obvious clues to us, and then all these bloggers etc. go running with them.

there's this tacit sense that they seek approval and acknowledgment for having got the clues and not fumbled them. but after a minute it all begins to seem so programmatic, like all these blog posts and stuff are just a function of the text rather than inspired and original criticism.

when i go to the usual "day after" write-ups i feel like my intelligence is being insulted by folks spending paragraphs upon paragraphs telling me how to interpret things that were (sometimes painfully) obvious when i first saw them. especially since this sort of criticism doesn't have the benefit of the long view--sitting it out until the season (or series) is over, looking at how the whole thing fits together (or doesn't).

the discussion here is generally much less groanworthy. i suppose i prefer little pithy observations about the acting, furniture, whatever to these unending "think pieces."

i suppose i prefer little pithy observations about the acting, furniture, whatever to these unending "think pieces."

21st century style. i agree though. to the seething mass of zings pithy observations that is ILX!

but it's not limited to Mad Men though. People also do recaps of everything from Gossip Girl to How I Met Your Mother with pretty much exactly the same amount of detail and "analysis".

I do love Tom and Lorenzo's recaps through fashion, because they notice things about Mad Men's costuming that pretty much no other TV blogger does.

Last week's was particularly good: http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/2012/04/mad-style-mystery-date.html

damn. bookmarked that site, which i'd never seen before. best analysis of mad men's fashion and style i've seen yet. otm re joan & liz!

loved this episode... the scifi stuff... the many emasculations of pete campbell... the fight... such a great ep.

― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 02:34 (3 hours ago) Permalink

otm...funniest episode in a long time

yeah tom & lorenzo are good... when they stick to clothing/design.

i know lots of other shows get this treatment. this just happens to be the show i watch enough to read the blogs, etc. not that i think i will anymore.

i have to stop reading the comment sections of show recaps. "am i the ONLY ONE who noticed _____?" and like five other people have made the same observation already.

don't know how you read those sections in the first place. i like a smart recap though.

then again, I did lodge a complaint with the AV Club that their review stated that "Britain won the World Cup".

The episode kind of encouraged that mistake

Union jack generally preferred over the st george's cross as the symbol of england until the last quarter of a century.

i have to stop reading the comment sections of show recaps. "am i the ONLY ONE who noticed _____?" and like five other people have made the same observation already

Recap comments are just as bad as any news article comments, except instead of unhinged right wing foaming at the mouth you get smug self satisfaction.

stop reading the blogs, "recaps" are a plague imho

like i can see what david simon was getting at (weird, i just realized i had a dream about him last night where he fixed a hoodie of mine) when he went off on bloggers last week

what is the failure mode of a hoodie

you know in sports hoodies when the drawstring for the hood gets out and you can't get it back in? he had some complicated technique to get it back in involving miniature weights

Recaps are something I don't read unless it is something where I've missed a few episodes and I'm trying to catch up, or Mad Style since it's costume related.

And was anyone else annoyed by Lane kissing Joan? For me, the whole appeal of their relationship was that they understood and empathized with one another, and their mutual respect kept things platonic. That kiss came outta nowhere, and just seemed like an insanely pointless distraction.

i don't think this came out of nowhere at all! there was that scene a few eps earlier where Joan was in Lane's office talking about how much she missed the office and i thought it was going to happen back then!

i cant believe you actually watched the episode and lane's arc in it if you think that moment "came outta nowhere" or "felt hasty and tacked on"

Poor Lane, dude really is a fish out of water. Between his clumsy affair in the past, his fellow British dude thinking he was either too square or gay to actually have fun, and his officemates disrespecting him, he's had a weird run.

he won a fight tho

they're definitely carving out a place for him this season

i cant believe you actually watched the episode and lane's arc in it if you think that moment "came outta nowhere" or "felt hasty and tacked on"

In terms of his relationship with Joan, yeah, that's pretty much how it struck me.

I think only Pete really disrespecting him...the other guys were all pretty supportive of his attempt to woo new clients.

There never seemed to be a lot of interaction between those two before and I don't think it feels that believable. T

the "pact" was explicitly addressed/shown at the end of last season when Peggy and Ken broke the firm's streak of losing business after Don's "letter"

slocki, do you mean to imply that lane kissed joan in part b/c his manliness had been challenged?

I think he's pretty clearly been shown as super lonely, the whole thing with the mystery wallet woman a couple of episodes ago etc.

not s1ocki, but that's how i took it

^^^

that kiss did not "come out of nowhere" it was way telegraphed

plus yeah, his general alienation and sense of powerlessness

yes concluding with a completely unsatisfactory and mutually degrading fight

Laine will be a fucking hero for decking Pete, everyone wants to do it.

to me Pete's needlessly brutal antagonizing of Lane was the part that seemed to come out of nowhere - in the past Lane's been at least supportive of Pete and they have shared some (albeit awkward) camraderie

lane just shit on him and accused him of losing a big account did u not notice that part