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| Mad Men: surprises in store as season six premieres on AMC | Mad Men: surprises in store as season six premieres on AMC |
| (6 months later) | |
| SPOILER ALERT: Don't read on if you haven't seen the season six premiere, which aired in the US on Sunday. The Guardian's regular Mad Men UK episode blog starts on Wednesday. | SPOILER ALERT: Don't read on if you haven't seen the season six premiere, which aired in the US on Sunday. The Guardian's regular Mad Men UK episode blog starts on Wednesday. |
| The season six premiere of Mad Men on AMC was two hours long, and where season five greeted viewers with a thigh-high rendition of Zou Bisou Bisou, this time it's 1968, and America's involvement in Vietnam has hit its bloody peak. | The season six premiere of Mad Men on AMC was two hours long, and where season five greeted viewers with a thigh-high rendition of Zou Bisou Bisou, this time it's 1968, and America's involvement in Vietnam has hit its bloody peak. |
| The show's restless undercurrent was palpable for the entire 120 minutes, but for the Washington Post, the scenes were too slow-moving, which is saying a lot, considering viewers grew to love for its deep dialogue and rich (if slightly drawn-out) character development. | The show's restless undercurrent was palpable for the entire 120 minutes, but for the Washington Post, the scenes were too slow-moving, which is saying a lot, considering viewers grew to love for its deep dialogue and rich (if slightly drawn-out) character development. |
| Frazier Moore of the Associated Press, for one, isn't buying that the wide character arcs make this endless premiere any stronger. | Frazier Moore of the Associated Press, for one, isn't buying that the wide character arcs make this endless premiere any stronger. |
| Challenging the viewer is what has made Mad Men great. But it shouldn't be a guessing game. It shouldn't put an onus on the viewer to make sense of behavior that doesn't add up. That's annoying. | Challenging the viewer is what has made Mad Men great. But it shouldn't be a guessing game. It shouldn't put an onus on the viewer to make sense of behavior that doesn't add up. That's annoying. |
| Half of the main cast of characters seem virtually unchanged from where we left them last season. The remaining cast members, on the other hand? We're waiting to see who breaks first. | Half of the main cast of characters seem virtually unchanged from where we left them last season. The remaining cast members, on the other hand? We're waiting to see who breaks first. |
| The Drapers: trouble in paradise? | The Drapers: trouble in paradise? |
| Don and Megan Draper find themselves in Hawaii, and a late-night encounter with a young private who is marrying before his deployment finds Don on the beach at dawn, giving away the bride. Megan strolls up and snaps a photo. | Don and Megan Draper find themselves in Hawaii, and a late-night encounter with a young private who is marrying before his deployment finds Don on the beach at dawn, giving away the bride. Megan strolls up and snaps a photo. |
| Megan, played by Jessica Paré, displays some of the scars of marital battles sustained from season five, but she's still madly in love with Don. | Megan, played by Jessica Paré, displays some of the scars of marital battles sustained from season five, but she's still madly in love with Don. |
| Mr Draper, on the other hand, has become a death-obsessed mess. And who can really say why? He may have taken his light vacation reading – Dante's Inferno – a step too far, or the beachfront wedding might've curdled his brain. His pitch to the owner of the Hawaii resort is a concept whose message borders on suicidal; he shows up to the funeral of Roger's mother hammered out of his mind; and, also, he's cheating again. | Mr Draper, on the other hand, has become a death-obsessed mess. And who can really say why? He may have taken his light vacation reading – Dante's Inferno – a step too far, or the beachfront wedding might've curdled his brain. His pitch to the owner of the Hawaii resort is a concept whose message borders on suicidal; he shows up to the funeral of Roger's mother hammered out of his mind; and, also, he's cheating again. |
| Man the Brady Bunch had a lot more fun in Hawaii than Don Draper. | Man the Brady Bunch had a lot more fun in Hawaii than Don Draper. |
| Roger Sterling: emotional time bomb | Roger Sterling: emotional time bomb |
| If Jon Hamm's Draper is Dante's Inferno, John Slattery's Roger Sterling is Sartre's No Exit. We find him facing his mother's death, emotionless and existential. At least at first. | If Jon Hamm's Draper is Dante's Inferno, John Slattery's Roger Sterling is Sartre's No Exit. We find him facing his mother's death, emotionless and existential. At least at first. |
| "Life is supposed to be a path," Roger tells his psychiatrist, "and you go along and these things happen to you and they're supposed to change you." But it "turns out the experiences are nothing." | "Life is supposed to be a path," Roger tells his psychiatrist, "and you go along and these things happen to you and they're supposed to change you." But it "turns out the experiences are nothing." |
| Slattery gave a few clues about what the hell is going on with his character and the rest of the cast in the Guardian's G2 interview: | Slattery gave a few clues about what the hell is going on with his character and the rest of the cast in the Guardian's G2 interview: |
| "This season gets more complicated, because the times are going to get more complicated. Roger falls behind the centre of this youth movement and the emphasis starts to shift again. Everyone struggles with change. People's sense of mortality starts to enter the picture. Every decision becomes more critical." | "This season gets more complicated, because the times are going to get more complicated. Roger falls behind the centre of this youth movement and the emphasis starts to shift again. Everyone struggles with change. People's sense of mortality starts to enter the picture. Every decision becomes more critical." |
| Sally Draper: surly teenager | Sally Draper: surly teenager |
| Anyone who's hoping for Sally Draper to turn into a rebellious, pot-smoking, free-loving member of her generation – that's most viewers – will have to wait a little bit longer. | Anyone who's hoping for Sally Draper to turn into a rebellious, pot-smoking, free-loving member of her generation – that's most viewers – will have to wait a little bit longer. |
| But Sally has grown up to be a surly teen who is coincidentally one of the most popular characters, though no one really ever quite says why: | But Sally has grown up to be a surly teen who is coincidentally one of the most popular characters, though no one really ever quite says why: |
| Sally Draper, the best. #madmen | Sally Draper, the best. #madmen |
| Sally Draper is the real star of this series, lets be real #madmen | Sally Draper is the real star of this series, lets be real #madmen |
| ooooooooo Sally Draper with the teenage angst. | ooooooooo Sally Draper with the teenage angst. |
| Early prediction: Sally's is the life that will launch a Mad Men spinoff. (Maybe actress Kiernan Shipka's parents will actually let her watch that show.) | Early prediction: Sally's is the life that will launch a Mad Men spinoff. (Maybe actress Kiernan Shipka's parents will actually let her watch that show.) |
| Betty Francis: WTF | Betty Francis: WTF |
| One of the most universally disliked characters, Betty | One of the most universally disliked characters, Betty |
| Here's The Atlantic on what we think is the first of many 'Weird Betty' moments: | Here's The Atlantic on what we think is the first of many 'Weird Betty' moments: |
| Without her prized good looks, Don's ex-wife has become a more melancholy figure overall – almost to the point where, when she makes misguided attempts to reach out and be a caring mother to someone (not to her own children, naturally, but to her daughter's friend Sandy and then to a couple of teenage urban squatters), it almost tugs on a sympathetic heartstring or two. When she makes an equally misguided, off-color remark to her husband about willingly assisting him if he ever wants to rape Sandy, of course, it's tougher to feel sorry for her. | Without her prized good looks, Don's ex-wife has become a more melancholy figure overall – almost to the point where, when she makes misguided attempts to reach out and be a caring mother to someone (not to her own children, naturally, but to her daughter's friend Sandy and then to a couple of teenage urban squatters), it almost tugs on a sympathetic heartstring or two. When she makes an equally misguided, off-color remark to her husband about willingly assisting him if he ever wants to rape Sandy, of course, it's tougher to feel sorry for her. |
| But that remark, coupled with Henry's troubled reaction to it and her odd guerrilla mothering elsewhere in the episode, also hints that Betty's interpersonal-relations calibration might be off – seriously, alarmingly off. | But that remark, coupled with Henry's troubled reaction to it and her odd guerrilla mothering elsewhere in the episode, also hints that Betty's interpersonal-relations calibration might be off – seriously, alarmingly off. |
| Oh, and then she dyes her hair. | Oh, and then she dyes her hair. |
| We're predicting a big season for January Jones. | We're predicting a big season for January Jones. |
| Peggy Olson: climbing the career ladder, not leaning in | Peggy Olson: climbing the career ladder, not leaning in |
| Peggy, played by Elisabeth Moss, has climbed the career ladder since we last saw her. | Peggy, played by Elisabeth Moss, has climbed the career ladder since we last saw her. |
| Prediction: This will be the season of Peggy Olson ascendant. #madmenSF | Prediction: This will be the season of Peggy Olson ascendant. #madmenSF |
| In 1968, Peggy's the young manager who forgets to tell her staff that it's okay for them to leave the office on New Year's Eve. And there might be a budding romance blooming with the guy who lured her out from under Don's wing (or shadow). What would Sheryl Sandberg say about this ahead-of-her-time ceiling breaker? | In 1968, Peggy's the young manager who forgets to tell her staff that it's okay for them to leave the office on New Year's Eve. And there might be a budding romance blooming with the guy who lured her out from under Don's wing (or shadow). What would Sheryl Sandberg say about this ahead-of-her-time ceiling breaker? |
| (For your pleasure, New York Magazine has compiled an endless supply of "Peggy Olson Leaning In" gifs.) | (For your pleasure, New York Magazine has compiled an endless supply of "Peggy Olson Leaning In" gifs.) |
| Pete Campbell: still the office twerp | Pete Campbell: still the office twerp |
| Everyone's favorite office imp has returned. He doesn't do much in the first episode, but we can't imagine a fumbling extramarital affair or office brawl is too far off. Pete, played by Vincent Kartheiser, is also rocking the sideburns in 1968: | Everyone's favorite office imp has returned. He doesn't do much in the first episode, but we can't imagine a fumbling extramarital affair or office brawl is too far off. Pete, played by Vincent Kartheiser, is also rocking the sideburns in 1968: |
| Bert Cooper: Still underrated | Bert Cooper: Still underrated |
| Enough said. | Enough said. |
| Ken Cosgrove: Says something mean for the first time ever | Ken Cosgrove: Says something mean for the first time ever |
| Generally one of the more tepid characters, Ken Cosgrove opens season six by bullying a new employee. Notes Bob Benson of the Los Angeles Times: "Not sure what this new guy's game is, but if he can get Ken Cosgrove riled up, he's bad news." | Generally one of the more tepid characters, Ken Cosgrove opens season six by bullying a new employee. Notes Bob Benson of the Los Angeles Times: "Not sure what this new guy's game is, but if he can get Ken Cosgrove riled up, he's bad news." |
| Twitter users also took note as Mad Men's sole nice guy, played by Aaron Staton, took a strut around the office. | Twitter users also took note as Mad Men's sole nice guy, played by Aaron Staton, took a strut around the office. |
| "It gave Ken Cosgrove a chance to get tough, because Ken Cosgrove is one of the least convincing tough guys ever." <3 | "It gave Ken Cosgrove a chance to get tough, because Ken Cosgrove is one of the least convincing tough guys ever." <3 |
| My mom has only ever watched one episode of #MadMen and now she thinks Ken Cosgrove is a jerk :/ | My mom has only ever watched one episode of #MadMen and now she thinks Ken Cosgrove is a jerk :/ |
| Joan: Not enough Joan | Joan: Not enough Joan |
| Joan Halloway (or is it still Harris?) is a viewer favorite and patron saint of curves. So it was no surprise that there was a massive outcry Sunday night when Christina Hendricks's red haired office manager-turned-company-partner was limited to one scene and roughly 600 replays of a Johnnie Walker commercial. | Joan Halloway (or is it still Harris?) is a viewer favorite and patron saint of curves. So it was no surprise that there was a massive outcry Sunday night when Christina Hendricks's red haired office manager-turned-company-partner was limited to one scene and roughly 600 replays of a Johnnie Walker commercial. |
| OK but where is JOAN | OK but where is JOAN |
| Where the hell is Joan? | Where the hell is Joan? |
| 31 minutes in, where the fuck is Joan! #madmen | 31 minutes in, where the fuck is Joan! #madmen |
| Besides the commercials, where the heck is Joan? #madmen | Besides the commercials, where the heck is Joan? #madmen |
| Not right. | Not right. |
| Where do we go from here? | Where do we go from here? |
| Now that we've fleshed out the characters, we'll leave you with Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times who sums up the opener the best: The scenery is getting brighter as the characters prepare to exit the 1960's, but the storylines aren't similarly – at least, not yet. | Now that we've fleshed out the characters, we'll leave you with Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times who sums up the opener the best: The scenery is getting brighter as the characters prepare to exit the 1960's, but the storylines aren't similarly – at least, not yet. |
| Although, season by season, Weiner ambitiously rockets his characters along a pop cultural timeline – we're in the late 60s, so watch for references to "last night on Carson" and the Haight – the internal metabolic rate of "Mad Men" remains doggedly slow, the emotional edge of its drama kept narratively well-leashed by oppressive social mores and their mood-altering crutches: nicotine, alcohol and adultery. Oh, and now marijuana. | Although, season by season, Weiner ambitiously rockets his characters along a pop cultural timeline – we're in the late 60s, so watch for references to "last night on Carson" and the Haight – the internal metabolic rate of "Mad Men" remains doggedly slow, the emotional edge of its drama kept narratively well-leashed by oppressive social mores and their mood-altering crutches: nicotine, alcohol and adultery. Oh, and now marijuana. |
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