Finished watching Mad Men.
It was the follow-up to Breaking Bad in my project of watching TV shows from ten or fifteen years ago that appear to have passed the test of time. This one earns the claim.
Breaking Bad ran on plot; you watched to find out what happened next. Mad Men runs on character; you watch to find out who these people are. I’ve always thought of The Simpsons as a sociological show – I catch myself describing people I meet in terms of Simpsons characters. I suspect Mad Men will be my next instrument and will do a more subtle job of describing adults involved with power dynamics, ego, and the flinch right before someone says the thing they can’t take back.
Random notes:
- Some scenes are hilariously absurd. Peggy skating to Roger’s piano in an empty office, Megan singing Zou Bisou Bisou, Ken losing an eye to client idiots.
- Other scenes are iconically great. The Carousel pitch tops the charts.
- The songs at the end of every episode are all worth listening to at length. Here’s the Qobuz playlist with the full collection.
- The acting and the cast are all top-notch; with special credit to Elisabeth Moss.
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