Mad Men Season 5 [DVD]

I was hooked to Mad Men from the very first episode. I like everything, from the great opening credits (that music, that falling man!) to the carefully reconstructed sets, to the slow pacing of the plot. But it is not just the perfection of the settings, the costumes, and the period music. It is also a show with a soul. And a much-needed break from either cops or the doctors shows.

I also like the fact that it is an ensemble show, even if it often focus on Don Draper. All the characters are flawed and very "human". It is easy to identify with them and with their daily struggle to find happiness or at least some satisfaction in a fast-changing society.

This 5th series did not disappoint me. As the time frame is moving towards the end of the 60s, all the characters appear more confused and disoriented. The youth-quake is starting to have an influence on mainstream fashion (and behaviour). Therefore the female costumes for the show were carefully crafted to suit the swinging mood, but still very much fitting the different personalities (very short minis for young and carefree Megan, more conservative for Peggy and young Sally experimenting with grown-up outfits). Drugs are also making an appearance. The music of the young creates a gulf between them and their parents (watch Don listening to Revolver).

Among these major changes in society we follow the personal development (or disintegration) of all the main characters. Even if Don Draper has a bad reputation for his womanising, I find him an intriguing character, with a soft and vulnerable side. His kindness shines through in the great episode The Other Woman. Pete is the usual despicable, creepy man, adding another layer to his creepiness. Peggy finally manages to stand on her own feet, after much struggle and humiliation. Joan has to face a difficult choice and Richard goes through some weird experience.

I would definitely recommend Season 5 to all fans of the series and to anybody with a sense of style and an interest in human nature.

Its been a while since we followed the fortunes of Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce and their employees and season five picks up their varying storylines and spins them in directions expected and unexpected. The season starts off with Don Draper loving his new lifestyle (seemingly), Roger Sterling falling out with Pete Campbell and Joan Harris far from enjoying being a mother. Oh and Peggy being increasingly uninvolved and sidelined. A new character is introduced and this adds more to Peggy's issues.

The early episodes seem to produce far more funny moments than we are used to. Its a strong start to the series though and this is a season that is as strong as any so far. I came to the conclusion several series back that whilst everyone hangs off Don Draper the real story is Peggy as that mirrors the social development of the era. This season sees that produce even more ups and downs for Peggy. There are some shocks along the way too and the final three episodes are extremely good and the pace is really picked up.

As a season this stands up just as well as any. For character development it works and we even see the return of a long lost character for one very surprising cameo. The 60's have their impact as well with LSD and other influences felt. If you have followed this so far then you will be well pleased with this series.

Don: Don't you like it?
Peggy: No, I do. I'm just absorbing it

I was ready just to like this series, no more, familiar now as the characters and the style are, then suddenly it rushed up on me, like a loaded cookie, and I didn't know what to think, except I loved it more than is healthy for a TV programme. This happened round about the episode Lady Lazarus.

There is a lot to analyze, yet, conversely, as with a good poem, one is afraid to break it down into elements. A post trip sense of having seen and learnt a lot, yet unable to express it well. I will say: the colours are bright in this series and the themes dark. This is maybe the most romantic Mad Men, with all the darkness that true romance brings. Eroticism and death: twin tattoos on someone's arms. There are also episodes exploring the freeing of the mind (through LSD) and conversely the wiping of the brain (shock treatment). Heavy stuff, right? Well, it is the 60s!

It is rare to find a series where there are so many well-drawn characters almost jostling for time and space in each episode. The characters are handled with great sympathy, understanding, care and intelligence. The parallel development of Roger, and Pete, is a perfect example: the older, wiser man growing younger, freer through (a druggy) experience; the younger, less enlightened man becoming more successful, the 'adult' in the firm,in business terms, if not emotional ones, but also anxious and care-worn. Age and youth are also pitched against each other in a surprising conflict between Pete and Lane, age winning out, if only, sadly, for a moment. Great episode too with Harry Crane, very nicely acted by Rich Sommer and a re-appearance of Paul Kinsey. Quite often it is the 'minor' characters who provide some of the best episodes and moments.

Every viewer will no doubt have his or her favourite character. Maybe for you, like me, it has always been Peggy. As the Kinks say 'You Really Got Me!' Her tough, rational, career persona puts her at the sensible heart of the madness all around. Yet she is full of feeling and courage and, practical though she is, not immune from reckless behaviour herself. As for her relationship with Don....well, what kind of fool is he!'

Music, as with the Kinks, is always well-chosen in Mad Men and I read the producers paid $250 000 for use of the Beatles song `Tomorrow Never Knows', but, of course, it's the right song, used in the right way, perfect in its lyric, its relation to characters, its unique sense of disorientation in the episode Lady Lazarus. One thinks of the many ways a Beatles song could have been licensed and cheaply used as a barely-considered soundtrack to a 60's set drama, then considers the way this was used in Mad Men. It's this attention to detail and excellent sensibility of the artistic team that makes the show very special.

Is it giving much away to mention one particular image that stays with me? The breathe on the car side window, the lady's fingers tracing the heart, the unhappy faces, the winding down of the window and the disappearance of the heart. But I could have chosen the Jaguar that didn't start, the rutting dogs outside Peggy's window, Roger's buttocks in their spiritual splendour or a myriad of other memorable images. Ah well, something to think about til the next series!

Mad Men 5. At last, something beautiful you can truly own.