Mad Men 2x02: "Flight 1"
Aug. 5th, 2008 03:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
askmehowHi, all! I hope all of you are having a fantastic summer. I've been away from this journal for far too long, so here, have some Mad Men commentary/meta.
I just finished watching this and overall, I was disappointed. I feel that this season is taking far too long to build to something 'meaningful' (and I do mean the airquotes; more on that in a minute). I remember last season's arc, and while it took at least three or four episodes to build the plot threads, I had fun learning about each character's quirks along the way via the plot.
...which leads to me my next grouse: Season 2 seems so far to rely on telling, not showing. In "For Those Who Think Young", the doctor's enquiry about Don's parents was a clunky piece of exposition about Don's family and hinting at his past. In this episode, the shot of Joan's driving license, which does service the plot, is a quick way of getting her stats. It's a hackneyed and inelegant method of getting information across, and I didn't expect it from this show.
Back to the characters and the season arc being 'meaningful': did anyone else find the dialogue in this episode a little too spare? One of the things I treasured about Season 1 was the dialogue: while characters never seemed garrulous, the emotions the characters felt was always conveyed through what they (didn't) say. This year, it's as if the writers are determined to make Every. Moment. Resonate. And they're sucking the momentum and any semblance of pacing within the episode (and the season-long arcs) with the oversimplified dialogue.
Whew! Enough whinging. On to the things I liked:
I hope next week we see some Rachel. And more of the creative side of the business; the creating/pitching ideas episodes are always the best ones.
I just finished watching this and overall, I was disappointed. I feel that this season is taking far too long to build to something 'meaningful' (and I do mean the airquotes; more on that in a minute). I remember last season's arc, and while it took at least three or four episodes to build the plot threads, I had fun learning about each character's quirks along the way via the plot.
...which leads to me my next grouse: Season 2 seems so far to rely on telling, not showing. In "For Those Who Think Young", the doctor's enquiry about Don's parents was a clunky piece of exposition about Don's family and hinting at his past. In this episode, the shot of Joan's driving license, which does service the plot, is a quick way of getting her stats. It's a hackneyed and inelegant method of getting information across, and I didn't expect it from this show.
Back to the characters and the season arc being 'meaningful': did anyone else find the dialogue in this episode a little too spare? One of the things I treasured about Season 1 was the dialogue: while characters never seemed garrulous, the emotions the characters felt was always conveyed through what they (didn't) say. This year, it's as if the writers are determined to make Every. Moment. Resonate. And they're sucking the momentum and any semblance of pacing within the episode (and the season-long arcs) with the oversimplified dialogue.
Whew! Enough whinging. On to the things I liked:
- Paul's party; GENIUS. Watching the office-folk and their wives/girlfriends interact was hilarious. Trudy's so very, very WASP-y it's ridiculous. Sheila's got excellent manners: "I love your purse." I hope we see more of her. Ken! No, come back! Ken, we hardly knew ye. Peggy's growing up, aww! "I'm in the presentation business, and frankly I'm disappointed in your presentation." HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
- Pete: Vincent Kartheiser is doing a great job with this character, but I think he was let down by the pared down script, and was off his A-game in this episode. He was a bit too blank, too unsure. But Kartheiser was inspired in his last scene with Don: he had transposed all the pathos of his hero-worship and rebellion of his father onto Don since day one, and now he realises what a child he's being, trying to ger someone else to 'fix' him. The next scene with him, of him manipulating the American Airlines representative into giving SterlingCooper the account is actually Pete's way of trying to grow up. Throughout the episode, he's looking for someone to save him, to show him how to feel, how to react 'appropriately', and there's no one - even Don fails him. And so he does what the agency wants done: he does from the guy making puerile plaid jokes to the pinch hitter in Duck's meeting. And his sales pitch is great: polished, solicitous, with just the right amount of flattery and the perfect hook. He's doing it because it's what people do.
- Franciiiiiine! More Anne Dudek, I say. No matter that she's a peripheral character. ! I swear, she did more with her reproachful look to Carlton than January Jones did all last season.
- ...though speaking of Betty: Miss Jones is growing on me fast. In fact, apart from Joan, she was the sole unalloyed pleasure in the ep. Betty's pissed, and it's fun to watch her take charge without foraying into bizarre quasi-prostitute land a la last week. J.Jones is bringing it this year.
- Joan: was and continues to be fantastic. She was a bitch to Sheila, but I don't think she's wrong: Paul's a pretentious beard-and-scarf-wearing moron, and she's just his latest accessory. I was totally mesmerised by Hendricks's performance; watch the moment when Joan strides out of Peggy's office - the perfect, precise flick of her head when she turns her body to leave marks out that Joan is always, always aware that she's on display, and intends to exploit a potentially demeaning position and turn it to her advantage. It's brilliant.
- Don: stop being the knight in shining armour to random clients, and step up for people in your own agency, god! (And I say this as someone who is generally revolted by Pete. What's happening here?)
I hope next week we see some Rachel. And more of the creative side of the business; the creating/pitching ideas episodes are always the best ones.