While Don will surely keep Sal’s secret, his help certainly ends at the point where Sal’s homosexuality starts affecting the work.

That’s what I wrote about the season premiere, in which Don and Sal had their awkward adventure in Baltimore. Don knows all about wanting to keep certain aspects of your life private from those you work with, so he certainly wasn’t going to run around outing Sal to the rest of their Sterling Cooper colleagues. However, his willingness to keep Sal’s secret does in no way indicate that he’s down with the gays, as we saw last night.

As a viewer, I have a love/hate relationship with Don Draper. Sure, he’s smooth, charming, enigmatic, wounded, and obviously ridiculously good-looking. But this week’s episode makes it really difficult to overlook his more negative qualities. As I watched him in bed with that floozy teacher, all I could think of was the million different ways I would murder him if I were Betty and I found out my husband was cheating on me again, while I have an infant at home. Plus, when he was talking to Sal, and hit him with the disgusted, “You people,” it was a jarring reminder that Don Draper isn’t the hero we sometimes make him out to be.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dear AMC,

Okay, maybe that was a little harsh. I won’t actually burn you to the ground, but I will metaphorically end you with my mind if you dick over Mad Men. Yes, I know that you said it will be back this summer, which is all well and good. I mean, I would prefer it if it came back right now; hell, what I really want is for Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks to just come over to my house and act out scenes from the show, but I get it. I don’t always get what I want.

But let’s be honest here. You’re AMC. You’re not HBO, or Showtime; you’re not even TNT. What I mean is you’re not exactly known for your original programming. You were what old people tuned into on Sunday afternoons when they wanted to watch reruns of Murder She Wrote, or Unsolved Mysteries, or whatever the hell.

Read the rest of this entry »

AMC

(Season 2, Episode 13 – Season Finale)

“Congratulations?” – Francine, about Betty’s pregnancy

Wow, they really packed everything into this season finale, eh? You can’t say that fans were cheated out of drama. Not only do they increase the cliffhanger tension (I bet fans are already craving for Season 3, Episode 1), but they also made several secrets known to the people those secrets were being kept from, progressing those plots in a way I bet fans aren’t expecting.

And a few questions were answered for loyal viewers too…

Read the rest of this entry »

AMC

(Season 2, Episode 12)

“The only thing that’s keeping you from being happy is the belief that you’re alone.” – Anna, to Don

Finally, a question is answered that I’ve had since we found out Don is Dick: what about the real Don’s family? Certainly they would be wondering where their Don was after “Dick Whitman” died in the explosion in Korea. I actually didn’t think the show would answer that question. I thought it would be one of those TV show plots that we’re just supposed to accept and go along with, so it’s great that they’re not only answering the question, but it’s a major plot point as we get ready for next week’s season finale.

Read the rest of this entry »

AMC

(Season 2, Episode 10)

“I hate my mother. What do you think of that?” – Pete, to Peggy

It’s amazing how much terrain a single episode of Mad Men covers. It tonight’s show we get sadness and fear and jealousy and confusion and anger. Children dealing with difficult parents, couples unable to have kids of their own, the civil rights movement, couples about to have a child of their own, families with money problems, and a whole lot more.

Oh, and two undeniably uncomfortable scenes, including one involving a dad feeling up his adult daughter. Hey, no one said this was My Three Sons.

Read the rest of this entry »

AMC

(Season 2, Episode 9)

“If I don’t go into that office every day, who am I?” - Freddy

So here we are with Mad Men’s first new episode after winning two Emmys last week for Best Drama and Best Writing (plus four others). Not sure how many new viewers will check out the show to see what all of the buzz is about, but it has me worried. You can’t just jump into this show. There are too many characters, too many plots, it’s too delicately paced, and it’s so damn layered that it’s hard to penetrate it if you’re new. That’s probably why it was good that AMC ran the marathon the other day, but even that was only a second season marathon. Better to buy the first season DVD set so you know what’s going on.

This week: someone dies, someone gets punched, someone gets promoted, and someone wets themselves.

Read the rest of this entry »