I’ve seen every episode of The Sopranos, Lost, The Wire, Dexter, The Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones, some of the most polished hour-long television dramas ever. That said, last night’s episode of Mad Men was the best-written scripted hour of television I’ve ever seen.
Those shows all have much in common. Sure, each one has disappointing episodes, but the average episode of those shows doesn’t rely on coincidences or gimmicks, grand speeches or narration that explains everything to the audience (with the obvious exception of Dexter). They don’t use camera or chronology tricks to build tension (again, with the exception of Dexter…maybe Dexter isn’t as good as I think it is).
The characters on those shows feel very real. Although there are people you root for or against, the vast majority of characters are not good or evil–instead, they occupy a grey zone of morality, just like the rest of us. When they talk, the conversations feel real, nuanced and layered. And nothing ever wraps up neatly after an hour.
This particular episode of Mad Men hit home because it was–at least from my perspective–about what it means to be a man. (Come to think of it, last week’s episode was about what it means to be a woman. That didn’t click until just now.) It was about manhood, about what us men do to feel manly and what we do because it’s simply in our nature. Men do some very bad things, and the show doesn’t condone or justify any of them, but those things are there. Those things happen.
I won’t name characters for the sake of spoilers, but there is a pivotal scene that will stick with me for a long time in which one of the men is in a bedroom with a woman with whom he’s about to have sex. The woman is cocky and confident, the man stoic, slowly taking off his tie while the woman coils on the bed and proposes different variations of roleplay. Here’s the dialogue:
Woman (leans back and crosses her legs): Oh, honey. You’ve had such a long day.
Man: Nope.
Woman (sits, twirls her hair around a finger): Um…it’s my first time. I’m kinda nervous.
Man: Nope.
Woman (gets on all fours, blonde hair framing her face as she looks him in the eye): You’re my king.
Man: Okay.
This scene isn’t about sex, not really. We all have some sort of void that we seek to fill. We fill that void in different ways, some healthy, some not so much. Maybe we wish we had more respect, more power, more fame, more empathy, more authority, more adoration. We fill those voids in temporary ways–with food (or lack thereof), sex, clothes/shoes, entertainment, overexercise, you name it–at least until we’re able to come to terms with them and deal with the problem instead of the symptoms.
As you can tell by that paragraph, it goes well beyond what it’s like to be a man. It’s about what it’s like to be human. It’s rare that a TV show can encapsulate our fragile humanity in a single hour (47 minutes, really). Hence my compulsion to write this post.
Also, I should add that in the midst of all the thought-provoking drama, this episode was laugh-out-loud hilarious. Even if you don’t watch Mad Men, you’ll enjoy this episode. Hopefully AMC will rerun it.
Wow. The best hour you’ve ever seen? Ever? Better than the one with Don and Peggy last year? Better than “I don’t have a contract”? Better than the season 3 finale? Better than the pilot episode of Ed? Or Justified? Or Ed?
You have obviously not watched the SAT and Wendy with the Big Bow episodes of Saved by the Bell back to back. You must have forgotten the rush of adrenaline you felt when Sawyer shot Tom. Or jumped out of a helicopter. YOU MUST NOT HAVE WATCHED THE FIRST EPISODE OF ED.
You clearly don’t watch The Vampire Diaries.
Or Ed.
I’m getting the feeling that you like Ed. Tell me more.
But yes, despite all those great references, last night was the very best. Did you see it? Would you disagree?
I tape Mad Men, but don’t usually watch it. My sister called and demanded that I watch the fight scene, which, granted, was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. I ended up watching the whole episode and was reminded why I stopped watching. Everyone is just so evil. Everyone outside of Ken Cosgrove and Bert Cooper (who was cut down in his prime) cheats on their spouse with regularity. They constantly undercut each other at work. None of them have any friends or a life outside of work. They’re just a group of crappy people. That’s not nuanced or layered. That’s just poor writing. As soon as a character appears, I know that they will treat someone poorly or make an inappropriate sexual advance. I don’t need heroes, I just want to watch characters with some sort of redeeming qualities. I’d watch a spin off of Ken and Trudy, but that’s about it.
As for Ed, if you didn’t watch season 1, you’re missing out. Before Phil (and Warren, to a lesser extent) became “cool”, before we focused on Carol’s chubby friend too much, before Mike and Nancy became too hip, before they drug out Ed and Carol waaayyyyy too long and before (I shudder to even type this name) Frankie, this was the best show ever. You just had to be there.
Honestly, the thing that deterred me from watching Ed is that the way that promos for it were structured, all they seemed to say were, “You should watch this show because Ed is such a good guy. I was like, I don’t know Ed! Let me judge for myself whether or not he’s a good guy.
On that same note, I would counter that all of the characters on Mad Men are flawed, some deeply flawed, just like the rest of us. Very few are hateful people who are ambivalent to other people’s needs and feelings (like Sheldon on Big Bang Theory). Thus I find Man Men intensely watchable.
I am in no way a deeply flawed human being.
I’ve been resisting watching Mad Men up until now, despite the good reviews I’ve heard about it. I just have not wanted to find myself addicted to another show, but now I feel like I need to give it a try… just to see this so-called “best hour ever.”
Is it better to just jump right in and watch that episode, or try watching from the beginning? I’m willing to give it a try, as my favorite (Dr Who) is taking forever to come back from the last hiatus, and I finally am ready to give in to the Mad Men temptation.
If you’re truly interested in watching Mad Men, I would start from the beginning. However, if you’re not sold on the idea, watch this week’s episode. Although you’ll spoil some things, you’ll see why I love the show.
After hearing you describe this episode as the best scripted hour of television, I had very high expectations! I watch Mad Men on a regular basis and it’s one of my favorite shows. I didn’t find anything particularly fantastic about this episode, but the fight scene made me legitimately laugh out loud. And this was a rare episode that made me like Don Draper. (I love me some Hamm in general though)
The sex scene you mentioned was very interesting to watch. I felt like I got a glimpse into the male psyche.