The Doorway, Part 1

Bad episode. Wow. Really bad. Seems like all the actors and basically acting. There's a kind of hush, or whisper, as if no one is really behind the lines they're speaking. Worse yet, since this is the latter sixties, everyone at the office has totally fake looking wigs and beards, it's starting to become really cheap-looking. I long for the early 1960's.

The problem of Peggy's ad being changed because of a comic's Vietnam jokes on Carson is far-fetched so say the least. Betty's friendship with her daughter's bratty musician friend is strange and awkward... Roger and the whole LSD thing is incredibly stupid since the writers think dropping acid is like seeking some new age religion...

Thank God that Don Draper always remains looking the same because it would be just horrible if HE TOO had to wear phony 60's garb or sideburns, etc...

Don, get back to screwing around, and pitching, two things he does best...

Season 6 starts off in beautiful Hawaii, but by the time the final episode of the season wraps, major changes have occurred in the Firm and every character. Such major changes in Don Draper's Universe means across the board angst on Mad Men, and some of the most interesting writing in the series seven-year run.

Tumultuous story lines based on conflict among the partners and staff (and their respective families, friends and lovers) permeates every episode. It's non-stop and tension builds in every episode.

Season 6 sets up the final season, but as always in Mad Men, the journey is a most interesting one. This is the Apex season in the Mad Men epic. Buckle-up and hold on.

I don't know why I'm still watching this program. Probably for all the other characters besides Don, who's getting bored and boring us by the same time. But watching it I've just noticed a serious goof about the screenplay. We're in December 1967. Peggy Olsen is working with a client, Koss, which is selling headphones. At the start. her agency is having a printed campaign in the newspapers, saying "Lend me your ears". By the same time, there is this terrible story going on from the Vietnam war, where US soldiers are on court-martial trial because they were cutting ears from Vietcong people and putting them on a necklace. Someone on the "Tonight show" is making a joke about it. And the crisis is starting at the agency. Peggy's colleague, Burt, is talking about the TV advertising spot that will be showed during the Super Bowl. And this mistake is repeated at least three times in the first 2 episodes of Season 6. It's a mistake because the championship between AFC and NFC became the SUPER BOWL the year after, in January 1969. It was on that year, which was the third time this championship took place, that this moniker was used for the first time. Later, the NFL gave back this name to the first 2 championships, both won by Green Bay Packers.

I have watched every episode from all the previous seasons, and this episode is the worst. Don Draper (Jon Hamm) heads up a great ensemble cast. The writer, and the show's creator, has chosen to take several of these characters – Don, Peggy Olson (Elizabeth Moss), Roger Sterling (John Slattery), and Betty Draper (January Jones)– and give them each an individual story line showing their travails. In following each individual story line, of each individual character, this episode loses the thrust and cohesion of previous episodes where the interaction between the ensemble gave the episodes their dynamic.

This episode starts off with a scene - a man is being given CPR while Don looks on - which is only laid into context later in the show: and when is does appear, in context, it is shown to be an event that even then is out of the time line - confusing! It appears yet again when a drunken Don badgers the person, who was given CPR, about their near death experience. It seems to be an obtuse way to get to that point, where Don is shown to be a mean drunk.

The script has us cutting in and out of the disparate four main story lines. After a while, I just found this to be annoying. Only Don' story and Betty's story have interest. Roger's was the least interesting. Peggy has a job as a poorly paid artistic director who is trying to follow in the footsteps of her mentor Don. You can decide on whether she can do that. Never the less, the show ended too quickly. This is probably because there is a part 2.

Actually, the reference to a Super Bowl in 1967 is not inappropriate, because unofficially that's what the public was calling it even then; I was 11 and I remember. However, in case you think my memory is faulty, here is a 1967 promotional video put together by CBS. We know it's 1967 because at the 6:45 mark they are talking about programming for the upcoming 1967 season. Jack Whitaker throughout this tape refers to the game as the Super Bowl, at least 3 times. So, Mad Men got it right. It's not like the NFL named it the Super Bowl in 1969 and everybody said "Geez, I wish I'd thought of that."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usNzAc-05u8