Can you tell that I’m ready for Season 5 of Mad Men already? Since that will happen on someone else’s timetable (Matthew Weiner, you capricious scamp), I will just have to rehash the very best parts of Season 4. If you need a refresher on all the episodes of the past season, may I suggest the MamaPop recaps by the lovely Alexa? Or just read her amazing in-depth analysis of the finale, which touches on multiple points from the season too.
Mad Moment #10 – Episode 3: Hearing that Anna had cancer was terrible. Not just because I liked her as a character, but because she was the only person with whom Don could really be himself, right down to his real name. Losing her has significant implications for every aspect of his character.
Mad Moment #9 – Episode 6: Who else loved seeing Peggy take the piss out of Stan? Calling his bluff and stripping down in the face of his misogyny was thoroughly unexpected, and I loved Peggy for it.
Mad Moment #8 – Episode 12: Seeing Midge again after all these years was a surprise in itself, but the precipitous decline from seemingly successful professional Midge in the building lobby to sex-peddling heroin addict Midge in her gloomy apartment was shocking. Such a graphic reminder of how unhappy some endings turn out to be.
Mad Moment #7 – Episode 4: I knew Allison was upset that Don humped her and dumped her, but I was certainly surprised that she let her emotions show so plainly. From the start of this show, breakdowns have been confined to the bathroom. When Allison burst into tears and chucked a paperweight at Don (with Peggy peering through the glass, ha!), that was an unprecedented reaction to a sadly commonplace situation.
Mad Moment #6 – Episode 5: When Betty slapped Sally for cutting her hair and threatened to cut of her fingers as punishment for masturbating, I nearly leaped at my television screen. That poor girl; that hateful woman. It’s awful how neglectful and self-absorbed she is, but this time she was downright abusive.
Mad Moment #5 – Episode 7: This whole episode was filled with mad moments. But the point where it got surreal was the fight between Don and Duck, after Don had puked his guts out and Duck had attempted to defecate in Roger’s office. If this had happened anywhere else but Madison Avenue in the mid-1960′s, both men would have passed out.
Mad Moment #4 – Episode 13: The scene with Betty and Carla had me on the edge of my seat. I wouldn’t have put it past Matthew Weiner to have scripted those two women coming to blows. The encounter showcased how desperate Betty was to exert control over someone, anyone. Better Carla than the kids, I say. (Though it would have been awesome if Carla had laid into Betty as she so richly deserved.)
Mad Moment #3 – Episode 9: Like Episode 7, this entire show was a doozy, but I think the moment that really socked me in the gut was Sally’s spill on the floor of SCDP, followed closely by the shot of Peggy, Joan, Faye, and Megan observing Betty and Sally’s reunion. I could feel Sally’s despair; I wouldn’t want to go home with that bitch of a mother either.
Mad Moment #2 – Episode 10: When Lane Pryce’s father hit him with his cane, I literally gasped. Granted, Lane’s been testing his boundaries, what with screwing a hooker and conducting an adulterous interracial relationship, but still. I never thought that guy would get a spanking unless he really wanted one.
Mad Moment #1 – Episode 13: By no means was Don’s proposal to Megan the greatest moment of this season, but it was certainly the one that, above all others, gave me that Dallas feeling of “this was all just a dream.” Also, more than any of the other plot points this season, this proposal leads me to wonder where Season 5 will start.
Speaking of which, let’s hear some predictions for the start of Season 5. Will Megan already be playing the role of suburban housewife? Will Betty and Henry be divorced? Will Sally be in boarding school? Will we get to see Joan put that cleavage to good use with Roger’s baby?
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