I say it every year, but Mad Men is one of those shows that I generally enjoy when I watch it but yet for some reason am never particularly excited to be coming back to until I do so. I have no idea why this is the case since season after season has given me strong adult soap opera plots of one form or another. In this penultimate season (something I knew going in) we see Don balancing his usual affairs with a changing and challenging work environment while all around him the other characters have their own interacting lives and situations, and the 1960's continue on their merry way, changing society as they go.
Fundamentally the sixth season is a good one; we have a lot going on with the characters and the central theme is one of Draper's life continuing an accelerating downward spiral. The world is changing and we see him tire of his own cycles, lies and flaws, while also seeing others starting to see him for who he is rather than who he says he is. Across the whole season a lot of things go on with many other characters but Draper is and was the core of the show and season. The reason I say it was fundamentally good is that it is not a season where everything works perfectly. There are a lot of plot lines that are not quite as strong as others and too often I felt like time was being filled by the use of the characters and their situations, rather than really working to draw me in for narrative reasons. Likewise, while I like the direction of Draper in the season, it does feel like a lot is treading water at times. Ironically then, it is also the case that a lot happens quickly – the merger happens really quickly and feels like it happened to create drama rather than being something that would really have happened in this way; meanwhile Draper's self-realisation, while understandably brought on abruptly by events, seems to have been reached and accepted a lot quicker than it should have been.
Such things do not affect the show so that it doesn't work, but it was noticeably less compelling than previous seasons and I thought that key narrative pillars were perhaps not as strong or as well constructed either – even if the broad strokes of it all worked as before. The cast continue to be very strong, with good performances across the board and quite a few really memorable turns at key moments. Generally speaking the strengths of the show outweigh the weaknesses, although it is hard to see this sixth season in the same class as some of the previous. Hopefully they can tighten up somewhat heading into the final season and close out with a high standard.
Fundamentally the sixth season is a good one; we have a lot going on with the characters and the central theme is one of Draper's life continuing an accelerating downward spiral. The world is changing and we see him tire of his own cycles, lies and flaws, while also seeing others starting to see him for who he is rather than who he says he is. Across the whole season a lot of things go on with many other characters but Draper is and was the core of the show and season. The reason I say it was fundamentally good is that it is not a season where everything works perfectly. There are a lot of plot lines that are not quite as strong as others and too often I felt like time was being filled by the use of the characters and their situations, rather than really working to draw me in for narrative reasons. Likewise, while I like the direction of Draper in the season, it does feel like a lot is treading water at times. Ironically then, it is also the case that a lot happens quickly – the merger happens really quickly and feels like it happened to create drama rather than being something that would really have happened in this way; meanwhile Draper's self-realisation, while understandably brought on abruptly by events, seems to have been reached and accepted a lot quicker than it should have been.
Such things do not affect the show so that it doesn't work, but it was noticeably less compelling than previous seasons and I thought that key narrative pillars were perhaps not as strong or as well constructed either – even if the broad strokes of it all worked as before. The cast continue to be very strong, with good performances across the board and quite a few really memorable turns at key moments. Generally speaking the strengths of the show outweigh the weaknesses, although it is hard to see this sixth season in the same class as some of the previous. Hopefully they can tighten up somewhat heading into the final season and close out with a high standard.