Mad Men Season Finale

November 10, 2009 lordbuttercup
Tags: Mad Men, Mad Men Season Finale, Television

Lord Buttercup usually tunes into Mad Men, which I prefer to call Sad Men, with the expectation of being underwhelmed.  Last night’s season finale frustrated that expectation, which is good for Lord Buttercup the watcher, bad for Lord Buttercup the blogger.

Taken as a whole, Sad Men frustrates me in various ways:

1) What’s with the bandwagon this season?

My main gripe this season can’t be laid mouselike at the feet of the show’s creators.  For the last few months, I’ve been irritated by the Johnny-and Janey-come-latelies acting like this show is somehow something they’ve discovered when Lord Buttercup has been suffering its peaks and valleys for a full three seasons now.

2) TV doesn’t hang in the Museum of Fine Arts

Yes, it’s indisputable, this show is beautiful to look at.  But is that really a reason to tune in?  The costumes are sumptuous.  The decor is a revelation.  But I would gladly give up some of this attention to period detail if I could trade it in for consistent narrative tension on an episode-to-episode basis.

3) An accurate portrait of a historical time period does not great watching make.

At least not for me.  I wasn’t alive during the time Sad Men portrays, but I’ve spoken to people who were and they declare it to be on the money.  But so what?  In episodes where all the creators have to offer is a window into a different time, I suggest they open a different window in that time, one that overlooks something actually happening. 

Yes, Don & Co’s setting sail into the world of starting over as their own bosses was great in the season finale.  But every season, I seem to find myself wondering, “Why am I watching this again?  Yes, it’s beautifully shot; yes, it’s not as bad as reading a history book, but couldn’t I be using my time more productively?  Isn’t there some more carpet for me to tear up?”

I’m still burning over the decision a few episodes back when taking us to commercial was the so-less-than-scintillating plot point: Sally gives Grandpa Gene his five dollars back.  Or what about the unproductive cul de sac otherwise known as, “Let’s get to know the brother of the schoolteacher Don’s banging”?

I’m sick of this quasi emotional rollercoaster Sad Men puts me on: each season starts with hope because the finale was pretty good.  Then that hope gets dashed against the rocks of boredom.  I begin to drool. 

A week goes by and I ask myself what else am I going to do with my Sunday night?  I tune in.  I begin to enjoy my outrage at the triumph of style over substance.  I laugh harder and harder at the coming attractions after each episode: they’re horrible.  They say, “Next week on Mad Men” (or similar), then proceed to show a bunch of shots that couldn’t possibly whet anyone’s appetite because they give no indication of where the stories are going which seems in keeping with the bulk of each season’s episodes.

Then, at some point late in the season, someone over at Sad Men gets the idea that maybe it might be neat to write some stories that would get people to tune in again to see what’s going to happen.

You might think that I’m just a provincial American kitten with a short attention span, and in part you might be right, but I’m more than that.  I’m not just a quick-fix-addicted TV junkie.  As sure as I’m Lord Buttercup, I believe that story is king and that offering viewers portraiture simply falls short of what we deserve.

 

Entry Filed under: Television

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