Mad Men (TV Series) The Phantom (2012) User Reviews

Season Five

[zkonedog · 10/10 · 4 July 2019]

After watching five seasons of "Mad Men", it has finally clicked why this show has been such a unique experience for me. My past favorite TV shows (LOST, X-Files, Smallville, 24) pretty much all focused on over-arching plots from episode to episode. "Mad Men" uses a similar strategy...but with characters instead of plot points, By this season, the show has developed such a stable of incredible characters that you can't help but what to see what will happen to them all.

By this point in the show, there are just so many juicy stories going on that it truly takes an entire season to get them all enough screen time! For example:

-The "business stuff" with Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and his work partners like Peggy (Elisabeth Moss), Pete (Vincent Kartheiser), Harry (Rich Sommer), Ken (Aaron Staten), Roger (John Slattery), Bert (Robert Morse), and Lane (Jared Harris).

-Joan Harris (Christina Hendricks) and husband Greg (Sam Page) try to get things straightened out.

-Personal players in Don's life such as new wife Megan (Jessica Pare), old wife Betty (January Jones), and daughter Sally (Kiernan Shipka).

-Even some new blood in the character of Michael Ginsberg (Ben Feldmen) is introduced, while Paul Kinsey (Micheal Gladis) re-surfaces for a brief period.

There are no set plot arcs to this show, but rather it just shows the lives of all those characters and how they interact with each other and the world. Show creator Matthew Weiner has such a deft touch at making them all interesting that by now the "formula" (if one can use such a simple term like that to describe something so complex) is set: In just a 13 episode season, focusing on the characters described above alone is plenty of material!

After a noticeable drop in standards during the second season and the beginning of the third, this show has been hitting on all cylinders since that point. Nothing to dissuade loyal viewers in this season.

a fitting end to a fantastic season

[tbmforclasstsar · 10/10 · 11 June 2012]

And so, the fifth season of Mad Men has come to a close. But not before some major changes occurred and we were able to loop everything around to a proper close. The two weeks before the finale we had Joan becoming a partner, Peggy leaving for another company, and Lane killing himself in his office. With all of this happening in such short span of time, it was fitting that the finale served as a way for the audience to understand the state of our characters moving forward.

We'll start with Joan. Following the death of Lane, there are some somber business meetings that all of the partners have. Lane's skeptical voice about plans is missing from the group and when the meeting rolls too smoothly, Joan feels she must object, as she remembers that Lane would probably tell the group that they should hold onto money right now and worry more about continuing success before investing in…say more office space. Joan has clearly been affected by Lane's death, showing even more when she comments to Don later in the episode that she should have just let him have what he wanted. When Don questions what that might be, she gives him the glare of "he wanted this, but he wasn't getting' none." Clearly, this enforces the notion hat Joan believes her sleeping with Lane may have stopped him from killing himself.

Meanwhile, Roger Sterling once again seems rather unaffected by the latest development. While everyone else is in a state of shock, Roger is busy seducing Megan's mother into sex and trying to take LSD with her. He comments to her that he is surprised Lane would kill himself, because he sees it that Lane had to have thought where he was going would have to be better than where he was. How could death be better than life, sex, and drugs? I suppose it is something that Roger feels he should contemplate over another LSD experience, as we see hims standing with his arms raised, looking out the window, completely naked as the episode comes to an end.

Pete Campbell is another story altogether. Increasingly more and more nauseating through this season, Pete runs into Beth on the train one morning and is told by her husband that she is going to be visiting her sister for a few weeks. But when he gets to the office, Pete gets a phone call from Beth asking him to meet her at the hotel he once tried to rendezvous. Pete scoffs the idea on the phone and finds himself angry as he walks into the hotel room where Beth is staying. Beth asks why he just didn't come if it was going to make him so angry, to which Pete replies "you know I couldn't." Pete is obsessed with Beth and can't deny it even a little.

To read the rest of the review (IMDb form is too short) visit: http://custodianfilmcritic.com/mad-men-5-13-the-phantom/

Best quote in the whole series...

[SimonSaysSmallScreen · 8/10 · 21 April 2021]

Conductor: "I am an officer of the Harlem-Hudson Railroad!" Campbell: "Well, I'm president of the Howdy Doody Circus Army!"

Chasing Phantoms

[sgoodyear2003 · 10/10 · 8 July 2012]

Right off the bat, the male audience is titillated with the guarantee of "brief nudity" viewer discretion advised. Was it Beth in her bra and panties? Close but no cigar. Later, Megan slips into the bathroom to take a bath before dinner—big letdown. Finally, at the end, literally a rear-end: Roger's. The gotcha joke's on us—the promise was seemingly a slick ploy to keep our attention, anticipation. Was the "warning' really necessary for an after prime-time cable show geared to an adult audience? I mean, sex has not been an insignificant theme for this show. We recently saw Marie's head in Roger's lap doing you know what. Anyway, there's also mouth references for this episode: Don's tooth, Harry's "scurvy," Pete's Lifesavers, Ginsberg's outburst (mouthing off), Roger's "conversation," Peggy's smoking, Beth's electro shock therapy. Don's seething toothache—emblematic of his past (hallucinations of Adam) and also his future, as Adam puts it, more than the tooth is rotten. Will Don keep on with Megan? He wants her to stay home. Will there be a baby in the future? But, as his mother-in-law advises him, he doesn't understand the artistic type. (Of course Don is artistic—creativity is the coin of his realm.) As for Harry's scurvy—he's stuck in small windowless office with a column running through it. Like sailors of old deprived of fruits and vegetables, he's been pigeonholed in a dead end position, starved of what he needs to do his job. He's supposed to be in charge of placing ads on TV but can't even get TV reception in his office. Will his life improve when the office space is expanded? Then, Pete wants "fresh" Lifesavers from the lobby. He's bored, despite being a rain maker and partner in a profitable agency, and with a beautiful wife and baby daughter and a house in the country. Yet, he's pathetic— acting like a spoiled brat--he wants a new woman to run off to L.A. where's there's sunshine. A ranch house with a pool is out of place in New York but would be perfect in the San Fernando Valley. Better learn to drive if he's going to California. His weakness is impulsiveness. In the hospital with Beth, Pete covertly decries his family as if they're causing him some great harm and holding him back from obtaining his true destiny. Will Pete foolishly throw it all away? (or perhaps start SCDP west coast foreshadowed in season 2 episode "Meditations in an Emergency") As for Beth, she's gone from feeling blue to living temporarily in a cloud of gray—a metaphor for Pete's life, as well as other characters--products of the 60s, living a philosophy of moral relativism—there is no black or white—only "grey." Pete ridding himself of his family; it's easy erasing a bad memory—painful but not all that shocking. Now back to Ginsberg. He's had it; tired of being under appreciated. He mouths off to Don who just shrugged off a racial slur aimed at the black secretary. Is Ginsberg going to jump ship like Peggy? Next, there's Roger; still a mischievous schoolboy playing antics (breathing on the phone) looking for an adventure—a lot more than just "conversation." He wants another LSD trip. He's living dangerously on the edge—boozing, sex addict, burned through two expensive marriages; had one heart attack already. Will he learn his lesson or is he about to leave for a better place like Lane? We check in with Peggy at her new job—been ordered to take up smoking to try out the new ladies cig. Will it work out? Yeah, sure she gets to ride in a plane for the first time from New York all the way to Virginia and stay in some nondescript motel. But, did she quit SCDP prematurely, just when SCDP is about to expand? The episode culminates with carefully choreographed character snippets to song "You Only Live Twice" (1967, Nancy Sinatra; James Bond movie). This episode taking place about Easter 1967—film was released shortly thereafter. Immediately before song starts, we hear "rehearsal in five" as Megan's in the Beauty and the Beast Butler shoe commercial. She's the beauty. Where the beast? We're left to speculate as Don walks off the set, into darkness, and into the bar (decorated mid 60s Chinese American, a nod to the Asian setting of the Bond flick.) Subliminally, with the music in the background, Don appears like Bond. We're now "rehearsing" foreseeing the future. Lyrics, perfectly symmetrical with the character's lives: "one life for yourself, and one for your dreams." We're taken to Peggy's motel room; she looks out the window--two dogs screwing. We hear "you drift through the years as life seems tame." There's the "tame" dogs humping, perhaps predicting Peggy's screwed the pooch by leaving SCDP. Peggy hops into bed; "till one dream appears and love is its name." Will Peggy find love? Then, to Pete—eyes closed, headphones on, "love is a stranger who'll beckon you on." Will Pete leave? Next, Roger standing nude on the chair, outstretched arms ready to fly out that window, high on LSD, "don't think of the danger." Will he get a grip on reality? Finally, Don. Will he "pay the price" for the exotic girl resembling Japanese actress, Bond girl, Mie Hama who posed nude in Playboy June 1967. So, were there any phantoms in the episode as the title suggests? Yes—Joan spots Lane's empty chair (his life is over in a snap leaving meaningless money for Mrs. Pryce while answers to her questions remain elusive), Megan's career, a "phantom" per her French speaking mother, and seeing her projected on screen in black in white, silent, ethereal, and also the ghost of Adam still "hanging" around (rope burns on the neck) (the show killed off two characters by suicide); and all the characters chasing some intangible dream. My Phantom—to be a writer for Mad Men.

Not the most eventful season finale, but still great!

[easy_pete · 9/10 · 13 August 2023]

It was an outstanding season! The reason for its' success was, in many ways, thanks to a greater shift in focus from Don to the characters around him, because how much has happened to everyone and what kind of personal drama they're experiencing right now. I never tire of being surprised. Peggy, who went further, Pete, who has much more in common with the dissatisfied life of Roger, Lane and Joan (dear God, what a tragic storyline!), plus Betty, and Megan, and even Sally! How layered but in perfect balance. One thing worries me: how does Cooper spend his life? Bert is still like a mystery man to me. I hope he gets his own personal storyline or at least some background info in the next seasons.

As for the episode itself, this was probably the least eventful season finale in the series so far. But seeing how much tragedy has already befallen on our characters in the previous episode, I believe that providing us with a calmer conclusion to a season is not such a bad idea.

The Phantom ***

[edwagreen · 7/10 · 11 June 2012]

Somewhat season finale of this usually excellent show surrounds itself with Megan asking Don to get her the commercial job from a company that does business with Don's advertising business. It's the old story of whom you know in securing a position. Don attempts to be ethical, but eventually, surrenders to what his wife wants.

Lane's widow shows her bitterness when Don comes to her home to express his condolences and give her a $50,000 check. She knew what led to her husband's suicide.

Will still another woman be entering Don's life? The playing of the theme of You Only Live Twice is most appropriate as the season draws to a closing.

Season 5: Strong story telling with good characters and performances – shame about the terrible sound engineering

[bob the moo · 2 June 2013]

The growth of the new agency continues while the personal lives of the partners all go in different directions and the county continues into the 1960's with cultural and societal changes all around. The fourth season of this show was really strong and I enjoyed it a great deal and again I have to say I have no idea why it took me so long for the fifth season to come to the front of my queue to be watched. It is a mystery to me why I seem to not be excited by the show and why it needs to win me over each year, but I am glad that whenever I do start watching, that it does get me every time. The fifth season is no exception as the writing makes a compelling series of threads and pulls them all together in a professional soap of work tensions and personal dramas. I say "soap" not in a negative way but in recognition that the show is driven forward and the characters and their dramas – it isn't a thriller where this engagement comes from cliffhangers, or a political piece where lots of issues are raised and points made, it is more about the characters.

This season continues that because the characters are strong and engaging. While Don of course continues to be the main man of the show, we have moved away quite a bit from an intense focus on him and allowed the other characters to come forward more and more, each producing good stories and threads. They are all held together by the central agency so the threads never feel like they are competing for time or distracting from each other, but rather that they compliment one another even though they may not directly have much to do with the other. Within the context of the show the characters are convincing. I will be the first to concede that the bed-hopping and other excesses are perhaps not recognizable as "real life" to me, but the show makes them work within the world it has created and the world it sells each week.

The progress into the 1960's is not forced into our faces, it happens through the music and the politics but beyond having characters and threads that are connected to changes in society, the show doesn't go out of its way to make points or large commentary out of it, so much as it just happening. I liked this as I didn't think the show was set up to push an agenda or preach, so I was glad that it didn't even really try. The cast are strong here and make the drama work well by delivering convincing characters. Hamm is very charismatic in the lead and he continues to engage even if his character now feels very familiar. The addition of a certain amount of weariness to him and a sense of being left behind was nicely done and nicely used by Hamm. Moss benefits the most from changes in the world of the show and her character and struggles are convincingly played out. Kartheiser becomes more engaging the less likable he becomes and the show gives him plenty to do this season. The cast is deep in talent and good turns though – Jones' fat suit may be the most obvious change but Shipka is great and the regular cast all maintain a high standard. Hendricks stands out a bit too much for my liking and I struggle with her being bigger than her character, it is a problem the show doesn't totally manage to deal with either. Likewise Brie is a tough sell at times in terms of what she has to play, although she mostly does it convincingly and well.

Overall another strong season and it does say something where one of the few negative things you can say is not about the drama but a technical thing; in this case the sound engineering. Perhaps it is just me but throughout the season background noises were far too loud and not in balance with the rest – it was frequently terrible and distracting and I have no idea why it was done like this. Otherwise though strong and engaging drama that employs all its characters well to the benefit of the story telling.

Don is the James Bond of advertising?

[mrwb77 · 7/10 · 5 July 2022]

He's such a player, his second marriage really seems like utterly contrived writing. The secretary whos heart he breaks few episodes back is much more realistic. Why would he get married to Megan? Wherever he goes insanely hot women line up to throw themselves at him, california, any bar, neighbours etc. It's as ridiculous as a bond movie...

Enjoyable episode, a lot of the writing is getting paper thin though. Rather ludicrous turn around at the firm from losing lucky strike. Lane's death also made no sense, he could simply have asked for a short term loan or many other options Whole story was bogus. Obviously it's been done to give Joan his job by the writers.

Can you really wipe someone's memory with electo shock therapy? Don't think so.

Typical for TV shows to decline in this way after 5 seasons...

Seeing Things

[TheFearmakers · 6/10 · 6 April 2024]

The last season 5 episode leading to the worst season of the show, where Don winds up in his most boring affair... and speaking of boring affairs, it's insane that Pete (the wannabe Don) is still in the affair with the woman who made the actor a temporary wife... the wife of his train-riding friend...

It's been an affair that feels part of a soap opera, but not the kind of soap opera that this show can turn into, which is a good not boring one...

Meanwhile the story with Megan also seems part of another show... like, a Megan-acting-in-Manhattan spinoff or something; the entire episode actually feels like if Mad Men went the Walking Dead route and turned into a series of would-be spinoff pilots...

Meanwhile Don is seeing ghosts... It's bad enough we had to finish the last episode with too much Glen, ending with Don and Glen in a Jaguar, but now Don's back to looking back, basically, this time being haunted, and Draper's always best briskly looking foward.