Mad Men (TV Series) Signal 30 (2012) User Reviews

One of the best episodes of this fantastically engaging series

[tbmforclasstsar · 10/10 · 16 April 2012]

When you find a series that is as sound and powerful as "Mad Men," it is sometimes difficult to explain to someone who has never seen the show why they should watch it. Explaining the premise is not enough; listing the cast never pulls people in; even trying to give a clip or episode to watch can be difficult. The show is well done all around, making it difficult to pull out one episode that is greater than the other extremely well done installments.

However, I can already say that last night's "Mad Men" is one of my favorites of all time and I fantastic example of the mastery of this show.

The newest episode in the fifth season, "Signal 30″ is centered all around Pete Campbell. Before we even go into details of this episode, we already know that Pete is such an amazing character in the world of this show. He is slimy, obnoxious, and pretentious, but he is also a hard worker and a little boy trying to make it in the world of men. While we are never fully cheering for Pete, we do side with him on some points and scenarios and wish him at least some success.

Pete may be the most interesting character now because he has grown the most in the show's history. Starting as a lowly copy/writer, Pete has become a junior partner and pivotal bread earner for Sterling/Cooper/Draper/Pryce.

But what goes on inside Pete? What sort of moral sacrifices and betrayals has Pete made now that he is turning almost completely into a new Don Draper? "Signal 30″ reveals so much.

To read the rest of the review (IMDb forms are too short) visit here: http://custodianfilmcritic.com/mad-men-5-5-signal-30/

Ranks with the several best episodes best far.

[schell-7 · 10/10 · 22 April 2012]

Warning: The following review unavoidably alludes to story elements involving Pete Campbell while underscoring the remarkable unity of the episode as a result of scriptwriting, acting and, perhaps above all, John Slattery's direction. Ultimately, the spectator is enabled to feel both strongly "about" and "with" Pete, thanks to filmmaking that is as fluid and subjective as it objective and cinematic. The non-contextual specifics of the review will make little sense to the reader who has not already seen the episode.

Both thematically and formally this is one of the most layered and complex yet satisfying episodes to date. If John Slattery was responsible for a lion's share of choreographing the set scenes and managing the editing as well as the scripting (both the plotting and the numerous humorous one-liners--the asides about "guns and varmints" resonating with the 2012 Republican Presidential debates or Bertram Cooper's "It's medieval" doing the same for viewers of "Pulp Fiction"), he hit this one out of the park. Viewers may differ about which of many emotions emerges as the dominant one--howls of laughter ("I had Lane," Roger says after the altercation); scenes of gratifying vindication (when our favorite villain gets what he deserves); disturbing self-recognition as the camera unveils that same villain's internal conflict- -a newly married man's discovery of the disparity between his actual age and his pubescent sexual identity.

If women do not appear to have a central role in this episode, their voice, though marginalized, registers strength, dignity and composure. They serve as a foil to Pete's adolescent, regressive obsessions; they collaborate with greater efficiency and effectiveness than their male counterparts; Joan's calm and deliberative administrations leave Lane looking no less childish and confused than the conceited, immature overreacher he has just vanquished.

Unifying the entire episode is the face of Pete Campbell: framed in patronizing smugness one moment; in the pose of an insecure, tentative coward the next; then, a bloodied and humiliated, scapegoating bully; then a voyeuristic and fantasizing adulterer; finally, a soundly defeated putative Romeo and Rocky, undone in the first role by a bulked-up high school youth and in the second by a bespectacled awkward Brit who had been the object of his patronizing smugness.

The camera and lighting allow us to see Pete on the outside and from the inside. It films Pete's face from every angle, even cutting from Pete's face to Pete's face (!). And just when we come to see Pete as a "grimy pimp" (Lane's description) and applauding his humiliation, we simultaneously come to feel sympathy toward his character. We see him as a tormented overreacher suddenly confronted with a sexual identify that is 15 years behind his actual age.  

The episode ranges from broad comedy to smaller yet significant moments, such as Don's wife refusing the order to cancel dinner at Pete's and redirecting Don's assignment to the person who gave it (a harbinger of the imminent war not just between the sexes but the generations).

"Mad Men" continues to be remarkable in its generating excitement without the usual formulaic, sensational television plotting.  And its one of the few shows where the camera stays STILL long enough for the viewer to actually see something worth looking at! This may be the closest television drama has come to realizing the strengths that Andre Bazin, in "What Is Cinema," found in the singular "realism" of American filmmaking. (it's NOT a series of disorienting shock edits endlessly enticing viewers with the same stories and shots that can be found on the pages of "The National Enquirer.')

Multi-faceted episode with great ending.

[steve-3628 · 9/10 · 6 February 2013]

Like at least one other reviewer I was (initially) underwhelmed by this episode, but by the end realised that in fact it's one of the best. The transition of Pete, as a character we are learning to loathe to one that draws on our sympathy; the unlikely chemistry between Lane and Joan; the emerging strength of Don's wife Megan (which reaches new heights in the next episode), and of course Pete's comeuppance. Like all good episodes the threads come together and become more meaningful by the end. This episode is a triumph for Weiner and Pierson (writers) and Slattery (director) who I've always admired in front of the camera and who now proves himself (again) behind it.

Yes, Pete and Trudy's dinner party scene seems a little slow and somehow empty. But it turns out that this was important as this episode is largely about Pete's unhappiness and his feelings of emptiness and inadequacy. He is desperately trying to be upbeat only to be upstaged by Don (...before he is ultimately knocked down by Lane!).

The old rivalry between Pete and Ken Cosgrove is also subtly reprised in the closing scene where the creativity of Ken's 'Beethoven 9' story contrasts sharply with Pete's emptiness. I've always liked the closing music in Mad Men, and this one - with it's almost overpowering irony (Ode to Joy) - is one of the best.

Great stuff!

A Leaky Faucet = The Best Episode of Mad Men

[mnkeyby · 10/10 · 3 December 2017]

Pete Campbell is a character that I don't like. I've never liked him. I think he's a terrible, slimy, obnoxious snake in the grass. But he's a good character, a fantastic character even within the world of Mad Men. And Signal 30 is one of the richest character studies in fiction.

I did say that this is the best episode of Mad Men. Perhaps I'm over-hyping it too much, this is based personal opinion after all, and others can sing the praises of The Suitcase and Shut the Door. Have a Seat as much their heart's content (and I believe both of those episodes are spectacular). But I haven't seen a Mad Men episode, before and after Signal 30, that delves into the main themes of the show as much as Signal 30 does.

In this episode, explore into what I consider the core themes of this show; identity, adultery and masculinity. Through Matthew Weiner and Frank Pierson's script and through John Slattery's direction, we get to see Pete from all sides of his personality. Underneath his pretentiousness and pompous attitude, he is nothing more than a weak coward of a man.

Pete's behaviour stems through into his adultery, and when things don't go his way, his eyes go green. The high school girl he attempts to woo almost falls for him but by the end she goes with a classmate of hers. And Pete continues to feel the inadequacy he's felt for most of the series run.

In the title of this review, I've mentioned the leaky faucet, the faucet that Pete fixes at the start of the episode after keeping him awake during the night with the sound of dripping. The same faucet later bursts at a dinner scene later in the episode, and before Pete can fix it, Don steps in and is met with praises. Once again alluding to the inadequacy Pete feels once more, playing into the theme of masculinity.

In my favourite sequence of this episode, taking place near the end. Lane, who also goes through his own path of identity by trying to secure a client for the agency, has had enough of Pete's attitude, and gets into a fight with Pete. Which he ultimately wins, and Pete is left bruised and bloodied in Lane's punches and within his own insecurity. Upstaged by one of the most awkward characters in the show.

And when he says to Don that he has nothing, and when he's sitting in the class again, the sound of the faucet dripping begins again. And with the sound of dripping, we cut to black, and the humiliation stays with Pete.

This is an episode that is simply perfect, it managed to take a character so hateful and pretentious and bring him down to his bare bones. It's done in such a beautiful way, Weiner and Pierson's script is subtle and crafts a great character study. Vincent Kartheiser is superb as always, and this is his best performance as Pete in my opinion. But my favourite aspect of this episode is John Slattery's direction, he may be a good actor, but he's underrated behind the camera. Slattery captures all of the right moments for the perfect amount of time, nothing feels wasted in this episode.

This is definitive Mad Men, and one of my utmost favourite episodes of TV ever. This is an episode that demands repeat viewings, and deserves more attention. I cannot sing its praises enough.

Lane Pryce's wife Rebecca notices when her husband comes home with a sticky wicket

[Ed-Shullivan · 9/10 · 12 February 2019]

This episode is over flowing with comedy, drama, and the character assasination of Pete Campbell. On top of all the social activity in the suburbs where Pete and Trudy Campbell are hosting the Drapers and the Cosgrove's Don becomes the hero once again when he spontaneously rips off his sport jacket and shirt to fix Trudy's burst kitchen sink pipe which embarasses Pete for a failed repair job he did previously.

On top of the social ativities this is a stand out episode for Lane Pryce (Jared Harris) who begrudgingly agrees to go to an English pub to have dinner with his wife Rebecca (Embeth Davidtz) when he accidentally picks up on a new potential client for his firm, the Jaguar car. Lane is really pissed off when he finds out that his partners Pete, Roger and Don have taken his new found friend and potential Jaguar client to a house of ill repute and the client's wife finds out about it when she finds a wad of gum stuck to his pubic hairs. Lane is so pissed with the way Pete Campbell disparages him that he challenges Pete to fisticuffs right there in the office, and a brouhaha ensues.

Pete is embarrassed on many fronts by Don, by Lane, and by anoher driving ed student in his class named Jim Hanson who seems to have the upper hand on the teenage skirt that Pete showed great interest in wooing.

Hands Down, the Best Mad Men Episode of the Lot

[heyitsadam · 10/10 · 17 January 2022]

"You're a grubby little pimp."

It's one of the best insults ever and it sounds even more insulting coming from Layne in his British accent. This is my hands-down favorite episode of the entire series. This is the Mad Men's "Pine Barrens" or "College." SCDP gets a crack at Jaguar's business through a friend of Layne's and while Layne tries his best, he turns the meeting over to the big guns of Roger, Don, and Pete. When they're out for lobster, they're informed that while he's Layne's friend, he doesn't feel like he can cut loose around such a close acquaintance.

I'm not putting spoilers in here because the episode is so epic, even a spoiler warning would fail the viewer. But if I had to watch just one episode of Mad Men, it'd be this episode 1000 times.

A very strong episode

[rose_cassidy · 10/10 · 1 August 2023]

Oh my, what a tragic show this is. How much pain is here, hidden in the depths of everyone. Take Pete, for example? In appearance, a happy family man with a wonderful wife and a successful job. But he unsuccessfully tries to become the big man, like his colleagues, and he is so desperately trying to do it throughout the episode: but he can't fix the tap, and he can't even fight. But he tries to act like the the big men! What is the problem? And the problem is in his irrepressible desire for more, in the eternal desire to be more important and more powerful than he already is. This contrasts beautifully with Ken and his quiet passion for writing stories: he knows how to find what makes him happy, and no amount of ambition compares to that. Pete's ambition only results in a broken face and a look that he can't get.

Or, take a look at Lane, who so longs to feel needed. A similar problem with Pete, but at the same time completely difdifferent. Here, he has a chance to prove it, but is immediately deprived of this action, demonstrating that he, too, will not become a "big man" in any way. He might forever remain a quirky foreigners in everyone's eyes.

Overall, very solid tragic character and great writing throughout the entire episode!

Pete's A Real Drip

[TheFearmakers · 10/10 · 6 April 2024]

The greatest aspect of MAD MEN (and there are very many great aspects) are the very, very, very end (yes, there is a character-count)...

This episode has the greatest very, very, very ending of all the episodes, and it won't be spoiled, but it has to do with a certain rhythmic thing that occurs throughout the episode...

A strange one here, having to do with Pete and his too-perfect suburban home, and wife, and then a flirtation with a sexy high school girl at driving school...

Pete has always been a wannabe-Don, on the show, on purpose, but the writers also make him one by putting him into affairs that, frankly, are pretty contrived, like the one he'd get into very soon from this point with a lonely housewife of a guy he talks to on the train...

This, however, was a great near-romance flirtation that really sums up the depth of Pete's endearing shallowness... and, again, what an ending!

Focus on Pete and Slattery

[vacancy · 7/10 · 16 April 2012]

When the opening credits rolled, I was interested to see what Slattery would do behind the camera. Overall, I think he did a decent job. He seemed a bit focused on segues, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It may be that I focused on them as well, because I was looking for what he might do in the director's chair.

**Spoiler Alert**

Direction aside, the story was a microcosm of Pete. From the first episode, he has had a supplicant/hate relationship with Don and this installment played heavily to both sides of that relationship. He is like a child meeting his idol when Don shows up for his couples night. That is, until Don usurps his role as domestic master in the faucet saga. I believe his reaction to this manifested itself in the following Jaguar night on the town.

The other side of Pete, if it is truly another side, defines the second side of this episode. His pursuit of sexual conquests outside his longstanding and now marital relationship, finds two avenues. The first, and more telling, is his adolescent pursuit of a high school, driving class student. The second is his all too easy bordello participation during a client outing. The first is circumvented by a classmate, putting him in the same position of inadequacy he feels around Don.

Pete is weak. Pete has always been weak. Pete remains weak, in spite of the power he has gained.

He wants to be the handsome guy. He wants to be the talented guy that the girls fall for. And as much as he hates the guys that he wants to be, he squelches that hatred in an obsequious attempt to curry favor with those same guys. As long as they are above him on the social/corporate ladder.

Disappointing Episode **

[edwagreen · 4/10 · 15 April 2012]

This episode was a huge disappointment and you want to know why? There was no basic central theme around our assortment of characters.

Don and his wife go to a party that is really benign in itself. The most exciting feature is where Don takes off his shirt to fix a kitchen leak and the hostess points out that country living doesn't have the bakers and the Greenbergs. Perhaps, she should read Laura Z. Hobson's "Gentleman's Agreement."

Our British partner has an opportunity to bring in an account. The head person of that group wants a night of action. The guys go to one but Don refuses to participate.

There is a memorable fight in the office, but what a joke that turns out to be. This is supposed to be a business office, not Madison Square Garden.

The show has to go up after this.