Mad Men: the long one (insomnia breeds pointless blog posts)

Megan Draper...Sigh....Course he's happy she's Canadian

So I was watching the season premiere of ‘Mad Men’ (season 5, yeah am pretty behind) and something struck me; the characters have a lot more to offer than we've been led to believe. What’s more, there is a certain emotional depth, cleverness and sense of life about them. It was (is, am still watching it, I took a break to write this) the most enjoyable episode of the series I’ve seen yet.

Let me put things in context. Mad Men is a very stylized show: it has a strong sense of its time and place in history, ours and the time it represents. It is a period piece. The dilemmas and twists of Draper’s life, the ups and downs of the ad world, the personal arcs of those around him are all written to create an impression. Call it the imprint of that era, the usual story with the grace of the 50s and 60s. It is fairly well scripted and has some great acting.

The average episode runs for about an hour. This one was a special 1 hour 30 minutes. That’s 32 odd minutes more air time. 32 minutes changes a lot. Don’s world seems different. Ok so he’s married (again) and happy. That’s not it though; the show has life in it. Real life. The script is sharper than its ever been, the quips better executed. Nuances are more deliberate. Given the luxury of added time we see an almost ‘cinematic’ display of the storyboard.

The third bit of context is my own circumstances. I am tired, I have been awake all night and that means I am more vulnerable than usual. I feel more. It helps to see Don with Megan, she’s not only gorgeous, she’s from Montreal. My city. I ache for such a beauty, feel happy to share in the tidings at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. No one’s seems hurried, nothing is done in a snappy manner. Things move at a nice, elegant pace; creating depth of mis-en-scene.

The point of this post is a simple one: everything captured on film which is really good has the potential to be great. Sopranos great. Given time and artistic freedom television productions can evolve to tell great stories of legendary characters.

Time is everything. It leaves space for humanity and expression. We see it in this episode. Craft is always amplified to fill the gaps it is asked to fill. In the cultural space of the digital world, less is only more when it actually has more. Placing, or trying to place, too much content in a small segment of this space is not the end-game. Creating lasting impressions is.

In other words; Just watching 1.5 hour special Mad Med S5; brilliant. Feels like Don’s world has a deeper sense of life in it. (yes, I did just tweet that last line, with 22 characters to spare - somehow the post was a better read).

Anyway, I shall now finish the episode.