Lionsgate Films | 2010 | 611 mins. | NR
Through the years, Mad Men has kept viewers on the edge of their seats from season to season, wondering just what would happen next. However, tensions were particularly high as the series prepared to return for a fourth season.
As we get underway, Don’s secret past has spilled out to the point where his marriage to Betty (January Jones) has ended in divorce. Other significant changes have also occurred, including the mass exit of most of the leading characters from Sterling Cooper, in order to set up their own agency, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. The new agency is a professional triumph for Don; no longer just a creative whiz-kid, he’s now a leader with a chance to make his mark on the advertising game.
Unfortunately for Don, he’s a man adrift. Betty and her new husband, Henry Francis (Christopher Stanley) live with the kids in their old house, and Don has an apartment in the city. On a creative high, Don has always struggled with the spotlight—an issue handled well in the season premiere. This season sees Don on an emotional rollercoaster like never before; he takes heavily to the bottle, has some sexual struggles, and deals with a symbolic death.
Who knew that this compulsive philanderer would miss family life? Surprisingly, there’s a hole in Don’s life; one he’s unable to fill with flings and one-night stands. Attempts to develop a meaningful relationship with market research consultant Dr. Faye Miller (Cara Buono) worked for a time then fell apart in favor of Don deciding that his new secretary, Megan (Jessica Paré), might be a better fit for a future spouse.
It might comfort Don to know that Betty isn’t doing much better. Life with Henry isn’t what she thought it would be. She has become increasing bitter and when she isn’t blowing up around other people, she is on the phone irritating Don. To make matters worse, her precocious daughter Sally (Kiernan Shipka) is driving her up a wall. When a neighbor insinuates that Sally was masturbating while attending a sleep-over, Betty cracks. She brings Sally to see a child psychiatrist; but what she really needs is her own shrink.
Meanwhile, Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) is coming into her own as a copywriter and a woman. Expanding her social circle, she’s finding herself. However, as Don’s protégé, she finds herself treading the line between the current generation, and the burgeoning feminist movement. Roger (John Slattery) spent much of Season Four either trying to dictate his memoirs or trying to get back into the saddle with Joan (Christina Hendricks), while Joan struggled with her marriage, specifically her husband’s departure to Vietnam.
What makes this fourth season of Mad Men so invigorating is how the characters have been reimagined in light of the changes surrounding Don. Don’s carefully constructed image, as fake as it was, had helped him achieve career success and maintain the appearance of a happy marriage; now both the agency he help build and the marriage, were in ruins. The series actually seems reinvigorated. With some cracks in Don’s exterior showing, only now are we truly beginning to answer the question, who is Don Draper?
As with previous seasons, Mad Men looks great, and this encompasses production design, and photography, on the enhanced 1.78:1 transfers on this four-disc set. The sets and costumes are flawless, exemplifying the simple elegance and pared-back design aesthetic of the era. The photographic approach values light over movement, which suits this character-oriented drama perfectly. The transfer provides high-contrast, crystal-clear pictures that enhance the viewing experience.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 surround tracks on these episodes are sharp, clear, and highly dynamic. Surrounds arent aggressive; they are woven into the rest of the show’s soundscape in an effortless manner, which assists the show’s realism.
We get the following special features:
- Commentaries. As with the other seasons of Mad Men, each one of this season’s 13 episodes contains at least one commentary. The best tend to be those of creator-writer Matthew Weiner, typically paired with either cast or crew, who talks about the nuts and bolts of characters and motivations. The list of commentaries includes:
“Public Relations”: 1) Weiner and Hamm; 2) David Carbonara and Jane Bryant
“Christmas Comes But Once a Year”: 1) Joel Murray and Alexa Alemann; 2) Weiner and Michael Uppendahl
“The Good News”: 1) Melinda Page Hamilton and Jared Harris; 2) Weiner and Jennifer Getzinger
“The Rejected”: 1) Vincent Kartheiser, John Slattery and Cara Buono; 2) Weiner and Chris Manley
“The Chrysanthemum and the Sword”: 1) Weiner and Erin Levy
“Waldorf Stories”: 1) Aaron Staton, Jay Ferguson and Danny Strong; 2) Weiner, Brett Johnson and Scott Hornbacher
“The Suitcase”: 1) Elisabeth Moss; 2) Weiner, Tim Wilson and Chris Manley
“The Summer Man”: 1) Christopher Stanley, Matt Long, and Rick Sommer; 2) Weiner and Leo Trombetta
“The Beautiful Girls”: 1) Christina Hendricks, Cara Buono and Kiernan Shipka; 2) Weiner and Dahvi Waller
“Hands and Knees”: 1) Vincent Kartheiser and Christina Hendricks; 2) Weiner and David Carbonara
“Chinese Wall”: 1) Jessica Paré and Cara Buono; 2) Weiner and Erin Levy
“Blowing Smoke”: 1) John Slattery, Andre and Maria Jacquemetton and Robert Morse; 2) Weiner, Bob Levinson and Josh Weltman
“Tomorrowland”: 1) Kiernan Shipka, Weiner, and Jessica Paré; 2) Weiner and Jonathan Igla - Divorce: Circa 1960’s (1:19:36 cumulative) is an interesting three part documentary which charts the course of the growing divorce “problem” of mid-sixties America, something that’s alluded to frequently in Mad Men with the subplot of Betty and her new husband. Copious film clips are utilized as well as several talking head experts on the subject.
- How to Succeed in Business Draper Style (56:29 cumulative) is a two-part featurette which interviews several real life businessmen, including some CEO’s and advertising executives, about Draper’s 10-point plan for business success.
- Marketing the Mustang: An American Icon (27:07) is great little piece on the car that took America by storm in 1964. The car’s history is detailed, including then Ford honcho Lee Iaccoca’s repeated efforts to get funding from Henry Ford II, who was still smarting from the Edsel “debacle”.
- 1964 Presidential Campaign (HD; 31:12) looks at the lopsided election between Johnson and Goldwater, including the much talked about ad campaign of Johnson which featured the once-only broadcast of the little girl picking daisies followed by a nuclear explosion.
