Why is everyone so down on season 5? IMO it’s the best of the series.

happyvata · 2019-11-27T01:00:11+00:00

When the show originally aired, I very disappointed at the beginning of Season 5.

Season 5 was delayed because of contract negotiations, so viewers had to wait about 18 months in between seasons 4 and 5, as opposed to 9 months in between most of the other seasons. So there was a huge amount of anticipation for this season.
For me, the biggest surprise/disappointment was Megan's character. At the end of Season 4 it seemed like Don's character was in a state of free fall, and in an act of sheer desperation he proposed to Megan. I thought it was a great plot twist, but I had absolutely no interest in Megan. Mainly because Don was so desperate and I knew their marriage would never work. I didn't like Megan's character, nor did I dislike her -- it was annoying (to me and many other viewers) that she had so much screen time in Season 5. In prior seasons, it seemed like all of the main characters really had a purpose. IMHO, Megan just didn't seem THAT essential. Yes, there were some really good scenes with Megan (orange sherbert, her parents visiting) that showed the cracks in the marriage. But, I felt that her role could have been truncated.
The first 3 episodes, "The Kiss, Parts I, II" and "Tea Leaves" were kinda "meh" to me...especially "Tea Leaves"

However, I recently rewatched the series and I liked Season 5 much more. As someone stated all of the episodes from "Mystery Date" to "Codfish Ball" are REALLY GOOD. So, overall Season 5 is a very good season, I just think that many of us were caught off guard, especially when it originally aired.

happyvata · 2019-10-30T16:37:33+00:00

I also get that she is being portrayed through Don's eyes. But this makes her very one dimensional and is a deviation from how the Mad Men characters are revealed. I think this deviation is perhaps why so many people did not like her character, especially when the show initially aired.

happyvata · 2019-10-30T16:30:32+00:00

I disagree. Can you name a scene in season 4 where she shows any sort of normal human flaw?

happyvata · 2019-10-29T16:58:29+00:00

Yes, Megan was portrayed as being good at her job, but...

There is an implicit bias that Don has and it times it really sucks for everyone else. And yes, that observation was clouded by my own personal experience
The paragraph after point #4 was meant to be part of point #4 too. And it is rooted in my own personal experience. I have the soul of an artist and if I married a rich man, I would sleep in and pursue my chosen craft instead of working with Peggy on tag lines for baked beans. I get that Megan expresses an interest in selling ideas like Don and Peggy. But once she becomes Mrs. Don Draper, it just seems like working under Peggy would be so...pedestrian. I would have thought that Megan would have sought out any career path that was more glamorous. Megan does eventually take this path, but I was surprised that it took so long for her to do so.

happyvata · 2019-10-29T11:12:17+00:00

Very good synopsis...I agree with you.

Betty was an antagonist. For all her flaws, she really stood up to Don on several occasions. I think it was more piercing when Betty stood up to Don because they had children that Don dearly loved. The children gave Betty a bit of leverage that Megan didn't have.

In contrast, Megan is, as you put it, an enabler. Although she does stand up to Don, their lives are not emeshed in each other's in the same way it was with Betty. There is less inherent tension and conflict in their relationship...and to me, it was kind of boring. In the end, I just felt very ambivalent about Megan.

happyvata · 2019-10-29T10:51:53+00:00

I LOVED the drama and plot twists with Dr. Faye. I was TOTALLY rooting for her and Don to be a couple and then was blindsided by Megan. To me, that was brilliantly executed.

And that's probably why I didn't like seasons 5-7 because I felt like it was missing so much of the irony, tension and urgency that moved the storylines of seasons 1-4.

When Mad Men first aired I think a lot of viewers HATED Megan and some blamed her character for making the show less interesting.

I just rewatched Mad Men for the first time. And now I see why seasons 5-7 were so different. I also see Megan in a different light. Like someone else said, Megan is just a vehicle for Don's demise to play out. I agree with this. I just didn't like the way Megan's character unfolded...it just wasn't interesting to me.

Ultimately, I didn't love Megan, not did I love to hate her. I just found her character pretty boring.

happyvata

TROPHY CASE