TMC
03-18-2022, 05:21 AM
https://www.looper.com/801958/the-20-best-mad-men-episodes-ranked/
BY MEG SIPOS/MARCH 17, 2022 2:02 AM EDT
Set against the backdrop of a 1960s America in which real, historical events are thematically relevant to our characters' arcs, Matthew Weiner's period drama "Mad Men" centers around a New York City advertising agency. More significantly, by following the lives of these (sometimes truly despicable) advertising executives, the show successfully interrogates the decade's social issues while simultaneously tracing rising feminism and shifting cultural ideals.
What propels "Mad Men" from good to award-winning is its impeccable use of dramatic irony — basically, the audience is always more aware than the characters — to present a rich portrait of the times, in which the old ways of '50s era Americana are starting to become archaic in an ever-evolving world. It pits a more progressive (but uncertain) future against outdated (and often bigoted) traditions of the past, and here we find the show's powerful narrative spine. We see the characters' hypocrisy reflected as they struggle with the images they present to the world and their own personal truths. Everything from authority to the illusion of identity is a performance, and our lead protagonist — the charming Donald Draper, who's hiding a dark past — is the series' biggest pretender.
And so, in celebration of this AMC drama's legacy, we've compiled a list of the show's 20 best episodes, ranked from good to great.
BY MEG SIPOS/MARCH 17, 2022 2:02 AM EDT
Set against the backdrop of a 1960s America in which real, historical events are thematically relevant to our characters' arcs, Matthew Weiner's period drama "Mad Men" centers around a New York City advertising agency. More significantly, by following the lives of these (sometimes truly despicable) advertising executives, the show successfully interrogates the decade's social issues while simultaneously tracing rising feminism and shifting cultural ideals.
What propels "Mad Men" from good to award-winning is its impeccable use of dramatic irony — basically, the audience is always more aware than the characters — to present a rich portrait of the times, in which the old ways of '50s era Americana are starting to become archaic in an ever-evolving world. It pits a more progressive (but uncertain) future against outdated (and often bigoted) traditions of the past, and here we find the show's powerful narrative spine. We see the characters' hypocrisy reflected as they struggle with the images they present to the world and their own personal truths. Everything from authority to the illusion of identity is a performance, and our lead protagonist — the charming Donald Draper, who's hiding a dark past — is the series' biggest pretender.
And so, in celebration of this AMC drama's legacy, we've compiled a list of the show's 20 best episodes, ranked from good to great.