Arts

July 29, 2010 at 4:13 AM

Mad Men

By Paul Osolnick
Collegian Staff Writer

The new season of AMC's "Mad Men" offered a different product than seasons past when it aired on Sunday. The fourth season premiere of Mad Men -- a series based on advertising firms in the 1960's -- opened with a question that has many answers: "Who is Don Draper?" In previous seasons, Draper was a married man ("happily" was left out for a reason), father and a talented creative director at the successful advertising agency Sterling Cooper. During the Korean War, he was literally a different person, before dying in an accident after which the current Draper assumed his identity. And now, Don Draper is divorced, sharing custody of his children and working as a partner at the unstable, "scrappy upstart" advertising firm Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. The question is asked by a reporter interviewing him about the start of the new company, but when Draper receives the question, he dismisses it with a question of his own. This sets the tone for Draper throughout most of the episode. Draper is bitter and out of character as he blows an account with a conservative bathing suit company by offering an advertising campaign much more "sexy" than they had asked for (remember it is the 1960's, conservative actually means conservative. If they had seen any current swimsuit ad, they would have fainted). His personal life has taken a dive as well, as he goes "home" to a small apartment that is often empty. Sometimes he finds his housemaid with a plate of cold pork chops waiting for him. After blowing the first interview -- a move that cost him and the company bad press -- he is told to have another interview with someone at a different newspaper, a better one. The show ends with Draper holding another interview with a reporter from the Wall Street Journal. And unlike the first time around, Draper is eager to tell his story, the founding of the new ad agency -- with his enthusiasm and charm that audiences have learned to expect from the smooth-talking ad man. The episode ends with Draper in an entirely different disposition from where the season premiere started. He is still divorced, but he is calling the shots. He is still a member of an unstable company, but with Draper's talent, it won't be unstable for long. And unlike the grimace the protagonist opens the episode with, Draper is all smiles when the credits roll. Get ready, America -- Don Draper is back. Grade: A

Arts

July 29, 2010 at 4:13 AM

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