Season 5 is another stellar performance from the Mad Men franchise, with excellent acting from a strong cast, and fantastic writing, capturing everything down to the smallest detail. The show still does a splendid job of portraying the world of a 1960s Madison Avenue ad agency and the 60s American life more broadly, this time with LSD, Hare Krishna and the other novelties of the second half of the 60s.
It continues to be incredibly well researched, with faultless attention to detail and is great at capturing the subtleties of life and work almost 50 years ago.
Don Draper's character again gets more attention, with the new family life and the new marriage changing both his attitude to life and work in many ways, down to the fear of whether he still has what it's got.
Pete on the other hand is trying as hard as possible to emulate the Don of earlier seasons, managing not wholly convincingly. The new characters introduced, namely Megan's parents, are an excellent addition, and her father is the source of one of the most memorable quotes of the season. Fans of Peggy may feel she has been somewhat short changed this season, as there is less attention lavished on her.
The ratio between life in the office, at home and in 'extra-curricular activities' is still aptly chosen and issues are given adequate time and attention, so as not to fall flat but to be sufficiently multidimensional to actually contribute to the story.
The professional aspect of work in an ad agency is interesting for two reasons - for how the realtionships have changed seismically in some aspects and how in others, shockingly litte progress has been made in the advertising field for over 4 decades. Sure enough, new media has entered the scene since but having worked in the field, many of the same approaches and methods are being 're-invented' year in, year out, with the industry on the whole largely standing still.
On the other hand both the gender and race issues, that are showing the first harbingers of change in the series, are shocking to observe for someone growing generations later. I'd also applaud the show for not coming across as judgemental but showing a portrayal of the world and allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions.
The DVD comes with a fairly eclectic selection of extras, from the famous quotes, to one on the music, and perhaps somewhat surprisingly, on the establishment of Summer Time.
Even though habituation to the high quality of the series may make the latest season feel a bit less bombastically good, I still believe that this is the best TV show I have seen so far and can warmly recommend it!
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Top reviews from other countries
AK
Still excellent, even if it does not stand out as the best of the series
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 November 2012Verified Purchase
Lemon Face
This review is Guaranteed for 12 months and is Sugar Free.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 February 2015Verified Purchase
square eyes
Why i'm mad about Madmen.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 May 2013Verified Purchase
barbara stockley
Mad Men 5 maintains the standard
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 March 2013Verified Purchase
P. M. Otter
TV drama at its very best
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 February 2013Verified Purchase
