Mad
Men Season 4 is set in the late 1960s in the new office of Sterling
Cooper Draper Pryce, the agency that was created at the end of season 3.
This season involves more of the Vietnam War while tackling social
issues that were prevalent within American in the 1960s. Like the
previous seasons the focus is on Don Draper’s personal life as well as
his life within advertising. This season picks up where the last season
left of in terms of his divorce with Betty and her subsequent
remarriage.
This
is a strange television show, so much is going on and yet nothing sees
to occur. This is not the type of show that relies on big plot twists
for every episode, and while the series as a whole does involve twists,
they only seem to exist as ways of furthering each character and to
highlight some social morale or event that is particular to the 1960s.
This show is as much about character development as it is about
developing the audience’s knowledge of the period.
Fans
of the TV series will want to get their hands on this season as soon as
possible, especially since Australia is so far behind America in terms
of screening episodes on free-to-air television. For those who haven’t
seen this show before there is no point in starting at season 4, the
characters have developed so much over the seasons and situations are
alluded to and without that wealth of knowledge this season won’t be
understood by a newcomer.
I have
to question why you would purchase this season on blu-ray though as
opposed to the DVD as there isn’t a noticeable difference in the quality
of the image. The images are not as crisp and clear as one might expect,
with some instances of a very grainy image, though I am choosing to
believe that this is a conscious decision made by the creators of this
TV show in order to maintain the aesthetic that audiences associate with
this era. This however makes the extra price paid for the blu-ray disc
somewhat redundant.
The special features also leave much to be desired. Each
disc in this three disc set has a different documentary on it and each
one is as boring as the last one. None of them have anything to do with
the actual show but rather talk about the 1960s. This might be
interesting to you only if you watch the show purely for the decade
rather than the characters.
