We weren't sure if "Mad Men" would deal with the Kennedy assassination. But when, almost a season back, we saw the wedding invitation that was on that very day, we knew they would. We didn't know when. After all, time in "Mad Men" is strange.
Well, here it is. I was expecting it to happen in the middle of the wedding, but I'm glad it didn't. It's much better, if you ask me, the way they handled it; with a somewhat comic twist. It's interesting how the episode handling the most tragic event in the course of the show is so... funny. And it's good comedy, too. It's very dry. Roger never stops telling one-liners, as per usual in "Mad Men," and there's something darkly funny about how empty the wedding is and their attempts to pretend it's still packed. And of course, the funniest moment in a long time on the show was Roger's phone call with Joan about the wedding. "You should've seen it, Joanie. What. A. Disaster."
With that being said, there's also plenty of room for tragedy in the episode. There's Pete, not getting the job he wanted, and his sulking over it and plans to move on. There's Don and Betty's now increasingly on the rocks marriage, which, by the end, explodes into "I don't love you anymore," one of the most tragic sentences in the show's run. And of course, there's the JFK assassination itself, and everyone's devastating reactions to it. There's a moment, when Peter and Paul Kinsey are talking, with the television on. It's playing some random show, and the volume is low, and it cuts to a mandatory broadcast. They don't notice it, but if you listen closely, it is in fact, the news of the attack. And there's a sinking feeling in your gut that keeps wondering, "when will they look at the TV?"
It's truly one of "Mad Men"'s crowning achievements.
Well, here it is. I was expecting it to happen in the middle of the wedding, but I'm glad it didn't. It's much better, if you ask me, the way they handled it; with a somewhat comic twist. It's interesting how the episode handling the most tragic event in the course of the show is so... funny. And it's good comedy, too. It's very dry. Roger never stops telling one-liners, as per usual in "Mad Men," and there's something darkly funny about how empty the wedding is and their attempts to pretend it's still packed. And of course, the funniest moment in a long time on the show was Roger's phone call with Joan about the wedding. "You should've seen it, Joanie. What. A. Disaster."
With that being said, there's also plenty of room for tragedy in the episode. There's Pete, not getting the job he wanted, and his sulking over it and plans to move on. There's Don and Betty's now increasingly on the rocks marriage, which, by the end, explodes into "I don't love you anymore," one of the most tragic sentences in the show's run. And of course, there's the JFK assassination itself, and everyone's devastating reactions to it. There's a moment, when Peter and Paul Kinsey are talking, with the television on. It's playing some random show, and the volume is low, and it cuts to a mandatory broadcast. They don't notice it, but if you listen closely, it is in fact, the news of the attack. And there's a sinking feeling in your gut that keeps wondering, "when will they look at the TV?"
It's truly one of "Mad Men"'s crowning achievements.