Blu-ray Review: Mad Men, Season One (2007)

The likes of The Sopranos, The Wire and The West Wing now long gone, it has fallen to Mad Men to hold the current mantle of 'the best thing on TV'. The first venture into drama by US network AMC (who have since have a major hit with The Walking Dead), Mad Men started life as a relatively small and unassuming show, albeit one with a strong pedigree - creator Matt Weiner cut his teeth on The Sopranos. Four years later, it had won the Best Drama Emmy for each of its four seasons. Unlike previous Emmy hoarders, though, Mad Men has never quite caught on with the general public, its critical adoration and small but ardent fanbase keeping it alive despite low ratings.

While watching this first season from 2007 for the first time, it is apparent why it has never garnered a massive audience. Firstly, to most, the subject matter may not seem that exciting: it centres around an advertising agency in 1960s New York, based on Madison Avenue (hence the nickname). It doesn't pander in any way, taking its time with its storylines, content to let whole episodes go by in which little real plot development happens, and anything that could be defined as 'action' is almost entirely absent. Mad Men is all about characters, behaviour and subtext, with impeccable scripting, attention to detail and a superb cast bringing the period to life. It's a slow starter, for sure - it took a good five episodes for me to be truly absorbed - but those with patience will be rewarded with a show that takes risks and rejects easy cliché. By the end of the season, they may just find themselves hooked.

Like most serialised dramas, Mad Men features an ensemble cast, but front and centre is the suave Don Draper, played with enigmatic sophistication by Jon Hamm (The Town). He's the creative director at ad agency Sterling Cooper, great at his job but also a bit of a mystery as a person. Even his wife Betty (January Jones, looking every bit as elegant as Grace Kelly) knows little about his past. The teasing out of Don's backstory forms the central strand of the first season, though even this plotline is only really touched upon in perhaps three or four episodes. Helping sustain interest in the meantime are the numerous well-drawn supporting characters, and the occasional references to contemporary events: this season is set in 1960, culminating with the election of JFK.

If the pacing is perhaps slightly too leisurely at times, particularly in the early stages before the viewer has yet become invested in the characters, the season's other minor problems probably stem from budgetary restraints. In particular, the show feels claustrophobic at times; its period detailing is impeccable, but it's an overwhelmingly interior drama, largely confined to a relatively small number of studio sets (thankfully, the production design is good enough that they never look like sets). That, though, need not be a barrier to fine acting and great drama, and so Mad Men proves. The writing is insightful, the acting faultless, and the vision totally consistent.



Release Information
Country: UK / Region: B / Version: N/A / Discs: 3 / Distributor: Lionsgate

Presentation
Mad Men's first season was a relatively early Blu-ray release from Lionsgate so they deserve credit for an excellent video and audio presentation. The pilot episode, produced a year before the rest, has a few visual anomalies, including slightly pronounced edges (indicating some processing has been applied), but these largely settle down from episode 2 onwards. Detail is good, skin tones sometimes appear a little warm but the colour scheme is attractive, while some natural grain is retained. The DTS-HD soundtrack is rarely demonstrative but it is entirely satisfying.

Extras
This Blu-ray sets the trend that subsequent seasons have followed: there are a boatload of commentaries. Most episodes have two; all have at least one (23 in total!). Some are more worthwhile than others, but those featuring show creator Matt Weiner or other members of the writing team are usually a safe bet, as are those with Jon Hamm and/or Elisabeth Moss (who plays Peggy). Other tracks with just cast members can tend to be lacking in content, however.

The other extras - and there is a good selection - are split between discs 2 and 3. The former houses the 20-minute "Advertising the American Dream" featurette, giving background into advertising of the 1960s, and the 7-minute "Scoring Mad Men", focusing on David Carbonara's subtle but excellent music. On disc 3 is the fascinating 60-minute "Establishing Mad Men", which goes into fascinating detail on how the show began and the creative processes behind its production.



Summary
It took me a while to finally take the Mad Men plunge - I'd seen the odd episode before and never been overly impressed - but the constant glowing notices finally persuaded me to give it a proper go. It turns out the reviews were right. Mad Men is a slow but engrossing series whose impact accumulates and grip tightens as it proceeds. Admittedly, this first season is mostly just a taster of things to come, but it's an enticing apéritif.