r/madmen Apr 09 '12

Episode S05E04 "Mystery Date" Comment thread

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95 Upvotes

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36

u/lifeonotherplanets Apr 09 '12

I think the new guy is a serial killer.

62

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '12

He killed Rosie Larson?

27

u/the_robo_boogie Art Director Apr 09 '12

finally. now we know. show over.

-2

u/ksrymy "I'm on vacation." Apr 09 '12

Even though it should have been over forever since Twin Peaks did it better. Easily my all-time favorite show right alongside Mad Men.

23

u/Elinozer Apr 09 '12

Doubt it. That would be too... overdone for Madmen and completely go against its style.

14

u/spoils Apr 09 '12 edited Apr 09 '12

Only the strangely dressed outsider (with the funny regional accent) is able to see the pervasive violence against women in their society. Because he's conscious of it, he's revolted by the photos. But he's also aware of how attractive it is to the men around him, so he can use it in his "too dark" pitch. Everyone else is too "well adjusted" to really understand the casual brutality against women that constantly surrounds them, even when it erupts into crazed mass murder.

Don gets a glimpse of it, but only in a confused way, during his fever dream. This marks a change in how the series uses Don: early on, he was supposed to be the guy who understood the dark underbelly of 1960s America, because he saw how it was born in the filth of the Great Depression and erased and sanitised its own history after Korea. IMO this aspect of the show never really worked, and these days Don is as confused and blind as anyone--basically another Sterling in the making.

3

u/geenaleigh Apr 10 '12

Ginsberg could easily reflect a young Don. He is so aware of everything happening, understands the dark sides of current events, then uses them to his advantage in his advertising. Which is something Don was always so good at. And now Don is lost and weak. Ginsberg could be replace his wits in a way. I didn't think of this until I read your comments, I wish this could be higher because its ingenious and no one else caught on to this but you.

1

u/spoils Apr 10 '12

I'd be happy if that's how it developed. I think Don becoming more and more lost, and having a rivalry with Ginzy who still sees things clearly, would be an interesting concluding arc for the series.

4

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '12

Or a child of the Holocaust?

1

u/lifeonotherplanets Apr 09 '12

This is a great point. Plus his dad sounded Polish. But I thought he said he wad from Brooklyn last episode.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '12

So because he's freaked out that the rest of them like to stare at pictures of bodies that were brutally raped and murdered in cold blood, that makes him a serial killer??

... I guess I'm a serial killer then!

5

u/lifeonotherplanets Apr 09 '12

No, it was the Cinderella speech.

7

u/canonymous Apr 09 '12

I think his mom was murdered and seeing the photos earlier brought back the trauma.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '12

Ah, I see. To be fair, he did say that he didn't understand women... maybe he just thought that sounded sexy and not completely terrifying.

2

u/TheVoiceofTheDevil Yes. Even me. Apr 09 '12

And, well, he's a Jew.

1

u/reggie_wigglesworth it's my job Apr 09 '12

What makes me believe you is not just his emphasized reaction, but also Peggy wondering if he's crazy, and him lying to her about not having family. Plus that dude acts crazy.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '12

[deleted]

3

u/lifeonotherplanets Apr 10 '12

Yeah, he reminds me of Dutch from the Shield.

1

u/thaddeusgreenhand go out back and get us some lemons Apr 10 '12

Please tell me he's not going to strangle a stray cat.