A consistently compelling series centered on a Madison Avenue advertising agency in the 1960s, Mad Men has earned four Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series over the years, elevating American Movie Classics into a major player on cable. AMC asked creator Matthew Weiner to extend the final season and split it into two parts, and this first half—set in 1969—charts the efforts made by Don Draper (Jon Hamm) to work his way back into the good graces of the company and repair his relationship with Peggy (Elisabeth Moss), once his protégé and now his boss, after his earlier self-destructive breakdown. Meanwhile, his marriage to Megan (Jessica Paré), an aspiring actress who has moved to California to pursue her career, falls apart. This sequence also spotlights the odyssey of senior partner Roger Sterling (John Slattery), who flirts with counterculture drugs and free love but is forced to step up and become a leader after the death of his partner and mentor, Bertram Cooper (Robert Morse). Smart and perceptive, Mad Men uses the prism of history to reflect on contemporary society, and has become as much a part of popular-culture conversation as the earlier The Sopranos. Compiling the first seven episodes from 2014, extras include episode commentaries, and historical-related featurettes. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Mad Men: The Final Season, Part 1
Lionsgate, 336 min., not rated, DVD: 3 discs, $39.98; Blu-ray: 2 discs, $39.98 Volume 30, Issue 1
Mad Men: The Final Season, Part 1
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