By ANDY GILCHRIST
Staff Writer
There’s a constant debate as to what the best show on television is. Different critics will mention comedies like Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, Veep, Girls, and Louie, but these are often set aside for not being serious enough and inferior to dramas. Hour long series such as Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Downton Abbey, and Homeland receive lots of praise and awards, and each show has a devout group of critics who will argue for it to the death. But one show that everyone agrees deserves to be in the conversation is the one that is perhaps the most difficult to define: Mad Men.
Most people know Mad Men simply as “that 60s show.” But, it’s so much more than just a series with a unique setting. It’s truly unlike anything else seen on television, a perfect blend of crisp writing, convincing acting, period authenticity, and a cool 60s vibe to top it all off.  In terms of other shows on TV, Mad Men certainly has less action and intensity, but it’s somehow much more addictive. Its characters are seemingly on top of the world, yet all of them are damaged, with problems that constantly threaten to ruin everything. While some shows achieve such greatness only briefly, Mad Men has been this good since the beginning and has never let up, proving that it is one of, if not the, best shows on television.
The series follows the day to day exploits of the advertising agency Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Pryce in 1960s New York City. Among the agency’s employees is Don Draper (Jon Hamm), a hard-drinking, chain smoking, and eternally charismatic man with a secret past. Don is married to Megan (Jessica Paré), an actress on the rise, and is divorced from Betty (January Jones), currently a housewife with whom Don has three children. There’s also Roger Sterling (John Slattery), son of a legendary ad man who is the funniest of the group and doesn’t seem to do much actual work. Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) is the youngest in the firm and is egotistical and oftentimes antagonistic towards the other partners. Joan Harris (Christina Hendricks) was once a secretary in the firm, but has since become a partner after some questionable tactics. Finally, there is former copywriter Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss), who quit SCDP last season and now works for a rival firm, but still has strong ties to her former employer.
Mad Men has always dealt with heavy themes and this season looks to be no different. Identity is prevalent, with multiple characters struggling to define themselves and wondering if they’re good enough. Don is struggling with his literal identity; over a decade ago, he stole the identity of a fallen soldier during the Korean War, the real Don Draper, and has been living a lie ever since. An encounter with a soldier on leave from Vietnam, as well as a photographer telling him to “just be you,” makes Don question his entire existence. Betty, meanwhile, has become a caricature of her former self; she is now an overweight woman stuck at home who is losing the love of both her children and her husband. She wonders how she got to this point, where no one respects her, and she desperately seeks a change.
The other theme that comes through in the season premiere is death. Don contemplates death and the afterlife after his conversation with the soldier and makes connections between the death of an identity to the death of the self. Meanwhile, Roger learns that his mother has died, but is shockingly unaffected by it, comically so when his secretary can’t stop crying over it. He later breaks down, though, when he learns that the office shoe shiner has passed away and he is the only one who seems to care about it. His conversations with a therapist culminate with the realization that life is just a series of doors and death is the last door closing behind you.
What also makes Mad Men great is the journeys the characters have taken over the years. Don started off a married family man, but has since gotten divorced, remarried to a woman he loves, and is now the unfaithful lothario again. Betty was once Don’s trophy wife who all men lusted after, but now is an overweight housewife with no self-confidence or respect. Both Joan and Peggy began as secretaries, but now Joan is a partner in the agency and Peggy is head writer of another. Pete started as an account executive, but is also now a partner. In this way, Mad Men is paying tribute to the 1960s, themselves a time of great change, as well as just being great television.
Mad Men is one the best shows on television today. In early April, it returned with one of its strongest seasons yet and shows no signs of old age; in fact, it may be getting better. With the show’s producers promising that next spring’s season 7 will be its last, Mad Men seems to be wrapping up things in impressive style before it transcends from not just one of the best shows today, but one of the best shows ever.
