Mad Men - season 3

Channel: Movie Extra
Day & time*: Monnday, 10.30 p.m.
(*as at March 2010)

 

Not just the same old song

It's not often that I write about later seasons of a TV show. It's not that shows can't change of course - we all know about the expression "jumping the shark" - but it's just that new seasons of many shows are simply "steady as she goes", with not much new to talk about. However, where the series in question is the exceptional Mad Men, I'm happy to make an exception.

Mad Men season 3 is now showing on Movie Extra - and the quality has not flagged one little bit. The show is still as fresh, edgy and intriguing as when it first appeared on our screens.

An important difference between season 3 and earlier incarnations of the series are that this one has a lesser emphasis on Don Draper (John Hamm) and his never-ending search for identity. Indeed, it's pretty fair to say that by the time this season starts, he's reasonably comfortable with where he is in life; even if the past remains something of an elephant in the room. Of course, it wouldn't be television if that comfortable acceptance of his place in the world wasn't shaken up somehow - and trust me, some bombshells are on the horizon.

While Draper remains the key player in this drama, the third season sees some of the "lesser" characters stepping up to take on larger roles. Those in that category include the feisty Peggy (Elizabeth Moss) and the duplicitous Pete (Vincent Kartheiser), both of whom take on greater responsibilities for moving the plotlines along.

Perhaps the biggest surprise however is the change in Draper's wife Betty (January Jones). When we first saw her is season 1, she wouldn't say boo to a mouse and you'd think butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. Things took a rather shocking turn in season 2, but now she is a very different character all together. While the genteel facade remains, we come to see the dark side of Betty - and a bleak place it is.

On the business side of things, the Sterling Cooper agency is facing uncertain times. Regular viewers will be aware that it was bought out by a British firm. As is the way with these things, they've decided they want to make some changes, but their radical nature undermines staff confidence and has everyone looking over their collective shoulders.

The core elements that made Mad Men such a hit in the first place are all intact. The meticulous recreation of the 1960s is a joy to behold, even if the show's budget for booze and cigarettes must be enormous. The cast is as sharp as ever, led by the steely-jawed John Hamm. The sheer depth of the acting talent is amazing, and it drills down a long way into the supporting cast.

As ever though, the real highlights are the intelligent and engrossing plots that the writing team develop. Arguably season 3 presses fewer of the 'hot buttons' on political and social issues than the preceding seasons did; but this is balanced out by more attention to character development.

Mad Men certainly makes a strong case for having pay-TV. The vagaries of network television are such that you just never know if or when it will bob up on free-to-air. Given the way the show has been treated in the past, that's an ever-present danger.

Phil James