Did it strike anyone else that the premiere of this season was funnier than usual? The show has always banked on humor, often reserved for the audience’s delicious chuckle at the period (think of the pilot episode, with Joan unveiling Peggy’s typewriter and assuring her it’s been designed so women can use it). In the past seasons, though, that humor has always been accompanied by either a cringing realization of the underlying injustice, or a subtle shiver at the deeper darkness. When has Mad Men’s funny bleakness been more disturbing then last season’s completely bizarre Utz potato chips commercials? In comparison with that incredibly grim sense of humor, this episode was downright slapstick. read more…

You guys… Mad Men came back. Just in case you haven’t seen it yet, I’ll put this entry after the jump. read more…