For a show with a reputation of being glacially paced, and having long stretches of episodes in which nothing significant happens, Mad Men probably has had more jaw-dropping, bizarre, out-there scenes than any other show currently running. Other shows such as “True Blood” or “Penny Dreadful” typically feature over-the-top craziness, but never has the same resonance that the supposedly more staid “MM” can deliver. Maybe it’s because of MM’s usually button-down milieu that the odder moments just stick out a whole lot more, whereas TB is so chock full of batshit insanity that I watch it and think “ho hum” most of the time.
I thought it’d be a fun poll to see what everyone thinks was the strangest, most shocking or just plain weird scene from the run so far. Here’s the contenders I thought of:
Betty with the shotgun
Roger bazooka barfs in front of a client
Betty humps the washing machine
Sal’s wife Kitty realizes he’s gay
The John Deere tractor incident
“Did you get pears?”
Miss Blankenship dies
Megan serenades Don
Lane punches out Pete
Don dreams of strangling a paramour
Ginsberg is from Mars
Roger and Jane drop acid
The elevator shaft
Ken Cosgrove’s tap dance routine
Don’s out of body experience
Bert’s farewell performance
Scenes I couldn’t find clips for – Betty’s druggy dream (while in labor with Gene), Betty’s S&M pillow talk with Henry, Ginsberg slicing off his nipple