Mad Men: Season 2

Mad Men returns, and guess what?  It's still one of the best shows on TV.  Season two continues the slow progression to absolute greatness.  The first season left us with a number of cliffhangers, and the beginning of the second season doesn't cleanly wrap things up.  Instead, we leap forward nearly 2 years and are thrown into an even more tumultuous time where the Norman Rockwell-idealized era is only ideal on the surface (slightly below we find rampant alcoholism, marriage dissolution, casual sexism and racism).  There is resolution, eventually, for all the questions left unanswered, but in true slow-as-molasses-but-still-riveting Mad Men form, we get to wait the entire season for answers.  

A lot has changed in these two years at Sterling-Cooper and it is exciting watching the 60s progress through the unique lens of Mad Men.  Everything that made season one incredibly compelling television is back. The terrific acting, pitch-perfect writing, gorgeous art direction and impressive attention to detail are all the unshakeable foundation to a meandering yet precise plotline that keeps the viewer glued to the television.  Special features include extensive commentaries and featurettes that examine 1960s fashion, the rise of women in the workplace, and defining historical events of the era.—Kira Canny