Sticky Wicket

Fans of Mad Men sometimes complain the show is too moody and internal. Critics say it's just a glossy period soap. Well, the latest episode, "Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency," gave them both more than they bargained for.

One of the things that made The Sopranos so popular was the mix of domestic drama and mafia violence. Mad Men, created by Sopranos writer Matthew Weiner, gave its audience a little splatter, and a further dollop of black humor.

I thought it was a fine episode, but what bothered me was not the blood, but a small bit of dialogue about Vietnam. The previous episode dealt tangentially with the civil rights movement. The show is presently set in 1963, and I supposed these things must come up. But as it moves further ahead into the decade, and these issues come to the fore, I'm not sure if Mad Men can withstand the weight. I suppose an overall theme of the show is the sequestered lifestyle the firm saw in 1960 cannot be maintained--the world is going to interfere. But if the politics gets too heavy, and things go from the personal to the polemical, the show will lose its balance.