The first season of Mad Men was solid (maybe spectacular based on individual taste)--I gave it an 8/10--and clearly a landmark achievement in period TV drama. Season Two--while still an incredible 1960s-era set piece--severely lacks the "punch" of that original slate of episodes. It skirts up against the boundary of slow or oblique storytelling.
I'd normally give a brief summation of the season here, but that is difficult with Mad Men S2 because it takes such an oblique approach. Viewers are--in the very early goings--reminded of all the S1 plots, but then sort of meander until a muddled "resolution" in the season's final episode or two. In short: there is no "through line" (like the "who is Don Draper?" of S1) tying things together this go-around.
Whereas the previous season emphasized the period (1960s) and the location (Madison Avenue), this season focuses almost exclusively on the characters themselves--but unfortunately takes such a slow approach to doing so that it seems interminable as to what forward progress is being made whatsoever. S2 also suffers from the "all villains, no heroes" problem:
-Don (Jon Hamm) continues to be an enigma, but this time one without a sympathetic backstory. For the show's clear lead, having his S2 journey be so scrambled is problematic. The same goes for wife Betty (January Jones)--some interesting arcs that all fizzle at the end of each episode.
-Peggy Olson's (Elisabeth Moss) "situation" from the end of S1 isn't addressed whatsoever until the season's second or third episode--and then not again until the finale. A baffling choice. The intended Peggy character growth from a Catholic priest (Colin Hanks) character did not do much for me either.
-Up-and-comer Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) and wife Trudy (Alison Brie) get a deeper look here, but Pete remains a smarmy go-getter who doesn't garner much sympathy either way.
-When the season's plot machinations finally do come into focus in the final two episodes, they largely revolve around Duck Phillips (Mark Moses)--who is earlier set up as a clear "ad man to hate" in this series, even if technically more dependable than Don.
Perhaps the best way I can describe my malaise towards S2 of Mad Men comes in the season's penultimate episode, where Don again delves into his Dick Whitman past. After an episode that shows an extremely interesting character facet, it ends utterly ambiguously with Don wading into the ocean. A perfect metaphor for the season-at-large: interesting ideas that sort of just fade away.
Because Mad Men remains such a quality period piece, it is tough to drop it below a 7/10 star ranking (though a few eps were 6/10 in my book). Much like my experience sometimes with the later Better Caul Saul AMC hit, Mad Men S2 really pushes the boundaries of how slow or obliquely one can develop characters. Though clearly a series that wants to live in the grey area of societal/character choices, by the end of this slate it is really straining against how far it can go in that direction while still being entertaining rather than just wistful/thoughtful.