So often, and appropriately, thread discussion on "Mad Men" is about "where the story is going," but I'd like to put in a nod here to one of the main reasons I watch the show:

Its wonderful sense of style.

"Mad Men" came along when network television, some cable television, and a rather depressing number of movies were all relying on "shaky-cam" techniques to frame the action. You know what I mean: whether handheld or 35 mm, the camera jiggles and flies all over the screen trying to suggest urgency... not only in car chases("The Bourne Identity") but in cop interrogation room scenes, or scenes where people are just sitting there talking. "Boston Legal" went shaky-cam one better; they seemed to devise some sort of device to jerk the camera AT the characters, one jerky move at a time.

There comes a time when modern style becomes cliche, and everything old is new again.

"Mad Men Season One," set in 1960, looked like it could have been FILMED in 1960, and that was most easy on the eyes and pleasing to the soul. Nicely composed shots. Classical moves from wide shots to close-ups.

Add to that the art direction and fashion of the show, and you end up with a "nostalgia time machine"(or perhaps a carousel) not only of story, but of look.

Long before there was shaky cam, in the late sixties there was "New Age Cinema": a semi-documnetary style on the one-hand, a wild-ass bent towards split screens and tilted French angels and other things meant to say "Studio Hollywood is over."

I hope that "Mad Men" doesn't elect to join that 1967 revolution when the time comes for the show.

It remains wonderfully cool and stylish and sedate to look at.

MM is wonderful to look at. The shots, from long to close-up are nicely composed. I totally agree with you about shaky-cam. It has its place in very rare instances it can be believable and effective, but like any new technique, it's now been overdone to the point of ridiculousness.

I'm also getting tired of the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon style of filming movement in action scenes.

This episode was directed by film director Barbet Schroeder.

The great care they take in composing each shot speaks volumes about their respect for this series as an art form, and their respect for us as audience/art consumer. There are times when a scene, like Don's closing scene last night, compose a visual poem. Moments like that give me goosebumps.