7) Mad Men – “Tea Leaves”
Don Draper himself, Jon Hamm, made his directorial debut with this season five episode, something which should have helped endear it to the show’s fans. However, most couldn’t get over the rather lacking storyline which introduced the issue of Betty’s struggles with her weight.
Granted, this was something brought on by necessity, as actress January Jones had fallen pregnant and so the idea was made to put her into a fat suit to cover this fact. Still, it was entirely unnecessary to devote quite so much of the episode to Betty’s depression over her weight gain.
Despite the best efforts of Hamm in the director’s chair, the result was an entry that fell far below the usual thematically and symbolically strong storytelling of Mad Men at its best.
