Episode Rankings: Mad Men

Mad Men is such a weird anomaly of a show. It's simultaneously a relaxing nostalgia trip through a glorified version of the 60s, and a dramatic deconstruction of the era. It's a plotless character-driven slice of life, that also happens to boast some of the craziest plot twists I've seen in a show. These paradoxes feel they should make Mad Men feel like a disjointed mess, but it's not, it all meshes together into a drama that feels like one of its kind. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. Shut The Door, Have A Seat (S3.13)
2. Waterloo (S7.07)
3. The Suitcase (S4.07)
4. Nixon Vs Kennedy (S1.12)
5. In Care Of (S6.13)
6. Person To Person (S7.14)
7. The Other Woman (S5.11)
8. Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency (S3.06)
9. The Wheel (S1.13)
10. The Gypsy And The Hobo (S3.11)
11. Time & Life (S7.11)
12. The Gold Violin (S2.07)
13. Tomorrowland (S4.13)
14. Meditations In An Emergency (S2.13)
15. Commissions And Fees (S5.12)
16. The Milk And Honey Route (S7.13)
17. My Old Kentucky Home (S3.03)
18. The Flood (S6.05)
19. The Strategy (S7.06)
20. Signal 30 (S5.05)
21. The Chrysanthemum And The Sword (S4.05)
22. Red In The Face (S1.07)
23. Hands And Knees (S4.10)
24. The Phantom (S5.13)
25. A Night To Remember (S2.08)
26. Favors (S6.11)
27. Seven Thirty-Three (S3.07)
28. Shoot (S1.09)
29. Public Relations (S4.01)
30. The Mountain King (S2.12)
31. Field Trip (S7.03)
32. Indian Summer (S1.11)
33. A Little Kiss: Part 2 (S5.02)
34. Wee Small Hours (S3.09)
35. Man With A Plan (S6.07)
36. At The Codfish Ball (S5.07)
37. The Grown Ups (S3.12)
38. Lost Horizon (S7.12)
39. 5G (S1.05)
40. The Good News (S4.03)
41. Long Weekend (S1.10)
42. Out Of Town (S3.01)
43. For Immediate Release (S6.06)
44. Waldorf Stories (S4.06)
45. Blowing Smoke (S4.12)
46. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (S1.01)
47. A Little Kiss: Part 1 (S5.01)
48. The Benefactor (S2.03)
49. The Quality Of Mercy (S6.12)
50. Six Month Leave (S2.09)
51. Christmas Waltz (S5.10)
52. To Have And To Hold (S6.04)
53. Three Sundays (S2.04)
54. The Summer Man (S4.08)
55. The Monolith (S7.04)
56. New Amsterdam (S1.04)
57. The Rejected (S4.04)
58. A Day's Work (S7.02)
59. The Hobo Code (S1.08)
60. Chinese Wall (S4.11)
61. The Doorway: Part 2 (S6.02)
62. The Arrangements (S3.04)
63. The Forecast (S7.10)
64. Lady Lazarus (S5.08)
65. Severance (S7.08)
66. The Color Blue (S3.10)
67. Flight 9 (S2.02)
68. Collaborators (S6.03)
69. Mystery Date (S5.04)
70. The New Girl (S2.05)
71. Love Among The Ruins (S3.02)
72. The Better Half (S6.09)
73. Time Zones (S7.01)
74. Far Away Places (S5.06)
75. Marriage Of Figaro (S1.03)
76. The Doorway: Part 1 (S6.01)
77. The Fog (S3.05)
78. The Runaways (S7.05)
79. The Beautiful Girls (S4.09)
80. Christmas Comes But Once A Year (S4.02)
81. The Inheritance (S2.10)
82. Souvenir (S3.08)
83. Dark Shadows (S5.09)
84. Babylon (S1.06)
85. New Business (S7.09)
86. Maidenform (S2.06)
87. Ladies Room (S1.02)
88. A Tale Of Two Cities (S6.10)
89. The Jet Set (S2.11)
90. For Those Who Think Young (S2.01)
91. The Crash (S6.08)
92. Tea Leaves (S5.03)