Todd, I have to say that your claim that Mad Men hasn't nearly reached the levels of profundity that Deadwood, The Wire, or the Sopranos have reached is fairly dismissive and reductive. Every one of those (fairly flawed) shows has built on what came before, as has all art. Their volume of expression, form, intent and…

I always watch the Wire with subtitles for that reason. And the show definitely moves to the beat of its own drummer and requires some amount of adjustment to the show's visual and actual language. I'd recommend watching an entire season start to finish just to gauge where you stand with it.