Full Spoilers ahead for Season 5, episode 1 of Mad Men (if you haven't seen it there's no reason to read this)
Ah Megan. After a year and a half hiatus (caused by a dispute between Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner and AMC), Mad Men finally returned on Sunday night giving us (the audience) a better look at the woman Don Draper proposed to in an unexpected move at the end of season 4. And speaking for myself, after this episode I don't blame Don. However, the episode did not start with Megan but rather with several advertising executives (we later learn they are of rival ad company Y & R) throwing water bombs out the window at African-American protesters down below. This scene sets up the social situation at the time which from a poster on the window is revealed to be 1966, seven months after the Season 4 finale.
At the beginning of the episode we also get to see the three Draper kids with Sally (growing faster than any child I've ever seen), Bobby, and baby Eugene who is no longer a baby sleeping over at their father's house for his 40th birthday. It is through this that we get our first glimpse of Don after his marriage to Megan and he seems more patient, polite and in generally a happier mood than we've ever seen him before. By the time we get to the office we see where Pete and Roger are after the 7-month break and they couldn't be more different. Pete seems to be the boss of the younger workers at the office and generally the busiest guy at SCDP (Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Pryce) while Roger seems to be around for solely comedic value now as he drifts around the office seemingly doing nothing productive (unless you want to count him paying Don's secretary to come sit outside his office).
Joan as a mom is seen in this episode too taking care of hers and Rogers baby (her rapist, douche husband doesn't know this), Kevin. She is being helped out by her mother but it is obvious that Joan isn't one for the housewife role as she misses the office and gets mad at her mom for saying that Greg (Joan's douche husband) will essentially control whether or not Joan can work. Back at the office we see Don, Pete, Roger, and Lane (Bert Cooper is still in the office but he somehow does less than Roger, seems like he is completely out of the business end of things at the company) having a meeting in the hallway with Pete again taking charge of the proceedings and speaking for the group. Pete mentions to Don that he's working on getting Mohawk Airlines again (a company they passed over in hopes of getting American Airlines) to which Don reacts with indifference. The new Don Draper seems to have one thing on his mind, Megan. This thought is supported by him failing to even attempt and save Peggy's failed Heinz presentation (it being "the bean ballet", I don't care what the Heinz guy said, that'd be a cool commercial) but rather politely and patiently saying they'll work on something better. Even Peggy notices it saying to Stan that "this is a new Don"
Pete vs Roger seems to be a main point of emphasis in this first episode as Pete gets upset at finding Roger already at his Mohawk Airlines meeting. Strangely enough as Ken points out, the fact that Roger was there probably helped Pete in the long run but Pete is having none of it as he stubbornly continues to bitch at Roger's dis-usefulness at the company (hard to argue but then again Roger is hilarious). Megan who works under Peggy at the office in a strange repetition of the early Don and Peggy relationship decides to throw Don a surprise birthday party only to have the surprise funnily ruined by Roger and Jane (seriously, Roger is comedy gold). At the party we get to see more of the culture divide that began in the last season. Stan and Peggy's boyfriend arguing with Cooper over the merits of the Vietnam war. Roger and Don looking confused as Megan chats it up with the band playing at the party. We also see Ken's wife for the first time who is none other than Alex Mack (look up the show if you don't know who this is).
At the party is when Megan decides to perform a birthday song for Don (video up above) who seems uncomfortable the entire time. After the party we finally get to see some of old-school loner, brooding Don as he dismisses Megan for embarrassing him and wasting her money on a party like this. Nice to see the seasons 1-3 Draper even if it was for just a few minutes. The performance by Megan gave us some great bits at the office the next day with Roger singing Frere Jacques to Don in a "seductive" voice and Harry (the guy no one likes) vividly telling Stan what he'd do with Megan if he could without realizing Megan was right behind him the whole time. Funny stuff.
The Roger and Pete showdown continued later in the episode as Pete demanded to switch offices with Roger since he does more work and is more important to the company. This leads to this great exchange, Pete - "I say we take it to a vote", Roger - "I say we take it outside". Needless to say Pete did not get Roger's office but he did end up switching with Harry who Roger paid off in order for everything to work out. Pete ends up getting the last laugh this episode as he gets his secretary to set up a fake appointment at 6 am knowing Roger would go. Can't wait to watch the interactions between these two the whole season.
After seeing a want ad from SCDP for "equal opportunity employees" in the newspaper, Joan returns to the office with her baby to make sure people haven't forgotten her. What she doesn't know is that the want ad is just a prank by Roger on the Y & R people. Joan realizes that she has not been forgotten and is sorely missed as Lane tells her how much the agency needs her around. Both Lane and Joan seem similar this season in the sense that they both look to be very lonely even with several important things in their lives. Megan, after not taking Don's scolding well leaves the office early only to be followed by Don back home (when would the old Don Draper ever leave work for a woman he mistreated?). It is here where she begins cleaning the apartment in just her bra and panties provoking Don by saying things such as "you don't get to touch, you only get to watch". This of course excites Don who loves when women 'neg' him and leads to a passionate hook-up right there on the carpet.
The episode ends with the lobby at SCDP being filled with African-American applicants answering the "want ad" in the newspaper. The 5 partners (mostly Lane as he is still the main voice of reason in the office) decide that they will hire one of the women to be the secretary in front of the office. This development will sure to cause an even larger culture clash within the office and I can't wait to see what sort of racist things will come out of Roger's mouth in the weeks to come.
Some random thoughts: We got no Betty or Henry in this episode which might mean that they are slowly being phased out of the show (no complaints here). Pete seems to be the new Don Draper with everything from the house in the suburbs, the wife he appears to not love as much right down to the obsession over work. Will be interesting to see how this develops. Finally, even though the Don-Megan relationship appears to be working out at the moment, I have a hard time believing that it will work out because as we've seen through 4 seasons, Don can never have a healthy relationship with a woman and will surely find some way to get out of this one.
Overall a very good way to start the season. I love how Mad Men doesn't care about conventional TV pacing and uses its slow pace to build the characters up making every small interaction more important.
Rating: 8.3/10
-Luka Milanovic
@Luka_M91 on Twitter
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