Full Spoilers ahead for Season 5, episode 5 of Mad Men (if you haven't
seen it there's no reason to read this)
Lane Motherfucking Pryce. If it hadn't been for Tupac making Coachella
nothing but a gangsta party later that night (if you're one of the 5 people who
haven't seen it, watch it now.), Lane's beatdown of Pete
Campbell would have definitely been the most gangster thing to happen last
weekend. This Sunday's episode began with Pete in driving school and it set the
tone for the rest of the show as this was certainly a Pete-centric hour. Thus
far this season we've gotten some hints that Pete isn't happy with his new
suburban life with Trudy but this episode really went further in that direction
to show just how unhappy Pete is. Throughout the episode we see Pete attempting
to court a high school girl from his driving school class even going as far as
to ask her out on a date to the botanical gardens in the city.
Pete also seems incapable of living the suburban life as he unsuccessfully
fixes the water tap before it eventually breaks at the party that him and Trudy
are hosting. Something that causes Don to go "Superman" (Trudy's
words) and fix the tap so easily that makes me wonder if there's anything he
can't do. This is completely opposite to Pete who can't even find the proper
tool in the time it takes Don to fix the tap. Sad episode for him. Speaking of
the party it was very interesting to watch the three couples, Don and Megan,
Pete and Trudy, Ken and Cynthia (Whose name Don and Megan didn't know up until
Ken said it. Funny stuff.) interact with each other. Even Don who at first didn’t
want to go to the party seemed like he had a decent time and even brought up
his own childhood willingly. Something he rarely if ever does. This might be a
cause of the calming, relaxing effect Megan has on Don or the amount of alcohol
Don had before and during the party (“I want to hit the doorbell with my chin”). Regardless of the reason, it was fun to see Don relax a bit with people other than Megan.
Full Spoilers ahead for Season 5, episode 3 of Mad Men (if you haven't seen it there's no reason to read this)
Don Draper is boring. There's no other way to put it. Through 3 episodes (last week's season premiere was a two-hour show so it counted for two episodes) of this season, the SCDP head ad-man has become what was once thought impossible, not that entertaining to watch. The Don that we've seen in 1966 hasn't come close to the womanizing, take everything without asking questions Don of the first 3 seasons or even the slightly pathetic drunk Don of last season but rather he is exactly what one would expect a 40-year old man working in an office building to be. Boring. This seems to stem from his marriage to Megan which so far has looked to be the best relationship Don has been in (not counting Anna Draper) and one that gives him a sense of peace in his life. It will be interesting to see where this goes this season but I still believe that we'll end up seeing the old Don sometime in the near future.
Well so much for my prediction that this season we'll be seeing the gradual phasing out of Betty and Henry Francis as this week's episode was basically geared around Betty, her weight gain (more on this later) and her possible serious health scare. Watching this episode on Sunday night had me all kinds of confused after seeing Betty for the first time. I flipped between "she's pregnant" to "she's fat" several times in the first five minutes before finally giving up and letting the show tell me. It turns out that in the last 6 months from the time we last saw her, Betty has been eating everything (seriously if we hadn't seen baby Eugene last week, I would be expecting the worse). The reason that the show writers had to introduce this storyline is because the actress who portrays Betty, January Jones, was actually pregnant over the course of filming the show's fifth season. And while the fat gain due to psychological reasons is a nice touch in trying to explain the real-life weight gain by Jones, I can't lie and say it wasn't weird watching Betty's second and third chins wobble as she walked/spoke.
Through this weight gain is where we get the main conflict of the episode as Betty goes to her doctor for some diet pills but rather hears some unexpected and startling news as the doctor finds a "lump" on her neck. In her panicked state she calls Don to tell him and their relationship seems to be way better than last season's as Don does his best to calm down and comfort Betty. By the end of the episode we find out that nothing is wrong with Betty and that in her words "she's just fat". Before this happens we get a psychic reading Betty's tea leaves and saying how many people depend on her, naturally Betty cries after hearing this and even has a weird dream where she dies (strange looking scene). The uncertainty of her health led to some interesting convos between Don and Megan and Don and Roger about the future if something happened to Betty. The strange thing is that Megan had a way better outlook on it than Roger who basically said that he's done with dealing with real life and death thoughts. This is even more strange considering that Roger has previously suffered a near fatal heart attack but also way less strange when you consider that Roger seemingly doesn't give a shit about anything happening in his life right now.
What was happening at SCDP this week also played a role in the episode as the company got back the Mohawk Airlines account thanks to Pete and Roger although if you asked Pete he'd say it was all him. Roger finally appeared to get back into the business side of things as he became the account man for Mohawk Airlines based on their demand for him. This led to Peggy being told to find a new copywriter for the account as the Mohawk people wanted a man for the job (Roger - "they want someone with a penis", Peggy - "I'll work on that"). Peggy ends up picking Michael Ginsberg, a talented copywriter with a strange personality that Peggy fears Don will hate. However, Michael impresses Don in the interview (mentioned how much he loved Don's "letter" to cigarette companies) and gets the job. I'm liking Michael as a character and with him being Jewish (Roger let us know in his funny racist way) and Don's new receptionist, Dawn (led to some more funny comments by Mr. Sterling) being African-American, the offices of SCDP appear to be moving with the times, something that is sure to provide more racially-charged comments (but funny) by Roger.
The last plot point of the episode involved Don and Harry staking out the backstage of a Rolling Stones concert in hopes that they would do a jingle for their Heinz bean commercial (somehow all true.). I think I would watch an hour-long show of the adventures of Don and Harry. The two are complete opposites and the obvious dislike that Don has for Harry, one that he has no problem with showing off makes the pair great to watch. While backstage the two of them meet two girls who they begin talking to and who offer them weed. I know I wasn't alone in hoping to see Don smoke with the girls then make some sort of slick comment before hooking up with one of them (see Seasons 1-3). Sadly though the Donald Draper of 1966 continued with his boring ways by just smoking his cigarettes and questioning the girl (he did give her his business card so there's still hope in seeing womanizing Draper once more). Not surprisingly the two of them fail to even meet the Rolling Stones as Harry messes up (he talks to another band thinking they're the Stones). The episode ends with Pete undermining Roger in front of the entire SCDP staff by making it seem like Roger is working for him and not as partners. This Pete-Roger duel will probably the focal point of more episodes to come and will be interesting to watch.
Random thoughts: The scene with Don and Harry in the car after the concert was hilarious with Harry clearly affected by "munchies" and not wanting to leave Don's car. Have we ever seen Harry's family? I can't remember. No Cooper, no Ken and very little Lane this episode, the show probably didn't feel like paying them. What was up with the weird interaction between Ginsberg and his dad at the end of the episode? I'm predicting that Don meets up with the girl from the concert and the happy Megan relationship begins to crumble. I'm also sticking with my Betty and Henry will be phased out prediction just because. Overall I thought it was a good episode but weaker than last week's because I never really enjoyed Betty as a character and episodes focused on her are usually less interesting.
Rating : 8.2/10
Luka Milanovic
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and @Luka_M91
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.
