Mad Men Season 5 running thread

I was having a hard time placing where the show is in time to begin with. I thought initially it might be 1968 already, especially after Peggy's boyfriend mentioned that about all the riots (though there were major riots as early as 1965, 1968 was an infamous year for that). And you can see a piece of paper that says "Goldwater '68" on the window in the opening scene. But judging by the age of Joan's baby, it's early summer 1966.

Also, did anyone notice that the kitchen in Pete's new house in the suburbs looks almost exactly like the one Don used to have?

Loved all the parallels between where Roger was with his young secretary/wife in the beginning and where Don is with Megan now.

And I'm glad this show is finally going to deal with race relations. That EEOC ad really blew up in their faces.

 

No love for the bean ballet?

 

It was after Memorial Day weekend in '66 according to Sepinwall.

 

I had a front-row seat.

Yeah, I read that too. I was just trying to find any other giveaways and there weren't many.

 

Absolutely amazing episode. More color this season, everything just a little bit more out there (in more ways than one).

"Why don't you sing to me like that?
Why don't you look like him?"

 

Anyone else think that was better than any Season 4 episode?

There were so many great scenes:

• Pete Campbell arriving home late from work, having a perfectly normal conversation with his wife about life and a beagle to scare away gophers, then stuffing his face with dry cereal.
• Roger Sterling being Roger Sterling, but particularly, Roger Sterling talking Harry Crane into giving up his office for some cold cash.
• Megan Draper. Oh, God, Megan Draper. Megan Draper's side boob as she lay with Don Draper. Megan Draper cleaning in her underwear. Megan Draper singing French songs. Megan Draper's side boob. Megan Draper showing some cleavage at work for Don Draper. Megan Draper calling Don Draper by his real name, Dick Whitman. Megan Draper's side boob.
• Lane Pryce seeming particularly pathetic and spiteful of his wife, then holding on to Delores' photograph.
• Stan Rizzo, now a main character.
• Ken Cosgrove, perhaps my favorite character, making jokes at the party and in the office and being the one person who can stand Pete Campbell.
• Joan Harris breaking down in Lane Price's office, and Joan Harris being bitchy to her bitchy mother.
• Peggy Olson condescension toward Megan Draper's coupons.
• Megan Draper's side boob.

.
That was a great, great episode. And I'm going to be a great dirty old man.

 

Yeah, this was great. The exposition was weaved well into the flow of the show, unlike last year's premiere. Last year's season took three episodes to find its footing in the new office. They've taken off running this time.

- How many different child actors playing Bobby does this make now? Five? Six?

-No one is focused on Megan's teeth anymore. She's stunning. Especially when she sings in French or sweeps up crumbs in her underwear.

- Roger Sterling gets funnier as he ages, because he gives and less and less of a shit as time goes on.
When he came in the door after walking through all the black applicants in the lobby and delivered his line, I lost it.

And then there was, "You could stick it up your ass and have a concert."

- I can't wait to see what they do with Sally Draper this season. She's old enough to take on her own storyline and she showed last year she has the chops. Just the perceptive ways she watches Megan is really fun to watch.

- Stan Rizzo went from annoying to a reliable laugh every time they show him.

- "Is he losing his hair?" was an understated laugh line for me about Pete Campbell.



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Jane Sterling is a brilliant character — even if they put her in way too much makeup to showcase her attractiveness; remember her as Don Draper's secretary? — who always has a zinger and seems to hate everyone, most obviously Roger Sterling.

 

A few quick thoughts...

I always enjoy this show more the morning after I watch it, and I am thinking about how everything is affecting everything else in the show.

I am guessing that one of those applicants at the end is eventually hired in some way and it helps them land a huge client.

Don is getting old, and I think that is the story line for this season as he tries to hold onto his grasp on youth. He banged his wife cleaning up there not because he wanted to, but to show that he could.

"I thought there were going to be girls here," was a great line.

"My hands are dirty," was another.

I am obsessed with them landing Disney.

I have a feeling the show ends with Peggy and the younger staff leaving Draper and Sterling.

 

Nice little touches, including Megan cursing in perfect Quebecois. Also very happy to see Kiernan Shipka listed among the regulars - I expect we'll be seeing a fair bit of Sally this season.

 

The character development on this show has got to be among the top five in television history. The shift in Don Draper is stunning. Could you have imagined him running home to Wife No. 1 because she got upset over a party?

Love Pete Campbell getting peeled like an onion and showing new layers. And Kartheiser ... I just don't know if they could have done better with that original casting.

Exactly the same with Joan Harris/Christina Hendricks. Weiner added about four levels of new depth to her last night, just by making her more vulnerable.

The newest Bobby Draper -- he's been Teri Hatcher's son in "Desperate Housewives." That made me do a little double-take.

And there should be a federal law that Megan Draper clean the house in her underwear in every episode.

BTW: Mad Men fanatics will love this character guide, if you haven't discovered it already.

 

I had so much fun watching last night's episode. So much introduced, furthered and to wonder about for this season.

Sterling delivered some laugh out loud lines and antics that I'm still chuckling about today. And Pete's reaction to faceplanting and getting a bloody nose was so funny. Kartheiser was money last night.