So let me reveal the bias at the beginning: I Mad Men. Really and truly - there is little I can find fault with about it. The scripts are well-written and flow well, the characters are dynamic, the actors are top-notch (despite there not being a well-known name pre-MM in the bunch), and the costumes and historical details are impeccable. I also really love how it is filmed - everything always seems very vibrant and full of color, like an impressionist painting. So far, this TV show ranks in my top 5 TV series of all-time.

I am planning to do a discussion episode by episode in a (more than likely, vain) attempt to rewatch all the episodes before the Season 3 premiere in August. Also, I'm going to try not to reveal any of the "twists" that occur in this pilot episode so as not to give away the surprise - but no promises for future ones. There is no set timeline to watch and view episodes so if I seem to be slacking (or someone really really likes an episode), please go ahead and post your own discussion and review of it. (And if I end up being the only one posting in this thread about it, so be it. )



Created and led by Matthew Weiner (former writer on The Sopranos), Mad Men (per wiki) is "set in New York City and begins in the early 1960s at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency on New York City's Madison Avenue. The show centers on Don Draper (Jon Hamm), a high-level advertising creative director, and the people in his life in and out of the office. It also depicts the changing social mores of 1960s America." Also, as David Chase himself notes that this is "a story about advertising in the 1960s, and was looking at recent American history through that prism."

Season 1-Episode 1: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (link to free Pilot episode online)

Title Sequence



This title sequence is every bit as iconic to me as Tony in his huge suburban driving through New Jersey is for the Sopranos. The nameless, faceless silhoutte man falling through the buildings and ads, paced beautifully with the melancholic background music, immediately and indelibly creates a tone for this show.

The opening shot is a bar, could be any bar, anywhere but more formal than most with men dressed in fancy suits. As the camera pans the bar, it slowly focuses on one man and the back of his head. Who opens a series this way, with such genius foreshadowing? As this man is being served by an African-American man, he begins to question him about cigarettes and the audience slowly learns that this man is 1) in advertising and 2) this ain't the good ol' 21st century anymore as the African-American server begins to be openly harassed by his white boss. Oh, and there's a lotta lotta smokin' going on - another clue that this is not now. But we still haven't learned the name of our mysterious man and we don't learn it until the next scene, after he is bed with his nameless lover, and she says his name: Don Draper, adman (played by the gorgeous hunk Jon Hamm).



Don is agonizing over his creative block regarding his ad pitch for a cigarette company and his always tenuous position as a middle-level advertising executive at Sterling Cooper with Midge here. I love how all of this is setting up the appearance of the tactless, always-weasely Pete Campbell at the office a couple of scenes later.

At Sterling and Cooper, we meet Peggy Olsen (played by an amazing Elizabeth Moss), a young, fresh-faced, secretary who is just starting that day and will be Don Draper's new secretary. She is shown around the office by the red-hot barracuda, Joan (played by Christina Hendricks). Through the character of Peggy (and also Joan in addition to some minor characters), the audience is able to witness the misogynistic attitude that pervades the office and culture at large, maintained (at times) by both the males AND females. The prevailing attitudes of racism and misogyny of the 1960s are explored throughout the series, in subtle contrast and comparison to our own modern, "enlightened" times. There is definitely a subtle tongue-in-cheek attitude behind this show, in both its references (Nixon, copier machine) and some major issues (marriage, divorce, etc.).

In this office scene, the audience is introduced to the other main characters such as the mob of young male ad execs who pal around the office together, Roger Sterling, Don's witty and lackadaisical boss, in addition to the many female secretaries. We also get to see Don pitch his advertising idea to the clients, which he comes up with at the very last moment. The qualities that make Don Draper such a good ad executive seem to be quite nebulous undefinable: his "inspiration", his "creativity", his ability to "pitch" an idea by drawing the clients over to his way of thinking.

We are also introduced to Rachel Mencken, who I . (More on her in later episodes...)

I would have to say that the actor who I was most impressed with in this episode is Vincent Kartheiser (who plays Pete Campbell). It would be so easy to go overboard with this character due to the fact that Pete is a pretty slimy, weasly guy. But Vincent never overdoes it - he always shows some bit of vulnerability to Pete so that it balances his nastier qualities and prevents him from becoming a one-dimensional character.

This is already tl;dr so if you've made it this far - congratulations. Next episode to be reviewed soon.

Favorite lines:

Pete Campbell: Of course I love you. I'm giving up my life to be with you.

Joan: Go home, take a paper bag and cut some eye holes out of it. Put it over your head, get undressed, and look at yourself in the mirror. Really evaluate where your strengths and weaknesses are. And be honest.
Peggy: I always try to be honest.
Joan: Good for you.

Don Draper: Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. And you know what happiness is - happiness is the smell of a new car. It's freedom from fear - it's a billboard on the side of the road that screams with reassurance that whatever you're doing is OK. You are O.K.

Don Draper: What you call love was invented by guys like me -- to sell nylons.

I love the show, but isn't this thread a couple of years late? I can't see finding the time to re-watch the first couple of seasons.

Well, I didn't see any other threads about it so I decided to start my own.

You don't need to re-watch from the beginning if you don't want to. I intend to be talking about the third season epis here too, so why don't you just start from there then?

I just want to say that if I had a chance to live my life over again, I'd try like hell to be more like Roger Sterling.

Love this show. I want to be Don Draper. I'd divorce that blond bitch and start a torrid affair with the mousy red-haired girl who used to be on West Wing.

I dunno...my gut tells me that he's in for some dramatic upheaval in Season 3 due to his "poet"...

I've been wanting to watch this but have not been able to find free, legal episodes online....Hobby, is the whole first season online or just the pilot?

He really does look like a cartoon pilot.

Yes, both seasons are online.

He can fly my plane anytime, if you know what I'm sayin'.

Liz Lemon can go suck an egg - he's MINE!

LOVE this idea even though i am more of a Draper guy myself.

I'll watch along and provide my insights. All episodes are available to me on "on-demand" so I have them readily available.

Mad Men is my absolutely favorite current TV show. It often just meanders along but it does so with exeptional style. I love the mood, look, style, music and the impecable way it captures the late 50's/early 60's with amazing accuracy.

I just finished rewatching episode one. It's very interesting to see the setups coming and eventual character developments since I now know what is to come. The first time I saw this first episode I hadn't picked up yet on Sals inevitable gayness yet it is ironically telegraphed in each scene he is in.

I also agree Cambell plays the slimy weasel to near perfection.

As to Draper versus Sterling I would say Sterling is a far happier man. He is a greedy lecherous dog and he knows it and embraces it and he enjoys it. Draper is far more mysterious and troubled with the ghosts of his past constantly haunting him.

Anyone with any interest in the the cultural landscape of 1960 should watch this series as it offers an intersting representation of that era.

Love the show.

I thought by the end of season 1 the period features such as smoking pregnant women, drunk driving, casual sex-/racism angle was getting a bit tired, but the second season was pretty mind blowingly good.

The key to it for me is that the characters are so well drawn and complex. I don't think there is a single major character who doesn't have real depth and complexity, faults and strengths.

did you have your eyes AND ears closed?

Well it's easy to see now but on first viewing the only real hints are the way he smokes and somewhat his speech patterns. But at that point in the first viewing of a first episode you really haven't seen enough to know for sure yet I don't believe. But otherwise he is ironically saying all the right things to fit in.

There's also a lot of hints in the one scene where Salvatore is showing Don an ad that he's drawn involving a beach scene with the being unclothed while the female is all covered up and Salvatore is making some comments about using his neighbor as a model. I definitely was laughing when I re-watched the scene because it is so obvious now, but I know the first time I watched it, it went right over my head.

I'm also curious about what you guys think about Peggy and Pete at the end of the episode: why does she let him into her apartment? He's basically been a jerk to her the whole episode with his ominous leering and innuendos to her at the office. Does Peggy do what she does because of Pete's higher authority - even though it's not directly over her? What do you guys think?

That was my point. If I had watched episode one 3 or 4 times before I knew what to was unfold I "may" have made the conclusion but knowing what I now know it's interesting seeing every move he makes and word he chooses in attempts to fit in.

The Peggy/Pete thing has always befuddled me. It really makes no sense other than future plots and events demand it.

Maybe love/lust at first sight? Or she thinks that she's obligated to "take care of him" as any good secretary takes care of her boss (even though he's not really her direct boss)? She does make a pass at Don earlier...

Part of me thinks that Peggy is confused about what her role is supposed to be at the office. The insinuations from Joan (and sending Peggy to Joan's gynecologist for birth control pills) may have given her the completely wrong impression of what is expected of her...I dunno. It confuses me too.

This is certainly part of it. Peggy is definitely a fish out of water. I think the sexual harassment aspect of the show is a bit overdone and exagerated which I feel is one of its few shortcomings.

Peggy is exhilarated by the adventure of her new Manhattan job. Her confidence was shaken when she ventured out of her comfort zone and touched Draper's hand. His rebuff shook her confidence. She had to retreat back to Brooklyn and her boring old life, but then in the middle of the night Pete gives her a second bite at the sexually adventurous apple.

My favorite scene in this pilot is the opening, the way Draper treats the old black waiter with respect and dignity. Partly because Draper is essentially decent, partly because he wants information to use for his own advantage.

I used to be a salesman, and this is exactly how good salesmen operate. People always think salesmen are phoney, but good salesmen aren't close to phoney. They want to win-win; treat you great and also get what they want.

I also liked when the Jewish lady recognized Draper's otherness, and how it shook him a little.

Can't sleep, so here comes the next episode...

Season 1: Episode 2 - Ladies Room

So after the very brief introduction to Don's wife at the end of the pilot, we are now given a chance to learn a little bit more about his beautiful, Grace Kelly-esque wife, Betty Draper (played by January Jones):



I definitely was one of the people who did not initially like this actress playing this part at all. For the most part, January Jones initially played Betty as very child-like and simplistic, but in an entirely one-dimensional manner. She didn't turn into a character so much as some sort of archetype of the mild-mannered 1950s housewife with little depth. Obviously, the character calls for this but it just felt so flat coming from January Jones...however, she did redeem herself for me in Season 2 so I will just have to suffer her acting until then.

So this episode opens with a fancy dinner between Roger Sterling and his wife, Mona and Don and Betty. Roger is being his usual witty, one-liner self while Don is maintaining his stoic, pretty uncommunicative front. It's amazing how different yet similar these two characters are...you can never quite tell what either one of them is thinking because Roger evades with a joke while Don dodges with a non-answer. It's easy to see why they get along well...neither probes too deeply into the other one.

Also, this is the first we see of Betty's problem with her hand-shaking...and when I saw this, I kept trying to figure out what type of disorder I thought she had and whether it was more of a psychological or physical problem. Anxiety, definitely, and some leftover grief due to the recent death of her mother, but also maybe some other physical disease? Something that hasn't been discovered in the 1960s yet?

It is interesting to see how much people really distrusted (and disparaged) psychology/psychiatry, especially in light of how widespread and accepted it is today. Don's line about "Doctors must love that they now have an answer for 'I don't know what's wrong'" is so cynical and distrustful. And it's amazing how unaware he is, and the fact that he himself is the root of Betty's anxiety because she doesn't really know who he is so consequently she doesn't really know how to act around him. It's so appropriate that Don's nickname for her is "Birdy" because she always she's to be flitting from spot to spot, vainly trying to find a steady place for herself. "What do women want?" Don keeps asking throughout the episode...and the answer is always directly in front of him and he uses it for his ad campaign for Right Guard: "An Excuse to Get Closer". And the last scene of this episode - where Don calls up Betty's psychiatrist and gets a report on her session - is just a shocker (yet so in line with his character). Don so completely owns Betty in every conceivable way that to him calling Betty's doctor is no different than calling a mechanic to find out what is wrong with your car. He just seems to have little true respect for her.

Poor Don is caught between his Scylla (Midge) and his Charybdis (Betty). One is so independent and one is entirely dependent. One has her own job and one works in the home. One is brunette (even with wigs) and the other is blonde...I can't tell whether Don actually prefers one of them over the other or not...

I never realized the stigma surrounding divorce was still so strong in the 1960s. The way it is presented in the show seems to put it on par with rascism (I'm thinking specifically of the line where Francine, Betty's friend, makes some reference to how the divorced woman, Helen Bishop, moving into their neighborhood will drive the surrounding property values down.) I guess it makes sense in that divorce is the dark antithesis to the picture of the happy, wholesome American family that is the accepted and promoted norm of the times. Although Betty seems more curious than anything, her friend Francine definitely displays an attitude of being threatened by a divorcee.

We meet Don's other head boss, the weird and quirky Bert Cooper, who walks around the office in his socks. It is interesting how they deepen his character in later episodes since he is presented as such a quirky character initially.

Every time Jane and/or Peggy goes into the women's restroom, there is a different woman crying in there. Sterling Cooper seems like such a fun place to work.

Any thoughts?

Favorite lines:

Don Draper: I can't tell you about my childhood. It would ruin the first half of my novel.

Roger Sterling: An adman who doesn't like to talk about himself? I think I may cry.

Harry Crane: He wants to know if you're taken, kept, or merely browsing?
Joan: She's browsing. And like most of us, she's disappointed with the selection of merchandise.

Don Draper: Let me ask you something: what do women want?
Roger Sterling: Who cares?

i wish i had the time to watch these right now!

Just rewatched episode two. I'm finding it amazing how much more I am picking up on the repeated watches. I did rewatch all of the first season last year right before season two started. This is really the kind of series that benefits from repeated viewings to understand more of the depth.

I got a good laugh out of seeing the kids playing in the drycleaning bags while the mothers concern was about the clothes from the bag

It was interesting that at the end when Peggy went in it seemed to be exactly for that reason but when she saw the other women in there doing just that she pulled herself together and seemingly put herself above that sort of thing.

Yeah, there were a couple of scenes in this one whose purpose seemed to be to make the modern audience gasp - the dry cleaning bags, Betty's friend Francine smoking when she's very pregnant, and the clincher of Betty's psychiatrist breaking doctor-patient confidentiality with nary a protest.

I thought it was so funny when after Betty got into her little car accident and she is all worried about the kids while they're in the back seat laughing about it. So true to life.