Mad Men Season 5 Episode 1/2: A Little Kiss

 Joe Chiarenzelli is an editor at The Gadfly Press and wishes he was Don Draper.

 Mandy Lafond is a soon-to-be graduate of St. Lawrence University, studying philosophy with a minor in Asian studies.  She’s currently writing a thesis on postmodernist film theory and Jean Baudrillard. In her spare time she likes philosophizing, playing with her pet rabbit and reading Wikipedia for fun.

 Mandy:

 In last’s night season 5 premiere, we see that a lot has happened since we last saw the denizens of SCDP.  Don and Megan seem to be happily married, Sally’s voice has changed, baby Gene is talking, Joan’s had her baby, Pete’s moved to the suburbs. Yet not everything is well in the world of Mad Men.  When we first see Don and Megan in their new apartment having breakfast with the children, the two seem happily wedded, however we quickly realize their marital bliss is short-lived.

            Given their hasty engagement, it’s not exactly surprising that Don and Megan’s marriage is off in some way.  When Don and Megan arrive late to work early in the episode, we see that Megan has been promoted to working in creative.  Don seems more interested in idle flirtation rather than Megan actually getting work done and she quickly rejects his advances.  Later in the episode, Don interrupts a meeting in creative, asking Peggy and Stan if they really need Megan there or if she can just leave.  To me, Don respects women in the workplace, like Peggy and previously Joan, but when it comes to his own wife, he doesn’t seem to value her position at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.  She’s expected to set aside her own career ambitions at Don’s every whim- whether it be for a quick romp in his office, or merely going home for the evening.

            The central event of the two hour episode is the surprise party that Megan throws Don, which Megan first mentions to Peggy in the office.  Peggy seems a little hesitant about Don actually enjoying a surprise party, but Megan goes ahead nonetheless.  Megan’s party is the height of frivolity, with lavish spreads, copious amounts of alcohol, complete with a burlesque number by Megan herself.  Her rendition of “Zou Bisou Bisou” is both sensual and slightly ridiculous at the same time, and Don seems uncomfortable not only being the center of attention, but also that every man in the room is ogling his wife.  At the party we really begin to see the contrast between the ebullient Megan and the much more reserved Don.  Do you really think Don’s friends would be out on the balcony smoking “tea”? After the party, an exhausted Don tells Megan not to spend money like that, and she becomes upset.  While it becomes clear that Don has told Megan about his true identity, he still doesn’t seem entirely comfortable being Don Draper.  I think it’s here that we really begin to see the generational differences between Don and Megan.  Dick Whitman was, after all, a child of the Depression, raised in a poor family in rural Pennsylvania, so needlessly squandering money on an elaborate party disgusts Don.  While we don’t know much about Megan’s background, we do know that she is significantly younger than Don and she doesn’t seem to have experienced the hardships that he has. Megan’s naivete is best expressed when she asks Peggy, “Who wouldn’t want a surprise party?” Don Draper, that’s who.  He’s still uncomfortable with the fact that he’s living another man’s life, so why would he want to be the center of attention?

            From the beginning of Don and Megan’s relationship, I’ve found myself wondering why they are even together. Sure, when they’re at Disney, Megan is great with the kids, but what else does Don see in her? I found myself increasingly irritated with her as she pesters a sleepy Don after the party. He says he just wants to go to sleep, and she just will not leave him alone. Like Betty, Megan has certain childish qualities about her, although unlike Betty, they’re less obviously repugnant.  Betty was always antagonistic and depressed, and always seeking vengeance for those she perceives as having wronged her. Megan, on the other hand, certainly makes Don very happy, yet she has a very naïve worldview and I don’t think she really understands what makes Don tick. She seems to seek validation, and doesn’t understand why Don doesn’t want to be the center of attention too. While Don doesn’t necessarily enjoy being in the limelight, he does enjoy having control of every situation he finds himself in, and I think this is a constant source of contention in his relationship. I do have to wonder though, why Don seems to be drawn to such immature, childish women. 

            Joe:

            I’ll get to Megan in a minute, she seems very clever to me obviously. But there are some other interesting things to take note of with the folks at SCDP. Peggy seems to have actually found something with Abe, the underground reporter, and unlike Don this has not affected her work ethic in the slightest. She also has some wonderful moments of visually taking stock of her status between A) supervising Don’s nepotistically appointed wife in creative and B) passive aggressively insulting Don at his birthday party. Bert Cooper has mysteriously unquit his job inexplicably and is seen just hanging around the office with pretty much nothing to do. But the most interesting development aside from happy Don Draper, is how Roger and Pete are now related to each other.

            I have always liked Pete even though he is an entitled gnat to a certain extent, but he has value in that he is hungry to the point of his own detriment. When the show started you could viscerally feel the envy coming off of him when he looked at Don’s life, the house, the kids, the money, and the status. But even though he’s made progress towards what Don had, it doesn’t seem that he is satisfied with it. He knows that he can do more than Roger. Along with Peggy, Pete is one of the engines running SCDP at the moment. So he views Roger’s shoehorning into his meetings and large office as sleights against his own value. He knows that Roger is a dinosaur at this point, just running around trying to find what his old skill set can be applied to in a world that is rapidly progressing. Thank god, Slattery can pull all of this off with charm and humor, the man is a one-liner machine. It would be difficult for a lesser actor to maintain Roger’s soul crushing dissatisfaction with his life and balance it out with a drink, cigarette, a wad of cash, and (when Harry tells him he will owe him) “No, I won’t. I just gave you a lot of money.”

            But the party is really where everything comes together in the first hour. The scene is vibrant and full of colors (btw if anyone sees a jacket like the one Pete was wearing I want it), like the office was magically transported to the Draper residence. Megan’s song and dance routine was one of the most stunningly akward moments I have ever seen on this show. Don’s eyes basically screamed “holy shit woman why would you subject me to this”, and the rest of the guests ranging from giving themselves mental cold showers to Penny’s smirk of superiority. Of note in these scenes is when one of Megan’s friends mentions something about her being an actor to Don and his seeming surprise at this fact. Whether this is meant literally or figuratively I can’t really tell. But the song was itself a perfect piece of acting, much like what occurs later in the episode, she clearly wanted to demonstrate to everyone that she was now Draper royalty and then any attempts on her man would be futile because shes a sex bomb.

These events of course set the stage for the second hour, which I appreciated for how it slowed down the pace in order to let us see how the new dynamics that were established in the first hour function on a normal day. Or maybe I should say dysfunction on a normal day.

Mandy:

I saw his soul leave his body,” says Lane Pryce, pretty accurately summing up Don’s reaction to Megan’s little musical number.  I get what you’re saying about Megan being clever to the extent that Megan knows how to mark her territory.  Her musical performance does clearly send a message that Don is HER man (though in a somewhat creepy fashion).  So, I think she’s clever when it comes to other people, but not necessarily when it comes to Don.  How could she not know that he’d react negatively to the surprise party? I don’t know whether she really just doesn’t know him that well, or if it was some sort of power play to put Don in a vulnerable, embarrassing position to give her more power in the relationship.  But who knows, maybe she really is that stupid.

                  I find Peggy’s relationship with Megan fascinating.  Their relationship is friendly, yet it’s obvious that Peggy resents Megan in many ways.  Peggy started as a secretary and worked her way up the corporate ladder based on her talents, while Megan got promoted simply because she married Don.  Peggy values hard work and it seems to irk her that Megan didn’t do anything to earn her position.  Furthermore, Peggy enjoyed being Don’s confidante and now she feels threatened by Megan’s presence in the office. To a certain extent, I think Peggy also doesn’t know how to feel about “happy Don”.  When the Heinz suits don’t like Peggy’s ‘Bean Ballet’ ad, Don apologizes to the executives and promises to do better.  Peggy finds this uncharacteristic of Don, and I have to agree.  What’s gotten into him? This is the guy that could basically sell anyone anything, and suddenly we see him acquiescing to the customer.   Is this the same Don Draper that invented the concept of love to sell people like me nylons?! 

                  The whole second half of the episode I continued to be annoyed by Megan.  In fact, when she goes home sick for the day without telling Don, I kind of hoped something horrible happened to her, and the thing is, she’s not even that particularly villainous.  At least nowhere near as villainous as Betty, who I would often find myself shouting obscenities at, as if somehow a fictional character could commit suicide by hearing me through the television.  Ahem, sorry about that, back to Megan. I did find myself rethinking my judgment of her as a complete idiot when Don comes home from work to see why she left.  She’s distraught about their messy apartment and pretty soon she’s stripped down to some lacy underwear and her bra to do the cleaning, all while berating Don for being an old man.  “Stop looking at me,” she says, “You don’t deserve this. I don’t want people to think you’re getting this.” Oh Megan, dear, we know very much you want people to think he’s getting that. We saw that musical number. It’s in this moment that we really see the depth of the power dynamics in Megan and Don’s relationship, and it’s not pretty.  It’s hard to tell who’s even in control of the situation here.  Sure, Megan left the office knowing that Don would come looking for her, but Don immediately tries to assert himself as in control of the situation as he grabs her arms and tells her he she does in fact, want it.  After they have angry sex on the dirty floor, I still had no idea what to think of this relationship.  I’m beginning to think they’re both masochists. Megan seems to enjoy antagonizing Don to the point where he lashes out and seizes control of the situation, and Don seems to enjoy having relationships with extremely volatile women.  I think when Megan said he didn’t deserve her, it really struck a nerve in Don who still doesn’t seem to feel he deserves to be Don Draper.

            Joe: 

In all honesty people’s souls leaving their bodies was a strong theme throughout the whole episode. However most of them happened at the office. First with Harry exploring his errrrr “urges” while Megan stands right behind him, then with Joan’s visit to the office. Of course the former leads to the lovely conversation where Harry thinks he is about to be fired and Roger just wants to bribe him in order to get Pete off his back about the office (which doesn’t work primarily because Roger didn’t address the issue, Pete doesn’t care so much about the office, rather he cares about being held in higher esteem that Roger). Joan’s arrival sparks some amazing interactions though, firstly with Roger saying “that’s my baby” as he approaches Joan and his child, but referring to Joan herself. Then as the baby is handed to Peggy Pete walks by and you can see the color drain from his face as he is all of the sudden wondering where that baby came from and suddenly having their child jump to the forefront of his mind.

           Of course, the reason why Joan was even in the office in the first place is of note too. Roger’s idea of pranking Y&R with an ad in the New York Times stating SCDP’s equal opportunity employment backfires in two ways. Firstly, Joan sees it and is worried that she is being replaced, though the truth is exactly the opposite as Lane tells her, they need her more than ever because they’re operating off a shoestring budget. Which, interestingly, seems to be foreshadowing Lane somehow embezzling from the company along with his comments about money to his wife and the way he looks at the cash in the wallet he finds in the cab. Secondly, Roger’s idea of a joke causes a mass descent of “negroes” (Roger’s words not mine) on the lobby looking for jobs. This, of course means that they actually do have to take résumés and (I suspect) hire one of the applicants. My prediction is whoever it is will be very attractive.

            What these developments do is highlight what I think will be both a strong thematic tide in this season, but also a variation on the show’s central theme. These people, who are predominantly white elites, are buffered from the tides of history up to a certain extent. But, as time progresses, this buffer is being slowly removed and their social talents and privilege will erode on a more even playing field. We can see it already in Cooper and Sterling, but it will descend deeper and deeper into Madison Avenue, most likely making Don himself obsolete. This will in the end allow the Pete’s and Peggy’s of the world to ascend to their positions, before they themselves experience the same process fifteen to twenty years down the line.

This is what the show is doing by showing us how Megan is, and the developing aspirations and disaffectations of Peggy and Pete. Don was the crafter of elaborate fictions that allowed him to manipulate people into buying certain products. Now he is being led around by his testicles by a young woman who has embraced the social changes occurring in the latter half of the sixties and recognized what her feminine empowerment can be used for. Peggy and Pete thought that what they wanted was the life of Don Draper. But now they realize that he has problems himself, they now want more from life. The partners at SCDP don’t realize it yet, but the ground on which they stand is becoming more unstable and eventually it will be pulled out from under them. It reminds me of something Roger says in the fourth episode “New Amsterdam” to Don, “You don't know how to drink. Your whole generation, you drink for the wrong reasons. My generation, we drink because it's good, because it feels better than unbuttoning your collar, because we deserve it. We drink because it's what men do.” 

Roger thinks Don drinks for the wrong reasons. What reasons will Peggy and Pete be drinking for when they assume their mantles?

What did you think of the premiere? Were you turned on or horrified at Megan's song and dance number? Let us know in the comments below.