When Is Everything Going To Get Back To Normal? Taking A Look At The Upcoming Season Of 'Mad Men'

Television

by Cory Everett
March 27, 2012 3:42 PM
22 Comments

After an unendurable 17 month hiatus, “Mad Men” returned Sunday night with an epic two hour season premiere and its biggest ratings ever. If you have somehow shielded yourself from the buzz, the four-time Emmy-winning Best Drama takes a look at the lives of employees of an advertising agency in New York throughout the 60s amidst social and political upheaval. After binging on 10 episodes Sunday afternoon as a refresher, this writer is convinced it’s easily the best show on TV and probably one of the finest dramas ever forged. (If you have yet to watch this somehow. it’s on Netflix Instant. You’re welcome.) The show is the creation of former “The Sopranos” writer Matthew Weiner, whose uncompromising vision extends to every aspect of the show, including the way it’s marketed. In order to preserve the experience for fans of the show, Weiner won’t allow any spoilers prior to the season premiere. This includes incidental details like the year it takes place, or which characters will be returning, and means that commercials feature only footage from previous seasons and interviewers have to find clever ways to get even the vaguest hints about what might be coming up on the show.

The juiciest nugget revealed by Weiner to the NYTimes prior to the premiere was a line from the upcoming third episode of this season where a character asks, “When is everything going to get back to normal?” which is a question that many fans were asking after Sunday’s premiere. Every season has a thematic throughline, and many of the story threads that pay dramatic dividends in the later episodes are all being quietly placed on the board at the very beginning of each season. So with the first two hours of season five behind us and many of the pressing questions answered -- When does this season take place? Did Joan have her baby? Did Don really marry Megan? -- we thought now would be a good time to dive into the premiere (which you can watch below in its entirety) and look for clues as to what might be in store for the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce office this season.

Don Draper (Jon Hamm)
When we last saw Don, he had impulsively ditched his intellectual equal girlfriend Doctor Faye (Cara Buono), and proposed to his secretary Megan (Jessica Paré). This came as a shock not only to his co-workers but to the audience as well, who had never seen their brooding lead appear so happy-go-lucky. When we check in on Don in the premiere, he’s still very much in the honeymoon phase of his relationship with Megan, who is now officially Mrs. Draper. The former bachelor can barely keep his hands off of her which leads to some kinky interplay between the two both at home and at the office, where Megan has been promoted to copywriter. Mixing work and relationships is almost always a recipe for disaster, and signs of strain have already begun to show with the couple showing up late and leaving early to deal with personal issues.

There was a lot of online chatter about how Don is supposedly happy now, and while we definitely saw a side of Don that was a bit different than we’re used to, we wouldn’t exactly call it “happy.” He’s certainly getting very frisky with his new wife but he’s also incredibly distracted at work: "I don't care about work" is a thought that would have been unthinkable to the old Don, so it’s a clear sign that his priorities have shifted drastically in recent months. Hamm spoke to TV Guide explaining, "Don is seemingly becoming a little bit disengaged at work. What happens when you have it all? What happens when you're satisfied? Maybe you lose some of that fire." This comes at an especially troublesome time considering the shaky financial ground that SCDP is on, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

Another milestone during the episode was Don’s 40th birthday -- though technically he turned 40 a few months earlier -- and it appears aging is going to be a big theme this season. Megan playfully calls him “a dirty old man” and Harry Crane (Rich Sommer) gives him a “walking stick” (basically a cane) as a birthday present. Prior to his birthday, Don asks his 10 year old son Bobby, “So when you’re 40, how old will I be?” to which his son replies, “You’ll be dead.” If this isn’t a sign of changing times, we don’t know what is. Weiner told EW, “He is coming into middle age, which was closer to old age back then” which never seemed truer than it did at Don’s surprise birthday party. Sitting in his groovy new penthouse apartment amongst the younger, hipper, guests, he has never looked like more of a square. The times they are a-changin’.

Roger Sterling (John Slattery)
Roger is a character who never seems to be without a good line. (Highlight from the premiere: “There’s my baby. Now move that brat out of the way so I can see her,” he says to Joan, referring to their love child.) But things are not going well in his marriage with Jane, who had made him so happy last season, and they’re going even worse at work. Since losing Lucky Strike, he’s taken to peeking at Pete’s schedule and elbowing in on his clients. Weiner described Roger’s current state as “disenfranchised,” and said, “Roger is someone who lost Lucky Strike and is struggling. He's still president of the agency. He's obviously still financially well off. He's pulling money out of his pocket to get things done, but he's using Pete's leads. He doesn't have a secretary. That's not good.” Whether Roger’s marriage or business will survive the season is anybody’s guess.

Television

More: Mad Men, Television

22 Comments

| Reply
Stefano | January 14, 2013 7:53 PMReply

my girlfriend family, they didnât like me at all. So i decided to ask getexbacksolutionspelltemple@yahoo.com what to do and she gave me a great spell that make all over our family change. Now they donât interfere anymore between us. Thanks you getexbacksolutionspelltemple@yahoo.com, i will recommend your services to all my friends. Stefano, Puerto Rico.
Geraldine Gill | January 10, 2013 7:27 AMReply

My Name is Geraldine Gill I will never forget the great work of ancient benin shrine in my life. I was terribly ill and the doctors confirm that I canât be healed completely for this I was frustrated and my increases as time pass on. When I meant Dr.Ancient online I discuss my situation with him, and he said nothing is impossible. He ask me to send my photo graph which I did and he bought some materials which he used for me and I was able to regain my normal health after a week. When I went to my doctor for check up he was surprise and said unbelievable that my health is normal and my body eight equally normal. My greatest thanks to Dr. Ancient if you which to contact him, his Email ancientbeninshrine@gmail.com
loveth | December 28, 2012 7:58 PMReply

just want to share my experience and testimony here.. i was married for 6 years to my husband and all of a sudden, another woman came into the picture.. he started hailing me and he was abusive..but i still loved him with all my heart and wanted him at all costâ¦then he filed for divorce..my whole life was turning apart and i didnât know what to do..he moved out of the house and abandoned the kids.. so someone told me about trying spiritual means to get my husband back and introduced me to a spell casterâ¦so i decided to try it reluctantly..although i didnât believe in all those thingsâ¦ then when he did the special prayers and spell, after 3days, my husband came back and was pleading..he had realized his mistakes..i just couldnât believe it.. anyways we are back together now and we are happy..in case anyone needs this man, his email address Sangospelltemple@gmail.com his spells is for a better life.
moreen silver | December 17, 2012 4:50 AMReply

AM HAPPY AGAIN DR OKUDU for what you have just done, for helping
me geting my husband who left me with one kid december last year to me
i thank you so much the great DR OKUDU of you are so greatful me.
bringing back my family i am greatfull and will always be if you also
need his help his email( okudutemple@yahoo.com)
moreen silver canada
andy sowers | September 13, 2012 6:55 AMReply

when will I be normal?
Blessing | September 13, 2012 4:46 AMReply

what a wonderful world we are living.
raprio | September 13, 2012 12:59 AMReply

spell casters are from a cult!
andy sowers | September 11, 2012 2:27 PMReply

when will I be normal?
Edward Davis | August 13, 2012 9:24 AMReply

Amazing.
Tamara | August 10, 2012 9:25 PMReply

spell casters are frauds.
anon | March 29, 2012 5:12 AMReply

megan is probably a little on the crazy side...
Digital ? | March 28, 2012 11:02 AMReply

I also had that odd feeling I couldn't put my finger on, the characters perhaps - but visually I wondered if they've switched from 35mm to digital?
Lucy | March 27, 2012 11:42 PMReply

I agree with Danielle wonderful recap and analysis! Keep them coming! You made me want to watch it all over again to look at things maybe I missed. Favorite show on TV, the writing is impressive. The only complaint I have is commercials. I wish AMC was like TCM. No commercials! cheers to you.
Danielle | March 27, 2012 8:26 PMReply

Great recap and analysis, Cory. Please keep 'em coming for the rest of the season!
db12345 | March 27, 2012 5:39 PMReply

Did anyone else have the unpleasant experience of watching AMC and having them air part of episode one then jump over several scenes to episode 2? The script kept making reference to things we hadn't seen. I watched the double episode on demand and noted that what was aired was 25 min of episode one, then episode 2. I wondered why it seemed hard to understand and they cut out the cool party scene to boot!
Darb | March 28, 2012 8:57 AM

When did you watch it. I watched it live on the first airing at 8:00, and it had the party scene in, and wasn't just twenty five minutes for the first episode.
neologism | March 27, 2012 4:43 PMReply

Great article!

Oogle - that statue was a racially insensitive statue from Y&R with a joke resume attached to it. It was basically their reply to the ad that SCDP took out in the newspaper.
Oogle monster | March 27, 2012 6:03 PM

Gotcha. Thanks!
Oogle monster | March 27, 2012 4:13 PMReply

Also, I have a ques- at the very end of the episodes, when the front desk sec brings in that giant statue- what was it and why is it significant? Is it b/c they cannot accept gifts?
oogle monster | March 27, 2012 6:02 PM

Ohhh ok, gotcha. I couldn't even make out what it was. Thanks!
Cory Everett | March 27, 2012 4:18 PM

Great points on the 'actress' angle. The racist statue was sent to them by Y&R as a joke. Because it's offensive they decided not to send the lobby full of applicants away, since they likely saw them bringing that in and don't want the bad PR.
Oogle monster | March 27, 2012 4:11 PMReply

A few things to add to the "Megan is an actress" bit: Joan's mother warns Joan that Megan is manipulative yet Joan may be the only one who sees through Megan from the beginning (Megan is a little apprehensive to approach Joan when she comes for the surprise office visit)... the scene between Megan and Peggy at the end where Megan essentially yells at Peggy and then snaps into a damsel in distress mood (and asks to go home) coupled with Megan deciding to clean the house in her bra and panties while Don watches and then quoting a line from Don earlier- "You can sit there and watch me" (not verbatim but something along those lines) are perfect examples of how strategic and "actorly" Megan may very well be.