During this spring break, I got to finally watch the first season of Mad Men. Having not watched it before, I was pretty excited about it. I mean, I don’t think there’s a more critically acclaimed drama on TV today. And I wasn’t disappointed. I finished season 1’s 13 45-minute episodes in less than 24 hours.. because it’s that great.
The different thing about the 1960s TV show is that it does not feature storylines per sé. The show, centered around the lives of various ad men (and women), is fit into nostalgic themes: cigarettes, sexism, cheating, etc.… where everyone is not who he says he is.
I enjoyed the first season, a lot. I was creeped out by some of the characters and some of the storylines but then again it is set in 1960 so that was expected. Here are my quick thoughts about the season: (Oh, by the way, I’m definitely starting season 2 today.)
Favorite Female Character: Joan Holloway
Joan, played by Christina Hendricks, is the bombshell of Sterling Cooper, the ad firm the show revolves around. But just like every character on the show, there’s more to her than meets the eye. Yes, she’s fun. And yes she’s not looking for a husband anytime soon and IS sleeping with one of the married partners in the firm, Roger, but she actually has a heart. Even though she sounds condescending and mean to Peggy, the new girl, sometimes. She always means well. She truly wants to help her.
We get to see that soft side of her especially when Roger has a heart attack. She’s weak and even more bitchy than usual. She loves him even though she doesn’t want him to know. After he has a heart attack, Roger comes to work to assure his Lucky Strike clients that he’s okay. Don and Cooper, the other partner, ask Joan to fix him up, to make him look less white than he is. “Can I kiss you?” she asks and you can see the worry and the fear on her face. She can see him slipping away and she wants to have him by her side forever, but she knows she can’t.
Favorite Male Character: Don Draper
Did you really expect me to say someone else? Don Draper is the lead protagonist of the show. He’s the popular creative director at Sterling Cooper that everyone loves and respects. Well, almost everyone. Jon Hamm plays him so well. Alternating smoothly between the cheating husband, the loving man, and man hiding away his past, Jon Hamm pulls Don Draper off perfectly. Don Draper is adored by every woman that knows him: his wife, his client, Rachel, and even a Hobo woman he had a relationship with. And I can understand why. The way he talks and the way he smiles can make every woman swoon, including myself, of course.
That said, I liked his hidden part more. The part he only let us, as viewers, see. He’s not really Don Draper. His name is Dick Whitman. His mother was a prostitute who died at child-birth and his father was a drunk. He was raised by his step-mother and her husband and hated both. When he joined the army, he accidentally bombed his unit and his commander, Don Draper, was killed. So he assumed his personality and pretended that it was Dick Whitman who died. Every time Don remembered that life he once had, you could see him weak and afraid.. human. And I was definitely a fan of that.
A Character I Didn’t Expect to Like: Betty Draper
From what I hear, she’s one of those characters that went through character assassinations on Mad Men through the later seasons that she becomes on the most vain and intolerable characters on the show. And I knew that before I marathon’d the season. I also wasn’t a huge fan of January Jones, who portrays Betty on the series. So I expected to HATE on Betty a lot. But to my surprise, I actually liked Betty in the first season. She’s a girl stuck in a married woman’s body who knows at some level that her husband is cheating on her but is ready to let it all go if he smiles to her or holds her hand. She’s a weakling but tries to put on a brave face. She’s a kid and everyone around her knows that. But the truth is all women at some point in their lives have some of the insecurities she has: worrying about getting older, about living and dying as just a housewife, or finding out that her husband is cheating on her. She’s what a typical 1960s suburban housewife would be like.
In one of the episodes, the Drapers’ dog eats one of their neighbors pigeons. So the neighbor threatens the Draper kids that he will shoot the dog if he ever goes out to the backyard. At the end of the episode, Betty grabs a rifle and stars shooting the neighbor’s pigeons. You don’t threaten her kids.
Least Favorite Character: Trudy Campbell
I never thought I would dislike any character played by Alison Brie because, well, she’s Alison Brie! Community‘s Annie! And then I met Trudy. At first, I cringed at every scene that featured Trudy and then I started fast-forwarding all the scenes she’s in. It’s probably because I’m a huge fan of Annie’s that seeing Alison play someone so vain and annoying pissed me off. And it’s probably because of the relationship this character has with Pete Campbell, her husband. She’s the trophy wife, the image of a woman that makes this show seem so sexist.
Creepiest Character (And Storyline) of the season: Glen Bishop
Son of a divorced Helen Bishop, Glen has a weird infatuation with his mother’s friend, Betty Draper. When Helen has to leave one night and can’t find a baby sitter, she asks Betty to babysit. Glen barges on Betty when she’s in the toilet. And after scolding him, he tells her how pretty she is and that he wants her hair. The even more creepy part? She gives him lock of her hair. In the season finale, Betty runs into Glen at the parking lot, and she tells him that there’s no one she can talk to. He tells her he wishes her were older and holds her hand. And just then and there, Glen becomes her confidante. Oh, did I mention he’s only 9?
Favorite Episode: Nixon VS. Kennedy
I’m a fan of politics being infiltrated in TV shows. It’ one of the reasons I love The Good Wife. In its first season, the show tackled the 1960 presidential election between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. It was so interesting to watch because we never get to see the point of view of the Republican side as much. I would imagine that in any other show, they would be rooting for Kennedy (I would.), but the characters in Mad Men were rooting for Nixon especially that Sterling Cooper was handling his campaign. The suspense buildup was incredible not because I wanted to see who won, because we all know who did, but because I wanted to see the reaction of the characters when they found out that Nixon lost to Kennedy with just a small difference. This story line actually made me want to dig out my history books and read out the election itself.
The other reason I loved this episode so much is because we got to see the other side of Don Draper, Dick Whitman. It was in that episode that we discovered who he truly is, and the flashbacks were amazing. I wasn’t a huge fan of the flashbacks of him when he was a kid, but I enjoyed the his memories as an adult in the army.
If you have watched the first season of the show, what were YOUR favorite and least favorite moments and characters from the first season of Mad Men? And if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?
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My gosh, I love Mad Men! It's one of my all-time favorite series! I'm up to date with it, and it's all amazing, but the first season is special, because it's when you're first introduced to all the characters and relationships and you get the first taste of the 60's madness. The show is incredible, especially for someone born in the 90's, living in Europe, such as myself, this gives fascinating insight into the world back then. Add the fact that I love advertising and want to someday work in the industry, and it's almost like the show is custom-made for me.
Joan is most definitely my favorite female character on the show, because she's so strong and she doesn't take shit from anyone. That is an admirable quality for any woman in general, but for a woman living in the 60's, working in an environment dominated by men, where sexism is a source of their daily laughs, for her to gain the respect of her male and female superiors and co-workers, that is a major deal, she's such an inspiring lady. On top of being drop dead gorgeous and working those curves like no-one else! Joan is basically boss around there, hehe.
I admit to initially disliking Peggy, but she grew on me as the series progressed, which I'd never expected to happen and now she's actually one of my favorite characters! She has great character development, so look out for that. I know that most people dislike Betty, but I feel that they don't understand her. I mean, she's the classic disatissfied 60's housewife. She's unhappy and she doesn't know why. She feels guilty. She feels crazy. It's faschinating, really, I don't understand why she gets so much hate.
I don't think I need to expand on Don, because, well, he's Don freaking Draper. I'm just going to say that he IS the show. And Roger, my god, Roger. He does not get nearly enough credit as he should. One of the few characters I really disliked is Glen (I think we can all agree on this one) and Pete. Pete pissed me off because I found him incredibly immature. He basically acted like a big baby, all the time. But he is another character who actually underwent quite the development, grew a backbone and kind of grew on me by the 5th season. There's no one that I flat-out hate on Mad Men. You just can't.
I love everything about it, the atmospere, the smoking, the drinking, the spirit of it all, the fashion, the pace at which everything moves. I love it. Go on watching, and I assure you, you won't regret it. There are so many exciting things ahead. Just don't go on reading too much about it, because you'll spoil it for yourself. Happy madness!
I don't think I disagree with you on anything!
I feel like Betty is misunderstood by everyone. The hate tweets I see and the hate articles, I was so surprised when I actually started liking her character.
And Peggy. Yes, I definitely hated her at first. But there's more to her than meets the eye, and I like that!
I just finished watching the first two episodes of season 2, and I cannot stop! Such an amazing show!!!
Thank you for reading and commenting :)
I love this show so much. I marathoned it over summer as well. I agree about Joan, she is just the best no way around that. I just want the best for her.
And I know I'm way in the minority on this but I just hate Don I think he is extremely annoying. Now to be more clear what I mean by that is Don outside of work. Work Don is great. I love his pitch speeches and interactions with people at work. That is the Don that I love. For me it all breaks down when he has his personal relationships. His actions just completely baffle me half the time. I mean this season so far I have a good handle on why Don does what he does...at least for now.
Going hand in hand with this, I like Betty. Like you said she seems to be universally hated. But idk I always saw her side of things. Not to say she herself isn't crazy (see creepy storyline with Glenn you mentioned. srsly wtf at that?) but I dont see why people hate her so much.
And AHHH yes to the Trudy hate. As a fellow Community fan/Annie fan/Alison Brie fan I was so surprised to hate her. My friend who marathoned this show right before I did told me she hated Trudy, and I looked her up only to realize she was played by Alison Brie. SO I basically thought my friend was just a hater considering she doesn't like Community but nope. I will say that recently Trudy and Pete have become much more bearable/likeable to me. Idk something about Alison Brie's voice in this show just annoys me.
ANYWAY I forgot to mention my love of Peggy...and basically everyone else. Like dee said even though in the beginning there were a couple characters I disliked, there is literally no bad character on Mad Men. It's season 5 and I pretty much love everyone.
Last thing, I think my favorite part of Mad Men, besides them going through historic moments with meticulous accuracy, is the racial commentary. i just love that now that we are getting into the late 60s that we are seeing the subtle changes on the race front. This to me is more powerful than if they were to create some random black character to insert and speak to the struggle. Blacks were not in these peoples world. they are there peripherally. And as time passes you see more of a presence.Which makes it more powerful to me.
Just quality writing all around.
About Don, I just finished season 2 and I think I agree with you about hating him outside of work. There's a lot of things that he did that seriously pissed me off!
As for Peggy, I am now her biggest fan! Such a great character!
Thank you for reading!
Oh wow! I hope you'll continue to give us updates about your thoughts on Mad Men. If you have any issues with the writing over on GG, they're only going to become more and more apparent as you progress with MM. Season 1 is special but it's only laying the groundwork. MM only gets better!
I'm not surprised by your list of favorites (I would have listed 5G or The Wheel as my favorite episode though). I'm shocked by the Trudy hate however. Sure, she's a total WASP and a trophy wife. Trudy is very much a representation of what women were expected to be like in the era, very similar to Betty. But as the series progresses, Trudy becomes more likable (though for me, likability has little place on MM) and fleshed out. Brie's amazing comedic capabilities shine through as well on a few instances. I would urge you to not fast forward through her scenes. If you fast forward through every scene that has a character acting shallow, cruel or downright despicable, well, you won't be left with much of anything to watch! lol
Betty is probably my least favorite main character. Mad Men would still be Mad Men without Betty whereas it would suffer without Don, Pete, Peggy, Joan or Roger. Still, I've always been sympathetic to Betty and feel her character is necessary as a counterpoint to the career driven Peggy (with Joan representing some type of middle ground between the two). I don't know if "character assassination" is the right term for what they've done to Betty but the writing in season 4 is definately flat for her and I hope its something we'll find remedied in the current season.
A note about Nixon v. Kennedy: The show never really goes into the political views of its characters. The only reason the firm is rooting for Nixon is because they handled the campaign. The ad world is essentially apolitical. An account is an account. Peggy explains this concept well in a season 4 episode.
Anyway, continue to enjoy! It's a true piece of art.
Haha, Gossip Girl looks even more stupid now that I have watched Mad Men. The writing is incredible and their attention to the detail never ceases to amaze me!
And, hopefully, I will keep writing my season reviews. I finished season 2 today and I started writing the post this very moment :)
The comment about the politics, thank you for that! I get they are accounts and just accounts, but I will look forward to watching that season 4 episode!
Thank you!
I loved this piece and I'm always excited to discover more members of the Mad Men/Gossip Girl crossover audience hah.
My favorite characters? That's difficult to say. Joan, Peggy and Roger are the most likable but I have to agree with @224f298c668ea6dd27d53e84f005342b:disqus and @699f27b0c6d9742310bd81af0a2c17a7:disqus that I don't hate anybody. Every character is fascinating. They're all so fully fleshed and layered. Every character has their positive and negative attributes and is given a chance to display a range of complex emotions. Everyone feels so real and human. Peggy's evolution throughout the series is really amazing and the bond that develops between her and Don is one of the best things on television.
I have to disagree about Trudy too. I know it's a very different role for Brie but I think she does a great job even though Trudy remains a secondary character. It's to the show's credit that I can empathize with Trudy when Pete treats her terribly while finding her to be spoilt and haughty. In many instances I can even empathize with Pete (that weasely, Machiavellian bastard!) and the way he was forced to live a certain life. I may not like The Campbells, per se, but they sure do entertain and enthrall me, as does everyone else. Alright, except for Betty. I don't hate Betty but I'm less invested in her story than basically all the other characters.
There are so many fantastic episodes that it's hard chose the best. 5G, The Hobo Code, Kennedy v. Nixon and The Wheel (up until the last 10 minutes, then it gets too wtf soapy) are some of the best. Like you, I love the backdrop of Kennedy v. Nixon and also Pete attempts at blackmailing Don. I remember seeing the episode and my heart was pounding when Campbell and Don are racing to Cooper's office to expose the Draper identity secret. Overall 5G is my favorite from season 1 though. At that point, we're still embroiled in the Don Draper mystery and Adam showing up added another missing piece to the puzzle. It's one of the first episodes where we get a true understanding of the depths of Don's cruelty, his need to sever the past and the character's disarming ability to compartmentalize. A great moment, and one of my favorites, from The Wheel is when Don is pitching the campaign for the Carousel to the people from Kodak with slides of his own family. I believe it's one of the few times in season 1 where we see Don being completely sincere. The juxtaposition of how cruelly Don dismisses Adam and then the way Don reverently gazes at his family pictures during the Kodak pitch illustrates how multi-faceted the writing is for these characters.
Gah that was long. I could write about Mad Men forever. I've read that each episode is like reading a chapter in the next great American novel and that's precisely how I feel. The writing and plotting is so meticulous, literary and downright beautiful, the acting is top notch (how has Hamm not won an Emmy?!) and the cinematography is absolutely breathtaking. Have fun watching! I have to agree that you shouldn't read ahead at all!
**Nixon vs. Kennedy rather. I'll blame it on Ano's comment and then thinking that was the proper title ;-).