Shut Up It's On

[Just as a warning, this and all future rewinds, Mad Men or not, will contain spoilers throughout for not only this episode, but others as well]

With it being a slow season for new material, this makes the perfect time to look back and reflect on what once was and will become from the past. With Mad Men not premiering for at least another seven months, I need my fix. From the first episode I watched, I loved it and had too many questions to not keep on watching. Then more questions came. Then BAM shocker from nowhere. Then another and another! And before you know it you’re getting headaches and hot flashes from weeks of not watching when it mysteriously disappears from your DVR…

We get by with a little help from our friends, right? So Roger offers up some insight and general info that you will find conveniently wrapped up in italics.

So we start with episode one: “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”

We meet Don Draper['s back of head]. Working while at a bar. Genius doesn’t have an off switch! He inquires about the cigarettes the waiter smokes and immediately his boss comes over. See the waiter is a black man. Don seems a little indignant at the thought that he can’t just have a conversation with this man, but let’s it go and continues forward. They just love to smoke and ‘women and their magazines. Am I right?’ is the general jist of this meeting. If anything comes from this, is that Don’s mind is always on and he is a lot more progressive than the rest of the world when it comes to other’s place in society.

Oh! He’s with a woman now. She’s one of those free spirited types. I bet she lives in the West Village and her best friend is a gay beatnik. She makes it clear that she’s nothing more than sex and that she is keeping it that way. No strings attached. Something I’m sure Don loves about her. Years later this woman would marry the dude from TV on the Radio. He sang a Neil Young song. It was awesome.

Don at work is a big wig and while not feared, is respected and is the father that this gaggle of frat boys need to impress every hour for the approval they so desperately want. In this, we meet Pete Campbell, a young exec, engaged and filled with too much enthusiasm. But let’s face it. Episode one lets you know other people are around and will be defined, but this hour is not about them. Its about Don.

We also meet Joan and Peggy for a collective (maybe) five minutes. The second Joan Halloway graces us with her presence we all want more. If you know what I mean lolz. By if you know what I mean I mean her sassy personality. She has a wealth of knowledge and does not mind the hard truths (Put a paperbag over your head and find your nicest attritubes, Peggy. Because no one here will ever look at you otherwise. Truth.). Peggy seems willing to learn and like Joan’s puppy. But who wouldn’t want to be like her? Can you see the envy I possess? I’m turning green as I type.

There are some things that seem forgivable based on the times. As if adultery isn’t as bad in the 60s. For some reason Pete and Peggy doesn’t seem like a big deal with him being engaged and all. Almost as if this sets a precedence, a continuing theme that we will see throughout the series. While watching the first episode the first time I thought this so kudos for the overall tone. Adultery, schmudultery.

As a viewer this feeling is wiped away when we see Don go home. To a wife. And kids. This is shocking while cheating on your fiancée is not. Thanks for keeping me interested in this show but how am I even supposed to feel about this, Matt Weiner? I’m so torn. Does this woman know? Is she a raging bitch? Who is Mrs. Draper?

A few notes and quotes:

• Looking back I was almost stunned at the first few scenes with Don. Not only is he incredibly modest about his work around Midge, but he even goes on to say, “There’s this kid that comes by my office everyday, looks where he’s going to put his plants.” Although this is the Don we first meet, its incredible how quickly we forget he even existed.
• John Slattery’s zingers are like a great wine. They get better with age.
• The second Sal is introduced to us, everyone has the same thought. He loves women too much, he’s gay. Plus he says, “So we’re supposed to believe that people are living one way and secretly thinking the exact opposite–that’s ridiculous.” Is it, Sal? I don’t think it is…
• Pete during his bachelor party handled that woman as if he’s never touched a woman before. The beginning of his childish behavior starts…now.
• While Don defends the waiter and then later, Peggy when Pete starts sizing her up, he is incredibly rude to Rachel Menken, a client, in the meeting. “I’m not going to let a woman talk to me like this”? Huh. We would discover in Season three he is tolerant of a gay person when he sees one kissing another, but not when he wont put out for the company. Have your prejudices but at least be consistant about it buddy!
• “It’s not like there’s a magic machine that makes identical copies of things.” I’ll get into the things I find humorous and interesting about the time later.
• Critics were told that when reviewing this episode not to mention the “shocking twist” at the end of the episode that Don was married with children. Make of that what you will