Mad Men Retro-Perspective - S1:E1

Welcome to the first edition of Mad Men Retro-Perspective, a completely biased viewing guide for the Mad Men lover by a Mad Men lover. This guide is designed for those who have seen Mad Men in its entirety and wish to re-view the series, while reflecting on the way the story and characters have developed over time, in addition to the viewer's own developed perspective. Mad Men, just like any television show, is a creative work ripe for analysis and criticism (my favorite!), and this guide is meant to be a resource to jumpstart your own Mad Men nerdfest.

This is how it works:

First, a Notes Section to provide historical and in-episode context for the episode. I suggest reading this prior to watching. 

Next, a Questions section, filled with queries to get you thinking about aspects of this particular episode and how they relate to the rest of the series (and sometimes really inane things I'm super curious about and on which I would like your informed opinions). I suggest reading this through once before you watch, jotting some notes as you watch, then answering any questions that resonated with you after you've finished. (You know, just like the discussion questions your English teacher wanted you to craft "thoughtful" responses to in high school...only this is something you probably give an actual shit about.) Obviously, you're a grown-ass adult and can decide for yourself whether you want to write out answers to all (or any) of these questions. However, I hope these questions make your wheels turn and that you just can't resist telling me (and the internet) EXACTLY what you think about the minute details of this episode!

Last, a section called Did You Catch That?, in which I point out fun facts, inconsistencies (rare, but they happen), parallels to other episodes, repeating motifs, and other nonsense only other Mad Men fans would care about. Feel free to tell me I'm wrong or offer up fresh information!

So, let's get started with... Season 1, Episode 1: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes!

Here we are, at the very beginning of one of the most popular television shows of all time. In this episode, we're introduced to characters we now know entirely too well. What is impressive about Mad Men to me is that it's so grounded in a certain time and place, and yet the characters transcend setting.

While you re-watch the series, I invite you to look at the characters in this way, realizing their potential as people you've know all your life, while subsequently realizing that the paths they take are guided by the social structure (and change to that structure) of the time period. If you have parents or grandparents who lived in this era, it's interesting to ask yourself, "Did they walk around with these people? Were they friends? Enemies? Would my grandmother have put up with men talking to her like that? Did my grandfather think it was acceptable to drink that much?"

But just to set the scene: It's 1960 in New York. Advertising is the most glamorous profession around. Integration and women's liberation are not "a thing", and men are misogynist pigs who chase girls around the office and force them to show everyone their underwear.

If you want some truly fascinating reading on one of the real-life figures that inspired the character of Don Draper, you have to read I Married a Mad Man. I suspect that Myra also served (at least partly) as the inspiration for Peggy, even though we all know that Don and Peggy's relationship is never romantic. (Not that being shanghaied into getting married at the courthouse by a man you don't necessarily love is romantic. I'm just saying.)

• What was your initial impression of Don when you first watched this episode? How has viewing the rest of the series affected your view of him as you watch this episode? Roughly how much do you believe he's changed over the years, now that you're seeing him "for the first time" again?
  
• What do you think of Midge, in hindsight? Are you sad or surprised about her fate as a junkie?
  
• Did you ever suspect that Don might be married when you first watched the episode? What do you think now about the way he casually suggests he and Midge should get married and how does it contribute to your understanding of Don's ideology?

• Why do you think the story starts here, in March, 1960? Ignore that it's Peggy's first day and Pete is getting married on Sunday. Why did the writers choose this point in time?
  
• How much does you knowledge of future episodes affect the way you view the other characters now? Do any of the characters surprise you now that you're meeting them again? Who surprised you the most? (I'm voting Ken Cosgrove!)
  
• Did this episode change or influence your views on the advertising industry? How different do you believe the industry is today from 1960? Do you agree with the ideas Don suggests (i.e. advertising is about happiness)? Did you "get" his Lucky Strike pitch the first time you watched it? What do you think about it now that you've seen many more of his pitches?
  
• Why do you think Don fixates on the fly caught in the light fixture before he falls asleep on his couch?
  
• Do you think Pete is believable as the playboy the other Sterling Cooper guys make him out to be? Was there ever a point in this episode you thought he was likeable or that you could relate to him? Is your feeling the same for other seasons as it is for the viewing of this episode?
  
• What is your take on the attraction between Don and Rachel Mencken? What did you think about his speech on love being invented by guys like him? Do you think he felt that way after his affair with Rachel?
  
• Now that you know Peggy, do you think her actions in this episode are consistent with her personality later on? For instance, she tries to take Joan's advice seriously, attempts to capture Don's romantic (or sexual attention), and ultimately, sleeps with Pete right before his wedding. What do you think compels her to do these things at this point in her career? Would she do the same things in Season 3 or 4? 5 or 6?
  
• Doesn't the stripper from the Slipper Room look like January Jones at 36:25?
  
• But seriously, is Pete attractive AT ALL in ANY WAY in this episode? Would you hit that?

• Don isn't wearing a wedding ring when he's with Midge, which is ironic, since he just came from a bar where the song playing was "Band of Gold". (Which plays later, in Season 6.)
  
• The floorplan at Sterling Cooper is all kinds of switched around. Joan says she'll be "right across the aisle" from Peggy, but if that's the usual position of Peggy's desk, there's some sort of wall out of place. (Also, Joan's little, "Oh, and Mr. Sterling," is rife with meaning for someone who has already seen the series.)
  
• That picture Pete pulls off his desk of Trudy? Definitely not Alison Brie. I read that it is actually Matthew Weiner's mom.
  
• Marge, the switchboard operator on the far right, is Flo from Progressive Insurance. She's famous for being in advertisements, and she has a recurring role in a show about advertising.
  
• Peggy and Pete are in their power colors this episode: bright blue and mustard yellow. As Tom and Lorenzo have pointed out, characters on this show often have a signature color they wear when important things happen to them. Roger is almost always in shades of grey, and Joan wears purple on several notable occasions.
  
• Peggy says she comes from Miss Deaver's Secretarial School. I'm pretty sure she never mentions this again until the day she smokes pot with Smitty and Paul's drug dealing buddy from Princeton.
  
• Both Pete and Roger walk into the office saying, "You look like one hundred bucks," this episode. Roger is surely being sarcastic, whereas Pete is sincere in his efforts to butter up Don. Perhaps this is a nod to the two account men's respective security in their roles and careers.
  
• Of course, as the internet has pointed out, the last shot, when Don is with the kids, is framed exactly the same as when Pete says goodbye to Tammy in Season 6. I noticed a lot of similarities like this when I watched Season 6, and I'm sure there are hundreds more I never even caught across the course of the series. 

That's all for this episode! I would love to hear your comments and feedback, especially any responses to the Questions section. Stay tuned for the next edition of Mad Men Retro-Perspective!