I previously covered the first two episodes of Season 1, which is a great frame for what I'll now be jumping ahead to: Season 6! That's right, Season 7 is around the corner, so what better way to gear up than to do a little analysis of the most recent season?
BAM, it's 1967. I have to say, after watching seasons 1-3 so recently this change is far more startling than I would have guessed. Obviously fashion and music have morphed radically since the early sixties, but there is also a clear difference in social structure and even the hints of counterculture in this first episode, which is just a taste of the wild things to come in Season 6.
But I'm not really interested in talking about this, as every Mad Men review on the internet talks about the social changes of the 60s. More interesting to me is the change we see in the characters. (Of course!)
So as you watch this episode (which is really parts 1 and 2 of the Doorway), I recommend really thinking back to those early Sterling Cooper days. (If you can even remember them!) I'm talking about Peggy with a ponytail (and Pete with a full head of hair for that matter), Sally as a little girl who wants to go riding with her petulant mother, Pre-Rachel-Bobbie-Suzanne-Faye-Megan Don, Ken Cosgrove tackling Allison at an office party and looking at her (blue) panties, Harry Crane running out of a meeting because Don's pitch about a slide projector is too difficult to reconcile with the emotional happenings in his personal life, Bobby #1-3, the Original Skinny Betty, Roger married to Mona, no Baby Gene, Limited Edition Italian Betty, Don-Doesn't-Approve-of-My Bathing-Suit Betty, My-People-Are-Nordic-Betty, Megan in diapers-- the list goes on!
Many things have changed around these characters, and most of them have faced changed roles in the office and their personal lives, but think about how their experiences have affected their personalities and relationships. I noticed some changes I didn't catch the first time around, and I suspect you will too now that you're looking for them.
S6:E1+2 The Doorway
1) The last time we saw Don, he was walking away from Megan's big break on a commercial set, and right into a bar, where a young lady asked if he was "alone". Judging by Don and Megan's interaction on vacation, what do you think his answer was? Was this what you expected? How happy do you think they are at the beginning of this season?
2) What do you think the significance of Don's presence at the soldier's wedding? Don didn't have "any people" at his wedding to Betty; do you think that affected his decision to give the bride away, or is it something else?
3) How did the heart attack transition scene work for you the second time around?
4) Doesn't Betty sound like a woman much older than her age (35)? Do you think she ever has conversations with Sally similar to the one she has with Sandy? What is your impression of Sandy? Does she have anything in common with Betty? Does Betty's heart-to-heart with her remind you of her relationship (or one might say "one time fling") with Glen?
5) But seriously, is Kerris Lilla Dorsey (Sandy) a decent actor? Because I'm just not sure.
6) What's your take on Betty's rape comments/jokes?
7) How would you define the difference between 1967 Peggy and 1960 Peggy? What pops out the most to you about her conversation with Burt Peterson on the phone?
8) Now that you know about Don and Sylvia, what do you think of Don's relationship with Arnie? How would you define the difference between their philosophies on life?
9) Didn't Roger sound like Barney Stinson when he said, "More like irritated!" during therapy? What do you think about his doors theory?
10) Now that you know about Bob Benson's past, what do you think about his strategy to get ahead? Does he remind you of young Don, buttering up Roger? Is he meant to? How did you react to Ken Cosgrove berating him?
11) What did you think of Pete's sassy commentary to Don? How have Pete's feelings toward Don changed over the years?
12) What exactly was Don's experience? What clues do you have about it from seeing his trip to Hawaii?
13) What did you make of Don's thoughts on love? Do you remember that this same man called love something invented "by guys like me to sell nylons"? What experiences in his life have led to this change in perspective? Do you think it's Megan, or something else?
14) How would you compare Peggy's explanation of advertising to Koss to Don's famous Belle Jolie "Jesus" speech? Do you consider one to be a better approach? What does it say about Peggy?
15) What does the lighter make Don feel? Is it significant that he is looking down at it in a scene where someone asks him to be himself? Does Don know how to do that?
16) Why does Roger call his mother's funeral "his"?
17) Do you think Don has legitimate fears about Megan becoming a "lying, cheating whore"? Do you think that's how he still views Betty?
18) What did you think was in that jar when Roger first pulled it out?
19) What is the significance of Don hearing the ocean?
20) Why do you think Betty went looking for Sandy in the city? Would she have done that when she was married to Don? Why does she leave the violin?
21) Do you think Peggy's rough treatment of the copywriters is innate or is it something she learned from Don?
22) Why did Betty dye her hair?
23) What did you think of Don's Royal Hawaiian pitch? Did it make you think of suicide?
24) Looking back, is it surprising that Peggy and Ted have an affair? How do you think they feel about each other in this episode?
25) Did you suspect that Don and Sylvia were sleeping together or did the flirty neighbor lady throw you off? Were you surprised when Don said that he wanted to "stop doing this"? Why do you think it takes Sylvia to break it off? Do you think her hold on him is purely because she reminds him of a prostitute he once knew?
- This episode is littered with hot and cold imagery, especially as we transition from Hawaii to winter in New York.
- It's also worth noting that Megan wears all light, bright, intense tones of purple and blue while she's in Hawaii, while in NYC her clothes are noticeably muted, and continue to be so throughout the season.
- Don doesn't speak a word until almost 8 minutes into the episode.
- The Hawaii-ifed tune playing when Megan is dancing on stage at the hotel is "The Stripper", a classic burlesque song. (I had to point that one out!)
- Betty is apparently a horrible driver. Don always hated her driving, remember?
- Roger talks a lot about doors in his therapy session, and he once told Don, "When god closes a door, her opens a dress."
- The creative department is smoking pot somewhat openly, but puts it away when Don walks into the office. In S1:E2, Paul said his friend worked for an agency where the writers smoke all day and play darts...That was seven years ago! It's probably safe to say he was full of shit.
- Did you notice Pete's hairline? Of course you did. Don made a premonition in S1:E1 that Pete would end up a "middle aged executive with a little bit of hair that women go home with out of pity".
- Roger was wearing his signature grey suit, with blue accents mixed in. Pete was wearing his signature blue suit with grey accents mixed in.
- There was a lot of emphasis on photography in this episode: Megan taking a picture of Don at the wedding, photos of the partners at the office, Don giving Arnie a camera, and Megan sharing the photos of their vacation to the neighbors.
- Arnie says he told Sylvia to "keep it in the building"-- ouch.
- Don and Megan sleep on the opposite sides that he and Betty traditionally did. He once told Betty in Italy that he liked sleeping on her side of the bed.
- Don embarrasses himself at the funeral by getting drunk and vomiting, kinda like Roger once did in S1:E7 after several rounds of oysters and martinis.
- With so much darkness and death imagery, culminating in Don's "suicide" pitch for Royal Hawaiian, one has to wonder if Dr. Guttman (the curt German researcher from S1) wasn't right about society's "death wish", which she suggests as a strategy for Lucky Strike in the very first episode.
- Keep an eye out for Sylvia in her signature black...as Tom and Lorenzo have pointed out, she dresses like a "sexy nun", a major nod to her Catholic faith.
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