The year is 1966. An awful lot is going on in the United States. The civil rights movement is in full swing, the Rolling Stones are all the rage, and drugs are more of a big deal than ever before. Hare Krishna is catching on fire within the hippie movement. Things are changing.
Much is going on with the people at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, as well. Things appear to be settling into some sense of normalcy at the often-turbulent advertising agency. However, competition and grudges are hardly removed from the picture. Still, there's a mutual goal between the four partners and their employees. Their old airliner client has reconnected and signed back on, which is great. However, they need to land a car, and they end up on the list to woo Jaguar. However, in order to land the client, they must satisfy a high-profile stakeholder, who happens to make the despicable Lee Garner Jr. (of Lucky Strike) look like an altruist. Add in the affably abrasive and admirably honest Jewish new hire Michael Ginsberg (Ben Feldman), and we're go for launch.
So while SCDP pursues its holy grail, poor Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) is basically left on the sidelines to manage the rest of the accounts. Her meteoric rise through the advertising agency has been turbulent to say the very least, and one would think that she's earned her keep. However, her treatment through the series has been inconsistent. People only seem to pay her any attention when she's done something truly remarkable, and they frequently take the poor girl for granted, despite her incredible talent and work ethic.
Newly-minted Head of Accounts Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) is frequently butting heads with Roger Sterling (John Slattery). Sterling constantly muscles in on Pete's turf, getting personal with his prospective accounts and generally using his status as a full-fledged partner as a license to do what he wants (you know, like he has for the rest of the entire show). Their back and forth is constantly entertaining, and you won't help but wish that both of them could lose.
On the other side, the most troubling scenes of Season Five belong to poor Lane Pryce (Jared Harris). His sacrifices that kept the company afloat in its darkest days have put him in a rather bad place financially, and he chooses to embezzle money instead of approach his friends for help. His journey is a bit predictable, but it is no less gripping and tragic to watch as it unfolds. Lane is a pathetic character -- not in the modern sense, but in the most traditional one: he evokes a strong sense of pity in the viewer, and Jared Harris completely sells the role as always.
Of course, it wouldn't be Mad Men if it didn't delve deeply into everyone's personal lives. The now 40-year-old Don Draper (Jon Hamm) is now married to his lovely French-Canadian former secretary Megan Calvet (Jessica Paré). At first, it's shocking how truthful he is with his new wife: she knows his true identity and is aware of his infidelity to his last wife, Betty (January Jones). But then it becomes apparent that Don is fully aware of his age, and he clearly wants his new marriage to succeed. However, despite her clear aptitude for copywriting, it's not her dream. Add to the mix a visit from her detestable parents, and you've got an interesting storyline. Megan gets a good bit of screen time, and though we don't yet know her as well as we know the rest of the gang, Paré's performance and the raw chemistry of the couple make for compelling television.
There's rough water on the other side of the Draper family, as well. Betty is, for lack of better words, letting herself go. It doesn't take long for the audience to realize that it is probably a direct result of her increasingly boring and joyless marriage to Henry Francis (Christopher Stanley). There isn't much Betty in this season, primarily due to January Jones' pregnancy. She's still a vindictive, manipulative bitch for the most part, but a key scene towards the end with Sally (Kiernan Shipka, precocious as ever) brings back the warmth she is at least capable of expressing.
Pete's personal life takes a dark turn. He has every reason in the world to be happy. He's got a new home in the country, the love of his beautiful wife Trudy (Alison Brie), and a new baby girl. Sure, his commute seems to be a bit painful, but from the outside, it all looks completely worth it. However, nothing could be further from the truth, and he eventually finds himself obsessing over the gorgeous Beth (Alexis Bledel), the wife of the man he rides to Manhattan with. The end of this subplot is a bit clichéd, but it's nice to see Pete Campbell when he's not being a repugnant little snob.
Perhaps the most amusing personal story this season belongs to Roger Sterling, who is still for all intents and purposes, the dirtiest old man on television. He's fully aware that he's a disgusting human being, but he's made peace with it. He has no intent to change. So he takes LSD with his wife Jane (Peyton List) and undergoes what he believes is a spiritual transformation.
The biggest surprises this season revolve around Joan (Christina Hendricks). She's recently given birth to the illegitimate child of Roger and is passing the child off as her husband Greg's. Over the course of this season, she goes from a stir-crazy stay-at-home mother to -- well, I won't spoil it. Rest assured that it's amazing. What's truly jaw-dropping is the manner in which she makes this incredible transition. It is a game-changer for the firm, whose collective ambition pushes it over a possible moral event horizon. Christina Hendricks absolutely shines this season, and she more than earns her Emmy nomination. I can't wait to see where her role goes next season.
Mad Men: Season Five on Blu not only looks and sounds fantastic, but it comes with a handful of solid extras. First up is Mad Men Say the Darndest Things. It's a retrospective look at all of the utterly fantastic one-liners from pretty much the entire cast. From Don to Peggy to Bert, if you remember a particular zinger, the chances are high that it's here. It also offers some discussion points with the writers concerning the evolution (or lack thereof) of each character. It's an oddly wonderful and nostalgic trip that is worth taking, especially taking into account that we only have two seasons left.
What Shall I Love if Not the Enigma? is a look into the life and work of metaphysical artist Giorgio de Chirico. This is warranted by the fact that the poster for this season was primarily inspired by his work. I'm admittedly not an art geek, and even less of an art history buff, so this feature did not appeal to me in the slightest. However, this is a period piece we're talking about, so it's not really out of place. If you're into this kind of stuff, you'll eat it up.
The Party of the Century is a twenty minute look at Truman Capote's Black & White Masquerade Ball, an iconic event in 1966 New York. It's interesting in that it speculates on how the characters of Mad Men would have fit into it all. I already knew a good bit about Capote by the time I viewed this extra, but it's so well put together that it's more than worth the viewing time.
Mad Men: Season 5 is subtly different in tone from other seasons, and perhaps unsurprisingly, it sounds musically different from previous seasons. I'm not talking about the licensed stuff -- it's a given that that is going to change repeatedly as the show progresses. In Scoring MAD MEN: Inside a Session, David Carbonara gives a good bit of insight into the kind of themes and motifs he's been working on for quite some time. Musically-inclined fans will appreciate this feature.
The Uniform Time Act of 1966 is almost a PowerPoint presentation about the United States' official observance of Daylight Saving Time. This is the shortest of the special features, but it holds some value for history enthusiasts. However, it doesn't really have anything to do with Mad Men other than the fact that the passing of the Uniform Time Act was passed in the same year that this season takes place.
The final feature in this package (apart from the insightful audio commentaries) is Newsweek Magazine Digital Gallery. This is exactly what it claims to be. You can view each cover from 1966 and learn about the top stories of each issue.
I remember my first reaction to Mad Men. I remember clearly thinking to myself, "If I ever treat a woman like that, I will kill myself." Of course, as the story unfolded, it became impossible to pull away. Mad Men: Season Five is incredibly absorbing. The writing, the acting, and the astonishing production values make it a real winner. It may not quite live up to the brilliance of earlier seasons, but a weaker season of Mad Men still makes for fine television.
