Mad Men is a American TV show on the cable network AMC. It was created by Matthew Weiner, best known for working on The Sopranos.
Mad Men follows the life of Don Draper, a self-made ad-man in Manhattan. He’s recently been made partner, after Roger Sterling, another partner, had a heart-attack. He’s got two children and a wife named Betty. Don is a womanizer, albeit not as blatant as a few other guys at the office. He always sees a girl on the side. The first half of the last season, he was seeing a girl name Midge. Later on, he became involved with Rachel Menken.
Don always tries to be discreet, but this actually caused some trouble. Rachel left at the end of last season on a cruise.
Don is an enigmatic man. He’s a man with no past. That’s because he was originally Dick Widman, the bastard child of a farmer and a prostitute. His mother died in childbirth and he went on to live a loveless life with his father, who died when he was 10.
Dick joined the army and took a new name when his lieutenant was killed. He reinvented himself since then.
Peggy Olsen is another main character. She started out as a secretary but has recently been made a junior copywriter with her own office. It’s almost unheard of in this office, which is dominated by men. Peggy had a bastard child last season, thanks to Pete, a junior exec at Sterling-Cooper, who has become jealous of her raw talent.
The show takes place in the 1960s. Misogyny, racism, sexism and other social issues are prevalent here. Mad Men doesn’t hide them. They actually are in your face, so it’s hard to forget that America used to be like that in the past. Everybody smokes and drinks in this show. It’s incredible that they manage to work as much drunk.
As with before, I feel like Mad Men episodes are best when watched in batches. As such, I’ve started watching season 4 two weeks ago. I’ve got 3 episodes to catch up.
Warning: spoilers ahead.
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Roger doesn’t want the company to bid for a Honda campaign, but cooler head prevail even when he makes a mess of things. Don does his research and dupes the other ad company into wasting a lot of money before making his play.
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Don’s got an old witch on his desk. He’s not a happy camper. A reporter asks Don’s opinion on the fact that Clearasil account was taken by another agency, after the same agency took Highline.
Roger tells Campbell that they aren’t going to be taking the Honda account. Cooper overrules him. Cooper says to keep Roger out of the loop.
Sally and Bobby come over. Sally cuts her hair in the bathroom. The babysitter has got to fix it. Don takes out Bethany to Benny Hana’s. She’s not impressed. They meet Ted Shaw, Don’s competition at Benny Hana’s.
During the Honda meeting, Roger interrupts matters and is disrespectful. Campbell apologizes for him. They have to make a presentation for $3,000. Pete and Roger get into it.
Sally has trouble at the sleepover. She tried to masturbate in front of the TV. She gets caught and is brought home in the middle of the night. Henry suggests that Sally needs to see a psychotherapist.
Roger apologizes to the boys. Campbell says that they’ve got a meeting with Honda. Cooper says that it doesn’t matter, it is over. They’re probably expecting them to resign. They also haven’t received any gifts. They received a taunting gift from Shaw. It’s all but over and done with for Honda.
Betty phones Don about Sally. They argue a bit. Don is annoyed.
Don comes to the office. He’s got a plan. He will let Shaw think that they are making a commercial for Honda. This will make Shaw shoot a commercial. Shaw’s agency is the same size as SCDP. Shooting a commercial will bankrupt either agency. Don has got a plan to land the account.
At Shaw’s agency, they are considering making a commercial. SCDP make a good effort at their sham. It’s going to work.
Don learns that Faye isn’t married. She is just pretending that she is to avoid any awkward conversations.
Don goes to the Honda meeting alone. He tells them that they didn’t allow any finished campaigns for these bids. Since they didn’t respect their own rules, he resigns. He gives them back the money.
Don’s play worked out. They want SCDP to run a campaign for a new Honda car.
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