The women of Mad Men brainstorming for the Men
Photo Credit: AMC TV
It’s rewatch time!! For the first time ever this summer we
will be watching an old season of a television show over the course of several
weeks. Installments will be posted Sundays and Wednesdays with the posts
spoiling only the episode that is being talked about. This summer the rewatch
is on the first season of Mathew Weiner’s 1960’s period piece Mad Men, one of
the great first seasons of television.
Thoughts on Mad Men’s sixth episode “Babylon” after giving
you the gift of physical comedy for mother’s day…
“The Greeks had two meanings for it: “eu-topos” meaning the
good place and “ou-topos” meaning the place that cannot be.”
-Rachel
Now things begin to get very interesting. Not that the first
four episodes aren’t very good to great hours of TV but the show seems to take
a turning point for the darker after last week’s phenomenal “5G” and the sixth
episode “Babylon” seems to continue that darker spin. The episode revolves
mostly around the emotional factor of the extramarital affairs that the men and
women are involved in as well as the potential emotional fallout of what they
are doing.
Let’s start with Don. It’s good to know that the fallout
from last week’s meet with his brother are ringing true for Don as he literally
falls down the stairs while hallucinating a flashback of his brother being
born. It’s great to know that letting his brother (or half brother or
something) go is having a profound emotional impact on Don; one that seems to
take him away from the real world. It’s a great reminder that actions have real
emotional consequences and that Don is going to have a harder time than he
thinks leaving his brother (and his former life in general) behind.
On the other end of the fence, Don really likes going after
Rachel. She seems to present a new challenge to Don one who is playing hard to
get. The internal conflict within Rachel about fighting her feelings for Don is
a struggle that Don is enjoying trying to win. The conversation about Jews is
much more about trying to flirt with Rachel rather than actually accomplishing
research. The scene itself is fantastic and allows for the want on both sides
to grow deeper as the relationship continues to get more and more complicated.
The other part of Don’s affair life is Midge who grows a
little more complex in this episode. It could be assumed before that midge was
a bit of a hippy but it is driven home a little here. Don doesn’t like the fact
that she’s going out with other men (like another affair that we’ll get to briefly)
and especially doesn’t like the contemporary hipness of all of it. We can
see Don begin to draw away from Don in this episode which explains is continued
attraction to the seemingly simpler Rachel.
The other affair which is given time this episode is the one
between Joan and Roger. By the look given to Roger this episode it seems that
he is slowly separating from his actual family (he continuously reminisces
about older times and doesn’t seem to get along with his daughter) and moving more
towards Joan herself. Both Roger and Joan have to enjoy the love only in the
brief moments though as their sneaking and separation outside of the hotel doesn’t
allow it. The use of the caged bird symbolism allows us to clearly see the inability
for the relationship to bloom into anything else as Roger is stuck in his
married life and really has no way out. The last shot of the episode with both
parties standing a ways apart outside also drives home the point of the
realities of the connection Joan and Roger happen to share.
The happier subplot in “Babylon” has to do with Peggy.
During a lipstick trial it’s beginning to become apparent that Peggy is the
smartest of the women in the office (whom all seem to come off as complete
dummies in this one) and can actually deliver useful advertising ideas; which
provides great shock to the men in the office but little shock to the audience
watching. Peggy knows very well what a more contemporary woman wants and unlike
the floozies in the room along with her has an idea how to produce that idea. She’s
smart and capable and ultimately it seems that her idea may begin to take her
places.
“Babylon” continues Mad Men’s ability to dig into deeper
emotional places with its characters. It’s the beginning to the analysis of
what the true emotional thoughts and conciquences that an affair in the Mad Men
world has or will have. It shows who these characters are in different aspects
of lives and the emotional output that these events have.
Some other Musings:
- Man are the office men sure pigs, especially in this one.
- Good parallel between Don and Roger here as both men seem to have the same idea of what they want (or have pipe dreams of) in their affairs.
- A basket full of kisses actually sounds like a good add! Good job Peggy!
Coming Up on Sunday: “Red in the Face” where we shift our
focus onto Roger!
That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?
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