Mad Men: Changing Ways

Sorry for the lull between posts. I am a few weeks into my second year of law school and although the classwork is easier, I am busier than I thought possible. Anyway, I meant to write a Mad Men post after the first or second episode of the current season, but better late than never. So far, the third season has reminded us that Mad Men has some of the biggest balls on TV because of both the things the show gets away with due the period nature (three words: Roger in blackface) and the things it's willing to put its characters through. The end of Season 2 was full of changes and revelations, and it looks like Season 3 isn't going to let up any time soon.

The year is 1963 and the sale of Sterling-Cooper to the British ad agency isn't going well. Some of the mannerisms of British representatives clashes with certain people in the office, notably Joan, who finds John Hooker, the male "assistant" of the British leader, impossible to deal with. But even worse, the home office inexplicably denies S-C the opportunity to work with the committee building the new Madison Square Garden, an account that would earn the agency millions of dollars. Instead, they sign with a trust fund baby who wants to make jai alai the next American pasttime (he wants to create an organization like the MLB, with an acronym like AJAA, which Don hilariously pointed out that many Americans would "have trouble with that "J").

In more personal stories, I'm guessing that certain people's lives are going to get pretty shaken up. Peggy is asserting herself more at the office; she's sporting a new haircut and objecting to the way the guys portray women and women's needs in ads. Roger is basically estranged from his daughter, who is getting married, because of his new wife (Jane, Don's manipulative secretary from last year) and his relationship with Don is deteriorating as well. Sally Draper is beginning to snap; her grandfather, who paid her a lot of attention and encouraged her, recently died, and she was none too pleased with the way her parents are dealing with his death (at least, the way she perceives them to be taking it). Her grandfather gave her support when Don was barely around and Betty snapped at her. I'm waiting for Betty to tell her to "Go watch TV" and have it finally be too much for the young woman. Finally, based on events in the season premiere, I'd be willing to guess that this is the year Don and Sal's secrets are revealed to the rest of the characters. The premiere opened with the introduction of Don's mother (in a flashback), a prostitute who likely gave Don his birthname of Dick based on a threat she made to Don's father. This was either to tell us that we'd be learning a bit more about Don this year, that his secrets would be revealed, or to give us insight into something that happened later in the episode (probably a mixture of all three). While on a business trip later that episode, Don caught Sal in the middle of a homosexual act. But instead of despising him or ratting him out, Don has (so far) kept his secret. Is it because Don is unusually progressive for his time (aspects of what we've seen of him so far offer competing answers to that question), or is it because he knows what it's like to live a lie?

Finally, this season will bring with it monumental world events that will shape the characters' lives in ways they can't imagine yet. In the most recent episode, Thích Quảng Đức, the Buddhist monk who protested the maltreatment of Buddhists in Vietnam by setting himself on fire, became an international news story, but no one yet knows the significance of this. And, come November (in the show's timeline), an event in Dallas will bring America to its knees.

So far, this season is shaping up to be another amazing year.

Up next: Neil in Hyrule...