Season 5 episode 101 and 102 spoilers ahead!
If you’re in college and watch Mad Men we should probably just date–
Why aren't I Susie and where is my Dan?!
Oh! Hey USC Basement. Good news. Get out your fitted blazer, skinny tie, and pencil skirt because the men of Madison Avenue are back! AKA Season 5 of Mad Men. The season began with a bang in a two hour premiere last Sunday. Let’s party like it’s 1966!
And party they did – at Don’s shaggy-carpeted dream pad shared with latest conquest/newest wife Megan. When Megan decided to throw Don a 40th birthday party (which took up a fairly big chunk of the two-partner), the filmmaker in me was saying: “God look at that production design,” and yet, the People-Magazine-reader-in-me couldn’t help but think how Jon Hamm and Jessica Paré could outdo Brangelina as #1 gorgeous power couple.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "Desk?" "Desk."
I couldn’t mention the season 5 premiere without referring to Paré’s smokin’ hot burlesque performance of “Zou Bisou Bisou,” now unsurprisingly available for download and on VINYL (wtf!!!) as a single. Girl can rock some French.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-vN4H4KBpA&feature=relatedNow you’re probably going to say: “Becca, my parents watch that show. On boring Sunday nights. Like, with bowls of popcorn and all the house phones turned off. Why should I care about ad salesmen and their disrespect for women in the workplace?”
It’s true — the older demographic-appealing Mad Men isn’t the first thing a college student would choose to watch, but there’s a lot to learn from such a show. Like… as cool as you think you’ll look smoking, even if you’re as pretty as someone on the show, don’t! And… racism is bad. And if you’re getting kinda fat, you’re probably having Pete Campbell’s baby.
"You're like, a woman. Be sexy. Also make your face less ew." "Your dad's a vampire."
Okay, so there’s not that much new information to learn. But there’s something about the show that pulls me in, even as a college student. If I was a party animal, I would say it’s all the onscreen drinking, but I’m pretty sure it’s just the pure awesomeness of Christina Hendricks walking down a hallway or remembering the time John Slattery asked me for directions on campus when Roger Sterling comes on screen.
"Yo, you know where Club Leavey's at? Also some hot secretaries? What's a 'row'?"
You won’t get this kind of television drama anywhere else, that’s for sure. Drama maybe, like your noisy neighbors next door or something. But not in suits! Not on the most pristine sets of New York offices in full HD like a boss. Nope.
I fully encourage you, college students of the world, to check out the last four seasons of the show and all the hard work that goes into it (except for the actors being pretty part), on Netflix and tune into season 5 on AMC Sunday nights at 10. Or if you’re fancy, on iTunes or something. God, Jon Hamm would still look amazing on a tiny iPhone screen, so it really doesn’t matter.
"I'll divorce you in one sec Betty I just gotta get this."
I can definitely say that so far season 5 has delivered. I love the swanky new vibe of Megan and her friends, and less of Draper’s family (terrible ex-wife and mother Betty, their “misunderstood” daughter Sally, and whatever the other two boys names are) is always welcome in my book. The show feels fresh, even in it’s fifth installment, and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Peggy Olson gets as much screen time as possible.
So find your inner 40 year old. Make Sunday a Mad Men night this week. Then, find me on the internet so we can gush about everything that happened!!! Just kidding. But no, really–
Follow @beccagrumet on Twitter for some swanky (new favorite word) live tweeting of Mad Men at 10pm PST Sunday.
