“Mad Men,” Season One, Episode 1: “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”

Actor Jon Hamm as Don Draper

“Mad Men: a term coined in the late 1950’s to describe the advertising executives of Madison Avenue. They coined it.”

From the first second of viewing the show the audience is already told why the show is called “Mad Men.” I liked that it said that these “Ad Men” coined the term “Mad Men.” I already got the feeling that they are something of a boss.

When the first scene hit the screen I felt like I had accidentally turned on the movie Goodfellas because it felt like a scene straight out of that movie with all the men in a bar/restaurant smoking cigarettes and sipping whiskey with that classic music setting the ambiance.

Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm) is certainly the man of the hour – he is dripping with charm. I even fell for his trap up until the last couple of minutes of the episode when the audience finds out that he is no better than his misogynistic, lying, and cheating co-workers. But I don’t put him at all on the level of Don’s subordinate, Pete Campbell, who I absolutely hated from the second he was introduced on the show.

We’re introduced to Pete Campbell (played by Vincent Karthesier) when he is on the phone with his soon to be wife and he is just spilling lies to her about what his “innocent” bachelor party is going to be like. He ends the conversation by saying, “Of course I love you, I’m giving up my life to be with you, aren’t I?” That disgusted me.

This episode really makes one think about the times during the 1950’s and 1960’s. During the first scene when the white male waiter asked Don Draper if the black male waiter is bothering him, one already gets a sense that the only reason why the white waiter asked that is because the other waiter is black. Don simply responded that he and the black waiter were just having a conversation.

Just from watching this episode I got a sense of the differences between the white man and the black man and especially between men and women. It’s obviously a man’s world. These men look at women like they are a piece of meat.

I am nothing of a feminist and I’m aware that some women, even to this day, use their sex appeal to get ahead in the workplace,

Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) and Pete Campbell (Vincent Karthesier)

but during 1950’s it seems as though it was fully enforced and I am a bit disgusted. I was pretty shocked that Joan Harris (played by Christina Hendricks), who clearly knows her way around the office, sent Peggy Olson (played by Elisabeth Moss), Don’s new secretary, to the gynecologist to get prescribed for birth control, and good thing she did since she slept with sleazy Pete Campbell after he belittled her in front of Don. It completely shocked me that Peggy slept with Pete because at the beginning of the episode she was so innocent. Her character completely was changed and swayed by the end of the episode.

I also didn’t like that the doctor was puffing away on his cigarette while Peggy’s legs were mounted on the stir-ups ready for a check up.

This show came out in 2007 and I can see its relevancy. From the get-go Don Draper is sitting in a bar scribbling on napkins and trying to come up with a new captivating slogan for Lucky Strike cigarettes, because Reader’s Digest apparently said that cigarettes are going to kill you. Not even the producer’s of the cigarettes at this point in time believe that cigarettes are harmful. I liked that Don’s mistress told him, “People love smoking – there’s nothing that you, the trade commission, or the Reader’s Digest can do to change that.” And quite frankly, even to this day, I believe that’s true. It’s very blatant and obvious in 2011 what cigarettes can do to a person and how they can be fatal to ones health, but yet millions of people continue to smoke.

The jobs that Don Draper and these other men have seem to be very luxurious and quite sexy with all the smoking and drinking in their high-end offices on Madison Avenue and snacking over shrimp cocktail during business meetings. It’s also interesting to see the psychology that goes on behind an advertisement, especially since there probably has never been as much advertisements as there are today. “The issue isn’t why people should smoke – the issue is why people should smoke Lucky Strike,” said Draper.

When Pete Campbell interrupted Don’s new pitch of a slogan to the producers of Lucky Strike cigarettes and suggested that today’s customers have a death wish, I laughed when one of the producers said, “We’re not selling rifles, we’re selling America – the Indians gave it to us for shit’s sake.” So apparently in the 1950’s people were thinking that America is about cigarettes and that the Native Americans so kindly handed over this land to us.

“Advertising is based on one thing, happiness. And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. It’s freedom from fear. It’s a billboard on the side of the road that screams reassurance that whatever you are doing is okay. You are okay.” Don Draper said this during his pitch and he is absolutely right and he is damn good at his job.

“What you call love was invented by guys like me…to sell you nylons.” Don Draper said this quote and it just goes to show you the complete fabrication of the world these ad-men condone.

I really enjoyed the dialogue that went on during this episode. It really makes you think about so many different factors of society from 50 years ago up until present day.

Oh, and I am calling this right now Salvatore Romano (played by Bryan Batt), Don’s co-worker, is gay. It’s so obvious.

(This episode was viewed at 5:35 PM on a chilly Sunday from the comforts of my bed).

I rate this episode a 5 out of 5.