Season 5 of Mad Men kicks off with African Americans protesting for equal employment opportunities outside the offices of ad firm Young & Rubicam. Y&R execs, fed up with the protesters, drop water-bombs on them. Several protesters go up to the Y&R offices to complain, but the receptionist assures them that no one on the executive floor would do such a thing… and, just at that moment, the Y&R execs walk in to the reception area with several additional water bombs.
We then see Sally waking up at Don’s new apartment. She walks down the hall, allegedly looking for a bathroom, but instead she knocks on Don’s bedroom door. She’s greeted by her father, but can’t help seeing a half-naked Megan in the bed:
Don then cooks breakfast for Sally, Bobby and Gene. Sally gives Don his birthday present from the kids – a new shaving brush – as Megan walks in. Megan asks what the kids are doing today, and Don says they’re going to the Statue of Liberty, to which Bobby says that they’ve made many plans to go there, but never have. We then see Don dropping the kids off at Henry and Betty’s large, but soulless, home.
The next morning, we see Pete on the train, heading in to Manhattan from Connecticut. A fellow commuter strikes up a conversation, in which Pete laments how his sexy wife has become a boring mom. The commuter says that Pete now takes the 17:25 train home, but will one day take the 19:05 train home, and that if he got his driver’s license he could push it back even later.
At the office, Roger goes to Don’s secretary and laments his diminished role at the agency.
We then see Joan at home, changing the baby. Joan also skirmishes with her somewhat overbearing mother, who has come to help with the baby. Mom offers to take the baby for a walk, and Joan, who really wants a nap, readily agrees.
Pete asks Ken, Peggy and Stan if they are ready for the Heinz presentation. They say that they are, but they’re waiting on approval from Don and Megan’s designs for the coupons. Pete, irritated that he can’t get his secretary Clara on the intercom, storms out of his office to see Roger flirting with her. Pete rudely dismisses Roger and yells at his secretary. Finding out that Don has arrived, Pete goes to talk to him. The other partners appear, and Roger says that they should run an ad poking fun at Y&R for the water bomb incident. The men finish their impromptu meeting, and Don calls Megan into his office. He flirts with her, but she’s somewhat reluctant, because she doesn’t want people in the office talking about them. Caroline buzzes that Pete wants to see Don, so Megan leaves, but not before Don talks her in to opening her blouse for him.
Continue reading “Mad Men: “A Little Kiss””
