“Mad Men” continues to captivate the attention of Millennials who enjoy the complex drama of torrid relationships and business power plays, not to mention 60s style. Watching characters face the challenges of balancing their work and personal lives gives Millennials, many of whom are just starting out in their careers, a glimpse of what they’re facing in their own lives. The long-awaited new season premiered this past weekend, and it didn’t disappoint with some particularly snappy dialog, as Youth Advisory Board member Sugee explains below…
Spoiler Alert! Don’t read on (yet) if you haven’t seen the episode.
To contact members of the Youth Advisory Board, you can email them at youthadvisoryboard @ ypulse.com or leave a message in the comments section below.
Mad Men Is Back, And So Are Its Millennial Fans
As the buzz about AMC’s highly accredited and anticipated drama, “Mad Men,” escalated throughout the week in various forms of advertisements — city bus stops, commercials, magazine covers, trending tweets (#MadMen), and banner ads — I found myself having to recap what had happened in Seasons 1 through 4. Not only because the 17-month long absence was excruciatingly long (especially in the TV world), but also because I wanted to see if the fifth season would be worth the wait.
The show’s executive producer Matthew Weiner had kept a lower profile about the show’s premiere, keeping audiences and fans all on their toes about the fifth season’s story plot and character development. Did Don marry Megan? Did Joan have Roger’s baby? What are Peggy’s goals for the new season? What trouble will Roger get into – more specifically, how much longer will he stay married to Jane? What happened to Betty and the kids?
Although Weiner has said that he can’t imagine pushing the drama past seven seasons, audiences had a lot of unanswered questions and high expectations for Sunday night’s premiere. And as the familiar theme song started and the silhouetted man fell through the sky, a record breaking 3.5 million viewers tuned in to watch what was happening in the offices of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (SCDP).
The two-hour premiere seemed to take things slowly; there weren’t any overly dramatic or shocking twists — yet.
Don is married to Megan now, who seems to neither understand him nor realize how different she is to every other woman in Don’s life. Although Betty is absent throughout the show, the stark contrast between her, the perfect All-American, blonde, homemaker, and mother, and Megan, the confident, independent French-Canadian brunette isn’t lost on fans. She’s not afraid of her new husband, and she challenges nearly every aspect of Don’s life – in the office, at home, and as a husband. One of the most memorable scenes is when Megan throws Don a surprise 40th birthday party (which Don doesn’t approve of) and serenades him with “Zou Bisou Bisou,” a 1961 classic originally sung by Sophia Loren. No doubt the show’s music will continue to have an effect on the iTunes charts.
“Mad Men’“s classic one-liners and sharp banter are also back. After Megan’s performance, Roger asks his wife, “Why don’t you sing like that?” to which she replies, “Why don’t you look like him?” Not one to be forgotten nor ignored, Roger seemed to be back to his old self, slightly reckless and throwing back cocktails like water. During a minor disagreement with Pete Campbell, when Pete suggests solving the problem with a vote, Roger throws back, “I say we step outside.” Another of my favorite scenes was when Joan is struggling with her new baby and her mother tries to tell her that SCDP didn’t want her anymore and to simply accept her new life at home, snapping “You’re not exactly at your fighting weight.” Without hesitation, Joan replies, “Try me.” Ladies and gentlemen, Joan is back.
One of the appeals of the show is the depiction of characters struggling to balance the two worlds in which they live: the one at work and the one at home. It’s the same struggle they’ve had for the past four seasons — Joan and Roger living double lives, Peggy and Pete seeing a baby and thinking about what might have been — but audiences aren’t tired of it because it’s so relatable. As we learn more about the personal connections and disconnects that the work life and the life at home play for these characters in the 1960s in New York City, we can’t help but become more and more invested in the mad world of “Mad Men.”
About Sugee
Sugee is a journalism and political science student at NYU. Born in South Korea and having grown up in Queens, she currently lives in downtown NYC. She enjoys exploring different cuisines and early morning jogs. Aside from being addicted to Twitter and “Mad Men,” she hopes to work in print journalism writing book and movie reviews and covering current events. She also plans to learn how to box and to attempt to stop procrastinating on assignments for school. Sugee asks too many questions during interviews and never underestimates the power of Google.
