There is a moment early in Mad Men Season 5 that perfectly encapsulates its thesis. Megan Draper (née Calvet) surprises her new husband, Don Draper, with a sultry, intimate performance of the French pop song "Zou Bisou Bisou" at his surprise birthday party. As she twirls in a sequined mini-dress, the room of stiff ad executives looks on with a mixture of envy, confusion, and barely concealed contempt. Don, the man who has everything, sits frozen, smiling with his teeth but screaming with his eyes.
Mad Men Season 5 is not comfort viewing. It is a punch to the gut. It asks the question we all dread: What happens when you get everything you wanted? Mad Men - Season 5
We watch Megan fade away. We watch Peggy fly away. We watch Lane die. And we watch Don Draper, sitting in a dark bar, listening to a stranger’s problems, because he cannot face his own. The season ends with Don hearing the Rolling Stones’ "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" for the first time. He smirks. The song is a primal scream against consumerism, conformity, and the emptiness of modern life. It is the anthem of the revolution that Don Draper—ad man, liar, phantom—will never be able to join. There is a moment early in Mad Men
Best Episode: "The Other Woman" / "Commissions and Fees" (impossible to choose) Worst Episode: There aren't any. But "Tea Leaves" is the slowest burn. Don, the man who has everything, sits frozen,
If you’ve only watched Mad Men once, go back. Watch Season 5 again. Notice the cracks in the walls. Listen to the silence between the words. And try not to flinch when the elevator doors close.
The answer, apparently, is that you hang yourself in your office. Your secretary quits. Your wife becomes a stranger. And you sit alone in the dark, listening to a song about a world that has left you behind.
In "The Other Woman," she finally asks for a raise and a title. Don refuses, not because she doesn't deserve it, but because he needs her to need him. The subsequent scene—where Peggy walks into the elevator of the Time & Life Building, leaving Don alone in the hallway—is the show’s most heartbreaking moment. No music. No slow motion. Just the ding of the elevator door.