Review of Mad Men: Season 1

Mad Men Season 1 Review

Grade: A

Mad Men season 1 is a simple TV show. Set in Manhattan in 1960, the series depicts the daily lives of Madison Avenue businessmen, centered around a charismatic advertising executive named Donald Draper, but … nothing really happens? Despite this, the show’s stylish aesthetic and impressive attention to detail pair perfectly with the leisurely storyline.

Aside from the sophisticated pilot, the first few episodes of Mad Men take a little while to get under our skin. Who cares about office gossip or Lucky Strike cigarettes or suburban housewives going to therapy? No matter how elaborate the costume designs are, it’s hard to give a damn about Pete Campbell renting an expensive apartment.

But just when you think Mad Men lacks scope and creativity, the show gets under the skin without us even realizing. The transition is subtle — by episode five, Mad Men’s unhurried pace and slow-burn approach has caused us to fall deeply in love with the characters. We know them inside and out, and now we can relate to the complexities of their everyday lives. Their problems are our problems, and Donald Draper is no different than you or I.

Who knew that a sales pitch for cameras could pack such an emotional wallop, or that a show about advertising could tell so much truth?

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The central mystery of Mad Men season one — the secret of Don Draper’s past — is the main source of excitement and anticipation. Nevertheless, plot itself will never be an important aspect of the series. Instead, series creator Matthew Weiner wants to examine the complex nature of humanity. In its ambitions and aspirations, Mad Men is the clear heir apparent to The Sopranos (which was just finishing its iconic run when Mad Men debuted in 2007).

But the main thing that sets Mad Men apart from its television contemporaries is its reliance on internal stakes. Instead of mob bosses or drug dealers or crystal meth kingpins, Mad Men focuses on (relatively) ordinary people. For action, look to the interaction. For excitement, turn up the volume. It’s all part of why Mad Men is the greatest character study in TV history.

Even though season one can sometimes feel like the show’s least energetic chapter, the masterful season finale is a perfect example of the emotional highs that Mad Men is capable of. It consolidates all the drama and connection that came before and shows us that Mad Men has the potential to be one of the greatest TV shows of all time.

But for the most part, Mad Men season 1 is perfectly content to be easygoing. The show is always poignant yet never pretentious, which is why it resonates so easily. And even though Donald Draper is a terrible person who cheats on his wife and rejects his own identity, his charisma is so casual and effortless that everything he does is worth watching. He’s not just an advertising executive; he’s a way of life.

His climactic “Carousel” speech in the season finale perfectly sums up the series’ entire ethos — the powerful yet dangerous allure of nostalgia. Set in 1960, Mad Men isn’t a trip down memory lane; it’s a long, hard look in the mirror. Each episode becomes more timely as more time passes, and repeated viewings only enhance the experience.

Even though season one doesn’t contain the epic sweep of later years, it contains all the hallmarks of Mad Men at its best. It’s the rare work of art that has the power to teach us things about ourselves we didn’t even know.

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