I finished this rewatch of season 2 with a new appreciation for what makes it different from the other seasons but also the certainty that it has the weakest episodes of Mad Men. That still means you’re watching one of the best TV shows of all time, but fans do not eagerly return to the storylines of Bobbie Barrett or Father John Gill.
Season 2 is marked by a consistent malaise that reflects the state of the characters. The sex is even bad here with Don unable to get an erection in the season opener and Peggy hounded by Catholic guilt more so than by boys.
1962 makes the other seasons stronger by being the scapegoat for the characters. It shows just how dull life can get and why they need to work to make their futures happen. I consider the big scene of the season to be when Peggy asks for her own office. She realizes that life does not have to be an unmoving nightmare where everyone seems displeased but no one speaks up.
These episodes are uncomfortable and awkward as a lesson that life does not need to be that way. Do not feel you are alone just because your life is not where you want it to be.
“The only thing keeping you from being happy is the belief that you are alone”- Anna Draper
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Let’s rank the 13 episodes of Season 2 set from February to October 1962.
13. S2 E3 - The Benefactor
An episode that can be aptly summed up by a scene where Don leaves work to watch a boring foreign film in a nearly empty theater. You are both suffocated by boredom. A necessary but dull point is made by testing the patience of the audience, Pete’s family scenes are especially stiff.
12. S2 E7 - The Gold Violin
It isn’t enough to be bored by the lives of these characters, you also have to HATE them for LITTERING. We understand that a confrontation needs to happen to move the plot forward but these characters must first suffer in limbo. Great moment from Ken when he appreciates Cooper’s Rothko painting in a way that no one else does.
11. S2 E10 - The Inheritance
The saddest episode of the season, Betty watches her father mentally deteriorate and reflects on her life as an “orphan.” Uncomfortable in a different way from the other episodes but again necessary to telling the tragic story of the Drapers. Not a story you’ll desire to return to but a core episode in understanding Betty and her upbringing.
10. S2 Ep1 - For Those Who Think Young
The season opener was an immediate surprise from what viewers expected. This is just another Valentine’s Day, everyone goes to work and then goes home. Outside of Peggy’s promotion, the events of Season 1’s finale such as her pregnancy have little impact. There is something festering beneath the surface as things feel almost too normal. The world and these characters sit upon a powder keg. 1962 will not be like 1960.
9. S2 E8 - A Night to Remember
Oh Father Gill, we hardly knew ya… or at least we hardly wanted to know you. An effective part of the discomfort of season two is that we know what we are seeing will not last. Bobbie Barrett and Father John Gill have no place in the wider decade-spanning story of Don and Peggy. They serve a point and will not exist by 1963. This is the episode where it sets in that these supporting characters are doomed outsiders. That does the impossible and makes us feel for them.
8. S2 E11 - The Jet Set
One of the weirdest episodes of the show, Twin Peaks by way of Mad Men. There’s not a moment of Don’s descent down this rabbit hole that you can look away from and in the end it’ll leave you just as distraught as him.
7. S2 E4 - Three Sundays
One of the most uniquely structured episodes of the show and the most direct commentary on business as a religion. Blind faith will get you nowhere in either.
6. S2 E5 - The New Girl
What could have been just another secretary becomes “the new girl.” One of my takeaways from this rewatch has been how compelling Jane is as a character. In a season full of characters who don’t know what they want, seeing one who does immediately grabs the viewer. Great contrast between her, Joan, and Peggy’s storylines.
5. S2 E13 - Meditations in a Emergency
An acceptance of the normalcy of life continuing beneath the shadow of history. Doesn’t it always feel like the world is ending? Peggy’s reveal to Pete that they had a child together is one of the best performances from any episode of the show.
4. S2 E12 - The Mountain King
A much needed eye of the hurricane episode that reminds you of the friendships in life that have helped you. In a season of less than beloved new supporting characters, Anna becomes an immediate favorite.
3. S2 E9 - Six Months Leave
“It’s just a man’s name.”
Sums up everything Don believes in through another man’s lowest moment. We see Don at his best, standing up for Freddy Rumsen. This kindness will be repaid years later. An impactful episode upon rewatching the entire show.
2. S2 E5 - Maidenform
Certainly one of the show’s most iconic (and infamous, poor Chauncey) episodes. A true ensemble episode where the full Sterling Cooper crew gets their time to shine as they craft the perfect pitch for 1962 with “Jackie or Marilyn.”
The past and future weigh heavy on this episode as expressed through the modern music choice of “The Infanta” by The Decemberists. The viewer knows the future and that Marilyn won’t see the end of 1962.
1. S2 Ep2 - Flight 1
One of the most effective portrayals of grief ever seen in a TV series. A whiplash shock after the purposefully mundane season opener. A mix of fictional and real tragedy to tell the story of Pete Campbell.
Mad World will go on hiatus next week and then jump into SEASON 3 the following week!
Thank you to all of my readers for your support. Seeing the readership of this Substack continue to grow means so much to me, we’ll all have to throw a big party by the time we get to Season 4 and “The Suitcase!”
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