5 Essential Mad Men Episodes Everyone Should Watch at Least Once

People always talk about “The Sopranos” and “Breaking Bad” when it comes to great examples of prestige television, but frankly, I don’t think people talk about “Mad Men” enough. Created by Matthew Weiner – who cut his teeth as a writer on “The Sopranos” before creating his own series – “Mad Men” is a gripping and breathtaking portrait of life in New York in the 1960s through the eyes of advertising executive Don Draper, perfectly played by a then-unknown actor named Jon Hamm. (Since playing Don, Hamm has fully admitted that he never thought about playing such a major role and was on the verge of quitting acting; the rest, thankfully, is history.)

When we first meet Don, he works every day in Manhattan at the Sterling Cooper companyled by colleague Roger Sterling (a wry and hilarious John Slattery) and former advertising mogul Bert Cooper (Robert Morse, died 2022). As the series continues, the business changes, Don’s personal life experiences serious ups and downs, and the years pass, giving modern audiences a unique insight into this fascinating American era.

Whether you’ve never watched “Mad Men” or are trying to rewatch it on HBO Max or AMC+, there is a plot of “Mad Men” to see — 7 seasons and 92 episodes, to be precise. Although there were some heartbreaking cuts to bring it down to five — including “The Gypsy and the Hobo,” “The Wheel” and “Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency,” to name a few — five episodes are absolutely essential to watch when it comes to “Mad Men.”

Julie Andrews once taught me that the beginning is a “very good place to start” and I have never forgotten it. But seriously, you TO DO You have to start with the pilot “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” to fully understand “Mad Men”. Not every show opens with a super-powered pilot, but “Mad Men” immediately sets the scene, introducing us to Don Draper in his favorite habitat – a dark, smoky bar – and watching him lightly question an employee about the type of cigarettes he smokes. The reason for this later becomes apparent in a fine plot twist and payoff, when, confronted with new doctors’ guidelines regarding the “health benefits” of cigarettes which mean advertising agencies can no longer claim they are good for you, Don offers a perfect pitch for Lucky Strike cigarettes, his brand of choice: “It’s toast.” »

Elsewhere, we meet Sterling Cooper’s new secretary Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss, then best known for “The West Wing”), his de facto mentor Joan Holloway (the bright and cheerful Christina Hendricks), squirrelly junior account executive Pete Campbell (a perfectly canny Vincent Kartheiser) and one of Don’s big new clients, department store mogul Rachel Menken (Maggie Ziff). There is also, incredibly, a big twist in this pilot. Although we first see Don with his free-spirited girlfriend Midge Daniels (Rosemarie DeWitt), in the episode’s final moments he returns home to the suburbs, kisses his beautiful wife Betty Draper (January Jones), and goes to check on his two sleeping children. Even though this type of infidelity was widespread in the 1960s, it’s still incredible that Matthew Weiner saved this revelation for the very end.

Season 3 of “Mad Men” is home to many incredibly pivotal episodes, including the aforementioned “The Gypsy and the Tramp,” in which Don reveals to Betty that his real name is Dick Whitman, and “Guy Walks into an Ad Agency,” where a client gets his foot cut by lawn mower. But if we’re only prioritizing one episode, it has to be the season finale, “Close the door. Sit down.”

For what? Because not only does this episode officially kick off Don and Betty’s divorce – following the revelation that Don, née Dick Whitman, stole the dog tags from the real Don Draper’s corpse during the Korean War, as well as his litany of infidelities – but it also disses Sterling Cooper for something new. Like “Close the door. Sit down.” opens, we learn, along with the characters, that a fictional version of the real-life advertising company McCann Erickson is finalizing a major acquisition that includes Sterling Cooper, sending our favorite advertising men (and women) scrambling. Now Peggy is an editor, and although she constantly feels disappointed by Don, he eventually puts his ego aside and begs her to work for him, telling her that if she refuses, he will “spend the rest of his time working for him.” [his] life tries to hire [her.]”

Peggy and Don team up with Bert Cooper, Roger Sterling, the underrated Pete and their new colleague Lane Pryce (Jared Harris). Alongside Joan and a few others, they raid the Sterling Cooper offices in the dead of night before the sale is officially finalized, before celebrating their hard-earned victory…and their new business. “Close the door. Sit down.” is not only a perfect episode of “Mad Men”; it is a true masterpiece.

One of the greatest television episodes in the history of the medium, the Season 4 episode “The Suitcase” is “Mad Men” at its finest – which is especially remarkable when you consider that it focuses solely on Peggy Olson and Don Draper. While the rest of the new company (named Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, after its four founders) tunes in to the 1965 fight between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston, Peggy, who is supposed to have a date with her boyfriend, finds herself stuck in the office with Don thanks to the approaching deadline for a pitch for Samsonite.

Yes, “The Suitcase” is the episode that features one of the most famous lines from “Mad Men” – Don shouting “That’s what money is for!” to an aggrieved Peggy after she told him he never thanked her for her work. But it’s also an incredible duet featuring two of television’s greatest performers. The two work, argue, make up, work, argue and make up again. When Jon Hamm lets Don’s cautious facade crumble in front of Peggy for the very first time in their platonic relationship, both characters level up. The fact that the episode ends with Don waking up to learn that his only true friend, Don Draper’s real-life widow, Anna Draper (Melinda Page Hamilton), is dead is a testament to the greatness of “Mad Men” as a whole. On a lesser show, Anna’s death would have its own episode and send Don through a melodramatic ring. In “The Suitcase,” this is just one of many things that happen to him during a horrible day at work.

There is a plot great episodes of “Mad Men” in Season 5, but we move on to Season 6 for its finale “In Care Of,” largely because it unveils to great effect the contradiction that is Don Draper. As Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce prepares to divide its employees between New York and California, Don finds himself at a personal crossroads. After spending an entire night in jail for beating a pastor, he tells his young second wife and former secretary Megan Draper (Jessica Paré) that they should consider moving across the country to help him strengthen his acting career and let him start over on the West Coast. Elsewhere, Pete discovers that his mother has fallen off a cruise ship and been declared missing, and Peggy finds herself torn between two men – but again, the focus here is on Don.

Also in New York, Don delivers a pitch for Hershey’s Chocolate that is incredible for several reasons. First, he invents a beautiful, idyllic version of his childhood that the audience knows almost certainly never happened (Don grew up in a brothel). Then, switching gears, Don tell company members about his real upbringing in a house of ill repute, where his enjoyment of Hershey products depended on the amount of money he stole from customers who visited said brothel. Don is forced to take a leave of absence, but this revelation changes him outside of work. The episode ends with him taking his children Sally, Bobby and Gene Draper (Kiernan Shipka, Mason Vale Cotton and twins Evan Londo and Ryder Londo) to the brothel where he grew up, finally coming to terms with his past.

Not every TV show manages to succeed with its series finale, but “Mad Men’s” finale, “Person to Person,” certainly does. With Don estranged from his family, “Person to Person” sees him trying to reconcile with Sally, who struggles under the weight of the revelation that his mother Betty is dying of terminal cancer. He’s also in California, running away from everyone. Despite a dramatic phone call with Peggy during which Don confesses to a variety of misdeeds, leaving her incredibly worried and begging him to return to New York, Don goes to a wellness retreat with Anna Draper’s niece, Stephanie (Caity Lotz). During a group therapy session at said retreat, he completely breaks down.

So is Don Draper “cured” of his bad behavior? Yes and no, and maybe too. We watch as all the other characters find some semblance of peace – Roger goes to Paris with his new wife Marie Calvet (Julia Ormond), Sally reunites with her brothers, and Peggy finds love. We finally find Don, who is meditating on a mountaintop in California before allowing himself the slightest smirk. Then, in a amazing Matthew Weiner’s masterstroke, the 1971 “Hilltop” ad for Coca-Cola – he who hopes to buy the world a Coke – plays, not-so-subtly indicating that Don used his newfound enlightenment to sell soda.

This is, frankly, the only way “Mad Men” could have ended, by marrying Don’s cowardly devotion to capitalism with his attempts to find inner peace. Although people might debate it, the finale of “Mad Men” is perfect.

“Mad Men” is now streaming on AMC+ and HBO Max.