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Mad Men, Season 5, Episode 5 (Patreon)

Published:
2023-12-28 22:28:52
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Signal 30

Files

Previews only

Mad Men, Season 5, Episode 5

Signal 30

Comments

Weird Magic

Regarding the fever dream in the last episode, the "old Don" would have given in to temptation immediately, he not only pushed it away (eventually failed), but there had to be a reason or symbolism to him "killing" it at the end. Feels like it might be an addiction that he's cutting cold turkey - we'll see if it holds - but it does feel like a new Don. P.S. Love Joanie! Originally airing on April 15, 2012, 'Signal 30' is Episode 5 of Season 5 of Mad Men. It is the 57th episode overall and has an IMDB rating of 9.0, placing it as the #4 ranked episode of this season and #5 out of all the episodes shown so far.

Actuarial Lurker

So right as you though Pete was holding it all together for the firm we learn he is "dying inside"

Actuarial Lurker

So Pete wants an 18 year old girlfriend who just graduated high school. The "jock" thinking Pete was the driving instructor was a classic slap at the situation

Actuarial Lurker

Signal 30 is an ACTUAL classic 1959 "Reefer Madness" type Drivers Ed video shown yo kids in the 1960s and 1970s showing mangled cars and corpses to scare them into driving conservatively- given that there were no seat belts, air bags, crumple zones etc until Ralph Nader scared Congress into passing some safety standards with his 1965 book "Unsafe at Any Speed"

Actuarial Lurker

So was Kenny telling Pete that he feels like the robot in his story with a drudge job and wants to loosen that bolt on him and the other partners?...at least it reveals that he is as miserable inside as Pete...and is Pete the one who snitches on Ken to Roger?

Actuarial Lurker

Don lives on 72nd and Park - in the penthouse- that's the rich Upper EAST side. The Upper West Side was crime ridden until the 80s. All the Madison Ave Firms were around 50th street and Madison Ave which is not quite UES since it's south of Central Park at 59th street....when they fire Freddie and go to the underground casino and Don punches out Jimmy Barrett he takes a cab to the West Side but a very tony area. The dump apartment Don lived in during Season 4 ws on 12th street in the village- which in the 60s was a borderline slum

Actuarial Lurker

Britain DID beat Germany for the Soccer World Cup in 1966- on a disputed goal

Actuarial Lurker

So is Mad Men the book that Ken writes 20 years later looking back on the ad industry and his crazy co-workers?

Actuarial Lurker

It's not just a story about many of the men... this episode was- Roger calls himself Chairman Emeritus of Accounts when he counsels Lane realizing he is a has been, Lane tries to be more than he is by being an account man, Don is trying to be a man by trying not to cheat and we saw he has no relationship but sex with his wife , Pete is trying to be a man in the ways you state, and Ken realizes he won't have any power in this small firm and turns more to his writing and his inner feeling is that he wants management to die via the robot killing commuters....in the prior 2 episodes we see Joan break up with her date rapist husband and is essentially a single mother in the 60s and Peggy is realizing Ginsburg is true competition with the Butler shoes pitch...so it really starting to boil over for everyone except Stan who doesn't care that he is a slacker and Ginsburg who we don't know enough about yet...

Denisse Brito

I love this episode so much! Is so complex and interesting and funny! Honestly, Pete has been this guy all along, he just thought that he was going to feel “a man” or like Don or “full” when he was on the top, but as we all know, Don has never felt “full”. These men never do because everything is an illusion. The American dream is an illusion. Look at Don, self made (literally lol) and is not happy with his achievements even tho he came from the very bottom. This guys are stuck somewhere in between the 3rd and 4th section of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs and will never make it to the top.

Robert Bauman

There are a lot of parallels between Pete and Season 1 Don Draper; junior partner, nice big house in the suburbs, loving wife and young children...and he is still completely miserable. Good catch on the sink moment with Don/Pete, think that was another brief moment where he felt emasculated.

Robert Bauman

Don is actually somewhat perceptive and seems, dare I say, content with his situation in this episode. A glimpse into what his life can be when he isn't busy being self-destructive. During that moment in the cab with Pete he seems to acknowledge how fortunate he is to have Megan after torpedoing his first marriage.

Robert Bauman

Ken is maybe the only SCDP employee who has any conception of work/life balance (at the end of last season he said he didn't want his father in law as a client because of the impact it could have on his marriage). He is probably the most "normal" person who works there.

Youtalkingtome
>>125595047

He does feel different and here we are 5 episodes in and he hasn't cheated. He even tells Pete he was wrong. Maybe. Maybe just maybe he's beating it.

Youtalkingtome
>>125615629

It's weird how self aware he is yet totally self destructive. He knows what he's doing is wrong but he just can't help himself.

Youtalkingtome
>>125615684

I love Ken, always down to earth and I think it's really interesting that he's having some success as a writer.

Hawaiian Shirt Funeral

This is a solid episode, the next one is fantastic. I think this is one of the few series that gets stronger down the stretch and the next episode is in my mind the real beginning of that escalation. And for what it's worth, I didn't think that Lane kissing Joan was about Lane's masculinity. I thought Lane was sad and lonely. He can't connect with the client with whom he shares a national identity, his relationship with his wife seems strained, he doesn't feel his co-works like or respect him. Joan is the only person that seems to connect with him and I think Lane kissed her hoping to not feel so isolated. None of that justifies it obviously, but it's less cynical.

Youtalkingtome
>>125695701

Maybe you're right. They've had this friendship with one another and maybe that's what it was. He's probably closer with her than anyone, besides Don.

Jesus

RE did Meagan know about Don/Faye: go back to the last season theres a handful of scenes where its clear that there’s a kind of territorial tension between Faye and Meagan. Also, the little writing detail to have Don say “Whitman” at the table when they’re talking about the mass shooter, who shares his real name. A small piece of acting from both Meagan and Don reacting to that name.

Youtalkingtome
>>126114180

S4 is the season that I wanna rewatch the most. This reveal at the end was incredible and how they planned it was amazing.

John Vaclev

Great comments about the episode and its themes. I think a particularly great touch is how they show that even if you succeed at being "the man", it's meaningless. Lane wins the fight and walks off with a one-liner, but is just as confused and lost as he was before. Roger got to be the cool guy who got the client laid, but ends up losing the account and going back to his miserable life. And of course, as Pete touches on, Don Draper succeeded in hooking up with many beautiful, classy women, but it ended up blowing up his marriage and life. The bit with "Handsome" ties it together beautifully - the whole macho obsession is just grown men trying to live out their fantasy of being the most popular boy in school. It's hollow and pathetic. Ken, by contrast, puts such fantasies where they belong - in the realm of art.

Youtalkingtome
>>126765636

Ken does feel separate from the rest of them. He's had a few bad moments on the show but he's not them. It's a dark reality for all of the characters really and the next episode really highlighted that.