Mad Men: A Little Kiss Rewatch

November 30, 2014 9:00 AM - Season 5, Episode 1

Special 90 minute episode. Don gets a surprise. Pete and Roger butt heads. Joan clashes with a houseguest.

(this episode counts as both ep 1 & 2 of the season)

posted by tracicle (20 comments total)

Binge-watching, Megan going from secretary to wife to copy-writer is even more jarring.
posted by drezdn at 8:59 AM on December 1, 2014 [3 favorites]

"I'll be here for the rest of my life." Oh, Lane.
posted by drezdn at 9:10 AM on December 1, 2014 [5 favorites]

Peggy shows she's at least a level 15 baby-avoider.
posted by drezdn at 9:18 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]

Pete keeps the partners from not smoking. How long has he been a non-smoker?
posted by drezdn at 9:28 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

Ack... Pete kept the partners from smoking in his office.
posted by drezdn at 12:35 PM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

I'm so behind but wanted to say I miss you all! Stupid new job.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 7:54 PM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]

One handwritten sign in the Y&R guys' window at the beginning of the episode, when the protesters are marching outside, reads: "You voted for Lindsay...see him." Who's the "Lindsay" in question? Is it a corruption of Lyndon Johnson?
posted by ChrisTN at 8:08 PM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

drezdn, I admire your tenacity.

I remember it being a long wait for season 5 to begin. Season 4 ended in Oct. 2010 and season 5 began in Mar. 2012 with "A Little Kiss." Matt Weiner doesn't do fan service, but this one time I felt he indulged us to show his appreciation for MM fans being made to wait while he hammered out an agreement with AMC. He gave the MM fans a little kiss with this opener. I mean, the scenes of everyone at Don's surprise birthday party were fabulous. The band playing "The In Crowd." Megan's outfit. Everyone's clothes. And of course "Zou Bisou Bisou." Talk about an earworm; it was a week before that song left my brain.
posted by cwest at 9:19 PM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

I forgot to mention Don's swanky new apartment. More fabulousness. What a relief after that dreary place he lived in during season 4.
posted by cwest at 9:36 PM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

ChrisTN, I believe it's NYC mayor John Lindsay. At some point, Henry Francis becomes an adviser to Lindsay.
posted by cwest at 9:44 PM on December 1, 2014

Thanks, cwest. I didn't know the reference.

And this was the season where everyone went crazy with the "Pete's gonna die" theories. Guess that didn't turn out like we thought.
posted by ChrisTN at 9:47 PM on December 1, 2014

Yes. I specifically remember this article from Salon.
posted by cwest at 12:29 AM on December 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

I love this shot from this episode.

I can't believe that Megan thought that birthday party was a good idea. Everyone who knows Don knew he wouldn't like it.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:07 PM on December 2, 2014 [3 favorites]

I love this shot from this episode.

Yeah. It's certainly better than the first shot we see of baby Kevin--his butt and scrot getting slathered with diaper rash cream.
posted by ChrisTN at 9:24 PM on December 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

I love, love, love the party scene. So many tiny, wonderful moment. Harry in a boa. The side-look that Jane gives Roger during his toast.

And I love that Peggy is still doing The Twist, 6 years after the first season. It's like how my mom, who would be about the same age as Sally, still does The Wave. It's the only dance she knows.
posted by donajo at 4:13 PM on December 7, 2014

Woo! Meredith is here!
posted by tracicle at 7:06 AM on December 8, 2014 [1 favorite]

I love Peggy's reaction when Megan says she's throwing Don a surprise party. "For Don"?
posted by luckynerd at 11:47 AM on December 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

And of course "Zou Bisou Bisou." Talk about an earworm; it was a week before that song left my brain.
This is the original version by Gillian Hills. Party that scores high enough on the wing-ding-ometer to be missing only Austin Powers. I think the only reason why Joan has to be absent would have been to stop her from joining in on accordion. At least one person on the Mad Men team loves French Yé-yé music to an admirable degree.

If you have not re-watched this scene just for the reaction shots of the other party goes - then shame on you - here you go.
posted by rongorongo at 10:39 AM on September 14, 2019

Obviously this is a double episode but sweet jesus, so much here. "Zou Bisou" is, as everyone knows, something Don would never want but also Paré throws everything into making it perfectly something that would have fit exactly that party for someone else. She is perfect here. Their later scene isn't wholly unproblematic but I like the dynamic it shows between them. Megan isn't willing to give up the power in their relationship, and as much as we the viewers know that the party was a bad idea (how about that "Calîsssss, huh?) Megan doesn't yet, and Don was the asshole, not Megan.

Harry is often one of the better guys in the office but his track record over the last few episodes isn't great.

Peggy, who isn't always perfect, is awful when drunk and shit-talking to Megan and Don at the party, good when realizing that Megan needs an apology, and great when taking the initiative to apologize to Don.

And Pete... Pete is right that he needs a better office to entertain accounts. It's wild that Roger needs to wrangle with Harry on that point when Pete's a partner and Harry isn't. But more importantly, Pete, more than anyone else in that office, has been ahead on racial justice and the civil rights movement, not just on an intellectual but actually a moral level, for a while now. His bits about how Y&R's scandal isn't funny, and his smile when they had to interview the room full of black applicants at the end, remind me why I like him despite all.
posted by Navelgazer at 4:09 PM on February 18, 2020

And it cracks me up that in that final scene, Lane, who we recently saw in love with his black mistress, cannot help but put his foot in his mouth repeatedly, whereas Pete would have certainly handled that moment with aplomb.
posted by Navelgazer at 4:15 PM on February 18, 2020