Mad Cap: "5G"

Elisabeth Moss

Welcome to Mad Cap: a daily rundown of every episode of the acclaimed AMC series Mad Men. During this time, I will be compiling my thoughts and highlights as we travel through every moment and season of the Emmy-award winning drama that has come to define modern TV. The goal is to be a refresher on every moment for Don Draper and his band of advertisement executives leading up to the final season. Stay for all of the shocking moments and the brilliant acting performances, and make sure to chime in with your thoughts and criticisms on why the show means something to you.

Season 1, Episode 5

"5G"

"You shouldn't have told me. I’m not going to 
tell anybody, but you shouldn't have told anybody that."

- Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks)

Plot

After Don Draper (Jon Hamm) wins an award, he runs into Adam Whitman (Jay Paulson), who claims to be his brother. Meanwhile, Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss) discovers Don's affair with Midge Daniels (Rosemarie DeWitt) and feels conflicted on informing someone, especially his family who show up for holiday pictures. After Ken Cosgrove (Aaron Staton) gets published in a prestigious publication, Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) gets jealous and asks his wife Trudy Campbell (Alison Brie) to pull some strings and get his work into a major publication. She does. Adam and Don have a long talk in which Don tries to deny his alternative identity. It eventually comes to the point where he pays Adam to leave town. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

MVP:

Don Draper (Jon Hamm)

The plot thickens and the mysterious Don Draper begins to take on new, interesting directions. Where we have seen Pete and Peggy's lives explored, we don't have many clues on this man who can sell Liberty Insurance and convince everyone of his swagger. It starts to crumble here when we meet a link to his past in Adam and there is a discovery that there is something else to this man that is yet to be discovered. He remains enigmatic and ashamed of where he came from. He can sell merchandise, but he can't sell honesty to the people that matter most. He is a ruse to get the best out of his life. To say the least, this "Whitman" story is starting to heat up and seeing Don try and take everything in strides is excellent.

Left to right: Jay Paulson and Hamm

Best Scene

In a way that is starting to reflect a clash between work and home, Don decides to meet Adam for lunch moments before his family show up for group pictures. It becomes quite a juggling experiment, especially considering the parallels between his Draper family and the Whitman family. Most of all, Adam is given plenty of time to sell us on this scenario and leave us to wonder if he is sincere when he claims that they are related, or if he is just in it for the money. Nonetheless, the diner sequence in which Don finally stops denying Adam's requests opens up something more about his character and leaves room for wherever the series can plan on going next.

UP NEXT: "Babylon"