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Mad Men
TV Series

Mad Men

2007 • Drama • 7 Seasons

Woke Score
4.2
out of 10

Series Overview

The professional and personal lives of those who work in advertising on Madison Avenue - self-coined "mad men" - in the 1960s are presented. The stories focus on those at one of the avenue's smaller firms, Sterling Cooper, and its various incarnations over the decade. At the heart of these stories is Donald Draper, the creative genius of the company. That professional creative brilliance belies the fact of a troubled childhood, one that he would rather forget and not let anyone know about except for a select few, but one that shaped who he is as an adult and as an ad man in the need not only to sell products but sell himself to the outside world. His outward confidence also masks many insecurities as evidenced through his many vices, such as excessive smoking, drinking and womanizing - the latter despite being a family man - and how he deals with the aftermath of some of the negative aspects of his life.

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Season-by-Season Breakdown

Season 1

4/10

Season one takes place between March and November 1960. It introduces the fictional advertising agency Sterling Cooper. The season begins with the new secretary, Peggy Olson, starting her first day with the firm. As the season unfolds, the mysterious backstory of enigmatic ad man Don Draper is revealed as are the growing confidence and success of Peggy Olson.

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Season 2

3.6/10

Season two takes place between February and October 1962, culminating with the Cuban Missile Crisis. It expands on Peggy's rise in the workplace and the marital strife between Don and Betty Draper as Don's infidelities further intrude on his family life. The second season also introduces an unknown acquaintance of Don Draper. Draper is corresponding by letter with this unseen acquaintance in secret.

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Season 3

4/10

Season three takes place six months after the conclusion of the second season and ends in December 1963. It chronicles the end of the "Camelot era" as the characters go through immense change in their professional and personal lives.

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Season 4

3.6/10

Season four takes place between November 1964 and October 1965. It is set at the new and considerably more modern advertising agency, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. The main narrative of the fourth season is driven by Don Draper's identity crisis. As Don falls deeper into existential despair, he begins regularly meeting with women of loose moral character and faces debilitating alcoholism.

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Season 5

5.2/10

Season 5 takes place between Memorial Day 1966 and spring 1967. The season explores Don Draper's new marriage to Megan, which leads him to ignore his work at the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce advertising agency. Meanwhile, Lane, Pete, Roger, Joan, and Peggy learn that it is "every man for himself" in their personal and professional lives, as they each face painful new beginnings.

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Season 6

5/10

Season 6 takes place between December 1967 and November 1968.

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Season 7

4/10

The first part of season 7 begins in January 1969, several weeks after the Thanksgiving 1968 ending of season 6, and ends in July 1969, with characters dealing with the dynamics of lives and offices being split between New York and Los Angeles.

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Overall Series Review

Mad Men presents a meticulous, multi-layered portrait of mid-20th century America, tracing the arc from the rigid expectations of the early 1960s to the fractured, commercialized reality of the 1970s. At its core, the series serves as a character study of Don Draper, whose personal dissolution and identity crisis mirror the nation’s own instability. The narrative grounds itself in the advertising industry, using the pursuit of the American Dream to expose the internal rot, moral ambiguity, and existential emptiness that defined the era. Throughout the series, the show shifts in its tone and perspective. In its earlier seasons, the narrative relies on historical realism, observing the prejudices and social hierarchies of the time without injecting modern moral commentary. Characters navigate a world defined by professional ambition and personal limitation, earning their places through persistence rather than narrative convenience. As the decade progresses, the series pivots toward a more overt critique of traditional institutions. The focus turns to the dismantling of the male-dominated hierarchy, reflecting the rise of counter-culture and the increasing irrelevance of mid-century social structures. By its conclusion, the show moves away from the polished aesthetic of the early sixties into a darker, more cynical exploration of American life. The narrative uses major historical traumas—such as the JFK assassination and the Vietnam War—to contrast the artificial world of advertising with the turbulent reality of the decade. Ultimately, the series leaves behind a bleak, haunting meditation on the cost of success and the fragility of the self. It remains a study of human failure and the relentless, often futile, American drive for reinvention in the face of inevitable social change.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics3.3/10

Oikophobia4.7/10

Feminism5.4/10

LGBTQ+2.7/10

Anti-Theism4.7/10

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