The fifth season of the American television drama series ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...

'' premiered on March 25, 2012, with a two-episode premiere, and concluded on June 10, 2012. It consisted of thirteen episodes, each running approximately 48 minutes in length.

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

broadcast the fifth season on Sundays at 10:00 pm in the United States. The fifth season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on October 16, 2012. Season 5 takes place between

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

(May 30) 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. As with previous seasons, the fifth season of ''Mad Men'' was lauded by critics and was the second most acclaimed series of 2012 based on year-end lists published by prominent television critics.

Cast

Main cast

Jon Hamm Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and tw ...

Don Draper Donald Francis "Don" Draper, born Richard "Dick" Whitman, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the AMC television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), portrayed by Jon Hamm. At the beginning of the series, Draper is the charismatic yet en ...

Elisabeth Moss Elisabeth Singleton Moss (born July 24, 1982) is an American actor and director. The recipient of several accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a nomination for a Tony Award, she was named the "Queen of P ...

Peggy Olson Margaret "Peggy" Olson is a fictional character on the AMC television series ''Mad Men''. She was portrayed by Elisabeth Moss and served as the show's female lead. Initially, Peggy is secretary to Don Draper (Jon Hamm), creative director of th ...

Vincent Kartheiser Vincent Paul Kartheiser (born May 5, 1979) is an American actor. He gained acclaim for his role as Pete Campbell on the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' from 2007 to 2015. He had starring roles in films such as ''Alaska'' (1996), '' Masterminds'' ( ...

Pete Campbell Peter Dyckman Campbell (born February 28, 1934) is a fictional character on AMC's television series '' Mad Men''. He is portrayed by Vincent Kartheiser. Kartheiser has won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemb ...

January Jones January Kristen Jones (born January 5, 1978) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Betty Draper in ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which she was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Drama ...

as Betty Francis *

Christina Hendricks Christina Rene Hendricks (born May 3, 1975) is an American actress and former model. With an extensive career on screen and stage, she has received various accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Critics' Choice Awards, as ...

as Joan Harris *

Jared Harris Jared Francis Harris (born 24 August 1961) is a British actor. His roles include Lane Pryce in the drama series ''Mad Men'' (2009–2012), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Seri ...

Lane Pryce Lane Pryce is a fictional character in the television series '' Mad Men'', portrayed by Jared Harris. A British newcomer to the United States as of 1963, he initially acts as financial officer at Sterling Cooper but eventually leaves along with ...

Aaron Staton Aaron Staton (born August 10, 1980) is an American actor. He played Ken Cosgrove on the AMC series '' Mad Men'' (2007–15) and Cole Phelps in the video game '' L.A. Noire'' (2011), for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Perfor ...

Ken Cosgrove This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Mad Men'', all of whom have appeared in multiple episodes. Overview ;Cast notes: * Maxwell Huckabee and Aaron Hart have split the role of Bobby Draper in the first season, while ...

Rich Sommer Rich Sommer (born February 2, 1978) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Harry Crane on the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015) for which he earned two Screen Actors Guild Awards along with the ensemble cast. He is also ...

Harry Crane Harry Crane (April 23, 1914 – September 13, 1999) was an American comedy writer who helped to create the concept for ''The Honeymooners'' and its signature characters.Kiernan Shipka Kiernan Brennan Shipka (born November 10, 1999) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as List of Mad Men characters#Sally Draper, Sally Draper in the AMC (TV channel), AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), and Sabrina Spe ...

as Sally Draper *

Jessica Paré Jessica Paré (born December 5, 1980) is a Canadian actress and musician known for her co-starring roles on the AMC series '' Mad Men'' and the CBS series '' SEAL Team''. She has also appeared in the films '' Stardom'' (2000), '' Lost and Del ...

as Megan Draper *

Christopher Stanley Christopher Stanley is an American film and television actor. He appeared in the Ben Affleck-directed film ''Argo'' and in the Kathryn Bigelow-directed film ''Zero Dark Thirty''. His most notable TV role was as politician Henry Francis, th ...

as Henry Francis * Jay R. Ferguson as Stan Rizzo *

Robert Morse Robert Alan Morse (May 18, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American actor. Known for his gap-toothed boyishness, he started his career as a star on Broadway acting in musicals and plays before expanding into film and television. He earned numero ...

Bert Cooper Bertram Cooper (January 10, 1966 – May 10, 2019), nicknamed Smokin' Bert Cooper, was an American professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2012. He fought Evander Holyfield, George Foreman, Riddick Bowe, Michael Moorer, Chris Byrd, Ray ...

John Slattery John M. Slattery Jr. (born August 13, 1962) is an American actor and director. He is known for his role as Roger Sterling in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–15), for which he was nominated 4 times for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outsta ...

Roger Sterling Roger H. Sterling Jr. is a fictional character on the AMC television series ''Mad Men''. He formerly worked for Sterling Cooper, an advertising agency his father co-founded in 1923, before he became a founding partner at the new firm of Sterling C ...

Recurring cast

Guest stars

Talia Balsam Talia Balsam (born 1959) is an American television and film actress. Early life Talia Balsam was born in New York City in 1959, to actors Martin Balsam and Joyce Van Patten. Her ancestry is Russian Jewish (father) and Italian, Dutch, and Engl ...

as Mona Sterling *

Michael Gladis Michael Gladis (born August 30, 1977) is an American actor. He played Paul Kinsey in the television series ''Mad Men''; he appeared in the series' first three seasons, and as a guest star in the show's fifth season. Early life Gladis grew up ...

Paul Kinsey This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Mad Men'', all of whom have appeared in multiple episodes. Overview ;Cast notes: * Maxwell Huckabee and Aaron Hart have split the role of Bobby Draper in the first season, while ...

* Ronald Guttman as Emile Calvet *

Zosia Mamet Zosia Mamet (; born February 2, 1988) is an American actress. She is known for her breakout role as Shoshanna Shapiro in the HBO series '' Girls''. Mamet also starred as Annie Mouradian in the HBO Max original series '' The Flight Attendant'' an ...

as Joyce Ramsay *

Joel Murray Joel Murray (born April 17, 1963) is an American actor. He is well known for his roles in the television series ''Mad Men'', ''Grand (TV series), Grand'', ''Love & War (TV series), Love & War'', ''Dharma & Greg'', ''Still Standing (American TV ...

as Freddy Rumsen *

Samuel Page Samuel L. Elliott (born November 5, 1976), known professionally as Samuel Page or Sam Page, is an American actor. He has appeared on popular television shows, such as ''All My Children'', ''Mad Men'', ''Desperate Housewives'', ''House of Cards'' ...

as Greg Harris *

Jay Paulson Jay Paulson is an American actor and poet. Early life and education Paulson was born in New York City. Career Paulson's first major television role was a regular recurring role as Zoe's boyfriend, Sean, on the comedy ''Cybill''. He appeared i ...

as Adam Whitman * Myra Turley as Katherine Olson

Plot

Don Draper has married his secretary Megan Calvet, who throws a surprise birthday party for Don and their co-workers. Don is embarrassed by the party and Megan serenading him in front of his co-workers. Megan (who has been promoted to copywriter) meanwhile struggles with Don's growing detachment with work, as he is constantly having Megan come in late and leave early to the agency, and her own unfulfilled dream of being an actress. Don's detachment alienates Peggy, who is being made to train Megan, and Bert, who feels that Don has gone "on love leave", not caring about his job or turning in quality work. Feeling her chances at work have been undercut by Don's detachment, the couple have a fight while touring a

Howard Johnson's Howard Johnson by Wyndham, still commonly referred to as Howard Johnson's, is an American hotel brand with over 200 hotels in 15 countries. It was also formerly a Chain store, restaurant chain, which at one time was the largest in the U.S., wit ...

hotel. Don leaves Megan behind in a huff when she tells him that she's come to find the advertising industry hollow and superficial. But as he's driving home, he rethinks leaving her behind and goes back to the Howard Johnson, only to find Megan isn't there. He waits around for 7 hours and then drives home, where he finds Megan. She hitched a ride to the Greyhound bus station and then a cab back to their new apartment, where they fight and ultimately reconcile. Don's slacking at work coincides with the arrival of a new hire, in the form of young advertising phenom Michael Ginsberg. Young, aggressive, and anti-social, Ginsberg proves to be a rival for Don and Peggy. When the two are made to pitch advertisements for a snow cone company, Don purposely leaves behind Ginsberg's child-friendly campaign material in order to pitch his own darker, devil-themed campaign instead, which is ultimately chosen. Meanwhile, Peggy finds herself reaching a glass ceiling with regards to Ginsberg being able to rise faster within the company. However, one evening Ginsberg confides his dark secret to Peggy: that he was born in a Nazi concentration camp for Jews, where his mother died and that he spent his first five years in an orphanage before his father found him and took him to America to live. By the end, Peggy decides to leave the agency for another firm in order to fulfill her full potential. Don attempts to keep her by offering her a raise but ultimately concedes that Peggy has to leave him to continue out of his shadow. Before she leaves the office forever, Don kisses her hand, finally realizing how important she was to him. Peggy also makes a new change at home: she accepts her boyfriend's proposal to live together, to her mother's disapproval. Roger struggles to remain relevant in the company as Pete Campbell schemes to steal his plush office for himself. Roger begins to secretly pay Peggy and Ginsberg to produce material for him to pitch to clients. He also experiments with LSD, which has a profound impact on him and his own marriage to Jane; under the influence of the drug the two confess that their marriage has failed and they divorce. Roger meanwhile begins pursuing an affair with Megan's mother, including Don's daughter Sally catching her step-grandmother performing oral sex on Roger. Pete Campbell, having moved to the suburbs, begins to become more and more detached from his life and starts missing the big city. His relationship with Lane Pryce collapses and the two fight, with Lane beating Pete up in front of the other partners. He also begins a relationship with Beth Dawes, the wife of a fellow train commuter, who later breaks off the affair out of guilt even though she and Pete know that her husband is unrepentant in his own adultery. She later tells Pete that her husband is forcing her to undergo

electroshock therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment that causes a generalized seizure by passing electrical current through the brain. ECT is often used as an intervention for mental disorders when other treatments are inadequate. Condit ...

because of her

manic depression Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that each last from days to weeks, and in some cases months. If the elevated m ...

. Pete visits his mistress one last time in the hospital, whose memories of the affair have been destroyed. He confronts Beth's husband later on the train, revealing the affair and culminating in a fist fight. Returning home defeated and alone, his wife Trudy agrees to allow Pete to rent an apartment in the city for overnight stays. Joan struggles with single motherhood while her husband is overseas, with help from her mother. However, when she discovers that Greg has signed up for another tour of duty in the Army Medical Corps without consulting her, Joan confronts Greg and in the process denounces him for his earlier rape of her and orders him out of her and their son's life. Greg reluctantly agrees but then files for divorce, which upsets Joan as she fears that Greg will paint her as the villain in their divorce case. Further complicating things is the firm's pursuit of Jaguar as a client, as Pete is able to get a promise that the agency will get the account if Joan sleeps with the head of the Jaguar dealers' association. Pete arranges a vote behind Don's back, and the other partners reluctantly agree to pay Joan to have sex with the executive to secure the account for them. However, Lane convinces Joan to take an ownership percentage of the company instead as Don tries to stop Joan from doing the deed. The firm wins the account, but alienates Joan and Don from the rest of the partners and from each other. Lane Pryce struggles with his own demons as he is revealed to be greatly in debt and owing a good amount of taxes from when he moved his money to the US last season to help keep the firm afloat. When his scheme to use his Christmas bonus to pay off his tax debt fails, Lane is forced to steal from the company to pay his debt. Don discovers this and asks Lane for his resignation, who then kills himself rather than face the disgrace of resigning and returning to England. He hangs himself in his office, leaving Roger, Pete, and Don to cut him down. Nobody but Don knows the reason behind his suicide. Don takes it especially hard and has hallucinations of his brother Adam, who also committed suicide by hanging. Don appears to blame himself for both deaths. Megan (who has returned to acting) seeks Don's help to secure a commercial role for her. Megan's visiting mother cruelly denounces Megan's ambitions and tells Don that he should not help Megan, as she believes that Megan's dream of acting must be crushed and that she should behave like the proper wife of a wealthy man. While Don is at the dentist, Megan's mother reduces her daughter to a quivering wreck, resulting in Don agreeing to help Megan get the role in order to secure her the happiness she needs to function. Eventually, she gets the role, and after dropping her off at the studio, Don leaves to a bar where he sits by himself and orders a drink. The season ends with a montage of all the main characters having realizations about themselves. Pete, in the aftermath of his affair with Beth, is seen sitting alone on his couch with his headphones on and eyes closed. Peggy, having quickly risen through the ranks in her new career, is shown toasting a single glass of champagne to herself with a smile on her face. A naked Roger looks out the window of his hotel room at the city, in the throes of an LSD trip, and raises both of his arms into the air. And lastly, Don is seen at the bar, where a woman begins to flirt with him and asks if he is alone. He turns and looks at her ambiguously.

Episodes

Production

Crew

Series creator

Matthew Weiner Matthew Hoffman Weiner (; born June 29, 1965) is an American television writer, producer, and director best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series ''Mad Men'', and as a writer and executive producer on ''The Sopranos''. ...

also served as

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

and executive producer, and is credited as a writer on 10 of the 13 episodes of the season, often co-writing the episodes with another writer. Erin Levy was promoted to co-producer and wrote two episodes. Victor Levin joined as co-executive producer and wrote two episodes.

Frank Pierson Frank Romer Pierson (May 12, 1925 – July 22, 2012) was an American screenwriter and film director.Byrge, Duane (July 23, 2012). rank Pierson, Former Movie Academy President, Writer and Director, Dies at 87.''The Hollywood Reporter''Yardley, Wi ...

joined as consulting producer and wrote one episode.

Semi Chellas Semi Chellas (born 1969) is a director, writer, producer who has written for film, television and magazines. She was born in Palo Alto, California and grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She is known for her work on the television series ''Mad Men'' an ...

was promoted to co-producer and wrote two episodes. Jonathan Igla wrote two episodes. Writing team

Andre Jacquemetton Andre Jacquemetton is an American television writer and producer. He served as a producer for the first and second season of '' Mad Men''. He and his wife, Maria, co-wrote episodes of the first and second seasons. Alongside his colleagues on the ...

and

Maria Jacquemetton Maria Jacquemetton ( Mastras) is an American television writer and producer. She graduated from Lehigh University in 1983. She served as a producer for the first season of '' Mad Men'' and co-wrote, with her husband, Andre, three episodes of th ...

were promoted to executive producers and co-wrote one episode together. Other producers included Blake McCormick and executive producer

Scott Hornbacher Scott Hornbacher is an American television producer and director. He has worked in both capacities on the AMC drama series '' Mad Men''. He shared the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Drama Series with the production team when they won in 2008 and 20 ...

Jennifer Getzinger Jennifer Getzinger (born September 26, 1967) is an American director and script supervisor of film and television. For much of her career she worked as a script supervisor on a number of notable films including '' The Prophecy'' (1995), '' Phant ...

, Michael Uppendahl, and Phil Abraham each directed two episodes for the season. The remaining episodes were directed by

Matt Shakman Matt Shakman is an American director and former child actor. He produced and directed ''WandaVision'' and has directed episodes of '' The Great'', ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', '' Fargo'' and ''Game of Thrones''. He also directed the up ...

, cast member

, Matthew Weiner, who directs each season finale; with cast member

and cinematographer Christopher Manley each making their directorial debuts.

Reception

The fifth season of ''Mad Men'' has received critical acclaim. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reports that 97% of 38 critics have given the season a positive review with an average score of 9.3/10. The site's consensus is: "With its brilliantly crafted characters, razor-sharp writing, and ambitious sweep, ''Mad Men'' continues to surprise and unsettle." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the fifth season has scored an 89 out of 100 based on 24 reviews, indicating universal acclaim.

Accolades

The fifth season received three nominations from the Television Critics Association Awards for Program of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Drama, while Jon Hamm was nominated for Individual Achievement in Drama.

64th Primetime Emmy Awards

Season five received 17 nominations for the

64th Primetime Emmy Awards The 64th Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in prime time television programming from June 1, 2011, until May 31, 2012, were held on Sunday, September 23, 2012, at the Peacock Theater, Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Ame ...

, although it did not win any. * Outstanding Drama Series * Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series:

* Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:

* Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series:

* Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:

* Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series:

Ben Feldman Benjamin Feldman (born May 27, 1980) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has undertaken roles on stage, including the Broadway play ''The Graduate'', along with more prominent roles in television series such as his role as Jonah S ...

* Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series:

Julia Ormond Julia Karin Ormond (born 4 January 1965) is an English film and television actress. She rose to prominence by appearing in '' The Baby of Mâcon'' (1993), '' Legends of the Fall'' (1994), '' First Knight'' (1995), '' Sabrina'' (1995), '' Smilla ...

* Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series: Phil Abraham for " The Other Woman" * Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series: **

and

for " Far Away Places" **Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner for "The Other Woman" **

and

for "

Commissions and Fees "Commissions and Fees" is the twelfth and Wiktionary:penultimate, penultimate episode of the Mad Men season 5, fifth season of the American television drama series ''Mad Men'' and the 64th episode of the series overall. It is co-written by Andre ...

" *Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series * Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series * Outstanding Cinematography for a One Hour Series *Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series *Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) * Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series

References

External links

* * {{Mad Men 2012 American television seasons Television series set in 1966 Television series set in 1967