'Mad Men' Season Five Premieres On AMC

by UInterviewMarch 26, 2012, 12:00 amNews >

After an 18-month hiatus, Don Draper (Jon Hamm), Joan Harris, nee Holloway (Christina Hendricks), Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) and the gang are back with Season Five of Mad Men, which premiered Sunday night on AMC with a two-hour extravaganza entitled "A Little Kiss."

Though spoilers were kept tightly under wraps before last night, we have all the post-premiere info here. The episode picked up about a year after the Season Four finale, when Don proposed to his secretary Megan (Jessica Pare), Joan found out she was carrying Roger Sterling's (John Slattery) baby, and the new company was reeling from the news that American Airlines was jumping ship.

While the premiere might have been slow to unfold, there was no shortage of the tension and discomfort that has become synonymous with Mad Men in "A Little Kiss." The name of the installment was derived straight from one of the most uncomfortable scenes yet to be written into the series, in which Megan sings a little French number, "Zou Bisou Bisou" — a song initially made famous by British singer Gillian Hills — to her politely annoyed newlywed husband at a surprise birthday party she threw for him, completely unsolicited.

The title of the song hit the trending topics on Twitter Sunday night, prompting Mad Men studio Lionsgate to announce that it will be releasing Pare's rendition as a single on iTunes, Amazon, and in limited-edition vinyl from AMC's website, according to The New York Times.

In other Mad Men news, Joan's husband is still stationed in Vietnam, though she has just given birth to the infant son that he undoubtedly presumes is his, but is actually Sterling's. Her depression mounts as she fears that her job at the agency is in jeopardy, but her fears are put to rest when Lane Price (Jared Harris) assures that her office-manager stand-ins "couldn't operate a parking meter."

Megan is a copywriter cutting her teeth under Peggy, who still struggles to see her work recognized in the male-dominated agency and field. Pete Campbell's (Vincent Kartheiser) inferiority complex at the agency is mounting, even as his move to the suburbs with his wife Trudy (Alison Brie) and their infant daughter provides little solace.

One major character who did not make an appearance in the premiere was Betty Francis, nee Draper (January Jones), who seems to be, once again, locked in a loveless marriage. The backdrop for this episode and presumably the entire season is the rise of the Civil Rights movement, as social issues begin to shape the way Draper's new agency makes a name for itself.

Catch next week's episode, "Tea Leaves," which was directed by Hamm, on AMC at 10 p.m. on Sunday.

Watch a clip here: