Mad Men - Season 5 -

Best Episode: "The Other Woman" / "Commissions and Fees" (impossible to choose) Worst Episode: There aren't any. But "Tea Leaves" is the slowest burn.

Season 5 asks: What happens after the fairy tale ends? Mad Men - Season 5

In "The Other Woman," she finally asks for a raise and a title. Don refuses, not because she doesn't deserve it, but because he needs her to need him. The subsequent scene—where Peggy walks into the elevator of the Time & Life Building, leaving Don alone in the hallway—is the show’s most heartbreaking moment. No music. No slow motion. Just the ding of the elevator door. Best Episode: "The Other Woman" / "Commissions and

The turning point is the epic, feature-length episode "The Other Woman." Don loses his coolest account (Jaguar) because he refuses to prostitute his star copywriter, Peggy Olson, to a sleazy client. It’s a noble stand—but it’s too late. The damage is done. Later that night, he watches Megan in a commercial for her acting career, and the look on his face isn’t pride. It’s alienation. He realizes he can’t control her. And for Don Draper, a woman he can’t control is a mirror he can’t break. Megan Draper is the most divisive character in Mad Men history. In Season 5, she is a Rorschach test. To some, she’s a breath of fresh air—warm, modern, maternal with Don’s children. To others (hello, Joan and Peggy), she’s a usurper who slept her way to the creative department. In "The Other Woman," she finally asks for

There is a moment early in Mad Men Season 5 that perfectly encapsulates its thesis. Megan Draper (née Calvet) surprises her new husband, Don Draper, with a sultry, intimate performance of the French pop song "Zou Bisou Bisou" at his surprise birthday party. As she twirls in a sequined mini-dress, the room of stiff ad executives looks on with a mixture of envy, confusion, and barely concealed contempt. Don, the man who has everything, sits frozen, smiling with his teeth but screaming with his eyes.