GoRetro's Mad Men Predictions

I just finished watching season 3 of Mad Men on DVD, and as Don Draper strode towards a new future to the tune of Roy Orbison's "Shahdaroba", (which, the lyrics tell us, means the "future is much better than the past") I thought what a fitting ending. It seems prophetic that the writers chose to end the most recent season just after President Kennedy was assassinated - a pivotal moment for the country as well as a pivotal moment for the main characters of the show, who decided to form their own ad agency. Here's where the swinging 60s decade really begins, and I couldn't resist making a list of predictions of what may happen - or what I wish would happen - in the coming years:

Mad Men, Meet Fab Men
As any Beatles fan knows - or at least, the way we imagine it - America was pitched into perpetual darkness after losing our President. That is, at least, until four young men from Liverpool appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 and transformed the nation into happiness again. I'm sure the writers will weave the Fab Four somehow into the plot of one of the first episodes of season 4...if not by way of some advertising tie-in, then perhaps by tying up traffic in New York. Maybe some of the girls (that Trudy Campbell, Pete's wife, looks like a Ringo fan to me) will go Beatlemania crazy and drive the boys crazy in the process.

Give Me Hair - Long, Beautiful Hair
With the Beatles came long hair on men...hair that actually moved and didn't look slick and greasy. Don and Pete, it's time to give the old Brylcreem the boot. Both Jon Hamm and Vincent Kartheiser, who play Don and Pete, have proven that they like to get a bit hairy in between season shooting. I could see some of the guys getting hippyish with each progressing year.

I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar
I don't trust this Henry dude who has latched onto the soon-to-be-divorced Betty, do you? He barely knows our Betty, and yet he's talking already about marrying and taking care of her. I smell possessive control freak on the horizon, and a rebelling Betty as women's rights come to the forefront. Also, Henry hasn't met the wrath of little Sally Draper yet, who will no doubt balk at the idea of having a stepdad (we already saw how manipulative she can be when baby Gene came home from the hospital.)

Women's treatment in the workplace will find its way into the show - the mandatory skirt chasing and talking down to female staff may soon be in jeopardy.

Dr. Harris, Don't Be A Hero
Joan's lackadaisical fiance announced to her that he was joining the army - and excitingly said, "Maybe they'll send me to Vietnam!" Considering the way he forced himself upon Joanie in one disturbing scene from season 2, I'm betting many of us won't shed much tears when Greg gives his life fighting for his country.

Operation Acid Drop
Drug use has slowly been working its way into the show - Peggy smoked her first joint, and Don has proven that he's no slouch when it comes to popping unknown pills. It won't be long until someone gets introduced to LSD to expand the creative portion of their mind. It may even become a way to kill off a character. As morbid as it sounds, I can't think of a more memorable way for someone to exit their contract than to have the writers make them jump out of a building window stark naked on a bad acid trip.

And if you don't think ad guys in the 60s ever did drugs, just check out this creepy 1969 television commercial for IHOP. Just think, a group of ad guys presented storyboards of this to IHOP execs and everyone thought it was a good idea!



I can't wait for season four. What are your predictions for the show?