Babylon (23 Aug. 2007)

The Agency is looking to land an advertising contract to promote tourism to Israel. Don and his team try to come up with a theme but know so little about the country that they're stumped. ... See full summary »

Director:

Andrew Bernstein

Writers:

Matthew Weiner (creator), André Jacquemetton,

Stars:

Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jon Hamm	...	Don Draper
Elisabeth Moss	...	Peggy Olson
Vincent Kartheiser	...	Pete Campbell
January Jones	...	Betty Draper
Christina Hendricks	...	Joan Holloway
Bryan Batt	...	Salvatore Romano
Michael Gladis	...	Paul Kinsey
Aaron Staton	...	Ken Cosgrove
Rich Sommer	...	Harry Crane
Maggie Siff	...	Rachel Menken
Rosemarie DeWitt	...	Midge Daniels
John Slattery	...	Roger Sterling
Talia Balsam	...	Mona Sterling
Ian Bohen	...	Roy Hazelitt
Rebecca Creskoff	...	Barbara Katz

Storyline

The Agency is looking to land an advertising contract to promote tourism to Israel. Don and his team try to come up with a theme but know so little about the country that they're stumped. So Don calls Rachel Menken to see if she has any ideas. Roger Sterling is getting tired of sneaking around with Joan Holloway and suggests she should get her own apartment but she knows better. Peggy comes up with an advertising concept during a testing session for a new line of lipsticks and she's subsequently asked to write copy.

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Plot Keywords:

israel | lipstick | one way glass | brainstorming | staircase | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 August 2007 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Biltmore Hotel - 506 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate Television, American Movie Classics (AMC), Weiner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

47 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The colored comic strip on the front page of the Sunday newspaper that Don Draper picks up from the table is Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. It was not uncommon during 1960 for the Sunday funnies to be printed in color and posted to the front page of the newspaper (to boost sales at newsstands). The most popular strip at that time was Peanuts.

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Goofs

Earlier in the episode, the year is mentioned to be 1960. Later in the episode, Joan Halloway uses the phrase "The medium is the message." This phrase was coined by Marshall McLuhan in Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, published in 1964.

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Quotes

Roger Sterling: I bet there were people walking around in the Bible complaining about kids today.

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Connections

References The Best of Everything (1959)

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Soundtracks

"Babylon"
Written by Don McLean
Performed by David Carbonara

User Reviews

Exodus and utopia

As hinted by the title, the sixth episode of Mad Men is one of its richest in terms of hidden meanings and deeper truths, while still retaining its standard polished exterior and exquisite dialogue scenes, which provide further development for previously underused characters.

The main storyline concerns the agency's task of coming up with an ad campaign to increase tourists' interest in Israel, but it quickly emerges no one, including Don, who even reads the book Exodus in search for advice, knows much about the country. As a last resort, Don resorts to Rachel's help, causing the woman to come to terms with her feelings for him. To further complicate things, he later spends some time with his occasional mistress Midge, and the experience turns out to be quite cathartic. Back at the office, Peggy shows unexpected skills that pave the way for a new career move, while Roger has to deal with his affair with Joan.

One of Babylon's most important scenes is a discussion between Don and Rachel on the subject of utopia, a word whose current meaning of "ideal world" is most likely a misinterpretation of the original Greek, which means "non-place", i.e. a place that doesn't exist. In a way, that word is the perfect summation of life at Sterling Cooper, where executives come up with pitches for titillating but ultimately unfulfilling fantasies in the shape of commercial campaigns, and everyone else lives in a sort of "dream world" helping bring these fantasies to life. It is also a perfect picture for Don's life, from his mysterious past - which makes his Draper persona a utopia of his own - to his shallow womanizing, and the concept enables Hamm to shine in another great set of scenes, notably with Maggie Siff. Additionally, the episode deserves praise for the direction Peggy is taking as a character, not to mention the delightful interaction between Christina Hendricks (one of the show's unsung heroes) and John Slattery, which give Mad Men the right to be part of a very special utopia: that of outstanding television.