S1.E6

Babylon

Name: Babylon
Genre: Drama
Released: 2007-08-23
Duration: 47 min
Rating: 7.8
Cast: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser

Episode aired Aug 23, 2007
TV-14
47m

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

3.9K

YOUR RATING

Jon Hamm and John Slattery in Mad Men (2007)

Drama

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... Read allThe 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 s... Read allThe 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 kn... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

3.9K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos35

+ 32

User reviews9

7.83.9K

Featured reviews

9snoozejonc

... a dog playing the piano

Babylon is for me one of the strongest episodes of the first season with memorable moments for the female characters.

The opening flashback provides more compelling information about the lead character.

Peggy is used very well by the writers to explore a professional environment from the perspective of ambitious women hamstrung by the culture of the era. This episode develops the character in an intriguing way that makes me want to follow her progress.

There is interesting information revealed about certain other characters (drip fed as always). I particularly enjoyed the scenes involving heavily objectified character Joan. Themes of control and imprisonment by male characters and the social constructions of the era are worked nicely into the dialogue and visuals. Keener eyes than mine who spotted the wh_re of Babylon references can appreciate strong art design, and likewise the subjugation (or attempted subjugation) of other female character characters.

Events are wrapped up nicely with the end montage that blends music, characters and visual storytelling perfectly.

Trivia
David Carbonara: The composer for Mad Men plays with the band in the bohemian hangout that Midge takes Don to at the end of the episode. He can be seen back and to the right of the singer (from the viewer's perspective). Note: The song is entitled "Babylon", like the episode title.

Goofs
The Song "Babylon" heard in the club scene is an arrangement of Psalm 137 written by Lee Hayes (of the Weavers) and Don McLean and released by McLean on his American Pie album in 1971.

Quotes
Don Draper: Utopia.
Rachel Menken: Maybe. They taught us at Barnard about that word, 'utopia'. The Greeks had two meaning for it: 'eu-topos', meaning the good place, and 'u-topos' meaning the place that cannot be.