It was the biggest mystery of last night's alcohol drenched Mad Men. No, not how Don Draper brought home a diner waitress amid a 48-hour bender. Rather, just when were those jarring, pre-Sterling Cooper Don Draper flashbacks supposed to take place? Ahead, senior editor S.T. VanAirsdale and I attempt to clear up this muddy Mad Men timeline.
Christopher: Apropos of nothing but your Mad Men recap: Did you find those flashbacks a bit weird, if only because there is a giant leap between the Don presented there and Don we meet when the series begins? What year did you think that was?
STV: It seemed pretty early in the Don Draper lifeline. '51 or '52? I wish I knew.
Christopher: Well, it had to be after '52, since the Korean War ended in '53, right?
STV: Wow, OK. So maybe it was supposed to be 1955. What do we know?
Christopher: Well, Dick came back from Korea as Don, was a used car salesman, met Anna Draper...
STV: Right.
Christopher: So we're to believe he went from being a car salesman to a fur salesman to married to Betty to working at Sterling Cooper to "Don Draper" in the span of less than 10 years.
STV: It would seem so. But it would have to be much less than 10 years. Like maybe 5 or 6 years. Here, let's work backwards: Mad Men starts in 1960 with Don essentially at the height of his creative powers. He has a daughter who's no younger than 6, so let's just say Sally was born in 1954. And he and Betty were married in '54?
Christopher: According to Wikipedia, they were married in '53.
STV: OK. And meanwhile, Dick is supposed to have adopted Don's identity shortly before that. Meanwhile, Roger is supposed to be a WWII veteran who had a big affair with the dog food heiress in pre-war Paris, because he would have had to marry Mona and have Margaret pretty much right away for her to be married in Nov. 1963.
Christopher: Uh-huh.
STV: Not to mention, Roger still has to hold a grudge against the Honda folks.
Christopher: Naturally. Then he and Mona had Margaret in the early '40s -- which makes sense, assuming he's about 10 years older than Don. So he'd be in his 50s now.
STV: But Joan is the big X-factor for me. Let's say these flashbacks occurred in 1954. Are we to believe that Joan was a single woman having an affair with Roger for seven years? I wouldn't believe Joan would stay single in that relationship for that long.
Christopher: Well, she had her fling with Kinsey, too. Unless that was a drunken one night stand at one of the Sterling Cooper Christmas parties. But I think Joan is better than drunken hook-ups. She wants to be wooed! She wants fur wraps!
STV: OK, this is getting deep into the weeds. What have we settled on as a date for these flashbacks?
Christopher: Rough estimate, '55 or '56 -- it would give Dick enough time to go from being a hack used car salesman to hack fur salesman, while marrying Betty and "divorcing" Anna. Though I guess we'll have to wait until the next flashback to connect the dots between Don the Eager Beaver in 1955 and Don the World Weary Womanizer in 1960.
STV: Not only that, but the Don the Ace Ad Man, who has accrued enough power and leverage to avoid having to sign a contract with Sterling Cooper.
Christopher: Good point! To confuse things more: If Wikipedia is right about the Draper marriage -- that they were married in '53 -- then, in theory, this flashback could have taken place BEFORE they were married, since Don met Betty on the shoot for that fur ad hanging in his shop. However, with Korea involved, that would be impossible.
STV: Sloppy! I bet if we keep digging we can get Matthew Weiner's writing Emmy from last night rescinded.
Christopher: He'd probably just blame it on his co-writer, then take two Emmys.
STV: Typical.