RegularGuy815 t1_jeeg8zu wrote on March 31, 2023 at 12:49 PM

The overt sexual harassment is probably at its most prominent in the first season or two. As the years progress, the men in the show start to mellow out in regards to objectifying the women in the office, and the women also begin taking an active role in their own careers and show more agency. Sexism certainly does remain a part of the show but (at least in my memory) it's more like a thing that pops up once in a while and becomes a thing that characters within the series are showing disgust with, rather than a day-to-day thing that no one pays any mind to.

I love the advertisement/business side of things, so I don't really know if I can say it gets BETTER for you in that regard (season 5 is my favorite, with 4 and 6 right behind it, so I do think it peaks much later). As the 60s begin to really take form, the counterculture slowly gets integrated and people are less buttoned-up than they are in 1960. Also starting sometime in season 3 I feel like the writers have a lot more fun with it and integrate more humor and weird situations.

Ftimis OP t1_jeeiahs wrote on March 31, 2023 at 1:05 PM

To be honest this is all I wanted to hear. I got the vibe of the possibility of the entire show being "it's the 50s so men are assholes, women are slaves, ads ads ads, corporate drama, also don draper is cool but troubled" and I feared that I wouldn't be able to keep engaging with it. But what you're saying makes it promising again for sure. Gonna stick with it and see where that leads me then, thanks!

RegularGuy815 t1_jeej5a6 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 1:12 PM

Yeah, I mean you can already see by the end of season 1 that Peggy is moved to the copywriting team, so her journey is sort of the spine of the series. I also feel like the more you see of the business side of things, the more interesting it seems to get, or at least seeing how characters react to the ads reveals things about them that is interesting.

Also, "Don Draper is cool but troubled" slowly starts to drift into "Don Draper is getting uncool but very troubled" and that's kinda fun as well.

Ftimis OP t1_jeek5vz wrote on March 31, 2023 at 1:20 PM

The show leaning a bit more on the technical business side of things will be a welcome change of pace for sure. I much prefer that backdrop for character development to occur instead of the expected (and aforementioned) 50s reasons.