Meet "Mad Men"'s new gay character

We've been talking for a while now that while we love Mad Men for more than just the gorgeous ashtrays and hilarious fashions, we wish that closeted gay Salvatore (played by out actor Bryan Batt) had more to do.

Well, it looks like old Sal has had a disaster dropped in his lap, in the form of a new gay character. While the revelation isn't by any means a game-changer or a huge twist, I'll put a SPOILER warning for folks who haven't seen last night's ep and continue the discussion after the break. But I will say that it was the first time the show has tackled gay themes head-on and has bumped the series way up on our must-see list.

After the jump you can watch a short scene from last night's episode featuring the gay character, and learn more about the young actor who plays him.

In last night's episode ("The Jet Set"), we learned that Kurt is gay and not terribly afraid of everyone knowing it ... in fact, he comes out to the office to squelch insinuations about his friendship with fellow Bob Dylan aficionado Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) being anything more.

Needless to say, this out-and-proud new arrival is bound to send closeted Sal into a tailspin. When the other guys in the office discuss their new gay colleague someone even points out that this is the advertising industry, after all, and there are gay men all over it. And then of course there's the obligatory makeover scene (the pic at top), where Kurt gets all Bernice Bobs Her Hair on Peggy.

The scene where Kurt blithely comes out over free donuts in the break room is pretty shocking, both because of his obvious lack of concern over his colleagues' responses and because of the surprisingly backward reactions of a few of the regular players. Granted, this is a period piece and it's supposed to reflect attitudes of the time, but it's still a bit of a sting to hear characters you've grown to like say things like, "Which restroom does he use?" and sneer the word "queers".

Will Kurt's presence lead to heightened scrutiny of Sal's Loretta-Young-fixated ways and cause cracks in the veneer of his polished closet? Based on the way the camera lingered on Sal after Kurt came out, we can probably count on as much. Honestly, as long as Kurt doesn't cut anyone else's hair, I'm happy to have him. I mean come on ... this guy's an ad exec. Does he really need to moonlight as a hairdresser just because he's gay?

Edin Gali

As for Gali, he's a former model originally born in Bosnia who began working in the States in St. Louis. I found a few amusing videos of the actor discussing his ability to put on an Eastern European accent by imitating his father and discussing his modeling past, if you want to check them out.