PREVIOUSLY, ON AMC’S MAD MEN:
For those of you just joining us, we’re going to hit the ground running here. Our own Jon Partridge reviewed the Blu-ray release of the first half of this here final season, and does a better job than I ever could of bringing you fine boys and girls up to speed…
Well, that certainly didn’t fill me with a sense of hope and good cheer…
Much as I love me some Mad Men, part of me has been dreading this return. Last season ended on such a note of bittersweet triumph that I kind of wished it was the actual end. Sure, Bert was dead, but Don’s job was safe, Peggy was a hero, Roger was in charge, Harry got screwed again, and we put a man on the moon! And since it seems pretty unlikely that these last seven episodes are going to be about everyone sitting around drinking Tab and talking about how contented they are, there’s no way things aren’t about to go downhill for these characters I’ve grown to love.
And sure enough, here we are, with one dead Katz and one super duper on-the-nose song cue. Though I suppose it remains to be seen whether “Is That All There Is?” will wind up as the show being cheekily self-referential or a morbid thematic taste of things to come. Because we may have last seen our heroes in a state of guarded victory and cautious optimism, but as we so memorably learned long ago, happiness is a moment before you need more happiness.
And so, we rejoin Don Draper and the crew of Sterling Cooper and Associates somewhere in the early part of 1970. And judging from some of the looks on display here, those of you watching the show for its fashions are about to feel the air slowly seep out of the room, to be replaced with a choking haze of double knit plaid and corduroy.
Sartorial horrors aside, things seem to be going rather swimmingly. After a couple of seasons of looking sweaty, bloated, and pathetic, Don is back to his regular handsome self. He’s at peace enough with his own Whitman-comma-Dickishness to regale Roger and some random lovely ladies with hilarious anecdotes from his whorehouse past while they’re all slumming at a diner. Moreover, he seems to be handling his impending divorce from Megan far better than his divorce from Betty; if nothing else, he’s way better at kicking game this time around, apparently having a veritable harem of women all jostling for his company.
Hell, I totally get it, you guys; he damn near seduced me with his chinchilla audition patter…
But of course, things aren’t all wine and roses at the company: Ken gets fired as part of the fallout from the McCann-Erickson deal. And also probably because he was impossible to write a decent story for, what with him being so damnably well-adjusted and everything. Pete takes over all of Ken’s accounts, and Ken seems all set to ride into the sunset and write the Great American Tone Poem. He certainly seems ready for it: Aaron Staton’s reading of the line about “The life not lived” borders on the evangelical.
But in the end it’s just a passing fancy, or maybe it’s just that a guy like Pete can’t help but inspire a burning desire for swift and brutal payback. Whatever the reason, Ken decides to take a job as Dow Chemical’s head of advertising. In one fell swoop, he goes from managing the account to basically becoming Pete’s boss. Oh, what a delightfully spiteful reversal of fortune!
Well played, Ken!
(…Cosgrove! Accounts!)
Meanwhile, Joan and Peggy have to deal with a bunch of sleazy execs while trying to handle the Topaz Pantyhose account. This inevitably results in an argument between Peggy and Joan, because sooner or later everything results in an argument between those two. Neat little reminder of Joan’s brief stint as a department store floor manager aside, I’m honestly not sure what the point of this particular story was, as Joan has been dealing with this type of thing for roughly ten years now.
(Oh, snap… it just now occurred to me that might be exactly the point…)
This week in Peggy: Peggy is unlucky in love! Mathis sets her up with his brother-in-law, and they almost go on an impulse trip to Paris! I know what you’re thinking: who the fuck is Mathis? And the answer to that is, of course, who cares? The important thing here is that we start taking bets on when Stan and Peggy get together.
Look, I’m not that sort of viewer; I don’t “ship” anyone. But come on, people: when will those two crazy kids finally wise up and start making little bearded babies? I want this more than I want a spinoff starring Lois, Meredith, and Joan’s mom that’s like Charlie Angels, only Sal is Charlie. Which is a thing I want very, very much.
(Super happy that Meredith is still around, by the way, and still possibly under the impression that she has a shot with Don…)
Speaking of whom, let us get back to ol’ Don, who after having a strange moment with a waitress at the aforementioned diner, has an even stranger dream involving Rachel Katz. Yes, Rachel Katz, nee´ Manken, who we haven’t seen since season two. And who we later find out has very recently been deaded by leukemia.
This somehow leads to Don having sex with the aforementioned waitress. Though to be fair, most things lead to Don Draper having sex. And this, in turn, leads to Don crashing a shiva sitting. Which, as all things eventually do in the world of Mad Men, leads to existential despair.
(Full disclosure: I did not realize until much later in the episode than I should have that the dream sequence was in fact a dream sequence and not some kind of inexplicable plot turn. Because, even fuller disclosure, I am not nearly smart enough to be the guy recapping Mad Men…)
Every seventh episode of a Mad Men season is notorious for being experimental in its storytelling, and though this is technically the first episode of the final season (or even more technically, the eighth episode of the previous one), this very much feels like one of those.
Even though there’s just the one brief dream sequence (and it’s great to see Maggie Siff again, even if it’s just for a moment), there’s something surreal and dreamlike about all the Don scenes here. From the inexplicable diner scene where everyone is in formal wear without explanation, to the stunningly abrupt waitress sex, to the deeply odd conversation that Don had with Rachel’s grieving sister, the direction by Scott Hornbacher never really lets Don (and by extension, the viewer) to get a foothold in any kind of reality.
Clearly, Hornbacher is just the man for this sort of job; he already proved himself a master of depicting altered states with his work in season 4’s “Waldorf Stories” (where he added a sweaty, visceral sheen to the drunken escapades that ended with Don forced to hire Jonathan from Buffy) and series highlight “Far Away Places,” where Roger famously trips balls.
I’m not really sure where we wind up at episode’s end. To be sure, we’re off to a strange start, one that gives us little idea of what the future holds. Don is rattled, Joan is weary, Peggy is lonely, Ken is vindicated, and Pete remains, inevitably and tragically, Pete.
So what else is new?
OTHER THOUGHTS:
-“This world is boring!”- Matthew Weiner would beg to differ, I think…
-“I’ve lived in New York a long time”- Don after someone tries to explain the concept of sitting Shiva to him. Anybody that doesn’t think Mad Men is one of the funniest shows on television just plain isn’t paying attention.
–TED CHAOUGH UPDATE: Well, he’s clearly over his death wish. Pre-gaming before Vogue parties and pitching old taglines you’ve been holding onto for years (been there, bro). Looks like my man is back on his grind!
By the way: Lovin’ that porn stache, Teddy Boy…
-Don has an answering service to juggle his many ladies, because of course he does.
-Oh, good, Dawn is still around. Or was that Shirley…?
-“Do you know how great you’re going to look on a book jacket?”- Pete, if you were wondering at what moment Ken decided he was going to destroy you, I think we may have a winner…
-Harry gets referred to as “Mr. Potato Head.” Co-signed.
VICTOR TRIES TO TALK ABOUT MAD MEN FASHION: Well, if no one else is going to say it, I will: nobody rocks a brown button-up and ascot like Stan. And Meredith’s adorable powder blue dress combo with matching bow was adorable (as is Meredith in general). And I don’t know if we saw the one Joan can wear with the boots, but I don’t know that I need to actually see it to approve.
-“When I tell you, you’re going to let that coat down, put your leg on that chair and show me how smooth your skin is.” What’s that, Jon Hamm? I can’t hear you over the sound of America’s panties dropping…
AND NOW… LINES THAT PROBABLY HAVE SOME KIND OF THEMATIC IMPORTANCE:
-“Now it sort of feels like a dream, but at the time it felt so real.”
-“She lived the life she wanted to live. She had everything.”
-“I’ve tried new fashioned.”
And this week’s obvious winner:
-“When someone dies, you just want to make sense out of it, but you can’t.”
NEXT WEEK: Lots of sitting while holding snifters.
So you know, business as usual…
