Here we are, folks. A season marked by change ends on the cusp of more change for our main characters. I feel a bit misty-eyed for the definitive end of some key relationships in the show -  Don and Betty, Carla and the kids (thanks a lot, Betty), Don and Faye, Joan and Roger (we think), Bert and the agency. But I’m also heartened to see hope and happiness in Don’s eyes; a welcome change for such a tortured soul. Since I’m too disorganized and undisciplined to write this in a better way, I’ll just hit the main themes of the season and examine how the finale addressed them:

The Development of Don’s True Self

Is secretary Megan the woman Don would wind up with, free of the constraints of his previous life? Here is the guy who was living a construction of a life (Betty, kids in Ossining, etc) and was never quite free to just “be”. More and more this season,  especially after the death of Anna, he’s allowed Don and Dick to merge. (Note Don telling Sally that he was Dick in as non-complicated a way as possible: “It’s a nickname I use sometimes.”) Now that he has shed away all the stuff he thought he needed to be happy (the wife, the mistresses), he winds up with Megan. She is precisely his type, right? Brunette (I knew Faye wouldn’t last largely because of her hair color), strong, independent, and shockingly good with the kids. She has “that same spark” as Peggy, Don says. The moment when she calmly cleaned up the spilled milkshake showed Megan’s cool; we all remember how Betty reacted to Sally’s outburst at Thanksgiving. Where Megan is chill, Betty is chilly.

Women’s Roles in the Workplace

We’ve seen Peggy grow up and grow more into a role as Don’s equal; but she’s clearly not a Jane or a Megan. The scene where Joan and Peggy (who haven’t always been on the same team) commiserate over the fortunes of Jane (Don’s former secretary who Roger married) and Megan burst with subtext: Joan and Peggy have both proven exceedingly competent professionally, but neither were ever - and will ever be - the secretary gals who wind up up achieving marriage with their bosses instead of professional success. It broke my heart a little when Don told Peggy of Megan, “She reminds me of you,” knowing full well that while he loves Peggy, he will never LOVE Peggy. 

Faye is a Peggy in that way. She’s decidedly not good with kids, and great at her job. As a shrink, she understood and nurtured Don, but maybe too well. She had Don pegged from  the beginning of the season when she said “you’ll  be married again within a year.” Is she also right as she gets dumped, when she said “You only like the beginnings of things”? Is Megan really, finally the one, or is Don using her as his latest exercise in escapism? Don’s an emotional hobo. We assume he’s found his “home” in Megan, but Faye is a smart cookie… 

The Ascent of the Youth, Descent of the Old

It appears Bert is really gone, eh? And Roger, besides the one-liners (“Did you get cancer?”), is more of a figurehead than anything else these days. Ken and Pete are the ones landing and nurturing accounts - how long can Roger stick around in these tough times for SCDP? Sounds like something we’ll find out in season five. 

The even younger characters - Glen and Sally - are as interesting to watch as ever. Glen’s line to Betty: “Just because you are sad doesn’t mean everybody has to be.” ZING! Now that Sally has the support of a stable future step-mother I hope things are looking up for her. But as is Mad Men’s wont, I don’t feel so stable about much of anything as we move forward…

Of course, I didn’t hit Joan’s pregnancy reveal, Henry Francis’ “no one’s ever on your side, Betty” awesomeness and Pete’s growth as a character. So I’m looking forward to hearing from y’all, my Mad Men brethren.

I could wear these nylons all day,

Elise

1. madmenconvo posted this