My schadenfreude was absolutely tingling during the season finale of Mad Men. There was some serious comeuppance for Don Draper to end this season, and I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it. In fact, after an entire season (perhaps more?) of serious douche-baggery, I think Don Draper deserved every mouthful of crow that he was forced to eat in this episode. Yes, he sat down and ate his crow for Roger, Pete, Peggy, and even Betty, and I loved every second of it.
After this episode one thing is for certain: change is in the air, and I freaking love it!
Truly, I don’t think I can say enough good things about this episode. I think it was hands down the best episode of this show to date. There was not a sentence that wasn’t perfect. The acting was spot on. The story was great. Most importantly, this episode did the one thing that every season finale should do, and so few accomplish: I can not wait for season four to start.
I loved the juxtaposition of birth and death in this episode; the death of the Drapers’ relationship, and the birth of a new advertising agency. Both situations caused Don to eat some crow. In his home life, all his years of neglecting Betty and cheating on her finally caught up with him. For a while I thought that there was still hope for them, but when Don found out about Henry Francis (and subsequently nearly assaulted Betty and called her a whore, among other things), it was pretty clear that the relationship was completely and utterly over. It was interesting to see just how different divorce was in the 1960s, and a little heartbreaking watching the two parents explaining things to their young children. Kiernan Shipka has really impressed me this season as Sally.
The other huge development of the episode, the formation of the new advertising agency, had me nearly giddy with excitement. I love how everything fell into place. I love how it almost felt like a heist film. I love how season four was so perfectly set up. There was so much to love! I love that Don had to genuflect in front of Pete and Peggy, stepping off his high horse to convince them both to join the new firm. I love that Peggy stood up for herself, though I wonder where this new situation will leave Duck and his firm. It turned out that he was essentially a red herring this season, but I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of him. And of course, I love that Joan slipped effortlessly back into the role of mother hen, rightfully ruling the roost instead of selling dresses at the department store.
This season may have been a little slower than the previous ones, but it was always worth watching. I felt like a lot of the Don/Betty stuff felt a little stale, as we had seen it all before, but this episode was worth every second of it. With Don and Betty completely done and Sterling Cooper dissolved, season four promises to be a whole new ball game. I just wish the off-season weren’t so long.
Other tids and bits:
What did you think of the finale? Do you agree that it was the best episode of the show?
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Nov 10, 2009 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
one of the most satisfying hours of television ever. one of the best moments was when roger had to go make a call… i cheered.
Agreed, it was one of the best moments. I love how everything fell into place. So great to see Joan back where she belongs. She was positively glowing.
It was a wonderful episode, and like you, I enjoyed every scene. I nearly cheered for Peggy standing up for herself so smoothly, and as soon as I realized they would need Joan to decipher the paperwork, I smiled. I was also suprised about Sal’s absence, and I also thought Sally has been incredible this season. I for one have never liked Don at all, so this episode was great fun for me.
Two questions, though: Why did Connie Hilton have to let Don go once he found out about the buyout? Also, on along a different line, are we sure that baby Gene is Don’s? My impression, if I am remembering correctly, is that Betty slept with that stranger she met in a bar (remember the scene when they exited the bathroom), and shortly after that found out she was pregnant. I was always unclear as to why they never followed up on that.
*POST AUTHOR*
Betty had sex with the stranger after she found out that she was pregnant, according to the episode recap on the AMC website:
https://www.amctv.com//originals/madmen/episode213
I’m not 100% sure on the Hilton thing. It seemed like he just didn’t want to do business with McCann. Although, it may have been that McCann had the rest of his business, so it would have been awkward for Hilton if they found out that he had taken some of his business to Sterling Cooper, so he had to end it before they could find out. Am I making that all up?
Ah, thank you!
Re McCann, at first to me it sounded like your second idea, that they had the rest of his business, but than Hilton’s sentence about giving Don the Caribean hotels just confused me further. I was also unsure when, later in the episode after Don knew he was leaving Sterling Cooper and that they needed clients, he said no to taking Hilton. I would guess that any of the McCann issues would no longer apply, so maybe it was just Don not wanting to to return to Connie– maybe a murder of crows plus one was just too much for him.
I interpreted it that he was pissed at Connie and didn’t want to do business with him anymore (though that may change next season). We saw that he really, really didn’t want to sign the contract with Sterling Cooper, and blamed Hilton for that, which then got him caught up in the PPL/McCann nonsense.
“Why did Connie Hilton have to let Don go once he found out about the buyout?”
My impression was that Connie gave Don the heads-up as a favor. They’d had an almost father/son relationship, though Connie is a tough love kind of guy. Connie didn’t want the new firm to handle his hotels, so he wanted Don to know that early, since it would affect him.
Two of my favorite moments:
Lane waiting to hear that he was fired and answering “very good, Happy Christmas!” CLICK. Tosses the keys to the office manager.
Roger asking Peggy to get him a cup of coffee, and her simple response of “no”.