CC takes a look at the season finale of Mad Men. Until we meet again…
MAD MEN: 3.13 “Shut the Door. Have a Seat.”
Wow, Mad Men. Way to make me dying for next season. We opened the season finale with Don meeting with Conrad Hilton. Connie tells him that Sterling Cooper (and PPL) is being sold to McCann Erickson. Since Connie likes those who are hungry to carve their place in the world, he withdraws his business. Don gets angry because he feels that Connie’s continually kicked him around.
If there’s one relationship Don does value, it’s the one with his office. He goes in to tell Bert Cooper (and Roger) that Sterling Cooper’s for sale. Bert says that they should go forward with it, but Don wants to fight. If he can’t fight to save his marriage, then he sure as hell won’t be enveloped into the corporate fold. He convinces both Roger and Bert to make a pitch for the company, one that sends Price into hysterics. Later, when it’s revealed that Lane’s going to be fired once the sale’s complete. He takes that news as his opportunity to fire Don, Bert and Roger so they can all start their own agency.. After Lane fires them, he says “It’s official…Four guys shot their legs off,” a great nod to an earlier episode wherein a freak lawn mower accident amputates an employee’s foot.
Don may value his relationship with Sterling Cooper, but he certainly doesn’t value his with Betty…until it’s almost gone. Betty informs Don that she wants a divorce. Don responds that “she’s not been herself and perhaps she should see a therapist.” Betty asks if him if she has to be sick to want out of this. Again, January Jones and Jon Hamm tear up their scenes together, and I have to say, I’m a little sad that we’ll be seeing less of Betty next season (I assume).
The next day, Don tells Roger about the divorce, and he mentions Henry Francis. Don comes home, shoves Betty against a wall and asks her who the hell he is. Betty makes the point that her infidelity shouldn’t really matter since Don’s perpetually been unfaithful, and Don deftly accuses her of preparing a life raft. I’m not sure that Don was especially angry that Betty left him for someone else. However, his major fear was always that Betty would leave if she realized who he was. He tells her that his true identity isn’t good enough for her because she’s a snob….and calls her a whore, ironically, since his mother was a prostitute.
With these past few fights with Betty, Don’s at least forced to reveal his true feelings. This is good because employees are craving them. When Don offers Peggy a job with his new agency, she initially balks. She’s had other offers; she doesn’t want to spend her career with everyone thinking Don does her work. Later in the episode, Don makes another plea to Peggy admitting that he takes her for granted, that she understands advertising and buying habits in a way that others don’t. She feels that she can’t decline without Don never speaking to her again, and Don tells her that he’ll spend the rest of his career trying to hire her.
Of course, without Pete, there’s really no Peggy. Pete’s been “out sick” for the past couple of days. It’s interesting that Roger and Don go to Pete as their new accounts man, given neither has ever liked him. Pete’s initially reluctant, but he appeals to Don to convey how necessary Pete’s talent is to a fledgling firm. Only after Don reveals his appreciation will Pete come on board.
Near the end of the episode, the whole gang is packing up—Bert, Don, Lane, Roger, Peggy, Pete, Harry Crane, and Joan. Yes, Joan! I think that she and Roger may start up again, especially when Greg goes to Vietnam. When they lock up, Roger asks “I wonder how long it’ll take to be in a place like this again.” Don replies that he never saw himself working in a place like this. And it’s true, I’m sure as Dick Whitman, he thought he’d be on a farm somewhere and not with the kind of life he has. Of course, that life is going to involve hotels—whether it be with Hilton, his room at the Roosevelt, or the offices in the Pierre.
At the end of the episode, Don calls Betty, reports that he’s at the Pierre and that he won’t fight Betty. She thanks him and says that he’ll always be their father. Don looks around the room, and I can’t help but wonder if this company he’s created, filled with people of his own choosing, comprises his new family. Meanwhile, Betty’s on a plane to Reno looking sullen. Perhaps her life raft won’t actually save her. Sally and Bobby are watching TV with Carla, parentless. Sure lots has changed this season, but at least that hasn’t.
