Last night was the third season finale of 'Mad Men' and I've been either watching it, thinking about it, talking about it or writing about it ever since. I've probably watched the episode in its entirety three times already, and certain scenes more than that.
It was an exceptional hour of television, to cap off a standout season. Year 3 or thereabouts is danger time for most series, when viewers' infatuation wears off and the cold, hard reality of episodic television sets in. Think about 'Lost'; in season 3, we got episodes like 'Stranger in a Strange Land' (Jack gets tattoos!), 'Par Avion' (Claire goes to the birds!) and the much reviled 'Expose' (Nikki/Paulo exist! Which I actually found hilarious). 'Lost' luckily rebounded, once the showrunners declared an end date.
'Mad Men' hasn't set an end date, but last night's finale felt like the closing of a chapter. The unraveling of characters and relationships throughout the season -- Roger checking out mentally, Joan's departure, Sal getting fired, Pete about to jump ship after missing a promotion, Peggy being wooed by Duck -- came to a highly satisfying conclusion.
And it was fun. The episode had all the makings of a caper or heist film, where different pieces come together to form a cohesive team with a single goal. I can't tell you the glee I felt when Roger left to make that phone call, because I knew it could only mean: Joan! (My colleague wrote that she's never had a bigger crush on anyone real or fictional than Joan Holloway Harris. I quite agree.)
In the scene depicted above, when the triumphant team of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (totally naming my band that!) gathers at the Pierre in their makeshift office, you realize: This is a family.
So it's no wonder that just at that moment, Don goes to call Betty to let her go to Reno for a divorce. He's able to do that because he's found another family to replace the one that he's losing. And while this is not the picture-perfect family he always dreamed of ... it's the one that's right.
For me, the key scene of the entire episode, and of the three seasons so far, was the one between Don and Peggy. I was struck by how humbled Don was. Someone recently told me that love humbles you. And so here Don is, hat in hand, telling Peggy that if she turns the job down, he will "spend the rest of my life trying to hire you." Isn't that love? Not in a romantic way, but not in a strictly professional or platonic or mentor-y way, either. Don and Peggy have always had a connection, an affinity, a common view of the world. And it's indefinable and inexplicable and mysterious. Like attracts like; they belong together.
I won't even attempt to talk about what might happen next season; my 'Mad Men' predictions have been woefully wrong.
In other news:
9. Attend at least two:
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