A Mad Men New Year

Spoiler Alert!


This week brought us New Years on Mad Men, but there wasn’t much partying (at least not until Don and Lane hit the town). Some thoughts and musings on this week's episode:

Don continues to act increasingly desperate with women, this time attempting to put the moves on Anna’s college age niece, Stephanie. At this point he's making a move on anything with a pulse. Really Don, an 18 year old? He just keeps slipping further and further. I wonder what’s going to be the catalyst to get Don back on his game. Or is that lost forever and he’s destined to end up as the creepy old guy in a bar?

I liked when Stephanie said she was going to hitchhike home and Don tells her she’ll get picked up by a creep. Yeah, better let Don drive you home.

But Stephanie stops Don cold with the news that Anna has cancer and doesn’t have much time left. So we have another woman leaving Don’s life and he has no control over it. It’s interesting that in a way Anna is a mother figure to Don. She gave him a life (and a name), or at least a life he wouldn’t have had without her. She was his refuge and it’s now time for Don Draper to grow up.

And it’s also interesting to see that with Anna he's still Dick Whitman, and while once upon a time he became Don Draper to escape Dick Whitman, here we see Don embracing being Dick Whitman. Is this in an effort to escape being Don Draper, at least for awhile?

Great scene as we see Don say goodbye to Anna and then put the Draper face back on. Will we see Anna again, or better yet, will Don? Or is Anna’s death going to be symbolic of the death of Dick Whitman too? Symbolized by Don painting Anna+Dick 1964 on the wall.

Lane was in rare form, fun to see him break out of his shell.

Hey, hookers for everyone! Not in the kid’s room Lane! Those bunk beds won’t be comfortable anyway.

So Joan’s had two abortions? Were either because of Roger?

Loved the flower mix up with Joan and Lane. Just picturing Lane’s wife getting the flowers addressed to Joan is priceless.

I’m having second thoughts on the idea that Joan’s husband is going to die in Vietnam. Doesn’t this seem too obvious now? Will the writer’s throw us for a loop instead of giving us something that everyone sees coming?

So in a way this episode was about loss. Don is losing Anna, Lane’s apparently losing his wife, and Joan assumes she'll be losing her husband (to the army at least). And it’s interesting to see them bonding together in a way. Even if Joan and Lane’s bonding was through firing his secretary.

Happy New Year to the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce gang. What does 1965 have in store?