Mad Men returned yesterday for its final season (well Part I
of the final season that will actually last more like two seasons.) And now only six episodes to go until Part I
of the final season ends! But let’s not
get ahead of ourselves – what happened in the premiere?
The first thing to note is that it’s January 1969, so only a
short time from when last season ended (that being around/on Thanksgiving
1968.) Not enough time for Ken’s eye to
heal (or is that patch permanent?), not enough time for Ted to have gotten a
tan in California (although Pete managed just fine), and not enough time for
Don to have told Megan he doesn’t have a job (oh wait, do you think 2 months
would have been enough time for him to let her in on that?)
And surprise! Megan
and Don are still together (for now.)
After the finale made it seem like they might be separated by the time
this season premiered, we first see Don this season landing in California and
passionately embracing his wife, who is picking him up in her flashy car (not sure
why that wouldn’t make her struggling acting friends as jealous as the big TV
she gets mad at Don for buying.) But it
doesn’t take a genius to figure out it’s only a matter of time before the
marriage crumbles. Heck, Don said as
much to his travel buddy on the way back to New York.
And speaking of Don’s new widow friend, I can’t imagine this
is the last we’ve seen of her, not when they cast Neve Campbell to play her,
right? There’s no way Matthew Weiner and
company just brought her in for one episode, right? Is she finally the woman to settle Don down,
or is she just the next Rachel, Faye or Sylvia; women who “get” Don, but can’t
get him to change?
So Don is struggling to fit in in New York, where he doesn’t
have a job (but is still getting paid – how do I pull that off?) and ends up
pitching copy to SC&P through our good friend Freddie Rumsen. And he doesn’t fit in in California where his
relationship is clearly on the rocks and he seems out of place around Pete (and
Pete’s young realtor.) So we’re left
with Don at the end sitting in the cold, unable to fix his broken sliding door
and wondering what has become of his life.
Peggy isn’t in much better shape. She’s struggling to work with her new boss
Mr. Rogers (er . . . uh . . . Lou Avery), who clearly has no time for a woman’s opinion. Her mentor (Don) is gone, the man she thought
she loved (Ted) is gone to California and even when he returns it’s awkward,
Abe is long gone, and she seemingly has no one to turn to. So at the end she’s no better than Don,
kneeling on her floor crying, and trying to figure out how she got to this
place.
Some other stuff happened too I guess – Joan’s still trying
to carve out a place at the firm while getting some business lessons from a
local professor, Roger is involved in some weird hippie orgy (did he even go in
to the office in the episode?), Stan still has an insane beard, and of course
Pete is Pete (only tanner.) Betty and
the kids were absent, but I suspect they’ll return soon enough.
But the final (sort of) season fittingly starts with a focus
on Don and Peggy. And could their
dissatisfaction in their respective current situations lead to a reunion? Possibly in the form of them starting an
agency together? Or is that too
obvious? And have they already gone to that
well too many times? I’m excited to see
where this goes.
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