Mad Men: Meditations in an Emergency

Nuclear war, we could be gone tomorrow. – Peggy

Isn’t that always the case? – Father Gill

Oh, what a season!  I think anyone who still believes that Mad Men is boring is coo-coo.  It’s a piece of fantastic character insight, set during a time when the world was changing.

There are a few things that still haven’t been resolved this season.  And if I know the TV Gods, not all of them will be.  However, I’m still wondering a few things.  Will we ever learn what happened to Peggy’s baby?  Even better, will Pete?  Will Joan and Betty deal with the mental and emotional pain their men are afflicting on them?  Peggy’s now one of the boys.  Joan has the man she’s dreamed of who’s not a dreamboat at all, and Betty’s found out the truth about her husband and her life, that it’s been full of lies.  As we’ve seen the women of Mad Men change, how will these changes affect their futures?

As the country is seemingly at the brink of a nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, truths come tumbling out.  The finale episode is like a geyser, endlessly spewing out facts, realities and certainties.  Sterling Cooper is abound with rumors of the merger, wondering which colleagues will turn up on the hired side and which will end up of the fired side.  The office is a backdrop for the personal lives of the employees who work there.  Everything is being uprooted and settled all at once, and no one knows what will happen next.  The only person ballsy enough to walk before the season ending is Don, who wants nothing to do with the new firm.  I guess he’ll take his $500,000 from the company’s sale and run.  It is equivalent to about $8 million dollars nowadays, you know.

Peggy is confronted by Father Gill to repent for her sins, the prime one being the illegitimate baby she gave up.  Even though she can’t bring herself to, it’s almost like the heavens above sent her another way to atone when Pete professes his love for her.  She uses this opportunity to unburden herself, telling him that she could have had him by shaming him with the pregnancy.  However, her desire for a different life, more, caused her to do the opposite.

Betty must make the decision to allow Don back home or to move on without him in her life.  She’s gotten news that she is pregnant, which only exacerbates her distress.  Don returns home, cleansed, from the West Coast to ask Betty for a second chance, but she rebuffs him and ends up horizontal with a man she meets in a dark bar.  When Don spills his ever-loving heart to her in a letter, it’s her own shot at infidelity and rebellion that finally allows her to accept him back into her life and home.

The final scene in which Betty confronts Don with her pregnancy is so poignant, I almost cried.  Both are so shocked, they are at a loss for words, and after everything that’s happened, they can neither emote happiness nor sadness.  There’s just emptiness, but at least they’re together in that emptiness.

And the last view of Pete, holding a shotgun in his hand, waiting for bombs to come raining down on New York or his emotional world to stop spinning, really describes how weak and alone he is when it comes to dealing with life’s personal issues.

This season of Mad Men left us with a lot of things to ponder about life.  We sometimes get all the things we want, but we lose things along the way.  Don, Betty, Peggy and Pete were all perfect examples this season.  Don loved his job but lost his family.  Betty had the perfect family but lost herself.  Pete was offered a top-earning job but lost the life he wanted.  Peggy gained respect in a man’s world but lost a baby.

Like I said earlier, all of my questions weren’t answered, but I’m excited to see where we’ll pick up next season.  How will a baby affect the Drapers?  Will Joan ever get out from under her fiancé?  Pete now knows about the baby, but how will he deal with it?  And what of Sterling Cooper and all of its little employees?  Next season can’t come soon enough.

Season 2, Episode 13: Meditations in an Emergency (originally aired October 26, 2008)

The Mad Men season finale “Meditations In An Emergency” aired last night.  For a wrap up on the season check out Jon Hamm’s take on Don Draper:
http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/2008/10/jon-hamm-interview.php
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Check out the cast of Mad Men at the show’s wrap party talking about:
Favorite Scenes
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid895162757/bclid1672161042/bctid1873805482
Jon Hamm
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid895162757/bclid1672161042/bctid1873805513
What is a Wrap Party?
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid895162757/bclid1672161042/bctid1873805502

For more on Mad Men, click here.

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