SALON

Monday, Jun 24, 2013 3:59 AM UTC

The suprisingly hopeful “Mad Men” finale

After spending all season repeating himself, Don Draper finally makes a change

By

Topics: Mad Men, mad men finale, TV, Television, Editor's Picks,

The suprisingly hopeful

This season of “Mad Men” made 1968 palpable. It filled viewers with a tremendous sense of uneasy mood, made us paranoid, encouraged us to expect the worst, and, most of all, had us awaiting some climactic, horrifying event — that never arrived, or at least not in the form we expected. 1968 was a year of extraordinary upheaval, but sitting here, more than four decades removed, we know what the people living through it could not: The revolution did not arrive. The center held. The chaos was, ultimately, bound. Sally Draper will be 26 years old in 1980: she is more likely to be a yuppie than a radical — though maybe a feminist too. Change comes, fast and fierce, but not fast or fierce enough to wash everything away. Not fast or fierce enough to wash away a man’s past. When the huge, show-changing event the season had been leading up to finally arrived, it was all psychological, not physical. It was not menacing, it was promising. The heavy weight hanging over this season was not 1968, it was Don Draper, and now he’s free — or freer than we’ve ever seen him.

Such was the power of the season’s vibe that I watched the episode with a pit in my stomach, every funny line, every moment where no one died a kind of reprieve. When Pete got into that car he couldn’t drive, I was expecting body parts, not comedy. This season turned fans into conspiracy theorists. People began to predict metaphysical, fantastical theories straight out of “Lost”: Who was Bob Benson? Was Megan already dead? Would she be murdered like Sharon Tate? Was Ted’s plane a classic Chekhov’s gun? Physical and emotional violence were everywhere, foreshadowing something eerie, portents that never paid off. The assassinations of MLK and RFK, riots, the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Ken was shot in the face, Peggy accidentally stabbed her boyfriend in the guts, a rat bled to death under her sofa, Roger’s mother died and so did Frank Gleason, and Sally and Bobby lived through an unsettling home invasion. The signs were there: The show was headed somewhere violent, something would break, fall into the widening gyre. But the suicide, the death, the murder, the plane crash, they never happened — the one death in this episode, of Pete’s mother, was largely played for laughs.

“Mad Men” has always been an internal drama, not “Lost.” The world changes, but can these characters? Sideburns and drugs may be in the workplace, but the people haven’t quite kept pace with the times, even if their style has. Change has been incremental, if real, everyone still beholden to their feelings and responsibilities, their past decisions. Joan lets Roger into her son’s life, but not her own. Peggy may have the power desk chair and, soon, Don’s office, but she doesn’t have the power to decide what happens with Ted. (“Well aren’t you lucky to have decisions” is one of the great “Mad Men” lines.) Ted is holding on as hard as he can to his family and stability:  “I have to hold on to them or I’ll get lost in the chaos.” Pete, off to California, seems finally to realize what he has lost. Betty, finally reunited with her youthful beauty and sexual power, is better than she ever has been, finally, even, an almost consistently decent mother.

And then there is Don, who may have started the season reading Dante, but has been Sisyphus, condemned to repeat himself. For the first time, as the center of it all,  Don seemed like a liability this season: the most pathetic, dull part of the series, the man stuck as the worst version of himself.  His fresh new start with his second wife was no longer a fantasy, so he cheated more profanely than he ever had, with the wife of a friend; more creepily than he ever had — he kept Bobbie Barrett in a hotel room too, but not on quite the same power trip — more pathetically than he ever had, begging Sylvia not to end it; and more disastrously than he ever had before, ending his daughter’s childhood. He’s been cruel to Peggy before, but never quite like he was last week, jealous and conniving, stripping credit from her rather than see her bonded to another man and mentor. He’s numbed out before, but never made an ad campaign that’s a suicide fantasy, never almost drowned in a pool, middle-aged and high.

In the finale, it seemed to be more of the same: Don’s alcoholism has gotten to the point that he has the shakes and wakes up in a prison cell for punching a minister. It’s months since Sally caught him sleeping with Sylvia, and he’s made no reparations. Running away — something Don tried to do back as far as season 1, with Rachel Mencken – seems like his way out, and he wants to head off to California, to try to outpace whatever he is, a sweaty, anxious drunk, who steals his underlings’ escape plans.

But then, sitting in the Hershey’s pitch meeting, having just told a perfect Don Draper lie about a childhood so idyllic it could only exist in an ad, Don sees his shaking hands, and something finally snaps. I’m not sure that I quite buy the timing or the speed of this transformation, but I’m thankful for what it means about the final season— that it will be outside the cycle of repetition; and, of course, the office politics — and I do believe that Don is so desperate for a way to feel some other way, he would do even this, tell the truth. So Don, in the room, talks about growing up in a whorehouse, reading about orphans with a better life under the care of Hershey, dreaming he could go there. The candy bar “was the only sweet thing in my life,” he says, before telling Hershey they shouldn’t advertise at all. A self-immolation has never been more vivifying.

Don has tried everything to be different, to feel different, but the one thing he has never tried is to be himself — to be Dick Whitman.  His colleagues fire him, because to them, his Hershey speech seems like bad behavior from an uncontrolled, asshole alcoholic, but we know better, that Don, for the first time, is really trying something new. Megan is done with him, and the season ends with him taking his own children to see where he grew up, to see who he is, an honesty he’s never shared before. Remember Sally saying after the home invasion that she realized she didn’t know anything about her father? With the one look she gives him in the final scene, you can see how powerful his finally sharing really is.

This season of “Mad Men” made us anxious of some looming disaster, convincing us that something, something crazy, something epic, something terrible was coming. (A conviction shared by the millions of Americans in 1968 who voted Nixon into office on the promise that he could stave that change off: Again, “Mad Men” nailed the mood.)  But what “Mad Men” keeps telling us over and over is that the really scary thing is not coming, because it is already here. Don Draper, whatever name he uses, is stuck with himself, his flaws, his sins, his past, and there is no catastrophe, no con, no price that can release him from their hold. As long as we live, we will be ourselves. For Don Draper, for the very first time, that may not be a calamity.

Willa Paskin

Willa Paskin is Salon's staff TV writer. More Willa Paskin.

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

7 motorist-friendly camping sites

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Sponsored Post

  • White River National Forest via Lower Crystal Lake, Colorado
    For those OK with the mainstream, White River Forest welcomes more than 10 million visitors a year, making it the most-visited recreation forest in the nation. But don’t hate it for being beautiful; it’s got substance, too. The forest boasts 8 wilderness areas, 2,500 miles of trail, 1,900 miles of winding service system roads, and 12 ski resorts (should your snow shredders fit the trunk space). If ice isn’t your thing: take the tire-friendly Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway — 82 miles connecting the towns of Meeker and Yampa, half of which is unpaved for you road rebels.
    fs.usda.gov/whiteriveryou


    Image credit: Getty

  • Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest via Noontootla Creek, Georgia
    Boasting 10 wildernesses, 430 miles of trail and 1,367 miles of trout-filled stream, this Georgia forest is hailed as a camper’s paradise. Try driving the Ridge and Valley Scenic Byway, which saw Civil War battles fought. If the tall peaks make your engine tremble, opt for the relatively flat Oconee National Forest, which offers smaller hills and an easy trail to the ghost town of Scull Shoals. Scaredy-cats can opt for John’s Mountain Overlook, which leads to twin waterfalls for the sensitive sightseer in you.
    fs.usda.gov/conf


    Image credit: flickr/chattoconeenf

  • Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area via Green Road, Michigan
    The only national forest in Lower Michigan, the Huron-Mainstee spans nearly 1 million acres of public land. Outside the requisite lush habitat for fish and wildlife on display, the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is among the biggest hooks for visitors: offering beach camping with shores pounded by big, cerulean surf. Splash in some rum and you just might think you were in the Caribbean.
    fs.usda.gov/hmnf


    Image credit: umich.edu

  • Canaan Mountain via Backcountry Canaan Loop Road, West Virginia
    A favorite hailed by outdoorsman and author Johnny Molloy as some of the best high-country car camping sites anywhere in the country, you don’t have to go far to get away. Travel 20 miles west of Dolly Sods (among the busiest in the East) to find the Canaan Backcountry (for more quiet and peace). Those willing to leave the car for a bit and foot it would be remiss to neglect day-hiking the White Rim Rocks, Table Rock Overlook, or the rim at Blackwater River Gorge.
    fs.usda.gov/mnf


    Image credit: Getty

  • Mt. Rogers NRA via Hurricane Creek Road, North Carolina
    Most know it as the highest country they’ll see from North Carolina to New Hampshire. What they may not know? Car campers can get the same grand experience for less hassle. Drop the 50-pound backpacks and take the highway to the high country by stopping anywhere on the twisting (hence the name) Hurricane Road for access to a 15-mile loop that boasts the best of the grassy balds. It’s the road less travelled, and the high one, at that.
    fs.usda.gov/gwj


    Image credit: wikipedia.org

  • Long Key State Park via the Overseas Highway, Florida
    Hiking can get old; sometimes you’d rather paddle. For a weekend getaway of the coastal variety and quieter version of the Florida Keys that’s no less luxe, stick your head in the sand (and ocean, if snorkeling’s your thing) at any of Long Key’s 60 sites. Canoes and kayaks are aplenty, as are the hot showers and electric power source amenities. Think of it as the getaway from the typical getaway.
    floridastateparks.org/longkey/default.cfm


    Image credit: floridastateparks.org

  • Grand Canyon National Park via Crazy Jug Point, Arizona
    You didn’t think we’d neglect one of the world’s most famous national parks, did you? Nor would we dare lead you astray with one of the busiest parts of the park. With the Colorado River still within view of this cliff-edge site, Crazy Jug is a carside camper’s refuge from the troops of tourists. Find easy access to the Bill Hall Trail less than a mile from camp, and descend to get a peek at the volcanic Mt. Trumbull. (Fear not: It’s about as active as your typical lazy Sunday in front of the tube, if not more peaceful.)
    fs.usda.gov/kaibab


    Image credit: flickr/Irish Typepad

  • As the go-to (weekend) getaway car for fiscally conscious field trips with friends, the 2013 MINI Convertible is your campground racer of choice, allowing you and up to three of your co-pilots to take in all the beauty of nature high and low. And with a fuel efficiency that won’t leave you in the latter, you won’t have to worry about being left stranded (or awkwardly asking to go halfsies on gas expenses).


    Image credit: miniusa.com

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Related Videos

Comments

 18 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
We crush them with debt to go to college -- and today, rates are actually set to double. Are we out of our minds?
3282 points3283 points | 4076 comments
vote
Before Edward Snowden: “Sexual deviates” and the NSA - When the last major defection hit the NSA, the government smeared the leakers as gay. New documents show they lied
2680 points2681 points | 187 comments
vote
This man is still lying to America: A smoking gun shows Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is not coming clean to us -- again
769 points770 points | 43 comments
vote
We must hate our children. We crush them with debt to go to college -- and today, rates are actually set to double. Are we out of our minds?
113 points114 points | 17 comments
vote
James Clapper is still lying to America
84 points85 points | comment

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Joker": Laughing at life's deepest sorrows