Posted on 19 April 2015.
There’s no place for Don Draper anymore.
Last week, his divorce from Megan was just the latest mile marker on the road down this path. This week, a few things culminate in that message growing stronger, even if they don’t have much to do with Don himself.
First, and most obviously, his apartment is up for sale. He’s getting rid of it in the wake of his divorce to Megan.
Next, and a bit more subtly, Don’s way of life — or, moreover, the many ways that he’s tried to live over the years — don’t work like they used to. At least not for anyone else.
When Mathis gets a shot at a big account, he shoots and misses the first time around. The executives at Tinkerbell Chocolate aren’t too impressed by his pitch, and he’s asked to come back for a second round. That’s when he crashes and utterly burns.
Why? He tries to take a cue from Don and, in a crude fashion, tells the executives that they were fools for leaving in the first place. He takes Don’s advice a little too literally and calls them assholes before a look of dread dawns on Pete’s face.
Don might have been able to pull it off. But Mathis is under the impression that such devil-may-care tactics worked for Don over the years for one simple reason: He’s good-looking.
Joan rounds out the parallel track this week in her story thread. It’s during a business trip to California that she mistakes an office wanderer for a major client.
The wanderer is Richard, expertly played by Bruce Greenwood. He’s a retired millionaire who’s got one rule for the rest of his life: no plans. And once he and Joan start knocking boots, that rule becomes a bit of a liability.
Unlike Don though, Joan’s got considerations to make before she runs off for a fling. She has a hard time getting her babysitters to stay late, jeopardizing her time with Richard. After he finds out about Joan’s kid, he remarks that motherhood means she can’t just up and leave on vacation.
This doesn’t go over so well.
This is where the figurative death of Don Draper — or rather, the death of the Don Draper lifestyle — takes a proper turn.
Joan storms off when Richard insults her lifestyle. She might not be getting everything she wants, but she knows what’s important.
Don got to act the part of the high-roller at Sterling Cooper, explore romantic entanglements and fool around to his heart’s desire at the beginning of the series. Much as Joan would love to do the same, her family keeps her grounded here.
She’s not the only one who’s avoiding the prospect of becoming like Don Draper.
There’s an awful lot happening with Sally in this episode. And boy, how we missed her last week. In fewer than 60 seconds, we get her questioning authority — those travelers’ checks would have been easy to forge — and a not-so-subtle dig at Betty’s age.
Remember the moon landing? And how she just parroted what the cute boy in the room was saying about the endeavor being a waste of taxpayers’ money?
Not so this time. When Glen Bishop stops by and announces that he’s joining the Army to fight in Vietnam, Sally is incredulous.
She verbally berates Glen for going against the values he’s espoused before. It’s a great Sally moment — she’s slowly coming into her own and standing up for what she believes in.
It’s also a wonderful demonstration of how the dynamic between Sally, Glen and Betty has changed over the years. Betty doesn’t recognize him when he walks in the door. And when he corners her in the kitchen later in the episode, coming within an inch of kissing her as he says good-bye before he ships out, Betty’s refusal of his advance is that it’s because she’s married. No other reason.
Glen shipping out without calling Sally to say good-bye is another indicator that adulthood is imminent for the oldest Draper kid. Another sign comes when she’s setting off for camp as Don sees her off.
Sally tells her dad that the only thing she knows about her future is that she wants to move far away in order to avoid turning out like either of her parents. While every other character’s indication that Don’s way of life is disappearing is involuntary, here’s Sally declaring it loudly.
Sally’s outburst is inspired by a dinner exchange where her friends are more interested in Don than her. Much like Glen’s focus on Betty, this is yet another signal of Sally’s impending adulthood. She’s forced to carve out her own place at the table, her own identity apart from her parents’.
“The Forecast” is Mad Men’s call to what is coming in the future. The episode perfectly embodies where the show’s characters are headed, even if some of the details are still murky. And with three more hours to go until the series ends, it’ll be interesting to see just how it all plays out.
Stray obervations:
- “You know what it looks like? It looks like a sad person lives here.”
- “It was a crime of passion — they’ve heard the word before.”
- Glen looks like Disco Stu. That’s neither an insult nor a compliment.
Follow Eder Campuzano on Twitter @edercampuzano
