Wednesday, April 22, 2015

What I’m Watching: Mad Men


Mad Men: Season 7, Episode 10 “The Forecast” (A-)

I really like how this show is handling its final season, taking dedicated time to wrap up a few important threads and explain just where some of its characters have ended up after all these years. The notion of Don seeing his empty apartment as a creative opportunity for the realtor and prospective buyers to imagine what they would do with the space speaks to where Don is at the moment, as he said to Ted, with less to do and more to think about. Coming home to a pending sale after effortlessly mediating a squabble between Pete and Peggy and then helping to get Mathis fired because he didn’t want to spell out his advice drove home the fact that he’s really not sure where he’s headed anymore. Sally has such great attitude, and she managed to skewer both her parents and make them feel like terrible people before leaving for her teen tour. Glenn’s reappearance was an awkward but welcome one, especially since Betty didn’t even recognize him. It was great to see Betty enjoy her west coast visit despite a steely welcome from Lou, and Bruce Greenwood’s Richard was quite the charmer. It seemed like divorce was the only obstacle in their whirlwind romance, and then he blew it all by saying that he didn’t want kids at this point in his life. But then he followed it up by showing up with flowers to apologize and take it back, a wonderful gesture that feels like an overdue and very deserved sentiment for Joan. I love that, so many years after alienating his secretary by telling her to write her own recommendation that he’d sign, Don actually bothered to try to help Peggy by reviewing her performance, but his outlook on life managed to make her angrier than not being reviewed at all.

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