"Meditations in an Emergency", as the finale was titled, was a fitting end to a second season that delved into the deconstruction of Don Draper, the maturation process of his wife Betty and colleague Peggy and the entire sense that the world will never be as simple as it was before. What began with a failed attempt at romance between Don and Betty in the Savoy Hotel on Valentine's Day, ended with the words "I'm pregnant" and stunned silence in the quiet kitchen under the shadow of the end of the world. Setting the events of the finale against the Cuban Missile Crisis was a stroke of genius for Matthew Weiner; it gave the episode an added push of urgency without feeling contrived and forced. And it made all the decisions that our lead characters made seem believable and real.
Of course the big key to the piece was Don. Fresh from his baptism by sea at the end of the penultimate episode, Don returned to his wife asking for another chance. At first, I found this out of character for Don; he's spent the entire season exhibiting such disdain for his family that I just assumed he would never want to be a part of them again. However faced with his own mortality, it seems like he changed his mind, going as far as sending a letter to Betty telling her that if she doesn't take him back he'll "be alone forever." Jeez, Don! Heavy stuff! Get over it! I think Don felt he legitimately should give the idea of family another chance, but the look on his face after Betty told him she was pregnant nearly undid any of the feelings he had leading up to the last minutes of the episode. Panic spread across Don's face in a way that I hadn't seen in the entire series run. It's the same look that Benjamin Braddock had at the end of The Graduate. A, what have I gotten myself into now? look. Kudos to Jon Hamm for selling it without overselling it. This has been a banner year for Mr. Hamm, as Mr. Weiner dug further into what makes Don Draper tick, and it allowed Mr. Hamm to toy with the Don Draper swagger by mixing in some large helpings of Dick Whitman apprehension.
Meanwhile, if Betty closed season one finally waking up from the fact that she's not a child, consider season two her crazy adolescence. Everything she did--from her horseback riding, to her impetuous flirting with countless suitors, to her fickle decisions about Don, to her pregnancy and thoughts of abortion, to her final act of sex with a stranger in a random office inside a bar--screamed teenage rebellion. Now, more than ever, the relationship between Don and Betty seems more like father/daughter than husband/wife. January Jones was sadly underused during the latter parts of the season, but she brought her A-game to the finale. It's hard to be more unlikeable than Don Draper, but she manages to pull it off. Betty Draper makes Carmela Soprano look like Donna Reed.
One my biggest complaints about Mad Men's early season episodes was the fact that Mr. Weiner seemed unsure of what to do with Peggy. Was she an ambitious pill who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted? Was she a smart girl trying her best to make it in a world that didn't want her? It took Mr. Weiner a long time to get her character on even ground this season, but he managed to finally and perfectly accomplish it at the close of the finale. Peggy is the person Don wishes he could be. She's smart and terrific at her job, and never betrays her true self, her good heart. And while she sat on the secret of her love child with Pete for the entire year (which we found out was actually given away and not being raised by her sister), she finally let it out. There wasn't one scene in the finale as good as Don's Kodak speech from the end of season one, but the tete-a-tete between Peggy and Pete came darn close. Pete, never appearing more human, seemed to finally express true feelings. (He does love Peggy! He's not a big jerk!) And as Peggy finally told him her secret, you could see the weight lifted off her shoulders. The look on her face as she was going to sleep later on said it all.
She is relieved.
She is free.
If only Don could follow her lead.
Of course the big key to the piece was Don. Fresh from his baptism by sea at the end of the penultimate episode, Don returned to his wife asking for another chance. At first, I found this out of character for Don; he's spent the entire season exhibiting such disdain for his family that I just assumed he would never want to be a part of them again. However faced with his own mortality, it seems like he changed his mind, going as far as sending a letter to Betty telling her that if she doesn't take him back he'll "be alone forever." Jeez, Don! Heavy stuff! Get over it! I think Don felt he legitimately should give the idea of family another chance, but the look on his face after Betty told him she was pregnant nearly undid any of the feelings he had leading up to the last minutes of the episode. Panic spread across Don's face in a way that I hadn't seen in the entire series run. It's the same look that Benjamin Braddock had at the end of The Graduate. A, what have I gotten myself into now? look. Kudos to Jon Hamm for selling it without overselling it. This has been a banner year for Mr. Hamm, as Mr. Weiner dug further into what makes Don Draper tick, and it allowed Mr. Hamm to toy with the Don Draper swagger by mixing in some large helpings of Dick Whitman apprehension.
Meanwhile, if Betty closed season one finally waking up from the fact that she's not a child, consider season two her crazy adolescence. Everything she did--from her horseback riding, to her impetuous flirting with countless suitors, to her fickle decisions about Don, to her pregnancy and thoughts of abortion, to her final act of sex with a stranger in a random office inside a bar--screamed teenage rebellion. Now, more than ever, the relationship between Don and Betty seems more like father/daughter than husband/wife. January Jones was sadly underused during the latter parts of the season, but she brought her A-game to the finale. It's hard to be more unlikeable than Don Draper, but she manages to pull it off. Betty Draper makes Carmela Soprano look like Donna Reed.
One my biggest complaints about Mad Men's early season episodes was the fact that Mr. Weiner seemed unsure of what to do with Peggy. Was she an ambitious pill who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted? Was she a smart girl trying her best to make it in a world that didn't want her? It took Mr. Weiner a long time to get her character on even ground this season, but he managed to finally and perfectly accomplish it at the close of the finale. Peggy is the person Don wishes he could be. She's smart and terrific at her job, and never betrays her true self, her good heart. And while she sat on the secret of her love child with Pete for the entire year (which we found out was actually given away and not being raised by her sister), she finally let it out. There wasn't one scene in the finale as good as Don's Kodak speech from the end of season one, but the tete-a-tete between Peggy and Pete came darn close. Pete, never appearing more human, seemed to finally express true feelings. (He does love Peggy! He's not a big jerk!) And as Peggy finally told him her secret, you could see the weight lifted off her shoulders. The look on her face as she was going to sleep later on said it all.
She is relieved.
She is free.
If only Don could follow her lead.
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