‘Mad Men’ Glimpses an Uncertain Future With “Time & Life”

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“You are dying and going to advertising heaven.”

SC&P is done — or, soon to be. Jim Hobart, head of McCann Erickson, delivers the news to Don and the other partners as if it is a means for celebration. In his defense, he truly believes it is. According to him, they’ve made it; they’ve won. Becoming a part of arguably the biggest (and completely non-fictional) advertising firm in the country should be a crowning achievement, but that isn’t what SC&P is about.

Throughout the various iterations of the agency, one constant has always remained: Accolades have never held any sort of genuine significance to characters like Don. No, it was the work itself that was paramount. That, and the freedom to do the type of work that they wanted — they gauged success through making something meaningful, original, and complete. Though the move isn’t a tangible award, it is evident that there is no disparity here.

While it appears that “Time & Life” has offered the coup de grâce to SC&P, this episode shines as the best episode yet in Mad Men’s final hours. Not only was the entire storyline intriguing from start to finish, there was also a handful of callbacks from earlier moments in the series — subtle moments such as the shot of Don and the other partners each framed in their own window against the backdrop of Manhattan to the less so with the whole let’s-get-all-our-clients-to-move-with-us-so-we-can-still-have-our-own-agency thing.

With everyone’s future continuing to be muddled in multiple layers of uncertainty, one became perfectly clear: That of Lou Avery. In the most brilliant, absolutely standing ovation-worthy moment, Lou bids “sayonara” to Don over the phone after learning his terrible “Scout’s Honor” cartoon has been picked up by an animation company in Tokyo. Good-fucking-riddance.

Meanwhile, whatever mysterious problem Peggy has been quietly dealing with comes to a head as she and Stan work together to cast children for an upcoming ad. After a heated exchange with one of the children’s parents, Peggy opens up to Stan about her past and her decision to put her child up for adoption back in season one. The dialogue in their scene was superb. Peggy makes several points that touch on how gender roles during that time weren’t thought of equally (and to a slightly lesser degree, still aren’t).

As Roger breaks the news that the company is being absorbed, Don delivers a half-hearted statement. “This is the beginning of something, not the end,” he says, though it feels more like he’s attempting to convince himself of that. While the many employees of SC&P file downstairs to leave the partners standing alone with one another in what they all know is a faux triumph, a recurring theme becomes far more glaring and consistent: Don is losing everything. True, he wasn’t alone in this defeat, but his life is continuing to unravel quickly. Let’s just hope he can catch the rope before it is too late.

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2 Responses

    1. She was originally, but it was never actually made certain whether that arrangement continued. Judging from the things she said to Stan, it didn’t. I mean, she doesn’t keep in touch with “the family” she mentions her son being with and I would imagine she at least talks with her sister, even if very infrequently.

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