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| Photo Credit: AMC |
Aw hell Matt Weiner. Just three episodes
to go before Mad Men signs
off, and you drop this bomb on us. The bomb being McCann-Erikson is
absorbing SC&P, essentially dissolving the company and any
independent agency, that the well, agency and its partners had.
However.
Don't mistake the preceding paragraph for disappointment; that would
have been the taste left in my mouth had the hour played out for Don
and Co. the way they did back in 1963, when they hatched their grand
scheme to start SCDP and escaped the clutches of McCann. This time
around though, the powers that be wrapped up the deal before the
partners even knew the lease hadn't been paid. They will simply be
cogs in a huge machine; extremely well-compensated cogs, but cogs
nonetheless. It's a surprising, crushing downer of a twist—and one
that absolutely should have happened. As thrilling as it is to see
Don shake off the cobwebs and summon up some of the inventive,
scheming fire of yore, you just don't escape a huge international
corporation like McCann twice, at least not that way. Everyone's luck
runs out eventually.
One of
the highlights of “Time and Life” is watching news of SC&P's
impending demise spread through the agency like a toxic ooze, leaving
a stench of uncertainty and fear so strong even Meredith confronts
Don because she knows something is up.
And it all starts when Roger calls
about the lease notice, and a McCann exec plays coy, telling him to
speak to head honcho Jim Hobart. The exec eventually reveals McCann
is moving SC&P's physical office into theirs, but Roger smells
bullshit and rightly assumes they're dissolving the agency.
Roger informs the other partners, but
while Pete characteristically balks, everyone else seems resigned to
their fate—though a four-year contract and a non-compete cause will
do that to you. The plan is to keep the news mum, but Pete tells
Peggy so she'll at least have a leg up when things starts to go down.
She offers some small comfort by telling him he'll do well, despite
the changing circumstances. It's a nice, short scene, one that
mirrors their sofa chats back in the series early seasons. Peggy
tells Stan, but for my money the real culprit in spilling the tea is
Meredith, who walks in on the tail end of Dawn and Shirley discussing
what SC&P's dissolution means for their future.
When
Lou calls Don, it appears the news has gone bi coastal. However,
after some confusion, Lou reveals he's moving to Tokyo, because some
firm—who he claims made Speed Racer—bought
his horrible Scout's Honor cartoon. The lucky break has him feeling
his oats, as he tells Don to enjoy the rest of his miserable life and
hangs up. Good riddance. Don quickly realizes Lou's exit has an
upside, that being SC&P's Cali office can be a launch pad for
them to take the conflicting business McCann has and use it to
maintain their independent status. They just have to convince the
clients to come with just like they did in 1963.
Ken's
not taking the plunge with Dow Chemical, turning Pete and Roger down
after metaphorically dangling them over the roof by their heels. And
given what happens next, a yes or no from Mr. Cosgrove really
wouldn't matter. When the partners meet with Jim Hobart and
run down the California plan, Jim stops Don mid-sentence, asking him
to have a seat as he reels off the top-tier business they'll be in
charge of under the new arrangement. Buick, Naisco, Coca-Cola and a
major pharmaceutical company will all be their new clients he
explains, before advising them to take the rest of the day off and
pop champagne. The struggle is over.
Or is it? As Joan notes, accounts were
listed off for everyone but her, and she is highly skeptical Hobart
will keep his word and that anyone will take her seriously. Ted is
relieved to let someone else take the wheel, but Don seems unsure and
uncomfortable about the whole thing, an expected reaction from a man
who's spent decades living by his own personal hobo code.
The post-meeting pow wow does give us
what may be the last great Roger-and-Don-alone-in-a-bar scene, as
they ruminate over the day's events. For Roger, it's the end of
Sterling Cooper, both in company and his bloodline (being an only son
with a daughter). Roger expresses admiration for the way Don was
always striving for more, with Don reminding Roger he didn't have to
(“In another lifetime I would've been your chauffeur,” he says).
They also ream each other out over the other's personal history, with
Roger reminding Don how hard he was on him when he married his
secretary (though Jane wasn't technically his secretary)
then turned around and did the same thing with Megan, after revealing
his relationship with Marie. It's a conversation rife with
references to both the men's tumultuous, long-standing relationship
and the show's history.
“You are okay,” Roger tells him as
he leaves, echoing Don's Lucky Strike pitch from the pilot. Of
course, we've seen enough to know that's not the case. Don's still
living at the old apartment (and still hasn't bothered with a least
getting a futon for the living room) while his realtor Melanie
searches for a new one. When he learns Diana called, he goes looking
for her, but finds a gay couple in her apartment instead. No
disrespect to the actress, but given we have a minimum of two hours
left of Mad Men (unless
Weiner is going to gift us with a 90-minute or two-hour finale), I
really don't want to spend much, if any of it with newer characters.
But Don's not the only one struggling.
Peggy meets with a headhunter after Pete tells her about McCann, but
is told her best move is staying where she is and joining McCann.
Though like her mentor, Peggy's not all that thrilled about it. On
the personal front, working on an account involving kids brings up
old demons.
“You hate kids,” Stan tells her,
unknowingly striking a nerve. It also explains Peggy's vitriolic
response when the girl she and Stan get left babysitting injures
herself (stapling her finger) and her mother berates her for it.
Hours later, the argument is still weighing on her, and she goes on a
diatribe to Stan about a young girl getting “in trouble” for
following her heart, saying a woman should be able to make a mistake
and move on just like a man can. Stan connects the dots, asking her
how she handled her pregnancy, and Peggy says her son is probably
with a family somewhere.
“I don't know because I'm not
supposed to know. Or you can't go on with your life,” she says.
Peggy has certainly made an effort to do the latter. But while she
may not ever know the whereabouts of her child, acknowledging that
she had one—that, this in fact did
happen—to herself, and importantly, those close to her, and
embracing it as simply part of her life's story, may help her finally
make peace with her decision.
Of course, what no one can deny is
happening is times are a changin' at SC&P. Roger breaks the news
to all the employees, but folks don't seem convinced everything is
fine, and tune him out and start talking over each other. Not even
Don can quiet the troops with a great, rousing speech, only getting
out “this is the beginning of something” before everyone just
walks off.
Aw hell.
Other Thoughts:
– “Time and Life” gave Alison
Brie what's likely her last appearance as Trudy, as she and Pete
momentarily unite when Tammy is put on a wait list at Greenwich
Country Day, a prep school Pete's family's pumped a lot of money
into. A meeting with the headmaster goes horribly wrong, as he cites
some ancient feud between his family the McDonalds and the Campbells
(apparently Pete's ancestors came and ambushed the dude's family in
their sleep) as reason for rejecting Tammy, with Pete punching the
guy out in response. Later, Trudy talks about her stagnant social
life, explaining how husbands won't leave her alone, but saying sadly
in another decade, everyone will leave her alone. Ten years after
Helen Bishop, and it's still hard out for there for divorced woman in
these suburbs. “You're ageless,” Pete tells her. If this is their
last on-screen appearance together, it's a nice send off.
--Joan and Richard are still going
strong. When she tells him she got some bad news at work, he
immediately books a red eye to New York. He's either really devoted
or supremely sprung on what Ms. Holloway's throwing down. Just
sayin'. Though her new romance may be influencing the way she treats
Roger, quietly but firmly telling him “Don't do that” when he
yells for her, or refusing to break the bad news to the other
partners for him. Perhaps it's a way of asserting she's no longer a
secretary, nor his caretaker. Then again, her putting her head on his
shoulder after he initially gets the news proves she's not completely
above comforting him.
--Stan: “Real kids are shy. And you
have to talk to them like people.”
--Shirley: “My goodness Meredith. We
should put a bell on you.”
--“What's in a name?” Don you said
a mouthful.
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