Mad Men Review: ‘Tomorrowland’ has Yesterday’s Problems
| October 18, 2010 at 7:17 AM EDTIf you found yourself watching the Mad Men finale last night and wondering if the show had suddenly decided to film “psych!” dream fantasies, you aren’t alone.
Let’s dive right into the head of the major plot points, shall we?
Joan is preggers. I’d be surprised if most people didn’t notice her stomach in her scene with Lane. That was also the scene where she got her title-only promotion. But the company doesn’t care about that, so why should we?! Kidding. But seriously, the more interesting aspect is that Joan as kept Roger’s baby, and probably has no plans to tell her husband it isn’t his child. I’m actually scared she’ll pull it off.
What about the shrew – I mean ahem, Betty? Her character is revealing more and more cruelty in each episode. When longtime employee Carla allowed Glen to say goodbye to Sally, Betty yelled at both of them. Glen yelled back, “You think everyone should be sad, because you are!” Ah, insight! The backlash means a scorned Betty decided it was the right time to hastily fire Carla. And she didn’t even let Carla say goodbye to the kids she’d practically been raising. Oh Betty, we hate you so, so much.
A visual cue gave more wind to my theory that Betty is jealous of Sally and wants to be her. (Or if not to be Sally, exactly, she wants to be a young girl again. We’ve previously come to learn that Betty had a very happy childhood and was spoiled by her Dad.) As the house emptied out (they’re moving, finally) Betty walked into Sally’s old pink room, shut the door, and curled up on her bed looking like a pouty little girl.
Betty also seemed irrationally jealous that Sally and Glen had become friends. With the same hurt tone you use to guilt an ex-boyfriend, Betty told him that there were plenty of other friends he could pick from, and he should have never befriended Sally. (But of course, Sally and Glen were neighbors and neighbors become friends! Yet, I could see that Glen maybe wanted Sally to be a replacement for Betty…)
There’s not much to say about Peggy. It seems her love life situation will remain a mystery until Mad Men season 5. She lets her focus in life be work.
And, let’s not forget it was her who picked up on cues that a new company needed representation, and she scored a new account for Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. (I wonder if they’ll re-brand themselves with a new name as Peggy suggested, especially since Cooper is gone. And, wah, I miss Burt Cooper already!)
For those of you who like the idea of romance between Don and Peggy, the closest you’ll probably get is when Don announced his engagement to Megan (the secretary) and he told Peggy that Megan reminded him of her. He went on to say they have the same spark. You could practically hear Peggy screaming, “Then why not me?” even though I don’t think she wants to get married at all, let alone to Don. It’s just representative of Peggy always getting passed over for things.
And, yes. The biggest surprise of them all is that Don proposed to Megan. It seemed like a case of right time, right place. Don was dating Faye, remember? But when Betty fired Carla, Don needed (read: wanted) someone to watch the kids on his trip to California. When Megan was tasked for the job, it seemed inevitable that Don and her would do the bedroom tango. But little things started to be put into motion, like Don being asked if he ever wanted a home of his own again (to see a steak on the table) and viewing Megan being so motherly with his kids. Then, he was given Anna’s old engagement ring from the real Don Draper. All of this had a domino effect and gave Don the opportunity to decide it was time for marriage numero dos. I predict the ride will be bumpy, and the bride will have been promoted (or have quit) by the season 5 premiere.
And so, we’ll wait for that date and pray for another solid season of this show so dearly loved and (somehow, still) under-appreciated in the ratings game. What did you think of season 4 of Mad Men? Was it as good as the previous three seasons? What shocked you the most about the finale?