Mad Men Finale

Season three of Mad Men officially came to an end Sunday night, and it melted our faces off. The show ended a very appetizing season with humor, lots of plot movement, and some very big upheavals at Sterling Cooper and in the Draper home.

On the home front, the power reversal between Don and Betty that has slowly been shifting all season finally comes to a head when Betty tells Don she is hiring an attorney and they are getting divorced. Don does his usual smooth talking bit with a healthy dose of bossiness, but Betty likes her new spine and stands her ground. Don and Betty then get into a horrible fight, one of their worst, in which Don calls her a whore and Betty kicks his ass out of the house. Don then comes back, concedes to Betty, and then they tell the kids. And it is as painful and uncomfortable as you can imagine. Bobby clings to Don’s legs begging him not to leave and Sally will probably try to kill Betty in her sleep now. In the end, Betty goes to Nevada with Henry in order to establish residence and get a quick divorce. Don wishes Betty the best, and so do I.

Now on to the business news, Sterling Cooper is now Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Say that five times fast. Basically, Hilton tips Don off that SC and PPL are being sold, and after some rumor milling, it turns out to be true. Don and Sterling will be fine, but Cooper is out of business. That being said, the gang devises a plan where Pryce fires them all, then gets fired himself, and after some account snatching, bada-bing bada-boom, the new agency is formed. Joan, Pete, and Peggy are recruited to join in this new agency, they set up shop in a hotel suite, and Sterling Cooper is never to be seen again.

Wow. I still can’t believe all of that happened. Don and Betty’s marriage has been crumbling since season one, but I never thought they would actually divorce. This is mainly because Betty, while unhappy, seemed content in the life Don gave her, and Don was never going to change or walk away. It was always going to be Betty who would need make the first move if the marriage ended, something I never thought she’d do. Throughout this season we saw her grow more and more aware of who her husband really was, so now it’s no surprise that she’s finally had enough.

The business breaking up and then reforming? Brilliant, because now Joan is back to kick ass and hopefully in this new partnership Peggy will start getting the recognition for her brilliance that she deserves. And I’m assuming Ken isn’t going to be part of the new agency so now Pete can stop bitching and do his job the way he knows how. I just hope that Sal is hired back on, sexuality be damned. That poor guy is probably selling handy-jays in the park to buy bread for his wife.  And while it is sad that the gang broke up and moved out of the SC offices where so much shit went down, I am excited to them all working on this new venture together. It is exciting and scary all at the same time.

Oh, show, you are always so good to us, it is sad we will have to wait a freaking year until you come back.

The President Is Dead

On Mad Men, JFK is assassinated and we get to see how each of the characters react to this tragedy. Betty is falling apart, Pete and Trudy hold up in the house and turn callous, Duck and Peggy are too busy doing the nasty to find out at first, and Don seems to have been invaded by a body snatcher. It was all very emotionally draining for this blogger, and the events of the episode were made even worse by Lee Harvey Oswald getting murdered on live television. And then there was Betty telling Don she no longer loves him and sees no point in trying anymore. Way to lead us up to next week’s finale, which by the way we are given no actual previews for. Good job keeping up the suspense, show.

WOW.

That is the first word that came to mind after viewing last night’s episode of Mad Men. I admit I thought that the first half of the episode was kind of dull.  Betty and her brother fight over their father’s house, Joan’s husband is sad he can’t become a surgeon, Don plans on vacationing with his latest mistress. But then, BAM. It seems like towards the end every character showed signs of actual character growth.

Joan’s husband starts to belittle her despite her trying her best to console him. He is being a whiny self pitying little prick so what does she do? She smashes a flower vase over his head then storms into the bedroom. Score one for her. Hubby then realizes what a tool he has been lately and joins the army. Joan is happy, but you can tell she thinks this is a stupid idea. So do I.

Roger Sterling actually shows character growth tonight as he rejects an opportunity to cheat on his wife. He rejects the affections of a former lover and client while drunk and then again while sober. And he even makes a few calls to help Joan find employment. Yay Roger! I like this new side of him, but I also liked the side of him that hit on Don’s wife and rode secretaries around the office like they were little ponies.

And finally, we see Don Draper CRY. That’s right, he cries in front of Betty.  After she found his box of secrets and lies last week, she pushes and pushes until Don finally comes clean and tells her everything, then breaks down as if overcome by emotion of truth telling. Score 500 points for Betty who really showed initiative in not letting Don get away with things.  And from the looks of next week’s preview her wrath is still evident.

In other news, Pete was nowhere to be seen and it still remains unknown as to whether or not Sal is a male prostitute.