Patrick, are you guys staying at the Paris Hilton?
A few final items before we turn out the lights here at Turner Swansburg Radden Keefe. Readers who are still puzzling over Don's cryptic pitch to Peggy might want to check out the interview Matthew Weiner gave the Daily Beast earlier this week, though frankly I found Patrick's interpretation more compelling. Weiner does confirm your instinct, Julia, that the subtext was the Kennedy assassination.
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StumbleUponAsked whether we've seen the last of Ken, Paul, and Sal, Weiner responds "I don't know." Despite Weiner's indecision, I agree with you guys that it's hard to imagine Mad Men won't find a way to bring back Sal, though I'm less sanguine about his hopes for joining Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce than Julia is. Roger's got 23—sorry, 24—million reasons to keep Lee Garner Jr. happy, and it'll be a lot harder to hide Sal at SCDP than it would have been at Sterling Cooper. I suppose you could discreetly tuck the art department into the closet at the Pierre, but that would be a little on-the-nose even for Mad Men at its worst.
Ken's always got his fiction writing to fall back on, but what about Paul? He emerged as a colossally pompous ass this season, but I can't help but love the big guy, and not just because I admire his beard. His rivalry with Peggy was one of this season's best subplots, and it came to a great, if bitter, end for Paul. As the secretaries and executives left behind at Sterling Cooper try to sort out what's happened over the weekend, Kinsey bursts into Peggy's deserted office, where his worst fear is confirmed: beat by a girl. To any AMC executives who happen to be reading this: I would totally watch a spinoff series featuring Paul Kinsey and Tiger Tone turned dope pusher Jeff Graves. Paul could quit advertising and pursue his dream of writing for the stage—book by Kinsey, songs by Graves. They'd be an off-off-Broadway sensation. But maybe between now and whenever Weiner decides to set Season 4, Paul will remember his brilliant Western Union campaign and open a boutique firm of his own. I know he's got some ideas for the Kleenex account.
Looking forward to buying that round of old-fashioneds soon. Unless, of course, you want to make it double or nothing. I've got this theory about how Weiner's going to handle the Beatles …
Patrick, Julia, this has been great fun. Or in the words of our friend Lane Pryce,
I've quite enjoyed it here,
John
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Series creator Matthew Weiner has stated he leaves nothing for future seasons and puts everything out there each season, like its the last, and this episode could almost double as a series finale. I think when Mad Men eventually ends its run, there will be discussion whether this episode was the proper series finale and should have called it quits right here, or will Weiner have new and interesting places to take us in season 4?
-- guyroy
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"And the way that they saw themselves is gone." Julia, I think this pretty clearly refers to Peggy having her child and giving it away. Until Peggy told Pete about the baby, Don was only person on the show outside of her family and priest that knew her secret. Don was the one that visited Peggy in the hospital after she gave birth and had been out of work for a while.
-- BumblebeeMan
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Who's in charge, Betty or Henry? Something that surprised me was the amount of involvement Henry had in Betty's divorce advice. Does it ring true for the period that Henry went to the lawyer with Betty and apparently also knew the lawyer and may have selected the lawyer for Betty? And, when Betty told Don that she would be consulting with a divorce attorney and Don should too, was she simply parroting Henry's words?
Certainly since Henry's divorced he knows the routine and I can understand him giving Betty the benefit of his experience. Last episode Henry was willing to give Betty the time she needed and he would wait. Now, things are fast-tracked to Reno. I'm sure that it's been hard for Betty to continue to live in the same house with Don who continues to deny Betty's feelings. But, seeing Betty sitting in the lawyer's office on the sofa with Henry, reminded me of Betty sitting on the sofa with Glen last season. Then, when Don confronts Betty about Henry, they seem to be having their first real fight.
Anyway, I wonder if Betty/Henry are the 'lasting love' mentioned in the Roy Orbison song at the end.
-- lkd711
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I think season 4 will include a serious health issue for Don-perhaps lung cancer. Note the cough at the beginning of the last episode. Also the brief scene when Sterling's dog food heiress old flame states that her first husband died of lung cancer, there is a brief cut to Don lighting up another. Thoughts while I write an order for Don to get a screening cat scan.
-- ldbmd
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