As the episode begins, it appears that everything is crashing down around Don's ears. Though he is not yet willing to listen to Betty (January Jones) and her desire to leave him, he is sleeping in Gene's room, and worse, he goes to a meeting with Connie Hilton to discover that Sterling Cooper and the British company that owns them are getting sold. He will have to work for a company for which he has no respect, since his contract prevents him from leaving despite the notion that the ship is sinking.
When it comes to Bets, as Don repeatedly calls Betty, he can't change anything. Their relationship is so fractured - Don is quite right when he decides that she has never forgiven him for his indiscretion. And while we know that he has had mistresses from here to wherever there is a Hilton, Betty only knows of the one. She's really more upset that he's Dick Whitman, which is so sad considering that it is Dick Whitman who truly loves her. Dick is the side of Don that is able to love wholly and loyally. He may not think it's a big deal to play around on the side, but he believes the rest of his marriage vows.
Still, in the end, he lets her go. And she leaves the kids alone with Carla so that she can go to Reno with Henry Francis to get an easy divorce. It's kind of stupid considering that Don could have stayed with them rather than in an apartment. They are his kids and that is his house.
Besides, Betty's not going to get what she wants with Henry. From one man's bed to another - now there's every woman's dream.
Don does rally, though, when it comes to his career. He and Roger (John Slattery) and Bert (Robert Morse) decide to try to buy the company back, and when this fails, thanks to Lane (Jared Harris) who really knows where his loyalties ought to lie, the three get themselves fired and plan to start their own company, taking who and what they can with them.
Don's first instinct is to tell Peggy (Elisabeth Moss), not even asking, expecting her to come. She is annoyed and refuses, though she still has the loyalty not to tell anyone about it. Don is shocked that she denied him, but he does not have time to worry about it.
Next, they try to contact Pete (Vincent Kartheiser), but he's called in sick. He is not sick, as we know, but planning his own move, so when Roger and Don show up at his door with an offer to move with them, he jumps on it, bringing what clients he can. And we finally remember, despite the truly dark side of Pete we saw this season, that he does have worth. He sees the future, the need to advertise to teenagers and black people. And he and Trudy (Alison Brie) have been having a stellar relationship of late.
I can't decide whether I want that to end in favour of a reunion with Peggy; really, as long as Peggy stops sleeping with Duck, I'll be happy.
Harry Crane (Roger Sommer) is quickly recruited as well - they'll need his media skills, and, of course, when they are busy removing all the client files, they are incapable of finding anything and so must call upon our lovely Joan (Christina Hendricks) to rescue them. Thank God. The most depressing episodes this season were the ones where Joan was not there.
And don't fear about Peggy either. Don may not have succeeded in saying the right thing to Betty, but with Peggy he prevailed. He went to her apartment and asked her again to move with them. He told her if she did not come, he would spend the rest of his life trying to get her to change his mind. He finally showed her how much he valued her, and we all know that Peggy has always adored Don, so she was glad to follow once she got the proper respect.
It was quite a scene on Monday morning when the remaining employees of Sterling Cooper found out about the defection. Ken (Aaron Staton) was annoyed that Pete tried to steal John Deer, Alison cried that Don had not even left a note, and Kinsey (Michael Gladis) stared sadly into Peggy's office, realizing that he had been left behind. I do hope we still get to see them every once in a while next season, though really I'm more concerned about what will happen to Sal.
Too bad Lucky Strike came with them.
And now we have to wait until next August to find out where things will go. Will the new company be successful? How will Betty, Kinsey, Ken, and anyone else fit in with this huge change? What will happen with Peggy and Pete working so closely together again, or Roger and Joan for that matter? We all know he loves her rather than Jane.
At any rate, this is likely the happiest ending of an episode of Mad Men, with a feeling of hope and possibility. Sure, I'm not certain where the divorce storyline will take us, but this new company with the best of Sterling and Cooper...there are distinct possibilities.
What are your thoughts?
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