Sunday, on Mad Men Season 7 Episode 11, the show slowed down its focus on the characters and set the tone for the approaching series finale.
As expected the final season of Mad Men seems to be going out without a bang.
The show's still quality and quiet nature wouldn't appropriately support a climactic ending chock full of shock and surprise.
What the writers of Mad Men are doing well is opening up new avenues for the characters rather than wrapping things up.
However, that doesn't mean Mad Men will end in stasis. In fact, these new avenues are only leaving room for instability and flux in the lives of the characters.
On episode 11, when word gets out that McCann is absorbing Sterling Cooper because the rent for their Madison Avenue skyscraper is too high, everyone's future is uncertain.
For some characters, this is a window of opportunity for something new.
For instance, Peggy, although upset, decides the change could give her a chance to advance in another firm.
After meeting with a career builder though, she learns that her only chance of advancement is to move to McCann.
The career builder informs her that the other firms are "ivy league" and that she should move to McCann. According to him "by 1973, you'll be looking at four times the salary."
Or, for example, Don see this his way to get back to California.
He gathers his top clients to prove Sterling Cooper can handle "$18 million in clients served from a modest office" on the west coast.
Trying to keep Sterling Cooper alive, Draper makes a convincing case when he announces they have scored Burger Chef, Secor Laxatives, Sunkist, and Tinker Bell Cookies to move to the west coast with them.
Don's case was so convincing that the overseers at McCann say, "We are rolling out the red carpet. You passed the test. You are getting five of the most coveted jobs in the business: Buick, Ortho Pharmaceuticals, Nabisco, and Coca-Cola."
In a typical show, this would be a good thing. Everyone gets a promotion. The show ends with everyone's new success. The world is a good place.
But this is Mad Men. And opportunity comes with a cost.
As Roger himself later says, this means "no more Sterling Cooper and no more Sterlings."
Despite that a significant portion of business at Sterling Cooper is drinking and screwing, the firm allows people without education and women to progress. And at a time when racial tension is high, Sterling Cooper hires African American women. The firm takes risks for its era.
But at McCann, their autonomy will be replaced with traditional corporate structure. Moreover, McCann will likely operate under a changing business model as Vietnam creates a new American economy.
Even Joan states, they "listed off accounts for everyone but me. They're never going to take me seriously over there."
So it seems this will be an ending where the characters' lives are uncertain. An ending where it is safe to assume we will not be left with closure.
In fact, in this episode, old wounds reopen to underscore the fact that the character's lives are unsettled.
After an impromptu babysitting session and a spat with the child's mother, Peggy confesses she gave her son up for adoption.
She tells Stan that her son is living with a family but that's all she knows. She continues, "I don't know because you're not supposed to know, or you can't go on with your life."
Of course, no one would expect this to become a resolved part of Peggy's life. Giving a child up for adoption will likely never become a non-issue for a woman.
However, the timing of her confessional suggests that these characters might be moving up, but they aren't moving on.
Don tells the Sterling Cooper staff, "This is the beginning of something." Yet everyone walks away.
They know, just like Don knows, this is the end.
What did you think of this latest episode? Follow the link to watch Mad Men online at TV Fanatic and hit the comments below to share all your thoughts?
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