Man, did they jam pack a bunch of loose ends to tie up this season, huh? And Weiner even squeezed in an old blast from the past in order to really push the allegory home (to which I can’t believe that I had completely forgotten how Adam Witman died in the first place). So whatever you make of this season’s finale, it seems that one thing is clear: We might be looking forward, but we all want our mojo back.
Don and Megan — I Want You To Want Me…
After reviewing the episodes a few times, I guess they did mention Bartlet Shoes a lot throughout the entire hour, so if you missed it, I suggest you go back and check your DVR if you’ve still got it. I think there was something important about it and sure enough, there was. Bartlet was all about the fantasy pitch — that the shoes themselves helped to fulfill the dreams and wishes to all the women that were going to buy them. It seemed that Megan, seeking the opportunity for herself and back-stabbing her friend in the process, really wanted to be in the commercial. In fact, I don’t think we’ve ever seen her more desperate and at her wit’s end than when she was pleading with Don for the audition. At the same time, Don is dealing with a life that he thought he really wanted. But what happens when the fairytale ends? We all know that it isn’t happily ever after and blowjobs before breakfast every morning. No, you wake up next to a person that either loathes or loves you, and you just try to get on with your life. Happiness for him really is a period before he wants more happiness. By seeing hallucinations of his dead brother all over the place, it seems the point that they were driving at was that at one point in his life, someone asked him for help and he refused and this is what happened. And then, when Lane asked him for help, again, he refused to intervene and history just repeated itself. Therefore, Don figured that although it would be nepotism beyond belief, he decided that he should help Megan with her career and get her the audition that eventually landed her the role in the commercial because it was in his power to do so. For once, he had the power to make something happen for someone else, and once that happiness was achieved, he’s left again with that empty feeling of loss. He embraces chaos and chance like it’s the only way to live, and I think the ending at the bar proved that next season may be about him going to back to the way he was: a creative dynamo who’s down to work, and definitely down to fuck. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t think he loves Megan, but it means that he’s operating by his own rules and devil may care attitude with which made him the man he is today.
Roger — What the heck is a Regina?…
So, Roger can’t resist sleeping with Megan’s mom again? No surprise there. But the co-dependency he continues to inflect shows that although he has it all, he really doesn’t have anything in his soul. He is an empty void with which he continue to try to fill with sex and LSD, but in the end is no substitute for the human condition. For this first time in his life, he really has to try at everything: Keeping love around, keeping accounts happy, being a team player. He’s 20 years too late to the party at which he’s alone by the punch bowl of life trying to squeeze the last dance where no one wants to be his partner. He might think he’s happy, but alas, I think he’s still the saddest character of all, after Don of course. His oblivion is imminent, and it’s not a question of how, but really when.
Pete — Beaten Down But Still Not Out…
In the past few episodes where fisticuffs were involved he hasn’t been doing so well. He’s been knocked down by Lane, by the guy who’s wife he’s been sleeping with and even by a railway train officer. But you’ve got to hand it to the guy — he takes a beating and keeps on trying to tick. But probably nothing was more brutal than the punch of reality he got when Alexis Bledel’s character went through shock therapy. Even worming Pete couldn’t get past the fact that the person he was having an affair with was literally erased from memory. He himself is trying to chase after a dream of happiness and contentment to which he believes he hasn’t found yet, but if he could just see that the life he has is worth it, then he wouldn’t be chasing after false hopes that lead him nowhere. In my opinion, either Trudy knows about Pete’s double life, or she’s so self-deluded that she would rather preserve this facsimile of domestic bliss then go through the world alone. We’ve seen that she’s not stupid, but what could it be? After another lie about Pete driving into a ditch does she give in to the idea of him getting his own apartment back in the city — but will Pete really take her up on that? Has Pete got it all out of his system? More things to ponder…
Peggy — She’s Made it To The Big Small Time…
The Topaz panty hose meeting was a sure sign that although SCDP can go on without her, when it comes to the female marketing perspective, she is sorely missed. In fact, Ginsberg tried to be her and failed because he is exactly NOT a woman. Peggy accounted for a lot of the vision and direction that went into the feminine product accounts that the agency had, so for guys trying to make up the difference is a joke. I think they’ll continue to lose feminine product support if they can’t get Megan back or some other woman to handle the copy writing for it. Speaking of which, it seems that Chaugh was right to hire Peggy since they landed the “Virgina Slims” cigarette campaign (I loved how the name was never mentioned but you figured that’s what it was about). It’s like this is really her time… yet, she is surrounded by incompetence, a lack of focus and support in her role, and she stays at motels where she can get a great view of dogs screwing each other. Sure, I guess she’s finally been on board a plane, but so what? She’s not being challenged like when she was working with Don. When they run into each other at the theater. it’s terrifically bittersweet — they pretend that things are going fine, when actually things are only so-so. They’ve lost the intimacy they used to share when they were on the same team, in the same trenches and fighting the good fight. Now, they have to fight against each other, and I think it makes them kinda sad. They used to crush the competition, and now they are the competition. Who knows, maybe they’ll work together again, or maybe they’ll still continue to trade ideas with each other. I just hope this relationship isn’t down for the count.
Death, despair, and separation definitely played into this season’s themes. But through it all, they still had each other. For now, they are solvent. But what about tomorrow? Or next year? Or the year after that? Have they really arrived, or is it the beginning of the end? When they all stared out the windows of the new floor they were going to inhabit, it seemed an abyss of possibility and a nothing at the same time. Do they see the future, or reflections of themselves. More importantly, do they like what they see?
This end’s Season 5’s thoughts. I’ll be back when Season 6 returns sometime during the first of whenever… 😉
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