After last week’s thematic cohesiveness, I don’t know what
to make of “New Business.” I didn’t much care for it. Everyone seemed like they
were getting involved in new affairs that were crappy and depressing.
This episode mostly served as Megan’s farewell. After the
divorce, there’s no reason for her to have any contact with the rest of the
cast and anything else would be anticlimactic. A lot of viewers seemed to hate
Megan but I never minded her. She did use her relationships to get what she
wanted in life but no more than anyone else on Mad Men. She was a match for Don.
Some of Megan’s anger here is understandable. She’s right in
calling Don “an aging, sloppy, selfish liar” because many of the problems in
their marriage were his fault and related to his lies. I wouldn’t go so far as
to say she gave up her youth for him as the years living in the penthouse were
not exactly wasted, but Don did uproot her to California and then didn’t follow
her.
Some of that anger has been pent up for awhile but I’m sure
some of it came from the pressures from the Calvet family. Marie-France is a
piece of work, saying “We’re here to support Megan, not make her ashamed of
this failure.” Thanks, sis. Megan looked beatified after getting that $1
million check from Don. She seemed freer and rightfully told her sister off for
being ghoulish about wallowing in other people’s pain. When she noted that her
mother was unhappy for a long time and finally did something about it, Megan
was no doubt referring somewhat to herself. The cracks in the Draper marriage
had been showing since at least “Far Away Places,” when he left her at the
Howard Johnson’s and later chased her around the apartment like a murderer.
Harry was an ass for hitting on Megan, especially with his
suggestion that she didn’t get any good parts since she didn’t sleep with any
directors. He was one of a number of people to treat her like a prostitute this
episode but Megan is one of the very few main cast members who has never been
unfaithful to a spouse.
Prostitution overtones are always heavy on Mad Men. This week we see Marie ask for
money from Roger to pay the movers who (hilariously) moved all the furniture
out from Don’s apartment. Never change, Maman Calvet. (I think Don gets his
stuff back because the next episode tease shows his sleeping in his bed with
his old bedspread.) She really did seem to be in pain and far from her usual
snark. I wonder if she and Roger will really end the series in one another’s
company.
The inadvertent prostitute Diana the waitress reappears. I
didn’t much care for this storyline and hope that’s the end of it. The way that
Don followed her to her new job seemed desperate and stalker-y and at a time when
we should be focusing on the rich main characters, she just seemed like a plot
device. The revelation that her daughter died brings context to her being so freaked
out last week with Don talking about death. Diana echoed Marie-France’s
wallowing in other people’s pain as she can’t allow herself to forget her own
daughter. She is punishing herself in that apartment and seemed close to
suicide. Diana is somewhat of a Doppelganger to Sylvia, who we meet again in
the elevator with Arnie. I don’t mind how old characters pop up now and again
because it’s not like these people disappear once the main cast is done with
them.
New photographer Pima sleeps with Stan and flirts with
Peggy. I agree with Peggy that she is a hustler because she was kind of slick
and pretentious. We don’t even see her work so we have to take the cast’s word
for it that she’s a good photographer. Pima seemed like future Peggy because
the two have similar hair, with a gray streak in the older woman’s. Maybe she’s
a cautionary example for Peggy.
Does the opening scene at the Francis house mean Don and
Betty’s story is not yet done? Was the wistful look at his family meant for his
ex-wife or just remembering his life with his kids? The “previously on Mad Men” showed the season six scene of
Don and Betty sleeping together. Maybe that means they’ll sleep together again
but that whole thing was clearly something Betty needed to get out of her
system, and then she didn’t look back. Good for Betty for advancing herself and
getting a master’s in psychology but it seems like an odd choice for someone
with zero self-awareness to be helping others understand themselves.
Roger and Pete both gave Don some divorce advice. One thing
about this show that interests me is that Don has become Roger: both divorced a
first wife to marry a secretary, a woman with artistic pretentions who flaunted
her money. Pete in turn has become Don: having affairs in the city like Don and
divorcing a woman who is similar to Betty without the hang-ups. Roger was right
in that Megan echoed Jane’s statement that she gave up her youth to her
ex-husband. Pete was on target, saying “You think you’re going to do it all
again and start over but you don’t know if you’re going to get past the
beginning.”
As Faye wisely pointed out years ago, Don only likes the
beginnings of things. He never made it past the beginning with Diana. After
leaving her and giving away $1 million to Megan, he returns home to an
apartment that is empty of possessions as well as companionship.
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