Mad Men: 10 Greatest Episodes
4. In Care Of (Season 6, Episode 13)
The season 6 finale received widespread acclaim for its presentation of Don Draper’s descent to personal rock bottom. Indeed, the culmination of a year set within the chaos of 1968 is the forced removal of an increasingly unpredictable Don from the company he helped create.
It’s one of the most valuable chapters of the show both as an immersive character study of Don himself, and as a representation of the rapidly morphing story compared to its beginning. In fact, it’s so chock full of callbacks and references to season 1 that many fans ascribed the episode’s feeling to that of a series finale.
The image of Pete watching over his sleeping daughter is a mirror image of Don doing the same thing in the very first episode of the series, and it’s a microcosm of the growth our characters have experienced over the rocky course of the decade.
Yet, the biggest moment fans remember from this episode is the reversal of Don’s iconic Carousel pitch: in finally deciding to stop lying, but to rather present the tragic truth of his childhood, Don sums up the false, artificial nature of the entire advertising business on which the series is based. It’s a moment that was a long time coming, and it carries all the emotional weight it deserves, much like the episode itself.
Of course, in fitting with the insane historical events occurring throughout the season, Pete’s mother comes to an abrupt end by disappearing after marrying her male nanny and falling off a ship. How does he feel about that? Not great, Bob!