TV Review: Mad Men 5.13 - Season Finale - "The Phantom"
There’s a lot that happened in this story, and most of it was good and/or interesting.
rating: 3.5
Last weeks episode of Mad Men was, as I said at the time and still believe, perhaps the most perfect episode of the entire series. This episode, the season finale, doesnt quite reach up to that same level, but really, what could have? And though its an imperfect episode, it was at least fairly good and a decent way to end this season. Theres a lot that happened in this story, and most of it was good and/or interesting. Don (John Hamm) had a toothache (I know your pain, Don Draper), Peggy (Elizabeth Olsen) is shown settling in at her new job, Joan (Christina Hendricks) is looking into having the firm buy the floor above them to expand the office, Megan (Jessica Pare) is trying to get acting work while her mother is in town, something which pleases Roger (John Slattery) to no end, and Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) gets reunited with Beth, the wife of Petes co-commuter, the insurance salesman. Lets start with Petes story. I was pleased, first off, that the show indicated that ECT (electro-convulsive therapy), can actually be good and useful for people. Too often its shown as this horribly evil thing used by cruel doctors against innocent patients. But aside from that, I was also pleased as punch to see Pete actually experiencing guilt over what he did. It added a nice dimension to his character. I also really loved that the office is expanding, and the shot of the partners gazing out the windows together was very nicely done. I also really enjoyed a scene where Don took a check for $50,000 to Lanes widow and sheis less than gracious about the whole thing. Not that I blame her, really. It was also great to see Peggy again! Yay, Peggy! It turns out shes doing well enough at CGC that shes been given the task of developing branding for a new cigarette designed to appeal to women. I also like that we got to see her in the final montage for the season, indicating that, hopefully, well get more of her next year. I was less impressed with Megans story arc in this episode. Yeah, it was good to see her chasing after work and the scene with Don watching her audition reel was very nicely done, but frankly Im not nearly as interested in her story as I am in the others. I also wasnt terribly interested in seeing her mother and Roger hooking up again (and very, very not interested in seeing John Slatterys bare backside). Of course the real meat with this episode was Dons story. I did wonder, after last week, if wed be reminded that Dons brother, Adam, also committed suicide by hanging. Sure enough, we see that the pain (and eventually the nitrous), is making Don hallucinate, causing him to see said dead brother. It was good to see that the writers hadnt forgotten this part of his past. It was also good to see him in that previously mentioned scene where he watches Megans demo reel. The question of whether she got the part just because of Dons help or because shes genuinely talented remains open, and I think thats a good thing storywise. Then, of course, theres the final scenes with two women coming on to Don as Nancy Sinatras You Only Live Twice plays. Its anachronistic by about ten weeks, but Im willing to overlook that, since its really a very appropriate song for him. Aside from the vague feeling of meh that I felt over most of Megans story, I also felt like this story suffered from too much ambition (perhaps like Lane). It seemed like they were trying to cram too much into one story, and perhaps this episode would have been better had it gone an extra ten minutes or so. But it did do a good job of setting us up for next season, which will take place, at least partly if not in whole, during the year 1968. That should make for some interesting TV. Im also encouraged, as I said, by Peggys presence in the finale which means that we will hopefully continue to follow her. I certainly hope so, because Mad Men without Peggy scarcely bears thinking about!