Mad Men Season 5: Finale

"This is what happens when you have the artistic temperament but you are not an artist."


Beautiful nuance.  Devastating sentence.  More beautiful and more devastating when delivered, as it was, with a French accent.

Mad Men: Season 5: Episode 8

Megan’s father’s physical similarity to Jean-Paul Sartre can’t be accidental, considering the positions he espouses. Don calls him a Marxist, or a Maoist or something. He comes very close to expressing what Sartre calls “bad faith’ when he voices disappointment in Megan’s lifestyle and line of work, saying they are bad for her soul. Of course he doesn’t have the famous philosopher’s recognition, which summarizes his own dilemma. Even though he is not in Episode 8, the spirit of his words is everywhere, as Megan quits the office and members of the staff at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce begin to question the significance of what they do, even Don.

Mad Man: Season 5: Episode 7

The writing in this episode of Mad Men is worthy of Chekhov. The final, heart-breaking scene where the characters sit staring in different directions encased in their own reflections, stunned into solitude, is layered with so many carefully articulated subtexts that the Russian master has to be behind the scenes pulling the strings.

I thought the lyricism of last week’s ending could not be topped, but clearly it has.