So, Tomorrowland. Wow. This episode blew me away. This is what we've been waiting four long years for...to see Don Draper absolutely, authentically happy. At the beginning of this season, I wrote that "I doubt Don Draper has ever asked himself what he really wants." Thankfully, since this ended up being the season of "what I want versus what's expected of me", we got Don Draper asking himself that question and, miracle of miracles, finding the right answer.
It is a testament to Jon Hamm's superb acting abilities that I was able to actually watch Don fall in love with Megan and realize that love for himself. He acts differently around her than with any of his other women; he is a bit timid, respectful yet desirous, and, at first, obviously "scared". Maybe it's accentuated by the fact that I'm going through a bit of romantic confusion myself at the moment, but I felt all of the characters' emotions so strongly and effortlessly last night. When that scene with the milkshake where it really clicks for Don fades into the scene in his apartment where The Sad Man Cave is drenched in the so much sunlight it becomes almost unrecognizable...it was clear that things are looking up. By trying to be a better man, Don has become one.
There is so much I want to say about this episode, I apologize if it's a little scattered.
You know, at the beginning of the season when Dr. Faye told Don he'd be married within a year, I expected it to be foreshadowing. When I saw spoilery pictures of Don and Megan in California a few months ago I expected to be disappointed with the pairing when the time actually came. But I really do think that this marriage will be successful. Most of Don's best ideas are his impulsive ones. He actually says of his NYT ad in the American Cancer Society meeting, "I think in my heart it was an impulse...because I knew what I needed to do to move forward." Don is moving forward in the right direction, with someone who knows he's a good man and misses him when he's gone (I knew when Faye didn't say she'd miss him back that they were dunzo); someone who will be an absurdly awesome stepmom; someone who brings light into his world. Megan brings out the best in everyone (even Betty, who for once can't find anything horrible to say); I think part of the change in Don when he's around her is that he's not Don, not Dick, but both finally existing harmoniously together. When Don first says the ring has been in his family, I teared up. When he changes his words and says, "it belonged to someone very important to me," at first I thought he had ruined the moment. On a second viewing, I realized that I was just being sentimental and what Don was really doing was starting his new marriage off honestly. Just as he was able to tell his kids when they asked him who Dick was, "Well, that's me. That's my nickname sometimes.", Don realizes that he doesn't have to make the same mistakes he made with Betty with Megan, and is in fact actively trying not to. He can be Dick Whitman and Donald Draper and still have love and support in his life.
OMG there is seriously so much to talk about and I've just being going on about luuuuuuhve and Don but c'mon, I have been waiting for that goofy Don Draper smile for years.
Alright, random notes:
- Henry is awesome. Not only is he progressively-minded about race ("your sympathies"), but he is trying so hard to be a good parent to those kids. It's too bad he married one of them. I loved that he was sitting on the fainting couch in that scene, the couch that started it all and made Betty want to be a hopeless damsel with a man to take care of her. Didn't exactly turn out that way...
- Peggy has such a bug in her butt about other women trying to come in and do what she's done...and it seems like she believes that if they do want her success they'll have to suffer in the ways that she's suffered. I think Megan is smart and creative and could be a great copywriter - and she told Peggy months ago that she was interested in a similar career path! Yay to Peggy for getting the Topaz account (and for that stink-eye look she shot Ken when he tried to pitch copy), but boo to Peggy for being so self-centered she can't imagine another woman being as talented as herself. Although when Ken says, "You did it, " and she does that little, "Yeah I did" head-tilt...awesome.
- Oh my lord, though, that moment with Peggy and Joan was priceless. Of course they're the women that have been around the longest and it makes perfect sense that they would rehash such sudden office drama. I love that they've found an ally in each other. Highlights: door slam, "Bullshit", laughter.
- CARLA!!!! She better come back. It'd be completely and nonsensically awful if they got rid of Carla for good. And I LOVED when she verbally bitchslapped Betty when she tried to bring Carla's kids into it. Seriously, they can't lose the only real African-American character.
- When Don falls down on the bed and has funny dad time, you can see how Megan is influencing him. And omg, I loved the moment when they come back from Anna's and he's clearly pretty depressed and the kids want him to swim and even I'm talking to my TV, "Go swimming, Don. Bobby's gonna be a shark!" and he goes up to his room and sits in the dark and you think he's gonna fuck everything up again just like he's done a thousand times before and then he DOESN'T and he GOES SWIMMING and happy music plays and this is when I know that things are gonna get better for Don Draper. At least personally...we'll see how SCDP fares.
- That scene with Betty and Don at the end was so effing good. I didn't realize on first viewing that Betty is obviously waiting there for him, trying to start something again. She's got her pretty blue coat on and is powdering her nose, and then pretty much gets into a pose when Don shows up, right when he said he would. But Betty finally found some maturity, too, and when Don tells her he's engaged she manages to contain her disappointment. Their talk is amicable, and they share a drink out of a child's yellow cup, with Betty notably drinking more than Don. When they part way, the setup of the shot is incredible; they cross paths but head in opposite directions, leaving the tall, dark, mostly-full bottle (Don) and the small, rounded, baby-yellow cup (Betty) in the center of the frame.
- HOORAY JOAN IS PREGGERS! I'm so glad she decided to keep the baby; her husband's so dumb he'll probably never figure it out, if he makes it back alive. Who knows what Roger will do, though...
- Joyce The Lesbian totally has more game than Harry Crane.
Ok, on that happy note I've got to end this monstrous post and get ready for work. More in-depth analysis will most likely be forthcoming once I go back and rewatch the season. God, I love Mad Men.
"I was gonna miss you so much anyway."
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