I would like to believe that the framing of this scene from last night’s Mad Men was a small homage to Woody Allen’s Manhattan.
It’s totally how I saw it. Loved it.
Mad Men Feels—Spoilers
“Commissions and Fees”
This has been an amazing season, but those were two gut-wrenching episodes in a row. I think we’re in for an amazing finale. Now, I didn’t like what happened to Lane. I loved Lane. I mean, he’s just generally adorable and British and he punched Pete! Just punching Pete alone makes me love him. But artistically, I can’t wait to see what’s coming.
So what we have here is two episodes, “The Other Women” and “Commissions and Fees”. In both, Don takes the moral high ground. The character growth Don has gone through has been remarkable. From philanderer to fidelity, and a strong sense of integrity/morality. He refused to compromise morality for the Jaguar account with Joan, and he refused to allow Lane’s crimes to continue. And in both episodes, he lost two people—Peggy and Lane.
Now first of all, I believe Don did absolutely wrong in the situation with Lane. He had every right to fire a man who was embezzling money from the company. Let’s say that again. Lane. Stole. Money. But Don was actually kind. He offered to take over Lane’s debts. He offered to let him resign, and promised not to tell anyone what happened. In normal cases Lane would have gone to jail. It was Lane’s own pride that was his undoing. He couldn’t handle the shame of failure.
So what’s Don going to do now? The high ground has blown up in his face. Glen summed up Don’s feelings perfectly in the end. What do you do when nothing turns out right, even when you try your best?
