Mad Men 4.13 “Tomorrowland” Review

“Tomorrowland” ended a terrific year for Mad Men but instead of a caper like last year which started the firm afresh, this episode really was about the journey that Don has taken this season. The focus was on the question that Matthew Weiner posed way back in July of “Who is Don Draper?”

So who is he? This season we have seen the many faces of Don Draper and Dick Whitman, we’ve seen him at his worst personally and hitting a low professionally as the firm hangs on the edge of oblivion, but in all this he has not given up but attempted to correct these failings and move on to something bigger and better in himself.

The Don we see in California is less inhabited, probably because this is where he could go to get away from his secret but this time it is different as he is on vacation (and doing business) with his children in tow. There is a resolution between the two sides of Don in this episode, he reveals to the kids that Dick is a nickname he has sometimes and it seems that he is really taking Faye’s advice about resolving the past with the present, too bad for Faye that that meant the end of their relationship too. Faye also predicted back at the beginning of the season that Don would be remarried within the year, yet again she is correct and the engagement with Megan and his happiness to reveal this publicly with such haste seems like the actions of a character that isn’t Don. This direction that Don is going in whilst unexpected was one that I got carried up in and the chemistry between the two actors really does sizzle adding to this enjoyment of watching them together, even if I get the feeling that in the long run this relationship isn’t the one that will satisfy Don.

Part of the appeal of Megan (other than the fact that she is stunning) for Don is how she is with the children and she is kind of the anti-Betty in this regard, this is clear when Sally’s milkshake gets spilt in a sibling fight and her reaction is not of annoyance and anger but with calm and reason. She teaches them a French song that helps put Gene to sleep and she has a good understanding of Sally, after Betty has fired Carla (how could she?) I am glad to see that Sally will have an adult in her life that she can talk to that doesn’t get paid for the privilege. Don appears lighter in the scenes in California because of being able to spend time with the children where he is comfortable, it takes a bit of time but seeing him play with them in the pool or joking around with them in the hotel room was a welcome sight and one I hope to see back in New York.

So to Betty who has spent much of this season on the sidelines and when she has appeared normally does something to increase the feelings of dislike from the audience and for the most part of this episode this was true again (for a fantastic article on the problems of Betty read Emily Nussbaum’s piece here). Her chance at a second marriage that would be different from the first has not panned out the way she had expected and impulsive decisions such as firing Carla make it hard to like and connect with her. Yet the scene with Betty and Don in the empty kitchen may have been a contrived meeting on Betty’s part but it was actually one of the warmest and most honest exchanges that we have seen between the two to date, there is a resolution and level of respect here. Who knows what they will choose to do with Betty next year but I would love to see some more positive aspects of her character which are there below the surface and which we got to see so fleetingly this year.

There was no big company to save SCDP but it was so good to see Peggy work her creative charm on Topaz to get the first account since Lucky Strike left. In other fabulous Peggy scenes, it was good to see her and Joan engaged in a good old whining session that was funny and showed these two as the friends that I know that I have been wanting them to be, Peggy even gets to call Joan out on her bs that is meant with laughter rather than snark. Wonder how this dynamic might change next season as it is revealed later that Joan did not go through with the abortion after all and is pretending that the baby is her husbands rather than a Sterling child, pregnancy drama is definitely a favourite of Mad Men.

This season has ended hopeful, for the company that can be saved piece by piece and for Don who finally seems content. This positivity was reinforced by the strains of Sonny and Cher’s ‘I Got You Babe’ leading us out and by the epic journey that Don has gone on this season, from where he started in episode one on Thanksgiving being slapped by a prostitute to this point as a happier and more defined person. Where this will lead us next year is anyone’s guess but I for one am glad that for all the change that has happened this year that there are these moments of happiness for this character. Though I’m sure that next year there will be the challenges that currently face Don and all at SCDP as well as some new hurdles to overcome and I can not wait.

What do you think about this finale and the season as a whole? Happy where we leave Don Draper? Sound off in the comments below or join us in the Mad Men forum.