The final episode of season five, which occurred in 1966-67, brought
together major themes from the previous episodes as well as the first four
seasons, with each character alternatively frustrated by and/or challenging the
barriers in America in the 1960s. By the
end of “The Phantom,” “Mad Men” seems to be preparing the audience for the turmoil
to follow in 1968.
As I noted in my post on episode five, ”Signal 30,” Pete is extremely depressed
by his new suburban lifestyle in Connecticut.
His only solace comes from a brief affair with the spouse of a fellow
commuter. When his wife, Trudy, shows
him the drawing of the suburban swimming pool she is planning for their home’s backyard,
it only fills him with more dread about the permanence of his move out of New
York City. After coming home injured
following a fight on the train with the husband of his “mistress,” he tells
Trudy that he crashed his car. Fearful
for his safety, she succumbs to his earlier demand for a supplemental apartment
in Manhattan. Desperate for any return
to the urban lifestyle, Pete represents the stereotypical unhappy suburbanite
of the postwar migration out of the cities.
Megan’s disgust with Don’s persistent lack of support for her acting
dreams reaches fruition when he refuses to help her get an audition for a
client’s commercial, even though she tells him she would still “be home by
dinner.” After engaging in Don-like drinking
exploits, she tells him that he just wants her to be waiting for him at the end
of the day. Just as he could not accept
Betty’s modeling, Draper remains hard-pressed to accept a relationship with a
career woman, clearly frightened by the possibility of female independence. Despite his occasional chivalry, such as his
emphatic rejection of the idea of using Joan to acquire an account in “The
Other Woman,” he still clings to a traditional, pre-second wave feminist view
of a women’s place in the world.
This dynamic could also be viewed in Don’s random encounter with Peggy
at a movie theater. Though he claims to
be proud of her success, Don has a hard time reconciling her moving forward
professionally without him. “That’s what
happens when you help someone, they succeed and move on,” he says to her wistfully,
clearly afraid the same will happen if Megan achieves her ambitions.
Meanwhile, Peggy’s progress continues to symbolize the journey of
American women into the workplace in the postwar period. Having begun as a secretary in the show’s pilot,
she became a copywriter in season one and now has supervisory authority of her
own at the new firm. She seems
almost-Don like at her new position, dressing down her charges for weak work.
As the season concludes, Don yields to Megan’s request and she wins the
role. While we see her and others in
bright colors on the set of the commercial, Draper still remains the “Man in
the Grey Flannel Suit,” walking away in dark colors, symbolizing his distance
from the evolving America of the 1960s.
It appears his holiday from philandering may be at an end, just as one
of the most divisive and eventful years in American history is about to start. Can’t wait for season six.
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