MAD MEN – A VINTAGE YEAR?

Just a few hours to go before Season 4 of Mad Men sadly comes to a close. And what a year it’s been…

For me this season of the 60’s set drama has been undoubtedly the show’s strongest year to date. Gone were the teething problems of the past – the sometimes sluggish pacing, excessive talkiness and drifting silences – replaced by a show that’s literally gone from strength to strength each and every week. There honestly hasn’t been a bad Mad Men episode all season long and the show’s scripting, acting and direction are simply in a different league from most cable (and especially network) shows.

Each season of Mad Men takes place over the course of a year (Season 4 began in November 1964) – but what sort of a year has it been for the staff and partners of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce?

I figured now was a good time to take a look back at the rising (and falling) fortunes of the Mad Men guys and girls…

DON DRAPER: At the end of Season 3 Don and Betty Draper finally ended their toxic relationship and Don jumped ship from Sterling Cooper to launch his own agency. Finally free both personally and professionally it seemed like Don would be having the time of his life. But for the first half of Season 4, Don’s life hit the skids as his excessive drinking, womanizing and depression threatened to destroy all the creative genius had built (the show’s production designers housed Don in a grim and dingy apartment that echoed his dark state of mind)

But after hitting rock bottom following the death of his beloved Anna, Don has been on the comeback trail – though it hasn’t always been a straight line. Sure, Don’s on a three drink a day limit now, yet that didn’t stop him from sleeping with new social climbing secretary Megan. But Don is never better than when his back’s against the wall and with the firm on the brink of bankruptcy now is his moment to shine…

Verdict: Mixed

PEGGY OLSON: When we first glimpsed Peggy in the Season 4 premiere she seemed like a new woman – sitting astride her desk, confidently drinking with the boys and sharing in-jokes with her new underling Joey. Overall this has been a great year for Peggy – her star has been on the rise all season long and she’s now trusted to host her own presentations (such as episode 11’s Playtex pitch)

But Peggy’s success has not been an easy road. New artistic director Stan has been a constant sparring partner, she had a knock down fight with Don in the season’s standout episode, The Suitcase, and her fledgling relationship with her boyfriend also bit the dust after Peggy chose work (and Don) over family.

This year Peggy has learned how to play the game. She’s realized when to act tough (firing Joey for his comments to Joan), when to take the joke (she laughed off the guys’ Playtex prank with good humor) and when and how to use her sexuality – her naked game of dare with Stan firmly established who held the balance of power in their relationship. Seeing Peggy come into her own is one of the show’s great pleasures. But how far can she rise in the still male-dominated Mad Men world?

Verdict: Up

PETE CAMPBELL: Conniving Pete Campbell certainly had his share of trouble this year – Don’s double identity forced him to turn down the lucrative North American Aviation deal (and take the blame) while on the home front wife Trudy and her overbearing father never fail to belittle and undercut Pete.

But despite his troubles Pete is becoming increasingly more interesting than the one note schemer he was in Season 1. He fell on his sword for Don when he didn’t have to, joined forces with Peggy (I loved their hare brained ham scheme in episode 1) and he even learned to put aside his enmity with Ken for the good of the company. Maybe fatherhood will make him an even better man?

Verdict: Up

BETTY DRAPER: It’s hard to argue that Betty EVER has a good year – as the former Mrs Don Draper seems programmed for perpetual misery!

We’ve seen less of Betty this season, due to her tangential relationship to the show, but those glimpses we’ve seen reveal a woman still struggling to find any semblance of happiness. Sally Draper (played brilliantly by this year’s breakout actress Kiernan Shipka) grows more resentful of her mother by the day. New husband Henry seems to have adopted the father figure role we all sensed he would assume (remember Betty lost her own father last season). And Betty still hasn’t really gotten over her ex husband Don – seething with jealousy when she spots Don out on a date, but still loyal enough to cover for him when the Defense of Defense came to check his past.

Sally’s shrink is right, Betty needs a lot more help than a child psychiatrist can give her!

Verdict: Down

JOAN HARRIS: It’s certainly not been an easy year for Joan. In fact it’s been downright dreadful! Her husband Greg was deployed overseas by the Army (and let’s be honest we’re all awaiting the knock on the door with bad news); the male staff members of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce treated her as a sexual punch line, Peggy, once the new recruit, is now essentially her senior; and a seedy romp in an alleyway with Roger resulted in an unwanted pregnancy that she (presumably) terminated.

Joan’s office is a mere cubbyhole with zero privacy – speaking volumes about her place in the firm – and as the years drag on and Joan’s looks continue to ‘fade’, future miseries seems all but certain.

Verdict: Down

ROGER STERLING: Of all the Mad Men cast it feels like Roger has had the biggest fall this season – from proud statesman of the advertising industry to a wreck of a man hiding out in a hotel room, unable to confess his Lucky Strikes screw up to his fellow partners (I’m sure I wasn’t the only viewer who thought Roger might be about to top himself).

Even Sterling’s memoirs became a running joke this season – check out the size of the finished book – it was little more than a pamphlet! Similarly Roger’s state of the art office – all 60’s minimalism – is all surface, and no substance.

Most revealingly this season Mad Men showed us how Don and Roger first met – the former a ‘mere’ suit salesman, the latter an advertising giant. But now the tables have well and truly turned – and everyone has abandoned Roger, including his lone ally Joan… Is a rebound even possible?

Verdict: Down

LANE PRYCE: Last season we barely got to know Lane Pryce, the British businessman who keeps the company accounts in check. But we certainly got an eyeful this season – from his drunken (and debauched) night out with Don to the African American ‘bunny’ he paraded in front of his loathsome father.

Like so many of the Mad Men men Lane is a shell of a man, confident and successful on the outside, but conflicted and hollow within. Now back in the US with his reluctant family in tow, Lane desperately needs Sterling Draper Cooper Pryce to stay afloat… but will it?

Verdict: Mixed

This article first appeared on The Atlantic Monthly website – be sure to check the site tomorrow for my recap of the Mad Men finale…