Mad Men "The Phantom" Review

I haven't written about Mad Men since "The Suitcase" aired in the summer of 2010. Season 5's been terrific, so I wanted to write a paragraph or two about the season finale and the season as a whole. I've noticed a trend among critics to criticize the show for being too overt in its themes and beats. The Lane suicide was criticized for being too telegraph, though I'd wager critics would criticize the show if Lane's suicide came out of nowhere, arguing that the show's inability to integrate Lane into the main body of the narrative led to such a daring creative choice. The Joan storyline in "The Other Woman" also inspired many, many words from an array of different critics, which I agreed with for the most part. Anyway:

-"The Phantom" concludes on a pretty blonde, on her friend's behalf, asking Don if he's alone. Now, Don just walked away from a commercial shoot he was able to get his wife a part in. The part could change Megan's fortunes. Don feared what acting would do to his marriage with her. Don's never been happier than he's been with Megan. Don's contentment hurt his work, though he's recovered from the malaise. No one's actually happy in the season finale of season five. Well, Peggy's happy, but she may be written out of the show because she's happy. Pete's miserable; Don's basically miserable; Megan was miserable until Don got her the commercial part; Ginsberg and Stan are miserable after a company rejects their pitch because of the word 'cheap'; Joan's more sad than miserable, unable to celebrate the firm's good fortune because the firm's good fortune came from death benefits from Lane's suicide.

-"The Phantom" is quite overt in certain areas, most notably the bad tooth that Don had for most of the episode. Don kept seeing his brother's phantom throughout the episode, who eventually offered to remove the rotten tooth from his brother's mouth, but, he added, there's something else rotten in Don's soul. Don asked him not to leave. His brother left. I liked Don's arc throughout the season, even the weird parts when he dreamed about murdering a former lover of his, and when he peered down an empty elevator shaft. The Don-Megan dynamic became somewhat of a bore once she left the firm. Don didn't experience anything good in the finale. His act of charity with Lane's widow blew up in his face; she called him out on what he was doing, which was making himself feel better by giving her $50,000. Don didn't open up to anyone about what led to Lane's suicide, but he needed to atone for his part in Lane's decision. It doesn't work.

-I nearly gave up on the Pete Campbell/Rory Gilmore scene but then Pete launched into a great monologue about the roots of his sadness/discontentment/whatever-you-want-to-call it. I thought the monologue resonated with Don Draper. Pete spoke about a permanent wound that had no remedy. An idyllic home in the suburbs with a beautiful wife and child doesn't make him happy. Pete thought an affair would bring him happiness he never had, that he'd feel like he does after a few tall ones when he slept with another woman. Pete tried to romance a high school girl and failed, but Rory gave him what he wanted, until she underwent electro-shock treatment and forgot him and their affair. I liked this brief bit of self-awareness from Pete. Vincent Kartheiser nails monologues when he's given one. I'm specifically thinking of his masterful 2.5 minute monologue in ANGEL's "Peace Out." Don talked about happiness last week and how happiness just leads to one's desire for more happiness. And, well, yeah, Pete and Don are in the same boat more or less.

-I'm not one to write a ton of words about Mad Men. It doesn't spark the type of passion or thought that it sparks in the folks who review Mad Men regularly. So I'm concluding the review here, and I hope anyone reading checks back on Tuesday for my review of Dawson Creek's "The Election."

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