The premiere of “Mad Men” in 2007 might not seem that long ago, but George W. Bush was still president and the economy had yet to officially collapse into recession. The television world was different, too. HBO and Showtime had proven that they could produce quality television, breaking the monopoly of the broadcast networks, but the idea of a cable channel like AMC producing something worthwhile still seemed far-fetched.
AMC was hardly the ideal destination, but the show itself had been passed on by both HBO and Showtime, despite Weiner’s enormous success with “The Sopranos.” A re-watch of the first season will make clear how tight that initial budget was.
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To everyone’s surprise the show caught fire. The reviews were strong, if not the initial ratings. A combination of witty writing, a rare-steak-juicy plot, and a charismatic cast made the show more than just an exercise in style. But with apologies to Steve Malkmus, it had style for miles and miles. The fedora and martini crowd welcomed it with open arms. Editors at men’s fashion mags wept with joy, and outlets like Banana Republic soon raced to fill their racks with “Mad Men” styles.
For those first three seasons, no show was hotter. The ratings may never have been as extraordinary as those of “The Sopranos,” but “Mad Men” permeated the zeitgeist as much as Tony Soprano had.
Let’s also not forget the degree to which the show contributed to saving a familiar third party. At a time when streaming was beginning to take off, Netflix was hemorrhaging quality content. It had made the bold move into original programming by outbidding HBO and AMC for “House of Cards,” but the first season of that series was still nearly two years away from its premiere. In the meantime, Netflix had almost nothing to keep viewers hooked. Many subscribers were questioning the value of their monthly payment.
But a Draper-esque 11th-hour deal with AMC landed “Mad Men” was exclusively in the Netflix catalog, and subscribers stuck around.
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The show lost a step after the end of Don and Betty’s marriage, and newer and shinier shows (including AMC’s own “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead,” neither of which would exist on AMC without “Mad Men”) have replaced it as the apple of the public eye. But there are still plenty of viewers willing to ride the show to the end.
That end starts tonight with the premiere of the first half of the final season (split, like AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” into two half-seasons). Assuming creator Matthew Weiner doesn’t go for some sort of crazy flash-forward to the ‘80s in the second half of the final season, the last episode of “Mad Men” will take place in 1969 or ‘70. What began at the end of one era ends at the close of another.
So where will 1969 find Don and Company? Despite its period piece trappings and soap opera plotting, “Mad Men” has always been about a man having an identity crisis. The fact that that identity was a fabrication to begin with only made the point clearer.
In the beginning, the tension was centered around the fact that Don had created this idyllic life for himself, but it didn’t really make him happy. Now having tried on a few other personas (self-destructive divorcee, impulsively marrying his secretary and trying urban rather than suburban life), Don’s still not happy. And he’s lost his job, the one thing that most determined his identity. He was an Ad Man.
The question for the final season is “can anything make him happy?” If last season’s finale was any indication, perhaps Don is finally willing to be honest about his past. Maybe that will help?
Peggy and Don have always been foils, so it’s no surprise to find her ending in the role where Don started, but she too has buried a past and her happiness remains in question. Peggy has embraced the role of dour boomer go-getter, but to do so, she’s had to ditch not just her outer-borough past and illegitimate child, but also her hippy boyfriend and ill-advised office affairs. She’s Creative Director now, but is considered the office buzzkill and will always live under the shadow of Don, her mentor and frenemy.
Pete, most interestingly, is given a chance to totally shed his skin. His blue-blood parents are dead, his wife has finally given him the boot and his job has exiled him to the West Coast office. “Mad Men” has always shown California as a place for reinvention. Perhaps Pete can start over there and lose the insecurity that has always made him such an insufferable character.
And finally, the most important question: Will Roger Sterling continue to drop acid? Will he date a hippy? Will he go to Woodstock? The possibilities are endless.
Having endured a turbulent decade both on and off the screen, hopefully Weiner and company can bring the show and its beloved characters the closure they all deserve. We know they’ll continue to look great doing it.
