Lost Horizon PLOT SUMMARY:
The Sterling Cooper team is trying to get acclimated to the massive corporate world of McCann Erickson and are failing miserably. Joan (Christina Hendricks) is frustrated that she’s not being treated as an equal by her peers, and then is subsequently sexually harassed by her superior. Don (Jon Hamm) seems initially happy as he feels like the golden boy at the company. However, when he realizes he’s just a cog in the machine, he heads West in a search for his beloved waitress, Diana (Elizabeth Reaser. Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) refuses to go to McCann until she’s given her proper office. Meanwhile, Roger (John Slattery) refuses to let go of the old office.
Favorite Performance: Christina Hendricks as Joan. I believe we’ve seen the last of Joan, and there was no better yet bittersweet way for our favorite redhead to go out. It’s fitting for the Joan character to go out the way she did – she’s been about women’s equality, but in the end, it’s the money that matters to her. Instead of taking a stand against McCann about sexually harassed, she settles for the money, because as Roger says, ‘Of course it’s about the money.’ As much as Joan wants to be respected by her male colleagues, she has the way out – her Sterling Cooper money. While she could’ve fought, she most likely would not have won, and she would’ve lost all her money. Joan does not take no for an answer, and when it’s obvious she can’t get her way, she takes the money she’s earned (or at least half of it), in order to take care of her son, her mother and herself. In the end, that’s what’s most important — taking care of her loved ones. If she can’t get respect, then she’ll take her money, take care of her own, and then reforge a new career. Also, she’s got a man (Bruce Greenwood) who loves and respects her, but if needs be can take care of her, so her life is now set, for once. For Hendricks, this was the ideal way for her to go out (if she is truly done) — delivering a bold, intense performance that was punctuated beautifully by her sarcasm, wit and confidence. Hendricks was finally given her time to shine this half season, and watching her sashay out McCann was perfect. Fare thee well, Joan, we’ll always love you.
The Little Thing We Loved: When Peggy re-enters the ’empty’ Sterling Cooper office, she feels she’s not alone. The music begins to swell, and both Peggy and the audience are absolutely creeped out. Turns out the creepy music isn’t the show’s soundtrack, but a drunk Roger Sterling playing his organ. It’s a clever, funny, and initially tense moment that really leads into one of the great Mad Men scenes.
The Supporting Scene Stealer: John Slattery as Roger Sterling. Slattery has always been a Falstaffian character and sometimes these characters really provide great moments of sentiment. Listening to Roger wax nostalgic about Sterling Cooper and the Navy were very poignant moments and further fuels my theory that Sterling is going to die series end. For some reason I just see Roger passing away (or is he the falling man in the opening credits??? doubtful, but who knows.) and putting everyone’s lives int perspective. He’s talked so much about death, the end of things, his legacy, etc. — this is a lot of foreshadowing. Or, it could be the writers are using Roger as their voice, which I’ll speak of more in the next section.
The Best Part of the Episode: The scenes between Peggy and Roger were absolutely amazing. The two of them not only blow up the other’s neurosis, but they also share in the common bond that despite all its faults, this office was great. Of course, this then leads to the beautifully comedic scene of Roger playing his organ while Peggy drunkenly skates around the office. It’s a wonderfully off beat, and touching moment. It has this slightly ‘Nero playing the fiddle as Rome burns’ feel, but also this wonderful sense of nostalgia, loss, and joy. These scenes also seem to serve as the writers, producers and staff’s way of saying they don’t want to let go. That despite the faults of the series, it still was a great time, and they don’t want to let go. Roger’s waxing nostalgic and talking about the end and of legacies is really the writers voicing their own thoughts on their time on the series, or their own future. It’s an interesting amuse bouche in the grand ‘food for thought’ tasting menu of this last season of Mad Men.
The Part We Could’ve Done Without: There was nothing terrible about this episode, but Don walking out on McCann so soon was a little quick, and a little too expected.
Final Thoughts: ‘Lost Horizon’ was a strong episode, but pales in comparison to last week’s season-best episode. The Sterling Cooper-ites don’t fit in the big corporate machine of McCann, and the overt and implied sexism, racism and ageism really makes Sterling Cooper look like a corporate Shangri-la. That was a nice touch, and gives the audience perspective on that office, as well as the corporate culture of the time. However, this all feels a bit too late in the game. With two episodes left in the series, this felt like an episode that should’ve happened a few weeks ago. There was so much unnecessary filler in the first half of this season, that it seems like the writers are cramming as much as possible in the shortest amount of time.
The series is doing a great job of tying a bow on characters — it looks like we’ve now seen the last big moment for Harry Crane and Joan. However, we’re still getting nowhere with Don. Don walking out on McCann because he’s not the golden boy they said he was, was a little too expected as was his ‘vision quest’ for Diana. The Recine scenes were painfully and intentionally difficult to get through, and honestly just doesn’t give us any insight into the end game of Don. However, everything revolving around Peggy, Roger and Joan were excellent. Joan was given a dramatic send off, which was fitting for such a dramatic character. Yet, the ending was bittersweet, as is most of this character’s life.
Predictions: Wild theory – Don, fed up with his life in New York City, plants roots back in the heart of America, and assumes a new identity with Diana at his side. (I do not rule out the possibility Diana commits suicide either). He returns one last time to the big city for Roger’s funeral where he stands in the back, sees all his former colleagues mourning and not mourning Roger’s death. Don, unrecognizable for some reason, waits till all have left, and says a prayer over Roger’s grave. Peggy, notices Don, and the two have a brief moment, spoken or unspoken, and Don heads back to the life he was destined for — in suburban America with a new wife. But as we close out the series we seem him look out the window to the potential of what the world holds…as this man is never happy.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Mad Men airs Sundays on AMC
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Bill Bodkin is the Owner, Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of Pop-Break. Most importantly, however, he is the proud father of a beautiful daughter, Sophie. He is beyond excited that Pop-Break will be six years old in 2015 as this site has come a long, long way from the day he launched in it in his bachelor pad at the Jersey Shore. He can be read every Monday for the Happy Mondays Interview Series as well as his weekly reviews on Law & Order: SVU, Mad Men and Hannibal. His goal, once again, is to write 500 stories this year (a goal he accomplished in 2014). He is a graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in Journalism & English. Follow him on Twitter: @PopBreakDotCom
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