Mad Men Season 7, Episode 7, “Waterloo”

Rest in peace, Bert Cooper. The first half of the final season of Mad Men concludes with his passing away, and the ramifications it has for the agency and the rest of the characters. He gets one final substantial scene with Roger before his passing. At first, it appears to be an inconsequential one, which is perfect for conveying how sudden and unexpected death can be. Roger has no idea that this will be his last conversation with Bert, so Roger behaves in his usual, snarky manner. Later, this gives him cause for regret; Roger would much rather have spent their final conversation telling Bert how much he meant to him.

However, retrospectively, the scene is actually very consequential. Bert tells Roger he doesn’t consider Roger a leader. From what we know of Roger, he’s mostly right. Yet with Bert’s passing, his criticism seems to motivate Roger to become a leader, and to take action against Jim’s attempts to seize control of the company and oust Don from the agency. Roger contacts McCann in order to put together a deal where McCann buys a 51% share in the agency, but where SC&P remains an independent subsidiary. Of course, he takes the initiative in a way only Roger Sterling could (or would): stealing liberally from both Jim and Bert in his pitch, especially their terminology, telling McCann that he has a “vision” for the future of his agency, one that involves their “cutting edge computer.” It’s a nice moment for Roger, who has spent much of the past two and half season floating listlessly in his professional life. Just as Don has tried to atone for his recent behavior, Roger tries to regain some of the initiative he has so sorely lacked since Lucky Strike left, putting together a deal that would leave him in charge of SC&P, and leaving Jim out in the cold.

Bert gets one last substantive scene aside from his conversation with Roger: the episode and first half of the season conclude with Don’s vision of Bert singing and dancing to “The Best Things in Life Are Free.” Don’s vision of Bert is perhaps subconsciously inspired by Roger telling Don that the last thing Roger ever said to Bert was a line from a musical (albeit a different one than the one this song comes from). I found it somewhat difficult to reconcile Bert’s colorful exit with the tonal consistency of the rest of the series, but Mad Men has always experimented with its narrative, stylistic, and even generic format, and this conclusion seems of a piece with its more experimental moments. My initial reaction was equal parts amusement, confusion, and discomfort, somewhat reminiscent of the look of dismay and sadness on Don’s face as he envisions Bert’s song and dance, but perhaps that’s the reaction the musical number was aiming to solicit, since it puts us in Don’s emotional head-space for a moment.

The musical number can be plausibly interpreted a few different ways. One possibility I like: Don has finally resolved his status at the agency (and made himself rich at least two or three times over in the process), and now that both his status and the Burger Chef pitch are behind him, he finally has the time to properly mourn Bert, who was more of a father figure to Don than his actual father or the pimp who ran the brothel where he spent his adolescence. His stress now out of the way, he allows himself to feel the loss, which expresses itself this way.*

* I’m not going to look too deeply for meaning in the actual song itself. Perhaps others might come up with more plausible interpretations, but I think the idea that “the best things in life are free” is rather at odds with the lessons Don has been learning over the course of the past few seasons. The moon and the stars might be free, but this season has strongly implied that the most important (or “best”) things in Don’s life are healthy connections to his daughter, his protégé, his peers, and his wife, and none of these things have come easily or freely. Quite the contrary; they have required constant care and attention, and have cost Don a great deal of effort by requiring his personal growth. 

While much of the dramatic weight of the episode concerned the fallout over Bert’s death, I was less impressed with the political machinations of this mid-season finale than I was with the character moments between Don and Peggy. As I had hoped, Don and Peggy’s reconnection last week appears to be the new status quo. Peggy’s relationship with her mentors is like a seesaw that has finally leveled out. Previously, Don had often kept Peggy at a distance, especially in the first three seasons. He would encourage and mentor her in one moment, only to abuse and berate her in the next. Peggy never knew quite where she stood with Don, or how Don would react to her, and she learned to keep her distance, especially when he became more erratic in seasons four through six.

When she left SCDP for CGC in season five, she started to have the opposite problem with Ted. If her old boss was too cold, then her new boss was too warm and comforting. Perhaps Ted’s warmth is a part of what drew her to him; unlike with Don, Peggy felt safe to pursue the positive feelings Ted solicited from her, and eventually those feelings blossomed into a romance. However, this relationship proved to be just as problematic as her previous one with Don, because Ted’s commitment to his wife and family had him alternate between hot and cold in his affection for Peggy, just like Don alternated between supportive and cruel.

Neither her initial mentorship with Don nor her mentorship with Ted was ideal; one was too distant and cruel, the other to close and loving. Now, however, in the wake of both Don’s genuine attempts to improve himself, and the reconnection they had last week, she seems to have finally struck the right balance with him: they are close and support one another, but not too close. There is no romance here. Instead, they simply have mutual respect for one another, and more importantly, they share an implicit trust: Don trusts her to do just as good a job as he would do, while Peggy trusts him to be supportive and reassuring. And it’s this trust between them that is so dramatically satisfying, because it is what had been lacking from their relationship previously. Their ability to trust each other feels like the culmination of their entire relationship on the show, and we see it again and again in this episode.

Sometimes this newfound trust is evident only in the margins, like when the two look at one another and smile after Peggy demonstrates for Pete how she plans to introduce Don in the Burger Chef meeting, or when they exchange a smile and a nod just before they begin the actual pitch, and then again as Peggy is about to launch into her description of their national commercial. Sometimes their trust is the main subject of a scene, as when Peggy tells Don they won the Burger Chef account, and Don compliments Peggy’s skills and hugs her, or when Don comes to Peggy on the day of the presentation and convinces her that she needs to lead it.* This latter scene is particularly revelatory, because it shows how completely comfortable Peggy is with being vulnerable in front of Don (aided visually by her appearing in her bathrobe and with curlers in her hair). She is extremely rattled by the prospect of taking over the presentation at the last minute, feeling unprepared, unsure of herself, and needing Don’s support and calm reassurance, which is exactly what Don provides her.

* More selfless behavior from Don here: he knows the agency would be in jeopardy of losing the account were he to lead the Burger Chef pitch, only to be dismissed from the company the next day. Giving the pitch to Peggy ensures that Burger Chef – should they hire SC&P – would remain confident in the agency. 

More significantly, this episode also continued Peggy’s arc in her rise to become a female version of Don, especially now that Don has rediscovered himself and started to heal some of the broken relationships in his life. Don's newfound balance is a better match for the kind of executive Peggy wants to be (and is most likely to become): brilliant and workaholic, yes, but also less abusive and self-destructive. The two are more of a dispositional match now than ever before, so it is fitting that events conspire to have Peggy take over the Burger Chef pitch, which is itself a thing of beauty. She masterfully draws a line between the moon landing of the previous evening and the campaign they intend to launch for Burger Chef: the moon landing provided them all with a moment of cultural togetherness, a shared sense of connection that has been sorely lacking in American culture over the past decade, which is a feeling that SC&P will tell consumers that Burger Chef can provide to families across the nation through their chain of restaurants. This is a classic Don Draper pitch, but one that is coming from the mouth of Peggy Olson (note that just like Don, she uses her personal history to embellish her pitch; she does indeed have a 10 year-old waiting for her at home, although I doubt the Burger Chef reps know she's thinking of her neighbor rather than her son).

While Don and Peggy accounted for much of my enjoyment of this episode, there were also a couple of nice moments in all of the office politics. After Don receives his breach of contract letter, he storms into Jim’s office and the two have a nice confrontation, where Jim explains his motivation for wanting Don gone, and calls Don a “bully and a drunk.” Based on what Jim has seen of Don, he’s not wrong; he should want to get rid of Don, given Don’s behavior last year. However, we know there’s more to Don than this; in fact, we can see it when Jim makes light of Don’s breakdown in the Hershey’s pitch, and pain clearly washes over Don’s face.

Another nice moment occurs in the following impromptu meeting, where Don forces the issue of his employment with the other partners, and Joan votes with Jim for Don’s removal. It’s been quite a turnaround for these two since the heady days just prior to Joan prostituting herself for a partnership. They went from kindred spirits to angry and resentful of one another. At least, that’s how Joan has felt about Don ever since he set fire to the Jaguar account last year, and in light of the events of this episode, it’s also likely how Don will feel about Joan going forward.* While it would be nice if they could come to some sort of understanding, this is perhaps one relationship Don will be unable (or unwilling) to heal by the end of the series.

* The reason Joan gives for her vote: “I’m tired of him costing me money.” Doubtless this is partly true: Don scuttled her and Bert’s attempt to take SCDP public last season when he severed ties with Jaguar. However, we know better: her acrimony largely stems from Don’s invalidation of the sacrifice she made to win the account in the first place (and her partnership with it). 

If Joan might be lost to Don, Megan certainly is. The mid-season finale put the final nail in the coffin of Megan and Don’s marriage. Apparently I misread some of Megan’s behavior last week; rather than a marriage on the mend, her relaxation on the plane at the end of last week’s episode was actually relief over getting away from Don and New York. Don calls Megan to tell her that he might be fired, and the entire conversation about his status at work is a thinly veiled metaphor for their marriage, especially when Don says the partners want him to move on, and Megan suggests that he should, and then asks if he isn’t tired of fighting. When Don raises the possibility of moving to Los Angeles to be with her (which he should have done after he was put on forced leave in the first place), Megan can’t quite bring herself to tell him she doesn’t want him there, but her hesitation is enough to get the message across. It’s a sad scene, but one that has been a long time coming. Don created too big a rift with his behavior last year.

Bullet points for the rest of this one:

- This episode also features some nice interplay between Sally and Betty: Betty immediately notices that Sally is attracted to Sean, the elder son of their houseguests, but she doesn’t try to sabotage Sally or make her self-conscious about it. On the contrary, Betty approves, probably in part because Sally is finally behaving in a way Betty can understand and condone. Sally offers to show Sean his room and help him with his luggage when he first arrives, and later she appears sporting a fancier hairdo, makeup, and clothing that makes her look more like an adult. Essentially, Sally is trying to win the attention of the most (superficially) desirable male available by being pretty and deferential, which is exactly the role Betty thinks young women should play in society. It’s the best, brightest future Betty can envision for her daughter (even in an episode featuring the moon landing), which is sad and a little disgusting, but at least it’s better than the open antagonism that otherwise appears to be their default state. I can easily envisioned Betty trying to embarrass Sally in some sort of twisted, immature competition for Sean’s attention, but all she does here is smile expectantly at Sally.

- I suppose this episode serves as the Ted episode I had been anticipating, even though he’s still relegated to the margins. Apparently, Ted’s depression over his self-imposed end to his affair with Peggy has so thoroughly tainted his life that he no longer wants to work in advertising (or so he believes). Perhaps Matt Weiner didn’t think this dilemma was interesting enough to merit even a B story in the first half of the season, although at least we get some amusing moments from his bottoming out in this episode (scaring Sunkist half to death with his moment of suicidal nihilism in the plane, and the resultant phone call with Jim, where Ted tries to compare his experience flying with Jim’s air force days in World War II).

- Pete expressing outrage is a comedy well that never runs dry, as evidenced by his anger over Ted’s stunt in the plane (see also, “Not great, Bob!”).

- It was nice to see Jim dismiss Lou so callously when Lou complains to him about the future of his career after Commander cigarettes fizzles. Considering that Jim was Lou’s staunchest ally (and could only bring himself to describe Lou as adequate), I assume this is the last we’ll see of Lou. So long, dead fish! The show got some nice mileage out him as an antagonist for Peggy, but he would have made a better villain if he had also posed more of a threat to Don (although I suppose that has been Jim’s role this season).

- Lou complains to Jim about having to leave SC&P with nothing to show. It seems like he could learn a lesson or two from vision-Bert.

- Harry, ever the schmuck, is thoroughly impressed with himself for finally being offered a partnership. He bides his time while he thinks about negotiating, and winds up missing the boat on SC&P’s buyout by McCann. It is extremely satisfying when Roger summarily dismisses him from their meeting about the merger. Also nice: when Don angrily calls all of the partners together to force the issue about his breach of contract letter, Harry appears oblivious to the tenor of the situation, asking “Is this a partner’s meeting?” His tone-deafness here reminds me of the season three episode, “Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency,” where Harry doesn’t seem to realize that Putnam, Powell, and Lowe’s restructuring of Sterling Cooper was bad for everyone except him.

- Pete still doesn’t trust Peggy as much as he trusts Don: Pete makes her perform her introduction to Don in their run through of the Burger Chef pitch, but cuts off Don’s actual pitch just as he’s getting warmed up.

- Peggy is as transparent about her immediate attraction to her replacement handyman, Nick, as Sally was about her attraction to Sean. Rugged handsomeness wins hearts, apparently, although it appears that arrogance and cynicism loses them (thankfully, for Sally’s sake). After Sean spoils the awe everyone feels over the moon landing by cynically calling it a waste of money, Sally switches her affections over to Sean’s earnest younger brother, Neil, kissing him in the yard after he shows her Polaris and expresses his distaste with the rest of the family. When Neil is called back inside, Sally stands alone, one arm folded across her waist, her other arm casually holding her cigarette by her head. It’s a classic Betty Francis pose, but in switching her affections to a boy who is actually interesting and nice, she shows how she both is and is not her mother simultaneously.

- I liked that Don called home to share his awe over the moon landing with his kids. It was a nice bonding moment, and it also course-corrected Sally, who was trying out Sean’s cynicism to see if it fit. It did not.

- Stan hypothesizes about the surface of the moon: “What if it’s quicksand?”

- Peggy is having an office-style paneled ceiling installed in her apartment. Ugh!

- I was going to credit Meredith with being at least somewhat empathetic in her reaction to the letter Don receives about being in breach of contract, but after re-watching the scene, it seems more like she’s modeling her behavior on how she thinks an empathetic person would act in an attempt to seduce Don. She is probably genuinely dismayed over Don’s situation, but mostly because it might mean that she will no longer be able to flirt with him.

- Peggy’s poignant connection to her upstairs neighbor, Julio, was only ever a marginal C story this half-season, but damn if Elisabeth Moss didn’t sell the sense of loss Peggy feels when she learns Julio will be moving out. It’s a great scene; Julio is just a boy, but he still managed to fill an empty hole in Peggy’s personal life at a time when she really needed it. The scene also gave us a nice moment where she asks Julio for his opinion of her outfit options for the Burger Chef pitch, giving him the rundown of what must be somewhat of a daily concern for her: dress like a woman, or a woman’s version of menswear?

- The scene where Don says goodbye to Megan is followed immediately by the scene between Roger and Bert. It will be the last time Roger ever sees Bert, so it too serves as a goodbye, even though Roger doesn’t know it yet.

- Bert also reveals here that he considers himself a leader, which is ironic, considering how much of a useless figurehead he had become over the past three seasons.

- Bert has one nice, final moment in life, responding to Neil Armstrong’s famous moon landing quote with an impressed “Bravo.” Bert was always a stickler for appearances and decorum, so of course Armstrong’s eloquence here impressed him. Also, Bert eulogized Ida Blankenship as an astronaut back in season four, thus it is fitting that he should die moments after appreciating the accomplishments of a real astronaut.

- Don, explaining to Peggy why the other partners want him gone: “Sometimes actions have consequences.” This has been an extremely difficult lesson for Don to learn over the course of the series, but I like his casual, tossed off delivery of the line here.

- One of my favorite moments in the scene where Don convinces Peggy to take point on the Burger Chef presentation: Peggy buries her face in her hands and laments, “We have no liquor.” She truly is Don’s protégé.

- Kudos to Matt Weiner on his direction of the Burger Chef presentation. The scene starts with a shot from behind Peggy’s head, much like Don’s silhouette in the credits, but the similarity is spoiled somewhat by Peggy turning and coughing, an indication of her nervousness. The beginning of the entire scene is suffused with Peggy’s subjectivity, as slow-motion point-of-view shots, muted sound, and throbbing ambient noise all convey her nervousness.

 - Don’s version of the Burger Chef pitch is aborted twice in this episode, first when Pete cuts him off, and then later when Bert dies and Don realizes that Peggy needs to do it, but he still makes a pitch when he convinces Ted to go along with the buyout. It’s just as earnest and impassioned as any of the presentations he’s made to clients, and like those pitches, he incorporates and embellishes his personal life in order to make his point: you haven’t hit rock bottom yet, but you will if you give up on your passion for your work.

- At least Jim knows when he’s been defeated. After Don convinces Ted to go along with the McCann buyout, Jim gets the biggest laugh line of the episode, raising his hand to vote in favor of the buyout when he was staunchly opposed just moments before. He explains away the others’ incredulity by stating, “It’s a lot of money!”

- Check out Pete’s interaction with Roger as they leave his office in the wake of deciding to sell out to McCann. The ecstasy in his eyes is remarkable. Vincent Kartheiser is like a live action cartoon. 

- Bert performs his final dance number in his socks, because of course he does.

- That's it for this truncated half-season of Mad Men. I suppose this is as good a stopping point as any, with the agency about to be restructured yet again, and with Don re-affixed as chief creative director. Nevertheless, it still feels somewhat abrupt. Here's hoping the final seven episodes are all as good as these last two weeks.