If advertising is high school, then the partners of SC&P are like the recently graduated seniors who are having a tough time adjusting to college. Sure, they can visit home every other weekend and make hasty plans to transfer to the state university situated near their former high school campus. But at some point they have to realize that those days are over, and it’s time to move on.
So when the SC&P crew prepared another miracle Hail Mary to save the agency from being swallowed whole by a lurking corporate overlord, their efforts fell incomplete. While Don thought he was trying to win the game, Jim Hobart kindly pointed out that the game had already been won, and the rest of the McCann team was celebrating in the locker room while SC&P were still running sprints on field.
Don Draper C
You know that scene following the end credits of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off where Ferris has finished his marathon of a day and realizes the audience is still watching him? If not, it goes something like this:
Ferris could have almost been speaking to Don in that instance, who failed in his attempt to save his agency from extinction. When Don offered to speak to Ken, Pete said that would be unnecessary. When Don pitched SC&P West to McCann, Jim Hobart replied with a prompt “WTF are you doing? You guys are rich, stop being stupid.” And when he tried to inspire greatness in his peers, the agency staff quickly ignored him, like some old man who’d been handed the soapbox for too long. And now with Diana out of the picture, it looks like Don has to hang up the varsity SC&P letterman jacket for good. As Lou so eloquently put it:
Peggy Olson C
For the most part I love Mad Men, but the show has this tendency to bring up plotlines from several seasons ago as if they were born just an episode prior.
And it happened again in “Time and Life,” with the topic of Peggy and Pete’s lovechild from season one making an appearance after Peggy went toe-to-toe with an angsty mother. While we often look at Peggy’s career successes as her being a beacon of the feminist movement, she has had to sacrifice things like love, marriage, and a family along the way. This isn’t to suggest that she wouldn’t be able to achieve those things in the future, but Peggy knows the ladder to success isn’t grounded in family, but in loneliness.
Roger Sterling D
There’s an old saying in advertising, and pardon me if I’m not reciting it correctly, but it goes something like this: if you didn’t want to work for a mega-corporate firm, you shouldn’t have sold your agency to a mega-corporate firm. Roger’s intentions last season (or this season? Whatever, half seasons are stupid.) in keeping SC&P out of Jim Cutler’s cold, calculating grip by selling to McCann were definitely noble. But he still sold his company, and in turn, his independence. Roger could be the President of his own advertising firm or the owner of a used car dealership, he would still find happiness in knowing that he’s working for only himself. Roger still has his money and Marie, but by inadvertently losing his agency, he’s lost a part of his soul.
Joan Holloway C
It almost seemed to good to be true: Joan falls in love with a handsome stranger out west, career issues plague her out east, but then that issue turns into opportunity for her to be out west. But that new opportunity is thwarted, and Joan's skeptical smile turns into a complete frown.
It’s not Mad Men’s style to automatically give a character the happily ever after route, and now Joan is going to have to struggle at McCann and make a name for herself all over again. But Joan is still wealthy, and with the option of cashing out and just moving with her son to LA, Joan may be saying bye to Madison Avenue for good.
Pete Campbell B
There was a plotline in season 5 dealing with Pete’s masculinity, or lack thereof. But in “Time & Life,” Pete seemed in full control of his manhood, declaring hells bells and socking the snobby private school head. No longer is the sniveling Pete Campbell ofMad Men past. All that remains is the comfortable, divorced, former partner/now upper level account man who doesn’t have two shits left to give.
Ted Chaough A
He’s got his job, he’s found new love, and he’s rocking a new mustache. Ted may not have his name painted on the door anymore, and certainly isn’t as assertive as past seasons, but for finally finding happiness by lurking in the background instead of at the office forefront, Ted earns an A.
Ken Cosgrove
Sometimes it is better to reconcile with those who have wronged you and throw away past grudges. Other times, however, it’s much more fun to say fuck you and walk out of the room. Ken Cosgrove only has one eye, but he could see Roger and Pete’s bullshit from a mile away.
Lou Avery D
He may have sold Scout’s Honor, but at the end of the day he’s still Lou Avery, and that’s just sad.
"Time and Life" B
Dealing with workplace struggle in a realistic fashion, "Time & Life" set the stage for the final three episodes by proving that Don isn’t immortal, and may be heading for a huge fall.
Extra Credit
- This episode was directed by Jared Harris, aka Mad Men’s Lane Pryce. Cheerio!
- I’m trying to figure out the Vegas odds of what random Mad Menstoryline will pop up in the final episodes. I have 7/5 odds on an Anna Draper flashback, 3/1 on a Dick Whitman whorehouse scene, and 10/1 on Sal Romano being Don’s new desk mate at McCann.
- Good on you, Peggy Olson, for fighting the feminist fight.
Demerits
- That whole scene of Pete watching as Peggy was hugged by a child, a child the same age of which theirs would be now, was a little bit on the nose.
- Fuck Lou Avery, just in case I didn't make myself clear earlier.