Mad Men Series 7 (part I) Review

A lot of people came into this series of Mad Men disillusioned, somewhat unfairly, with the show. But it’s understandable; the programme has undergone a lot of changes from what it was way back in 2007. Many of the characters who once were so assured have been brought to a very different place over the course of the 60’s. Indeed at first this season looked set to complete Don Draper (Jon Hamm)’s slide into destruction, opening with him all but fired from the business he started and with his marriage to Megan (Jessica Paré) seemingly beyond repair.

What a relief it is then, for fans and Don alike, that this year we’ve been delivered some of the sharpest, most affecting and most thought-provoking episodes in the entire run of the series, and in some ways the most optimistic.  I can’t think of any point in the show’s history where we’ve seen such honest and healthy growth from Don as he largely eschews the adultery and alcoholism for which he is so famous to finally try and get his life back on track. While his marriage to Megan may not have been salvageable (that final phone conversation is a beautifully understated piece of writing), this year we saw just how devoted Don can be to his career and to the people who matter to him.

This year we’ve been delivered some of the sharpest, most affecting and most thought-provoking episodes in the entire run of the series

He wasn’t the only one who had obstacles to overcome this season. Roger Sterling (John Slattery), an increasingly outdated figure in recent years, finally pulled himself out of his obsolesce with his decision to sell off SC&P. It’s a bittersweet victory, typical for Mad Men, and only time will tell how such drastic action affects the agency but it still felt great to finally feel like Roger actually mattered.

Peggy (Elizabeth Moss) had a similarly uplifting story, cementing her place as an invaluable asset to the agency and as an advertising pro in her own right. Her pitch to Burger Chef deserves to go down as one of the best in the show, bursting with the kind of control and charisma that we used to only get from Don.

This isn’t to say that everything was cheerful in this crop of episodes. Ginsberg’s demise and the continued interference of Lou Avery cast a shadow over proceedings but maybe it was the fact that a lot of the time Don and everyone else was fighting an uphill battle against desperation that made the finale, where everyone (more or less) got what they wanted, so enjoyable.

Special mention must be of made of Bert Cooper (Robert Morse) whose departure from the show will be sorely felt. However in his death he also provided one of the most unforgettable moments of the series with his posthumous song and dance number, a scene so great that we now all seem to have forgotten about his (actually pretty shocking) racism.

As ever, this season Mad Men presented us with a complex and fascinating look at the 1960s. The sun-drenched California setting added some pleasant variety and brought home just how far removed we are now from the sanitised conservatism of the early 60’s. Go and look at earlier episodes now and they seem to be set in a different era altogether.

The familiar spectres of sexism and racism rear their heads again but, with promotions for Dawn and Joan, more than ever it felt like the women were on an equal footing at SC&P. Ending with the moon landing was an especially poignant moment and one that it felt like Matthew Weiner has been itching to drop on us for a while now. Oh, and an episode full of Kubrick references is always a good thing.

It was noticeable that this year we were only getting half of a full series; it sometimes felt like smaller characters were competing for time and a few more weeks to flesh out the stories might have been beneficial. Nonetheless, next year’s final episodes promise to be exciting. After such a conclusive mid-season finale the fate of Don and co. has never been more up in the air.