"Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling" - Proverbs 16:18
This episode was a disappointment as it seemed like a clip show screened prior to the season finale. It was hurried and seemed to wrap up loose ends while trying to move the characters forward. Lane's suicide was not unexpected, only the method was a surprise. The humor of the car failing to start was a great piece of writing. The men laughing in the office prior to discovery of the body, and again, the entrance of Don and Roger laughing prior to learning of Lane's death seemed false and artificial. However, Lane's motive for embezzlement was revealed to be selfless and we actually see him as a sympathetic character: his tax problems are the result of liquidating stocks in order to capitalize SCDP; and we are reminded that it was his British connection that initially brought the Jaguar account in play, thus putting the agency on a firm foundation and as a force in the advertising world. Per his wife, played with exquisite flair and elegance by Embeth Davidtz *, Lane "never spent anything on himself" only on her and their son's expensive education. He thus becomes the sacrificial lamb to the God of Mammon Avenue. Lane's fatal flaw though is pride. In Ancient Greece, pride was a crime against Olympus as the self inflated individual can not be more important than the gods. Pride keeps Lane from being honest with his wife and his partners at the firm. He can not suffer the humiliation of exposure that he is not the man that he portrays.
Glen, played by the wooden (I can't tell if it's poor acting or just a creepy role) Marten Holden Weiner, is once again shown to be the tortured weird kid at his private school when he tells us that classmates urinated in his locker. Glen addresses the Draper women (Betty and Megan) on a first name basis, to show his equality and sexuality. But with Don, it is Mister: he respects the alpha male, but not the women. When Glen confides to Don and asks why "things turn to crap", Don's response is "you're too young to think like that". With Glen, we are given tantalizing bits that perhaps he too may go off the deep end. He takes Sally to the American Musuem of Natural History where dead stuffed animals are shown in dioramas. When Sally asks about the bison, he says "I hope it's a family that was killed." His book report is also on Nat Turner, the slave that started a rebellion in Virginia that resulted in over 160 deaths, both black and white. When the episode ends, Glen, the young boy with a budding mustache, is shown driving down the road with Don, the only father figure we have ever seen. But clues hint at a violent future for him.
Sally becomes a woman in this episode. When her blood is shed, we also see the blood mottled chin of Lane in death. Her knowledge of her period is humiliating for her, just as Lane's exposure as a counterfeiter was to him. But, we see her as a child not as a woman as she rushes home to her mother for comfort. This brings satisfaction to Betty, who has been jealous of Megan for her youth and figure and her influence over Sally.
The stars are also aligning against Pete. As well as Roger's long standing disdain, we now have Don aggressively pitching Dow Corning because he believes Pete thinks too small. Kenny also wants to sideline him if they land his father-in-law, which Roger calls a "whale" account. Dow Corning will bring them into the "big league" of advertising firms which is what Don wants: more prestige, more power, more pride.
Lane's suicide and Don's resulting guilt will propel the show to it's season conclusion. Don has been on shaky ground for awhile both professionally and personally. Just when he's getting back into the game, he's dealt with a crisis of conscience. It will be interesting to see where it leads.
* I love Embeth Davidtz early (pre-nose job) role in Army of Darkness, Sam Raimi's time travel spoof of a horror flim, as well as her work in Schindler's List, Matilda, the sappy Bicentennial Man and artful Junebug. Her limited role in Mad Men does not allow her to show the vulnerability that she can bring to the screen. She really is an amazing and versatile actress.
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