Shocking, sure. Well deserved, you bet.
An hour after Nik Wallenda walked the high wire over the Grand Canyon on live TV and didn’t plummet, Don Draper fell off the high wire over the equally treacherous Madison Avenue.
Incredibly, during last night’s open-mouth-are-you-kidding-me finale, “Mad Men’s” ultimate empty suit, Don Draper, the big boor of a babe-magnet got the boot. This after six seasons of bravado, blackout boozing, bragging — and think about it — hardly any successful ad campaigns under his skinny belt.
While we were all figuring that Draper (Jon Hamm) would drop dead of lung cancer, (nobody on TV ever survives smoking let alone a cough!), he instead drank himself into a stupor at a bar, punched out a minister, (you can’t blame him—the guy was incredibly annoying), blacked out in jail, stole Stan Rizzo’s (Jay R. Ferguson’s) idea, melted down at the Hershey presentation like a Mr. Goodbar on a car seat in August, and even told Toothy-the-wife (Jessica Paré) to go to Cali alone.
But nobody expected what actually happened to him at the end to happen to him. I mean Draper skates while lesser beings fall.
Oh please, don’t say your weren’t shocked when Don strolled into the morning meeting and got blind-sided by the cabal of partners who threw the drunken bum out on his drunken bum.
Sure, sure, Bert, (Robert Morse) and Roger, (John Slattery) told Don he just needed to “take some time off,” but when he was leaving the office in shock, who did he run into at the elevator but former colleague, Duck, (Mark Moses) and an associate who mouthed, “Going down?”
You bet. For now.
Meantime, Pete’s (Vincent Kartheiser) addled-headed mother, married Bob Benson’s, (James Wolk) boyfriend, Manolo at sea, and promptly fell overboard to her timely death in shark-infested waters.
Bob — who is actually the new Don Draper complete with fake background, a nature so deceitful it’s delicious, and the ability to ingratiate himself even with people who hate him—set up unsuspecting Pete for failure in Detroit. Now devious Pete’s off the account and Benson’s on it.
Peggy, (Elizabeth Moss) and Ted the wimp, (Kevin Rahm), finally did the nasty, with Wimpy telling her he had to leave his wife and kids because he loved her and couldn’t live without her. Until he got home and changed his mind.
But of all the shocks that creator Matthew Weiner hit us with last night, none was as shocking the one Betty, (January Jones) hit us with when Betty Draper Francis actually emoted — on national TV, yet.
Advertising in the 1960’s was supposed to be the most fun you could have with your clothes off. If Weiner really wants to shock during next year’s final season, maybe, with the dour Don gone from the premises, he’ll let the folks SC&P start having some real fun — because so far we viewers are the ones having all the fun watching them!