Television Review: Tomorrowland (Mad Men, S4x13, 2010)
Tomorrowland (S4x13)
Airdate: 17 October 2010
Written by: Jonathan Igla & Matthew Weiner
Directed by: Matthew Weiner
Running Time: 48 minutes
The decade of the 1960s remains etched in the collective memory as an era of seismic societal upheaval, characterised by the turbulence of the Civil Rights Movement, the escalating Vietnam War, and the assassination of political icons. However, for those who actually lived through it, the prevailing sentiment was often one of profound hope and optimism—a fervent belief that the future was being built upon the rapid development of technology and the unprecedented rise in living standards. This forward-looking mentality found its most tangible expression in the Disney theme park attraction and exhibition known as Tomorrowland, an installation that would also feature prominently at the 1964 New York World's Fair. This strong orientation toward the future and the promise of new beginnings serves as the thematic backbone for the season four finale of Mad Men, appropriately titled "Tomorrowland," which uses the theme park as a metaphor for the characters' desperate attempts to construct their own visions of a better tomorrow amidst the chaos of their present realities.
The plot unfolds in late October 1965, a time when Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (SCDP) is teetering on the brink of financial collapse. The agency is still struggling to survive, its existence hanging by a thread. However, Don Draper has injected a fighting chance into the fray with his brave New York Times opinion piece against smoking. His charisma is put to the test in a pivotal meeting with the heads of the American Cancer Society, where he manages to charm the board into a potentially lucrative venture. The board includes Everett Marlowe, the CEO of Dow Chemical, who just happens to have a joint venture with Ed Baxter, the father-in-law of Ken Cosgrove. When Ken is tasked with leveraging this family connection to land the SCDP deal, he faces a profound dilemma. He refuses, arguing that exploiting his father-in-law’s position may ultimately harm his personal life.
Salvation for SCDP arrives through a happy accident. Joycie visits Peggy at the office and brings along her friend Carolyn Jones (Cassandra Jean), a model who recently suffered a nervous breakdown after losing her job at Topaz Pantyhouse. While lecherous Harry Crane sees this as an opportunity to ogle over a woman in distress, Peggy pays closer attention. She listens as Carolyn describes how Topaz, displeased with its current work, abruptly dismissed its ad agency. This is the opening Peggy has been seeking. She contacts Topaz directly and pitches her own concepts for their product. She lands the deal, securing a $250,000 contract. While this is a relatively modest sum, it represents the first significant win for the agency since the disastrous Lucky Strike account loss. It serves as a light at the end of the tunnel, proving that SCDP can still function and find success.
Another set of coincidences brings a drastic change to Don Draper’s personal life. It begins when Glen Bishop arrives at Francis’ home to say goodbye to Betty before her departure to new home. On his way out, he is spotted by Betty, who becomes furious at Sally’s nanny and housekeeper, Carla, for allowing this interaction to happen. Betty fires Carla on the spot. This impulsive act creates a logistical nightmare for Don, who has business to attend to in California—specifically, to sell Anna Draper’s house—and had also planned to bring Sally, Bobby, and Gene to Disneyland. Carla was supposed to accompany them, but she is now gone. Don realises that the solution to this problem happens to be right there in his office. Seeing how good Megan was with Sally during the recent chaos, he offers her the job of accompanying him to California and taking care of the children while he handles his business. Megan enthusiastically agrees.
The trip takes on a bittersweet tone as Don visits Anna’s home for the last time. He meets Anna’s niece, Stephanie, and receives the wedding ring originally given to Anna by the real Don Draper many years ago. It is a poignant moment of closure and a reminder of his past identity. Yet, in every other aspect, the trip is a triumph. The children have the wonderful time that a day at Disneyland promises, and Megan proves to be an excellent babysitter. More importantly, Don feels the very same attraction to Megan that sparked their one-night stand weeks ago. This time, however, it leads to more than just physical intimacy. Don convinces himself that he genuinely fell in love and that Megan is the woman he should spend his future with. Impulsively, he offers Anna’s ring to her, and she agrees to marry him.
When Don returns to SCDP to break the news to anyone in the agency, the reaction is one of complete shock. Peggy is particularly angry, feeling that Don’s personal business has unfairly overshadowed her recent professional triumph with Topaz. Don is happy, although he has an unpleasant duty to inform Dr. Faye Miller that their relationship is over. He would also eventually break the news to Betty, but he stumbles upon her seemingly by accident while meeting with a real estate agent in their former home. Betty does not seem that happy about the engagement. Her impulse to fire Carla has alienated her from Henry Francis, who now openly bemoans that marrying Betty wasn't such a good idea. The episode ends with Don and Megan sleeping together, sealing their engagement in a moment of romantic conclusion.
Tomorrowland,"directed by Matthew Weiner and co-written by him and Jonathan Igla, represents somewhat atypical season finale for Mad Men, because it is the first one not to be framed by a grand historical event—unlike the 1960s election, the Cuban Missile Crisis, or the JFK assassination that dominated the previous seasons. Instead, it shows how epochal change appears gradually to the protagonists, with their lives being occasionally turned upside down due to random fate or their own irrational outbursts. Nevertheless, this episode ends in a realistic manner. Don Draper gets a happy ending of sorts, but it is tempered with some heartbreak and bouts of guilty conscience. Unlike the triumph of the plucky little SCDP from the previous season, corporate success here is measured in mere survival, which would require a lot of hard work and compromise. Even Joan Holloway gets something of a happy ending, though a complicated one; it is revealed that she chose not to get an abortion and instead her husband Greg, now serving in Vietnam, is either successfully fooled or chooses to believe that the baby is his instead of Roger’s.
The episode ends with a final ironic use of 1960s music, namely Sonny and Cher’s "I Got You Babe". The song was an anthem for the "supercouple" of US counterculture, yet history remembers that they parted their ways. This irony mirrors the themes of the episode: the future is always a promise of better things, but it is also an uncertain destination that can lead to unexpected separations. Tomorrowland was followed by almost two years of hiatus, a result of prolonged contract negotiations between Matthew Weiner and AMC. Season 5 would not premiere until Spring 2012, leaving viewers to ponder the fate of their characters in the interim.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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