Mad About ‘Mad Men’ season 7, episode 12: Joan’s bittersweet new beginning

Should Joan Holloway love or loathe her current circumstances on “Mad Men”? It’s an unusual mixture, and it makes us almost wonder whether or not “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” would be a fitting title for these final seven episodes … though we are simultaneously not so sure that Joan is getting what she needs, either.

If you would have told us a year ago that Christina Hendricks would be the top Emmy contender from the end of the show, we would’ve been shocked; not so shocked as to spit out some of Roger Sterling’s finest booze, but still shocked. This is a character that has not had the greatest material in our mind since season 5, even though we knew it was always there. The story with McCann was so fascinating on this past episode “Lost Horizon,” mostly because it taught us one thing above all else: Progress moves at its own pace.

When you look at where Joan stood in the days of SC&P, she was a woman of great power and worthy of much respect, largely because she both earned it and proved to her fellow employees that she was of value. Sure, she had the benefit of time, but given Roger’s philosophy on things we imagine that had a woman like Joan shown up at the office in the same way she arrived at McCann, she would’ve been able to keep Avon without such immeasurable oversight.

Progress is halted at McCann, largely because of a corporate structure that is mostly about one man wants as a conveyor-belt strategy of advertising. Let’s compare this for a minute to the world of baking; SC&P is the quirky donut shot that introduces new flavors every week. Meanwhile, McCann is the one that churns them out in front of you in an impressive-but-soulless assembly line. Any deviation from the norm, such as a new baked product or in the case of the office a strong and powerful woman, leads to a malfunction.

In having Joan leave, the character and show creator Matthew Weiner allow her to make a choice for her long-term happiness and self-worth. No amount of money is worth feeling as though you don’t matter. However, her only getting half of her value in the payout is a reminder still that there are still some battles that she cannot win. While she may be happy with Richard and if she finds employment elsewhere, this will most likely still be in her mind until either the moment McCann falls or she finds something so much better than the sexist dealings of an advertising conglomerate are the blip on the radar.

Freedom in this world is a risky thing, and while Don Draper may not have felt sexism, his creative limitations may be leading him to a different journey altogether. What sets him apart from Joan is that with him, no amount of money or social ties may enable him to find happiness.

—

Every Saturday we post a “Mad About Mad Men” piece documenting a particular storyline or element we find fascinating about the previous episode.