‘Mad Men’ season 7 endgame debate: Christina Hendricks and Joan Holloway
In our second ongoing feature focusing on the end game for the characters of “Mad Men”, we are going to look at what we believe to be some of the bigger questions remaining when it comes to some of your favorite characters. For our first feature, it was all about trying to figure out what exactly makes Betty tick and where she may end up; now, we’re pushing ahead to Christina Hendricks and Joan Holloway.
Over the past several years, Joan has definitely established a name for herself as one of the more interesting characters on the show, and also one of the more controversial. While you could look at her in some ways as a feminist figure who rose to the top and didn’t care how she managed to do it, her methods still have to be questioned, and her move to become a partner made her into a polarizing figure both at the firm and with fans.
But where does the show choose to go from here? One of the big questions now is whether or not a character like Joan, who has been through so much and left such a strange impression, can be redeemed in the eyes of everyone … or if she really needs to. Our guess is that she does not. While she may have stress as all people do, she nonetheless is in one of the more stable positions going into season 7: She has a child that she loves and cares for, a job that has her financially set, and a possible man in her life in Bob Benson who could be there in the long-term. The only real concern we have for Joan is that Bob’s not all he is cracked up to be, and he could sabotage her happy ending.
But even with that, you have to argue that she continues the “Mad Men” example of women rising while the men fall. In the midst of Don being on temporary suspension from the company, Pete moving to California, and Ted picking up the pieces of his family, we have a woman who is confident in herself and seemingly in control of her destiny. This past season she took some big risks with Avon as she tried to land the account herself and show the company that she is not just a pretty face and curves. This is where we’d like to see her in the end, regardless of who she is with or what plans she has for the future.
What do you expect to see from Hendricks’ Joan on “Mad Men” this coming season? Just in case you have an interest in seeing our earlier story regarding January Jones and Betty Francis, our suggestion is that you head on over to the link here.
Photo: AMC