‘Mad Men’ season 7, episode 7 reaction: On Robert Morse, Jessica Pare, and reflection
Since there is no more “Mad Men” to discuss for many weeks ahead thanks to AMC’s crazy decision to only give us seven episodes a year, we are left with a little more time now to discuss and dissect everything that transpired in tonight’s “Waterloo.”
Of course, you can read our full review of the episode for some basic impressions, and our podcast tomorrow with Matt and Jessa will further dive into some themes. For now, we want to spend at least a minute or two talking about legacy, provided that we have have witnessed tonight the end of two actors’ runs on the show.
Robert Morse – While we are still trying to figure out the musical number at the end, the idea of it was a nice callback to Morse’s turn on “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” Cooper had an impact on the SC&P landscape tremendously. He was a shrewd businessman, a mentor, at times unfortunately a racist, and often unsympathetic. He was a flawed character and we suppose that we should have seen this death coming. This is one of the most emotional exits of the series, though hardly the most surprising. The end of Ben Feldman (Ginsberg) or Jared Harris (Lane) on the show have to qualify to be the top of that list.
Jessica Pare – Have we truly seen the last of Megan Draper? Some could see Don offering to take care of her and her refusing as another sign that we are going in a Sharon Tate direction, and while we’ve been big subscribers to the theory for some time, we don’t feel like that is the case now that we’ve seen another death. Her exit was strangely subtle, but also appropriate given that this relationship fizzled out and it was clear that it was far too late for Don to fix it. When there is nothing left, things simply fade away. We always liked Pare on the show and feel like the character received too much hard criticism; but, it’s time for Don to move on. We always knew that Megan was never the endgame for him in the first place.
We’ll have more on this episode and the path moving forward in the coming days. For now, just be sure to click here to get some more TV news courtesy of our official newsletter.
Photo: AMC
Mads
May 26, 2014 @ 11:59 pm
I won’t be watching because the stupidest thing AMC could do is to drag this on for two FRICKING years. By next year the audience it still has (been dropping with every episode) won’t give a sheet what the hell happened to Don Draper. Thank God AMC still has The Walking Dead or otherwise I would never turn on this channel.
Daphnemcl
May 26, 2014 @ 4:31 am
It’s so clear that all this leads to happy endings for everyone. But Don’s happy ending will not be to stay with the agency. He will find a way out. And I believe will go back to the suburbs to be near his kids, where he will also run into Lee (Neve) who will be his third wife.
Frank Marciano
May 26, 2014 @ 3:57 am
As a 56 year old man who grew up with “How to Succeed in Business without really Trying” The song and dance number showed off the utterling charming gleam in Robert Morse eyes, totally evoking his irasacablle J Pierpont Finch character. And it was a a keystone moment in what is now the morality tale of “Mad Men”,. the best things in life are free, Don, mentoring Peggy, the loyalty of Cooper, the friendship of Sterling and Don, the sense of the meaning of work that Don has learned, great great ending !!!!