TV Review: Mad Men — Season 3
The third season of Mad Men is simply spectacular. For a brilliant show that has churned out episodes of an incredibly high standard for two consistent seasons, I’d have happily settled for merely more of the same; however, it becomes clear very early on that the writers of Mad Men want to change things up for Season 3. These aren’t drastic changes (not at the start of the season anyway) and Matt Weiner’s staff have earned the right (through wonderfully deep characterisation and an unparalleled attention to detail) to play with the way that the show works. The series alters its focus ever so slightly (shifting from the Draper marriage and other relationships that largely dominated Season 2 to a closer examination of how the Sterling Cooper workplace functions under Putnam, Powell and Lowe) and the tone changes to become noticeably more tense.
It’s the type of tension that doesn’t feel as though it has an obvious source too. There are so many plot threads that could potentially lead to us to an eventual sense of tension relief that we really can’t assume that the atmosphere stems from any one location. The season kicks off in a way that lets us know just how suspenseful things have been at the agency since the sale with the Head of Accounts being called to see Lane Pryce (excellently played by Jared Harris) and subsequently being fired (Pete and Ken than get named in the same position, pitting them against one another and creating more tension). We learn that this is just one of many firings that Pryce has been responsible for as he’s been attempting to cut costs at the demand of PPL. The main source of tension hanging over the season, then, is the knowledge that the agency actually can afford to get rid of some of the characters we’ve come to know and love and that PPL is absolutely willing to do so.
As the season progresses, we see that the strain in the Draper marriage hasn’t faded simply because the two of them want it to. The arrival of a new baby is something that both Don and Betty thought might keep them closer together but in actuality it just demonstrates how nothing has really changed at all. Don and Betty’s marriage might as well be over by the final third of the season as we see that they truly have grown apart — Betty doesn’t really love him and Don only ever really loved the concept of her. In the tenth episode, ‘The Colour Blue’, Betty finally opens Don’s desk drawer and discovers his secrets; Don then painfully admits everything (in a sequence that is a tour de force of Jon Hamm’s acting talents) in the next episode, ‘The Gypsy and the Hobo’. This is all done in such a way that by the time Betty tells him that she wants a divorce in the finale, we know that it isn’t just because she knows he’s Dick Whitman, it’s how that knowledge has made everything else clearer for her.
Don and Betty’s relationship isn’t the only one to come under huge pressure, we see working relationships, both within the office and with clients, become broken in multiple different ways. This season sees Sal finally accept his homosexuality but it also sees a client (one of Sterling Cooper’s most important) force himself on Sal and when he’s refused, Sal’s job ends up on the line. Furthermore, after Roger married Jane and divorced his first wife on the misinterpreted advice of Don, we can see that their friendship is not what it once was. The two of them are barely communicating and, if they are, they’re usually clashing at work. Don does have more than enough of his own problems though, with Conrad Hilton proving to be an unexpected and incredibly difficult client. Furthermore, Peggy and Pete are being lured away from the agency by Duck Philips (who Peggy begins sleeping with) and because Don isn’t able to pay Peggy as much as a man for her work (which we can now see as the best work of the creative team), their dynamic also becomes much less friendly.
By the time we reach the finale, things have been building very effectively without any indication of what the eventual resolution will be. The death of President Kennedy causes the entire world to suddenly hit pause for the entirety of the penultimate episode (‘The Grown-Ups’) but the finale jerks everything into perspective as we learn the final piece of the puzzle, that Putnam, Powell and Lowe is being sold to McCann Erickson.
The finale itself, ‘Shut The Door. Have A Seat’, is just a marvellous episode of television and easily the best one of the season. It’s a thrilling conclusion in which Don concocts a scheme so inspired and daring that it becomes truly captivating to behold. Pryce feels betrayed when he learns of PPL’s sale and, because he has the power to do so, he is able to fire Don, Roger and Bert (and anyone else he needs to) and sever them from their contracts. With that done, they steal all that they need from the offices and make sure that they are holding onto their vital clients as they start a brand new agency, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, from scratch.
It’s a brave thing to do, not only for the characters but for Mad Men as a show. It’s hard to guess if it’ll pay off but there’s just such a sense of opportunity and adventure to the way that it’s handled (that’s not to say there isn’t sadder material in the finale, because with the Draper divorce there certainly is) that I’m more than willing to just go with it. This season features some of Mad Men’s defining moments and is filled with tremendously engaging episodes (the sixth episode, ‘Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency’, has one of the series’ most memorable moments ever and is terrifically well put-together). Season 3 is probably the most compelling season of Mad Men so far (which is a big statement in and of itself) and we’re getting to the point in the 60s where real change is happening. It makes sense then, for the series to become more forward-thinking with its biggest and boldest move yet.
