[Reaper16]

Now I'm thinking hard about that scene where Don watched Megan's screentest. What say you, CP? Did Megan's screentest show great promise as an actress? Or did it confirm that she doesn't have the stuff to make it?

I'm debating between the two readings. On one hand, Don could realize that she's got the stuff to be successful, and decides to help her on her way towards success...knowing full well that her success will drive them apart.

On the other hand, Don might just see in her screentest the same expressions that she uses in their marriage, which would be upsetting. So he is casting her aside by helping her to "get better and move on."

Or he knows that, like her mom said, she's chasing a phantom...he knows she'll never be a real artist, so he helps her get into commercial acting...knowing that advertising is the death knell of her artistic dreams. She then becomes a diminished person in Don's eyes -- much closer to Betty (remember, she was a model!) than the Megan of earlier this season. Which makes it considerably easier for Don to cheat on her, then.

And even if Don is sincerely trying to help Megan, his help makes it psychologically easier for him to cheat on her. So, like Lane's wife tells Don earlier, Don's gesture of help is mostly done for selfish reasons.


Most of the signs point to Don reverting back to full-on adulterer mode. That isn't that interesting to me; it feels like the show stalling Don's character arc to milk out a couple more seasons that the show actually needs. BUT I very much appreciate the mystery behind exactly why Don's little cliffhanger moment happens.

For a season in which Mad Men laid its themes more bare than it ever has (to the point of being frequently on-the-nose, ESPECIALLY in the finale), the last 12 minutes or so with Don brought back the mystery that this show as always thrived on.