“In the following episode, the character Don Draper will be committing infidelity. In context, infidelity was quite common in the 1960s”
Yeah the disclaimer makes sense for works that were embracing racist tropes, not one simply depicting them.
Mad Men did such a good job with building characters and their motivations, but Lane Pryce's death feels like a cheap way to get rid of a character who they ran out of storylines for. His tax problems come up pretty suddenly, and of all characters Lane feels like the person least likely to be irresponsible with money.
I never took it as him being irresponsible with money but that his character/upbringing wouldn’t allow him to speak up when pouring all his money into the company made him broke. He operated at a loss for years, his pride made him keep it a secret, and then the embarrassment of possibly getting caught stealing seemed less than just asking for help. As far as ending his character, is there a reason you think it’s because they ran out of storylines? An interview or something?
I just happen to be watching the episode. You have listed the reasons the show gave, but it all comes so suddenly. When he comes home from being fired, he is distraught that his wife bought a Jaguar, which implies that they had some money. Of course, wives were less likely to be partners in a relationship back then, but his wife did feel more of an equal to him than most of the other wives. Mad Men was incredibly consistent with keeping its main cast together. They found ways to write Ken back into the show and concocted an entire merger to bring back Peggy to the firm. The only regulars that left the show were Paul and Salvatore, while they found ways to keep bringing back Duck Phillips or Glenn. Lane had a lot of great moments, but it was hard for them to do much more with him because he doesn't really meet with clients or do anything outside of the office.
All interesting points that I don’t necessarily disagree with and I recently watched that season as well. They did have money but it’s because he stole it from the company. Don is covering what he stole but he knows that he’s not going to be able to make money any time soon and that he’d have to go back to England. I think part of him puking in that scene is the overwhelming realization and embarrassment of it all hitting him in waves. I still don’t feel that they ran out of storylines. There’s plenty of characters that don’t leave the office that remained as well. Maybe he was ready to leave the show? I don’t know, but regardless, I think they did a good job planting the seeds of his money issues and shame and it all came together well in the end.
^I agree with most of that, but I’m not sure I would say it came up suddenly. They spent almost the entirety of season 5 building to it. If anything I might say it felt like the show “wanted” to do a suicide storyline and Lane just made the most sense. So it could feel cheap in that way. Edit: was pointing to Morrissey’s post, not the one above
Part of it comes from making the rare show that doesn't involve massive amounts of violence. The Sopranos or Breaking Bad or The Wire can refresh their cast over time because of the nature of their stories, but Mad Men can't have characters being killed off in every episode. Around the same time as Lane's death, they also had a hard time keeping Betty involved. It comes around near the end, but Henry is generally boring and Sally begins overshadowing everyone else in that subplot.
That’s a good point. And making up something about him having to move back home or a heart attack or whatever would seem cheap.
Yeah like Van said, that whole season had a lingering foreshadow of death. Don looking down the elevator shaft, the tea leaves/Betties cancer, the noose Don draws etc. It was definitely building to it, but I actually agree that at the time it seemed more forced for it to be Layne. Given what we knew about him yes his pride would most certainly keep him from asking for help. Though he always seemed to be the more knowledgeable partner in terms of money handling. He had some fantastic scenes in that last season too. Signal 30 is great. If anything they should have leaned more in that perhaps he was more homesick/his marriage was making him depressed. It seemed more believable to me. In a previous season he had already expressed how he was having marital problems.
There is a lot of variation in the quality of facial hair. Stan looks much better with a beard, and the earlier episodes where he does not happen feel bizarre. By contrast, Michael Ginsberg looks like he is wearing a Halloween costume with his mustache. The characters letting their hair grow long and droopy reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where they are not getting enough shower pressure and their hair is a mess.
Unrelated, but (the actor who plays) Pete is great in The Social Dilemma. Made me miss his performance in this show. God, what a perfect show.
lol, no... I think I saw pics of him after the show ended and he still had a pretty good head of hair
Yeah, after years of bugging my girl to watch this knowing she'd love it, we flew through this last summer. Now she considers it one of her favorite shows.
I started working at an ad agency a month ago and I really want to rewatch MM. I’m an Account Executive and realized Pete Campbell is too. Boo.