Mad Men: "In Care Of" Review - IGN (2024)

Ultimately, it wasn’t to be of course, but plenty still occurred, as Megan quit her job, believing she and Don had a game plan. Don’s clearly grasping at straws suggesting to Megan they be a “bicoastal” couple. Megan herself seemed to understand the marriage was effectively over, but we’ll see next season if they've finally dropped any pretense of there being a future between them.

While the Ted/Peggy storyline risked moving into more standard soap opera territory, with Ted’s proclamations of true love, its oh-so messy resolution was not. Ted was pretty horrible to Peggy, coming to her home, instigating them finally crossing the ultimate line and telling her he was gong to be with her… only to then instantly change his mind and decide to flee all the way across the country. Ted’s been a fascinating character to chart, as we went from Don’s POV of him as the slimy enemy, to a much more sympathetic look at him via Peggy… but, like everyone on Mad Men, he’s far from perfect, that’s for sure.

While they weren’t the focus of the episode, we also got some important baby steps for Roger and Joan, as she tentatively let him into their son’s life. It was very amusing how Roger put Bob in the hot seat at one point, but not because he was on to him and his secrets, but simply because he was threatened by his presence in Joan’s life.

Nothing was resolved here with Bob – he’s still around at the company and prospering (James Wolk is going to be a busy guy this coming year, it seems, assuming he stays with Mad Men while also starring on CBS’s new comedy The Crazy Ones). But we saw just how vindictive and dangerous Bob could be when he sabotaged Pete, knowing he was setting him up for disaster getting him into that car.

This ended up being another big episode for Pete in general, on the heels of quite an eventful season. The death of his mother was both bigger than life (a boating accident! Perhaps involving foul play!) and yet also just… one of those things. His brother wanting to just let it go and Pete agreeing sort of said it all about how they were, in truth, likely just relieved the situation with their mom was over, even though they were grieving her loss.

It was a great touch to discover Pete was moving to L.A. so casually, as he talked to Trudy about it. It’s a big surprise, since it would, presumably, take Pete away from being as big a part of the show – but I am optimistic he’ll still get his due in Season 7, given how integral a part of the series he’s been. Trudy watching him be so tender with their daughter was a sweet moment, though I assume more of a saying goodbye feeling than “I want him back" feeling. She pretty much said as much when she told him, “You’re free. Free of her. Free of them. Free of everything.”

But let’s get back to Don, because this was one hell of an episode for him. That scene with Hershey’s was just amazing, for so many reasons. First, there was the power in just seeing Don be Don and so deftly grab a client with a perfectly told, evocative, emotional, nostalgic pitch – but fueled by the knowledge that the story he was telling was total BS, given Don didn't have anything resembling those experiences with his father. But when Don suddenly began talking about growing up in a whorehouse in that boardroom? That was a gasp-worthy moment. Suddenly, Don Draper was no more and Dick Whitman was the one talking to his partners and an incredibly important potential client. Don had already shown a wish to tear down a lot of the walls he’d built, but this was pivotal scene for him and the show, given the where and how he chose to cross this line.

In the wake of this, Don decided to let Ted go to L.A. instead of him and I took that as him simply not wanting to see Ted go down the road he has – one where he likely would, despite what he said, keep things with Peggy a secret, while allowing his marriage to both continue and deteriorate, simultaneously.

Don being given a forced leave of absence was another crucial turning point. Don was right about the fact that he’s “tolerated plenty” from many of the other partners too, of course, and I am curious why they all decided he’d finally gone too far. They claimed it wasn’t just Hershey’s, though clearly, that had to be a huge factor. Still, if anything would be an eye-opening moment for Don, it would be this – going from about to move to L.A. to start a new branch of the company (and yes, blatantly stealing Stan's idea in the process), to being told by the other partners he needed to stay away for awhile, within just a few days.

What a lovely, touching moment the episode ended on. Don bringing his kids to that house and introducing them to the real history he’d kept hidden for so long -- telling them, “This is where I grew up” -- was such a big end-of-the-journey type moment, it’s almost surprising Matt Weiner used it now, and not in the true final episode of the series. What’s really interesting here is that, with the exception of Peggy, there was actually a lot of hopefulness about the final moments we left the main characters at, despite the hard moments getting there included in this very episode. Pete has a new start in a new state. Roger is spending some time with he and Joan’s child for the first time. And Don is being more honest with many in his life, most importantly his kids, than he ever has been about where he really came from. It was an emotional yet ultimately optimistic end to the season… even though no doubt there will be plenty of hard times still to come before Don Draper’s story truly reaches its end.