𝓜𝓪𝓭 𝓜𝓮𝓷 Part 2/2 𝓣𝓸𝓹 10 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼: 𝓓𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵𝓭 𝓓𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓮𝓻 On paper, Don is a picture perfect man; wealthy, Handsome and respected. However, underneath his admirable exterior lies a man trying to find himself. Originally born as, Dick Whitman, born of a prostitute and growing up on the brink of poverty, he aspires to be something bigger and leave his awful life as soon as he gets the chance. That happened when his lieutenant in Vietnam died and he swapped identities with him. ‘Don Draper’ is meant to represent the perfect man in 60’s society, Don himself actually aspires to be ‘Don Draper’. While he is not a good person, he is relatable with his internal and external struggles. His relationships with his family are just incredible, most notably with Betty and Sally. Don’s final arc, ‘the road trip’ is one of my favourite arcs of all time and Don’s soul searching was just beautiful. John Hamm absolutely nailed the character of Don and definitely the perfect choice. I love his platonic relationships with Anna and Peggy, I feel like they are the two people who really know who he is by the end of the show. Throughout the show Don often strives while talking with strangers, this is because he knows after he opens up to them nothing will happen, life will move on. However, when it comes to the people he loves, Don is a closed book. As Betty said, “that poor girl, she doesn’t know that loving you is the worst way to get to you.” That’s why in the final episode Don’s conclusion is so fitting, he can no longer run away from his problems and can only face them. Such an incredible character and my second favourite protagonist of all time. Best Episode - Person to Person 𝓟𝓮𝓽𝓮 𝓒𝓪𝓶𝓹𝓫𝓮𝓵𝓵 Pete is honestly one of the most realistic characters ever put to screen, his desire to be like Don often ends up with him looking like a bad person. If you told me at the start of the show that Pete would be my second favourite character in the show, I’d laugh. That’s just how well written his character development was. Coming from money, Pete often tries to prove himself worthy of being in the position he is which is admirable because he could just do the bare minimum and still be fine. Pete’s dynamic with Peggy is also amazing, being able to overcome having a child together must be so hard and the scene where Pete finds out that she had his child was very underrated. I love how in the final season he got back with Trudy and recognised his wrongs, it was such a good way to conclude his character. Best Episode - Signal 30 𝓟𝓮𝓰𝓰𝔂 𝓞𝓵𝓼𝓸𝓷 Being a receptionist as the start of the show, to the head of the creative team by the end was great. Peggy’s always been a stand out as she was a woman in the 60’s who powerful men respected. Always putting her work first, it obviously meant that she was good at her job. I loved her search for a partner throughout the show, most people just not being enough for her and in the end it was Stan who finally ended up with her. Her ambition just makes her so likeable, someone who wants to be taken seriously in a society that won’t accept it. Peggy’s burger shack pitch was one of my favourite moments from her, it parallels Don’s carousel pitch and shows her ambition paying off. Her platonic relationship with Don was the best from the show, she might be one of the only receptions Don didn’t sleep with and that’s because he realised she wanted to be taken seriously, a similar case to Megan. I love how after all the hard stuff Peggy went through she got a happy ending. Best Episode - The Suitcase 𝓡𝓸𝓰𝓮𝓻 𝓢𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 ‘The end of an era’. Roger is the epitome of the shows title, a true business man. However, Roger is at the end of his career throughout the show, he’s been at his best and now he’s just waiting for the day he retires. Roger is part of ‘the best generation’ and now struggles to find respect as he hasn’t got anything new to offer in the company. He is such an entertaining character, watching him try to recapture his youth in the show was so interesting. He has everything he could ever want but he doesn’t face any challenges anymore, which is why he tries to gain respect of the people he works with and not just by having his name on the building. I feel like his dabbling in LSD was so important to him because it made him see life from a fresh perspective and made him realise some very important things such as the decision to leave his wife. His conclusion was short but sweet, it showed him engaged to Megan’s mother in one brief shot. The brief scene is what makes it so good, he no longer had to prove himself as he finally found someone who challenges him like back in the day. Best Episode - Far Away Places 𝓢𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓓𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓮𝓻 Sally is such a breath of fresh air in the show, while the show handles work and relationship problems, Sally just represents the struggles of growing up. I also find it interesting how they chose for Don’s eldest child to be a girl as it would be too predictable to just make her Don’s son who is exactly like him and wants to follow in his footsteps. However, Sally is a smart, independent and mature young woman. Throughout the show, Sally is shown to be one of the most mature characters which is strange as she’s a child but she reacts the most reasonable in most situations she’s put in. For example, in the penultimate episode when Sally finds out Betty has cancer, instead of looking for comfort from Henry, Henry looks to comfort from her. It was such a beautiful scene. I actually do like her dynamic with Glenn in the later seasons of the show, he really did look out for her even if it was just to get with her mum. Her acting was honestly incredible, especially being so young. Sally’s final phone call with Don shows how far she’s come, asking Don to treat her like an adult which is what she deserves. Best Episode - 𝓙𝓸𝓪𝓷 𝓗𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓪𝔂 Joan is a character who you can really route for throughout the show, due to her good heart and overall intentions. Also due to her being disrespected constantly by men who can’t accept a woman in power. I love her relationship with Roger and how even when they weren’t together, they looked out for each other on multiple occasions and I can’t overlook him being the father of her child. I also like her search for true companionship in the show, there were quite a few men but Joan was never an easy woman to get with. In the episode ‘the other woman’ Joan showed her company how much their respect means to her by sleeping with a man to secure an account. That episode never fails to make me sad just seeing how corrupt the world really was back then. Thank god Joan got a happy ending because she deserved it after all she went through. After leaving McCann Erickson for obvious reasons, she started her own film production company which we can only hope went well. Best Episode - The Other Woman 𝓑𝓮𝓽𝓽𝔂 𝓓𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓮𝓻 In the first 3 seasons of the show, Betty was easily my second favourite character. I felt like a fresh perspective, being a depressed housewife who’s married to a man she hardly knows. Betty is the ideal woman in the 60’s being pretty and someone who doesn’t ask many questions. She is far from a great mother but she’s still likeable. After her divorce she got a lot less screen time, and for a while became unreasonable because of the way she treated Don but then you have to see it from her perspective and it makes you sympathetic towards her. Henry was a much better suit for Betty and a better husband than Don. Her final arc was her decline in health due to cancer, Betty’s final letter to Sally was heartbreaking and shows how considerate she can really be. Definitely one of the saddest conclusions in the show, I still love her character. Best Episode - The Milk and Honey Route 𝓛𝓪𝓷𝓮 𝓟𝓻𝔂𝓬𝓮 Such an underrated character. Originally from London, Lane came to New York to become a financial officer at Sterling Cooper and in turn was the catalyst for SCDP. Lane was always in the background, trying to find meaning in a job that didn’t really have much use for him. His home life wasn’t much better as his wife left him for a while and we also got to see his father who was clearly abusive throughout his life. Lane was finally happy for the first time in a while with a new woman and then his father just completely ruined it and made me feel so bad for Lane. His final arc being his downfall was actually tragic, after forging Don’s signature to fix his financial troubles he was sadly fired. Commissions and Fees was honestly one of the saddest episodes I’ve seen and Lane’s conclusion was heartbreaking. R.I.P to the goat Best Episode - Commissions and Fees 𝓜𝓮𝓰𝓪𝓷 𝓒𝓪𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓽 ambitious and smart, she starts as Don’s receptionist at SCDP and then becomes his wife after she reveals her good nature after going on a trip with Don and his kids. She could’ve gone far in advertising similar to Peggy but she wanted to peruse a career in acting which ultimately wouldn’t get her far. In 5x1 she’s shown to be the complete opposite of Don being very open and talkative, an early sign of the twos demise. I really like how she provides a different dynamic than Betty too, as Megan challenges Don in ways Betty couldn’t. Moreover, I like how Megan stands up to Don when he’s in the wrong and doesn’t let him have control over her. After moving to California, the two just simply fall out of love and their honeymoon phase. Personally, Megan’s conclusion with her taking the million dollars from Don shows how she does t have faith in her acting career and she can fall back on the money to buy her fame or if she doesn’t make it, she’ll be comfortable. Best Episodes - Far Away Places 𝓑𝓮𝓻𝓽 𝓒𝓸𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓻 While being in the being in the background for a lot of the show, Bert is undoubtedly the reason for the company’s reputation and he started it all. Bert is the true depiction of a leader in the show, many times he shows why by making the hard decisions. It might be rare, but he also showcases a few times why he’s in the advertising business, one instance I often go back to is when he comes up with Miss Blankenship’s funeral card in literal seconds. I love his final scene with the musical element to it. The choreography was a callback to the actors early days as a play actor. Bert died in the start of a new era (while watching the moon landing) as it shows that it was the end of his era, a very suitable conclusion for a great character. Best Episode - Waterloo 𝓢𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝓡𝓪𝓷𝓴𝓮𝓭: 1 - Season 7 2 - Season 5 3 - Season 4 4 - Season 6 5 - Season 3 6 - Season 1 7 - Season 2 𝓣𝓸𝓹 10 𝓔𝓹𝓲𝓼𝓸𝓭𝓮𝓼: Person to Person [7X14] The Suitcase [4X7] Commissions and Fees [5X12] In Care of [6X13] Waterloo [7X8] The Milk and Honey Route [7X13] Shut the Door. Have a Seat [3X13] The Crash [6X7] Far Away Places [5X6] The Gypsy and the Hobo [3X11] 𝓣𝓸𝓹 10 𝓓𝔂𝓷𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓬𝓼: 1. Don x Peggy 2. Don x Betty 3. Don x Sally 4. Don x Roger 5. Roger x Joan 6. Don x Pete 7. Pete x Roger 8. Megan x Don 9. Bert x Roger 10. Peggy x Stan 𝓣𝓸𝓹 10 𝓜𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼: The Hug [7X14] Meditation [7X14] “Somebody very important to me died” [4X7] The Hershey’s Pitch [6X13] Lane’s Conclusion [5X12] Betty’s Letter [7X13] The Final Dance [7X8] Peggy’s call [7X14] The reinvention [3X13] Don’s confession [3X11]