Arts: Mad Men, Season 5

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Tv Club Mad Men, Season 5 Now that Megan is Beauty, will Don be the Beast? By Julia Turner Posted Monday, Jun 11, 2012, at 11:58 AM ET I'm with you, Patrick. What a snoozefest! The season finale was Mad Men at its worst: fussing around with themes and portents; scrimping on jokes and plot. The episode was called "The Phantom" (as in the phantoms Megan's unsupportive mother accuses her of chasing), and it meandered around one of the season's recurring ideas, the notion that pursuing your ambitions—an acting career, a roll in the sack with Rory Gilmore—won't necessarily make you happy.   Why did Megan get the part? I think Don was genuinely charmed by her awkward reel. His smile as he watched her wasn't patronizing; he seemed to regard her as plausible, if not a shoo-in, to play the "European-type" beauty. But I suspect Don was most moved by his conversation with Peggy (whom he conveniently bumped into at the movie theater—one of several slightly-too-coincidental run-ins in the episode). When he hears she's doing well, and says ruefully that he always imagined her success would be by his side, she says, "But that's what happens when you help someone, they succeed and move on." Helping Megan get the part is a way of taking her ambitions seriously, and making room for her success in their marriage. Of course, now that Megan is the Beauty, that leaves Don to play the Beast, and I'm not talking about the cartoon kind that's best friends with a candlestick. You're right, Patrick, that Don's swagger into the ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate America Needs a Lot More Farmland. Here's How To Get It. Mapping U.S. Drone Attacks in Pakistan—Five Times as Many Under Obama as Under Bush Bunheads, a Delightful Show About Dancers and Show Biz From the Creator of Gilmore Girls	Advertisement
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