Historically speaking, the episode of Mad Men that airs on Mother’s Day hasn’t always been kind to Betty. Still, Sunday’s episode, “The Milk and Honey Route”—the second-to-last episode of Mad Men ever—felt like a particularly cruel coincidence. After a fall at school sends Betty to the hospital with a rib injury, her doctor makes a startling discovery: she has advanced lung cancer, it’s metastasized and she has about nine months to live, possibly more if she goes for an aggressive treatment plan. That’s what Henry wants for her, but Betty, who you’d think would play victim here (she’s done it over far less), is remarkably at peace with her diagnosis, to Henry’s frustration. (“You’re being morose!” he shouts at her.) Until we saw her struggling on the steps, there hadn’t really been any indication that Betty was sick. The out-of-nowhere circumstances of her diagnosis would probably feel more bothersome if they didn’t end up eliciting some of the most touching scenes in the whole episode.
First, there’s Henry breaking the news to Sally and asking her to talk some sense into her mother. Sally covers her ears when she learns of her mother’s grim prognosis, but she’s ultimately the one who keeps it together while Henry, moments after telling her it’s okay to cry, crumples into sobs. That’s Sally for you—being more of an adult than many of the adults in her life. Then there’s Sally’s homecoming. Betty didn’t want her kids to know she’s sick, so she’s furious when Sally shows up per Henry’s request, but she makes up for the chilly reception later when she explains to Sally that her decision doesn’t come from a place of reveling in tragedy, as Henry believes, but rather, from a place of strength and love. “I watched my mother die. I won’t do that to you,” she tells Sally. “And I don’t want you to think I’m a quitter. I fought for plenty in life. That’s how I know when it’s over.” She leaves Sally one final note—mostly end-of-life instructions along with an affirmation of her love—and goes back to class like nothing’s wrong. And why shouldn’t she?
“Why was I ever doing it?” she answers Henry after he asks why she’s bothering with so few months left. You could say the same about a lot of what Betty endured as the show’s resident punching bag over the years, but at least she’s going out having patched things up with Sally and making peace with life’s curveballs.
The 10 Best Outfits From Mad Men
Betty’s floral dress Her outfit for lunch with future husband Henry is quintessential Betty, with soft colors and a fitted silhouette.Carin Baer—AMCJoan’s pen necklace There are few television accessories as iconic as Joan's pen, always dangling over her chest and eventually insulted by a snarky young copywriter who sees its placement as a power play.Michael Yarish—AMCMegan’s metallic dress
Megan has all the glamour Peggy lacks, with a more fashion-forward sensibility than Betty.Michael Yarish—AMCTrudy’s floral dress
Trudy’s garden party outfit is put to good use when she and Pete impress guests with a mean performance of the Charleston.Carin Baer—AMCPeggy’s pantsuit
Peggy may not be a style icon, but she was well suited for ladder climbing in a loud vest and trouser set at a pivotal moment in her professional ascent.Jaimie Trueblood—AMCMegan’s Zou Bisou Bisou dress
Megan surprises Don and her party guests with a performance as sultry as her little black dress.Ron Jaffe—AMCJoan’s accordion-playing dress
Dresses are like armor for Joan, who wears this form-fitting number while entertaining her husband’s colleagues on the accordion—despite their marital problems.Carin Baer—AMCSally’s go-go boots Sally tries on a very grown-up look for an awards ceremony with Don and Megan, and finds herself in a grown-up situation when she witnesses Roger in a compromising position with Megan’s mother.AMCRoger’s blue suit Roger always looks sharp in a suit, but his sartorial gifts look even more impressive when surrounded by hippies on the farm where his daughter joined a commune.Michael Yarish—AMCBetty’s Italian dress For a trip to Italy with Don, Betty gives herself a makeover more befitting of her days as a model than her life as a Westchester mom.Carin Baer—AMC
Pete Campbell also got something of an ending on Sunday’s episode, and it’s a lot happier than Betty’s. As Pete continues to mend his personal life, amicably co-parenting with ex-wife Trudy, he’s wondering more and more about what will really make him happy in his work life. As you remember, Pete was a little ambivalent about McCann-Erickson’s absorption of SC&P because of how powerless he felt, but Sunday’s episode gave him some of the agency he’s long been craving in his own life. Duck Phillips, in the office to help replace the AWOL road-tripping Don, asks Pete to meet with the head of a luxury airline to convince him to listen to Duck and hire a senior marketing executive (with the idea that the executive would then bring the airline to McCann). Pete and the client hit it off, but the dinner turns out to be another one of Duck’s headhunting projects, as Pete realizes that he’s the candidate for the job before declining on account of his remaining contracted years at McCann. Pete seems to warm up to the opportunity—and the chance to get off the hamster wheel of “always looking for something better, always looking for something else”—but he skips out on another round of dinner after Trudy refuses to go as his date and pretend they’re back together. Not that it really mattered, anyway: a drunk Duck shows up later and tell him to basically pack his bags for Wichita. He got the job, like it or not, and Jim Hobart of McCann-Erickson is happy to let him out of his contract early in the hopes of getting business from the airline’s VIP clientele.
Pete doesn’t seem thrilled by the news, but the next thing you know, he’s knocking on Trudy’s door and asking her to move with him to Kansas and be his wife again. She protests, but a determined Pete nudges her along toward a yes. When Trudy says she’ll never allow him to hurt her again, Pete just answers, “I love you too.” When Trudy tries to think the offer through, Pete says, “Say yes with your voice, not just your eyes.” (Pete Campbell, generally slimy human, is all about that verbal consent, apparently.) And so this is how Mad Men will leave Pete: devoted Midwest family man with a cushy job that seems to value him more than the advertising agencies ever did. There are plenty of characters more worthy of a (mostly) happy ending than Pete — Joan and Peggy, for instance — but let’s hope Matt Weiner is just saving triumphant moments for the series finale. (Joan taking the money and leaving McCann can’t be the last we see of her, can it?)
Don’s road trip last week felt like it could have been an ending—his absence in the last week’s cryptic teaser led one of my colleagues to wonder if we’d already seen the last of Don—but nope, here he is, in some middle-of-nowhere motel, having vivid dreams about his past catching up with him and his identity being found out. So of course, his journey to find himself after giving up on finding Diana takes him to a VFW fundraiser benefitting a veteran who accidentally burned his kitchen down. It’s both stressful and therapeutic, as Don worries about being recognized by another Korea vet (whom you may have recognized as Roy from The Office) while also getting a chance to open up about the very thing that’s haunted him—accidentally killing his C.O. (though he leaves out the identity theft part)—when the conversation turns to grisly stories about the darkest moments of their service.
Whatever bond the men develop, however, is clearly broken when those guys storm into his room and demand that Don return the fundraising money they think he stole. (It’s the closest Mad Men has gotten to resembling Gone Girl, as many live-tweeters noted.) The culprit wasn’t Don, of course, but Andy, the maid-messenger who had the audacity to not only set Don up after hustling him, but also ask for a ride after Don confronts him and makes him give the money back. Don yells at Andy for having “sh—y instincts for a con man” and warns him that having to rebuild your identity isn’t a piece of cake, but Don’s lecture must have been coming from a place of Tyra Banks-esque concern, as he ends up giving Andy the keys to his car.
The last scene of the episode features Don sitting on the side of the road with a grin on his face. Maybe because he’s giving someone a chance to avoid the mistakes he’s made, or maybe because he’s one step closer to figuring himself out now that he’s ridding his life of material goods and distractions. With one episode left, the answers are looming. “Every day it’s a-getting closer / going faster than a rollercoaster,” Buddy Holly cheerfully sings in “Everyday,” the closing song of the episode. Now who could have predicted the beginning of the end—for Don, for Mad Men—would involve so many smiles?
Volkswagen, April 11, 1960 Early in Season 1, Don Draper comes across this Volkswagen ad in an issue of LIFE Magazine. He tells his colleagues he doesn’t know what he hates more, “the ad or the car.” But after discussing Volkswagen's strategy at length, he’s forced to concede, “Love it or hate it, we’ve been talking about it for the last 15 minutes.” VW’s Lemon ad, along with its “Think Small” campaign, was widely considered some of the most innovative advertising of the 20th century for its honesty, irony and freshness.LIFE MagazineCoca-Cola, April 11, 1960 Although Sterling Cooper never counts Coca-Cola as a client, Coca-Cola nearly counts Betty Draper as a model. The ad she models for, later ditched when the agency decides to go with an Audrey Hepburn look over Betty’s Grace Kelly countenance, is a shot of a picture-perfect picnicking family, a counterpoint to Betty and Don’s troubled real-life family. This real Coca-Cola ad from the same year focuses not on familial love but on innocent romantic love, with words by a copywriter who dealt heavily in exclamation points.LIFE MagazineMaidenform, May 16, 1960 One of Sterling Cooper’s clients in Season 2 is Playtex, whose executives are envious of the head-turningly sexy ad campaign by their competitor, Maidenform. Sterling Cooper comes up with an equally sexy campaign that shows the two sides of every woman, at least as contained within the male fantasy: her Jackie Kennedy and her Marilyn Monroe. In its real ads at the time, Maidenform did, in fact, play up the sex factor, though they also included a substantial amount of copy touting the materials and construction behind the seductive product.LIFE MagazineAmerican Airlines, May 16, 1960 Sterling Cooper pitches American Airlines in Season 2, ultimately failing to win the account. Though the pitch meeting is never shown, some of the ideas appear in the meetings leading up to it. Taglines include the rather generic “American flies the world,” “Let’s fly away” and “This is American Airlines,” the latter accompanied by a watercolor of a plane taking off against a darkening sky. This real ad from 1960 tugs at the heartstrings, playing up American Airlines’ role in bringing families together when it counts, at great speed and an affordable price with stewardesses that “keep you feeling at home.”LIFE MagazineLucky Strike, December 12, 1960 Lucky Strike is one of Sterling Cooper’s most important clients throughout the series. The pilot episode focuses on the challenges of advertising for cigarette companies amidst a growing public awareness of the health risks associated with smoking. Don proposes emphasizing the taste and unique quality of a Lucky Strike cigarette (“It’s toasted!”). This real ad similarly focuses on taste, promoting the pleasurable experience of smoking as a distraction from the health-related drawbacks.LIFE MagazinePlaytex, June 30, 1961 Though Playtex is a client of Sterling Cooper’s, we only see the agency’s work for the company’s undergarments division. In 1960, Playtex began selling tampons, baby products and other goods. This ad for disposable diapers takes a different approach from Sterling Cooper’s usual strategy, attempting to blend in with LIFE Magazine’s content by taking the form of a pictorial essay. The arrangement of photos and captions mimics the layout of a reported photo essay, making it easy for a reader to miss, at first glance, the fact that he or she is looking at an ad. LIFE MagazinePepsi, August 31, 1962 In Season 3, Sterling Cooper produces a commercial for Patio Cola—rebranded in 1963 as Diet Pepsi—in which an Ann-Margret look-alike sings “bye bye sugar” to the tune of “Bye Bye Birdie.” This real print ad for Pepsi, from the same year that the episode takes place, relies on the same youthful glow Sterling Cooper was hoping to achieve by alluding to newly crowned superstar Ann-Margret. Youth, the ad suggests, is less about one’s age than one’s attitude (assuming it’s accompanied by a bottle of Pepsi).LIFE MagazineLufthansa, June 28, 1963 Whereas Mad Men’s pitches for airlines tend to focus on the planes and the journey, many aviation companies put their stewardesses (or at least the models playing them) front and center in their ads. This 1963 ad for Lufthansa advertises flights to “darkest Africa,” where Bob Hope had recently completed shooting the film Call Me Bwana. The flight attendant, or so the ad would have its target audience believe, is prepared to treat customers with the same gentle touch as she does George the chimpanzee and Tony the lion.LIFE MagazineBethlehem Steel, June 28, 1963 Don’s pitch for Bethlehem Steel is a picture of the Manhattan skyline with the tagline, “New York City, brought to you by Bethlehem Steel.” The company’s real-life ads also advertise not the steel itself, but things that can be made from it, in this case, soda cans. Whereas Don’s idea played on the notion of reverence for the modern metropolis, the real ad is more lighthearted and playful, imagining a day at the beach made easier by replacing bottles with lighter, smaller cans. LIFE MagazineSamsonite, July 12, 1963Mad Men’s pitch for Samsonite coincides with the legendary Muhammed Ali vs. Sonny Liston fight for World Heavyweight Champion. Don’s last-ditch idea is to play off the photo of a victorious Ali that appeared in newspapers across the country following the fight, comparing the suitcase to the boxing champion. This real Samsonite ad mentions the luggage’s durability in the copy (“dent-resistant body, strong magnesium frame”), but visually prioritizes its value as a handsome fashion accessory to take on exotic trips.LIFE MagazineHeinz, February 14, 1964 Don, Peggy and the team throw around a lot of ideas for Heinz, a hard-to-please client, from “Home is where the Heinz is” to “Heinz beans: some things never change” to “Heinz. The only ketchup.” This 1964 Heinz ad is much less sentimental, though the images it uses emphasize familial togetherness with Heinz at the center. Here, it’s the notion of variety, and the excitement of a dual-identity brought about by multiple ketchup flavors, that’s used to entice customers.LIFE MagazineAccutron, September 11, 1964 In the first episode of Season 7, Don pitches Accutron, using Freddy Rumsen as a mouthpiece. His tagline: “Accutron. It’s not a timepiece. It’s a conversation piece.” The pitch is meant to suggest that the watch makes its wearer interesting. This real Accutron ad from the mid-1960s favors simple design and a briefly stated plug for the watch’s best feature: its accuracy. The copy describes the technology that elevates the watch to best-in-class for timekeeping, so sophisticated that even the government relies on it for satellites.LIFE MagazinePhilip Morris, January 29, 1965 Philip Morris is a recurring player in Mad Men, a desirable client due to its sizable share of the cigarette market. In Season 5, Peggy is asked to brainstorm ideas for a top-secret ladies cigarette, and later, the partners pursue Commander, a Philip Morris brand. This 1965 ad, echoing both Don’s Lucky Strike pitch and real-life Lucky Strike ads, places flavor at its center. Targeting women, it sends the dual message that Philip Morris cigarettes are simply enjoyable and flavorful.LIFE MagazineSunkist, July 2, 1965 When Sterling Cooper & Partners pursues Sunkist during Season 6, Don makes a big push for advertising on color TV, which he believes will be the most effective way to advertise a fruit whose name itself is a color. This real Sunkist ad, though it’s in print rather than on television, uses bright color to its advantage to snap readers’ attention into focus. From bright orange lettering to the shiny oranges to the use of a redheaded model, the ad creates a visual counterpart for the experience it’s meant to sell: “real citrus excitement.”LIFE MagazineHonda, August 13, 1965 Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce only pretends to shoot a commercial for Honda Motorcycles, so we never see any completed work on the show. Honda’s actual campaign at the time took a friendly approach. This ad’s copy suggests that nice people ride Hondas, which the well-dressed couple in the photo reinforces. Playing up its ease of use (“Almost anyone can handle it”), the ad conveys the message that motorcycles are not just for those who prefer leather—white gloves and a knee-length skirt will do just as well.LIFE MagazinePond's, August 22, 1965 In the show, results from a focus group suggest that the best way to target potential Pond’s buyers is to play on young women’s dreams of getting married. This Pond’s ad from 1965 targets a slightly older demographic, as the model, French actress Jacqueline Huet, was a married mother. The visual choices contribute to a sense of elegance and maturity, not least of all the use of a Parisian backdrop, European architecture and a sophisticated gown. The ad is imbued with a slightly modern sensibility, appealing to busy working mothers.LIFE MagazineJohn Deere, April 7, 1967 When remembering the Season 3 episode featuring John Deere, viewers will think first of the gruesome office accident involving a lawnmower. We never actually get to see the agency’s work for the company. The company’s real advertisements, later in the decade, sold lawnmowers by emphasizing how little time those who bought one would end up spending on it. It’s a bold way of circumventing the problem that the company’s product, for many customers, is something they need but don’t necessarily want.LIFE MagazineChevrolet, October 27, 1967 Sterling Cooper & Partners works long and hard in an attempt to secure Chevy’s business, but the company proves a tough customer. This two-page spread from 1967 takes on a lot a once: It introduces the next year’s models, targets a specific demographic (youthful, affluent) and uses significant copy space to tout its use of computers, explain new features and highlight safety, including a brand new safety measure: the seatbelt. LIFE MagazineHeineken, September 12, 1969 Don pitches Heineken on targeting suburban housewives by advertising in grocery stores. Conversely, this ad from the late 1960s is explicitly aimed at men, and not just any men: the model is bespectacled (intelligent), suited up (a businessman) and bejeweled (married). In contrast to ads like Chevrolet’s that rely on ample text, this one is simple, offering two straightforward takeaways. First, that Heineken’s product is distinguished from its peers. And second, that it simply tastes good.LIFE Magazine
