Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Another good episode. They are really finishing strong with this season.
Don made the right call in asking for Lane's resignation. If anything, he did him a big favor by allowing him to bow out of the company and not be fired, dragged through the mud and potentially arrested.
There was something just inexorable about Lane's suicide. When he uttered his, "Please," to Don, it became inevitable. I think there was a cultural difference that was being played upon in this episode, a European sensibility that we are all human, prone to human weaknesses versus an American puritanism regarding trust. As prissy and uptight and stiff as Lane could be, he was still not American. And while I stubbornly stand by my opinion about the last episode, that for Don it wasn't the prostitution but the coercion that was the more offensive element in the Jane/Jaguar storyline, I do appreciate the argument about mothers/*hores as it applies to Don. I think Don does have a puritanical streak running through his nature, but it is not about sexuality or honesty so much as it's about abuse of power. In that sense, his stepmother's emotional abuse about his parentage is an abuse of power. And the partners' dishonest coercion of Joan was an abuse of power. That's why he referenced it in the discussion about Jaguar's request over how they will get paid, "I say no, will you wait until I leave to vote on it?" It's the abuse of power that's left the bad taste in his mouth about the Jaguar campaign, and I think that's why he's suddenly so eager to go after the big dogs. It makes Jaguar less important to the firm, less defining, and let's Don distance himself from an account he just outright dislikes.
But this episode belonged to Lane. The desperation that's become more and more integral to Lane's character, juxtaposed against that stiff upper lip. A man alone, so alone, his wife completely oblivious to what's going on with her husband. When Lane told Don that Don was the only decent one, what makes that so sad is that Lane was the really decent one. Roger, Don, Pete are all incomplete men who demonstrate character only occasionally, competing in a world where they don't strive to be good men, they only strive to best other men. Lane was the one with standards, who fought himself to match those standards, and whose "elegant" exit could only be death.
The thing that was odd was that, in Don/Roger/Pete's world, at last they could really have trusted Lane. Because they had something over him. And if Lane had forged their signatures, he might have been put in that position. But it's Don's aversion to coercion that meant that Don has to demand Lane's resignation, and it's Don's ability to reconstruct an identity that makes it impossible for him to understand that other men cannot rebuild an identity, that Lane's weakness is that he cannot bear humiliation. He bore it for too long, humiliation from his father, humiliation from the people at the old firm. Finally, he thought he'd worked his away from ever having to endure humiliation again, even if it meant a "thirteen day loan" that was really embezzlement. Better to embezzle than to endure the humiliation of pleading for a loan from the partners, something as the financial officer he just couldn't do. If he couldn't handle asking the partners to help him out with his tax problems, he certainly couldn't handle resigning from the firm. Going hat in hand to other firms looking for a job, when he had been a partner. Coming up with an explanation for such a choice. Trying once again to build his career, to build a reputation, to build himself into someone who wouldn't suffer humiliation again. He couldn't do it.
As for Sally and Glenn. I thought Betty handled Sally beautifully, and the dig against Megan was a mild one. Thank goodness for Megan, though. Who didn't feel any need to bring Glenn up in that conversation with Betty. Because Sally's relationship with Glenn is a timebomb ticking away, and when Betty finds out, (and she will---if only because Sally's growing up and teenage girls have to find ways to separate from their mothers in order to establish their independence, what better way for Sally to distance herself from her mother than using Glenn) there will be fallout. But for once, Betty actually comforted and nurtured her daughter, and it made it glaringly obvious that Sally doesn't just hate her mother, she loves her, too, and their relationship is so much more dimensional. Which is why I like Mad Men so much, because the surface stories are entertaining and slick, like advertising, and the writers also give us anatomy lessons, cutting way down below the surface, sometimes without anaesthesia, to reveal more about the very human condition of these fictional characters.
There was something just inexorable about Lane's suicide. When he uttered his, "Please," to Don, it became inevitable.
Yes. So sad, so true.
Quote:
I think Don does have a puritanical streak running through his nature, but it is not about sexuality or honesty so much as it's about abuse of power.
Yes, very good insight.
Quote:
But this episode belonged to Lane. The desperation that's become more and more integral to Lane's character, juxtaposed against that stiff upper lip. A man alone, so alone, his wife completely oblivious to what's going on with her husband. When Lane told Don that Don was the only decent one, what makes that so sad is that Lane was the really decent one. Roger, Don, Pete are all incomplete men who demonstrate character only occasionally, competing in a world where they don't strive to be good men, they only strive to best other men. Lane was the one with standards, who fought himself to match those standards, and whose "elegant" exit could only be death.
Once again, sad, insightful truth.
When Roger read the "boilerplate" resignation, I wondered if Lane had labored and labored over a more detailed, telling letter, then gave up and just wrote the standard resignation. This way he does not acknowledge any guilt on his part, but might give some guilt to Don. I dunno.
I appreciate the rest of what you said about Lane and his relationship to the rest of the firm, as well. That guy *internalized* so much.
When Roger read the "boilerplate" resignation, I wondered if Lane had labored and labored over a more detailed, telling letter, then gave up and just wrote the standard resignation. This way he does not acknowledge any guilt on his part, but might give some guilt to Don. I dunno.
Plus, it saves face for the firm. As far as outsiders know, Lane was just depressed, not that he embezzled from the company. Only Don knows the truth, and who knows if Burt will connect the dots.
I really noticed how much of a partnership Don and Megan have in their marriage. She wouldn't let him mope in his room after firing Lane, plus the aforementioned dealings with Sally and Glen. Compare that with Lane and Rebecca (or Pete and Trudy) and how distant and oblivious they are with each other.
I'm struggling with a disconnect here. If Lane's wife could write a check for a brand new Jaguar, presumably out of their joint checking account, why wasn't he able to pay the taxes without "borrowing" from the company?
I will miss his character on the show very much.
I'm struggling with a disconnect here. If Lane's wife could write a check for a brand new Jaguar, presumably out of their joint checking account, why wasn't he able to pay the taxes without "borrowing" from the company?
I will miss his character on the show very much.
Lane knew that check was going to bounce. It was the last straw for him.
In those days, it was common for the wife to be in the dark about the family finances. The men handled it and gave their wives an allowance, including a certain amount of spending money put in the checking account.
Lane knew that check was going to bounce. It was the last straw for him.
In those days, it was common for the wife to be in the dark about the family finances. The men handled it and gave their wives an allowance, including a certain amount of spending money put in the checking account.
That's exactly the way it was in most households. Not only were wives in the dark about family finances, but also about hubby's work. Lane's wife may have been "clueless" but not a rarity for the times.
It was interesting that Don had to take charge and not Roger in Lane's office.
I think they set up the suicide nicely. After Don told Lane to resign, we knew what he was going to do.
The suicide was as much about Don's character as Lane's. Once again, Don has blood on his hands and something else to feel guilty about. His action indirectly caused Lane's suicide just like his brother's suicide.
Don doesn't think things through. He thinks that everyone can be him, Teflon Don, who was able to reinvent himself several times. That's the advice he gave to Lane when he told him that he could start again.
I agree with the poster who mentioned the American-European cultural differences, but I have a slightly different perspective. Americans are used to social mobility through the classes. You are taught that anyone can be president. Be creative. Be inventive. Work hard and you will be sucessful. At least that's what the pre-1980s generations bought into. When you fall, you can dust yourself off and pick yourself up. Lane is from Winnie's generation. He is older than Don. He is a gentleman. There is a code. Honor is important. Giving your word is important. He is from a world where you are born into a class and stay in that class. You follow the rules. He loved American meritocracy, the land of possiblities, and wanted so badly to be part of that. But he was not born into that; his wife, his father were very old school. The Beatles shattered it, to some degree, for England, when they dug themselves out of slummy Liverpool to the top of the world. But Lane was not from that generation. Lane lost honor. He was going to lose his visa. He wasn't going to be able to work himself back up again in England. He couldn't face his family. There was too much shame. He had to bow out as gracefully that he could.
I saw the actor on another show in a small supporting role. I guess he had already made arrangements for a new gig.
Megan is a good big sister, but she will never be Sally's mother. When the chips are down, you want your Mom. Betty is a lousy parent but she still loves her daughter and Sally loves her. It's not the first time Betty has acted maternally. Remember when she gave Sally the riding boots?
Lane lost honor. He was going to lose his visa. He wasn't going to be able to work himself back up again in England. He couldn't face his family. There was too much shame. He had to bow out as gracefully that he could.
I can see that, but Don gave him an out that allowed Lane to save face. He could resign and say "things didn't work out" rather than having Don go to the partners and officially fire him for embezzling. That Lane couldn't be "amazed how much this didn't happen" in the way that Peggy could isn't on Don.
I kind of wondered if some part of that conversation leading up to Glen's driving might end up in a Jaguar commercial.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
