‘Mad Men’ Recap: A Bleak “Forecast” for Don’s Future
“The Forecast” continues Don’s search for meaning in a world where his entire identity continues to fall away. While others confidently project their own futures, Don is lost and unsure, continuing to ask, “Is that all there is?”
For once, the woman opening Don’s door isn’t his lover. She’s his real estate agent — and she’s clearly not impressed with the state of affairs. With patio furniture in the living room and the wine stain still on the carpet, his place isn’t exactly screaming “buy me now.” Don is in worse shape than his apartment: sleeping late, disheveled, and totally uninterested in the impression he’s leaving on the attractive woman in his bedroom. He manages to pull himself together, but just barely; the old, reliable Don Draper persona isn’t quite as reliable as it once was.
This sorry scene is in stark contrast with Joan’s opulent LA business trip to the satellite office where Lou Avery is living out the rest of his contract. Ironically, Lou — who’s Scout’s Honor comic is getting attention from the animation giant Hanna-Barbera — might be having more success in LA than anyone else. Joan meets Richard, a wealthy man who accidentally walks into the SC&P office, and lands a date.
Back in New York, Roger volunteers Don to write a speech about the future of SC&P. Don is usually a natural for a task like this. But this time around, envisioning the future proves impossible. Like a kid desperate to discover the perfect term paper thesis, Don asks everyone — Ted, Peggy, even Meredith — to give him ideas about the future. He doesn’t find what he’s looking for. Ted wants to land a pharmaceutical account. Peggy wants to be the agency’s first creative director, achieve fame, and “create something of lasting value.” Meredith’s view of the future looking like the World’s Fair is the most promising idea so far. Fine answers in their own right, but nothing containing that spark he needs to paint the picture that (usually) only Don can do.
At the Francis house, Betty helps Sally get ready to go on a summer Teen Tour. Maybe Betty’s interest in psychology degree is making her more empathetic, because their rapport is better than they have had in years. But any camaraderie is predictably short-lived. Sally has a visitor: her longtime friend and former neighbor Glen. Now a tall, thin, attractive 18-year-old, he’s physically come a long way from the awkward pre-teen who asked for a lock of Betty’s hair. But he’s still just as creepy; his purpose for visiting — inviting Sally to Playland — is just an excuse to see Betty. Betty is unnerved by Glen’s appearance, and the uncomfortable chemistry is undeniable, to Sally’s total disgust. Glen has an even greater purpose for his visit, surprising everyone by announcing that he enlisted and is shipping out to Vietnam next week == a shocking shift from someone who had been passionately anti-war. Sally is livid — “You’re gonna die! For what?…Those kids (at Playland) are the same age as the ones you’re going to be murdering in Vietnam.” Betty is the only one who appears to support his enlistment, but is clearly disturbed by both his choice and by their freaky chemistry.
Back at Don’s place, his agent finds that the apartment’s sad state makes it practically unsalable. Don’s standard suggestion of obscuring that reality with a little glamour and hope isn’t going over so well with the agent, who has a much more realistic assessment: “It looks like a sad person lives here…This place reeks of failure.” Ouch. His usual tactics are failing him everywhere.
Meanwhile, Joan’s date extended to the morning and went very well, though neither quite believes that the other is being honest about their life circumstances. Though Joan declines Richard’s offer to stay in LA, she’s pleasantly surprised when he calls a few days later with the news that he’s in New York and wants to see her. (Good thing he called instead of visited; his Mr. Furley-inspired leisure suit is one of the more horrific styles in the history of fashion.) Joan and Richard are well matched and are seeing some possibilities. Yet he’s still a little wary that he doesn’t know the whole truth about Joan’s personal life. And he doesn’t. Just like Diana in last week’s “New Business,” Joan confesses that she has a child after initially telling him she was childless. Richard, who has a forecast for his own future — “a plan, which is no plans” — is clear that he doesn’t want a kid to get in the way of that. Joan walks out.
Richard later comes back to apologize. He realizes that having his future mapped out so rigidly means he could lose out on other good things. He’s going to buy property in an upscale part of the city, far from Joan’s neighborhood, and welcome both her and her son into his life. (BTW, Joan is a millionaire. Why is she still living in a shoddy, two-bedroom apartment in an undesirable part of town?)
As Don continues to struggle with the forecasting speech — he’s even looking at trade magazines for inspiration — Mathis walks in, fuming. After an outburst during a client meeting, he took Don’s advice to not apologize, but to smooth it over with humor. Mathis’s terrible attempt, cribbing a line from Don that essentially called the clients a bunch of spineless assholes, backfires. The situation erupts into an all-out fight where Mathis lays into Don, saying he has no character and just gets by on his looks. Like Megan last week, Mathis calls him empty. Don rightfully fires him, but those words sting as Don is again confronted with the reality that his once-impenetrable persona is cracking.
Back at the Francis home, Glen returns to make a pass at Betty. His awkward, stilted come-on falls flat, and in a record-breaking second moment of maturity, Betty refuses him. Glen confesses that he enlisted because he failed out of college, and Betty, with a tender and motherly demeanor (which she can’t seem to muster for her own children), forecasts that Glen will make it home safely. But these are empty words and her sadness is abject as she confiscates a toy gun from Bobby and Gene.
Sally is out to dinner with Don and her Teen Tour friends, who are also talking about the future. The other girls have clear ideas of who they want to be, but Sally seems lost and annoyed by constant questions about her life plans (kind of like her dad). But that annoyance makes way for something much bigger, as once again, one of Sally’s friends is coming on to one of her parents. She’s clearly disgusted and lays a few truth bombs on Don that echo both Megan and Mathis. “Whenever someone pays attention to you or Mom — and they always do — you just ooze everywhere.” She reveals that her only dream is to be a different person than her parents. Don is the good dad, not fighting her but telling her that though she may be a lot like both of them, she can be more.
Don comes home to the good news that the agent sold the apartment. Or at least it should be good news, but Don is taken aback by the loss of his home, his final connection to the life he had with Megan. Don stands outside his own door, unsure, dejected, and looking down the hall at the apartment and the life that will be gone for good. With everything finally stripped away, what’s Don’s forecast for his own future?
What did you think of “The Forecast”? Tell us in the comments!
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