Time & Life (S7x11)
Airdate: 26 April 2015
Written by: Erin Levy & Matthew Weiner
Directed by: Jared Harris
Running Time: 48 minutes
The concluding chapters of Mad Men were never merely about a television series signing off; they represented the final, desperate opportunity to deliver proper farewells to a pantheon of characters who had become cultural touchstones, but more importantly, they served as the opportunity for Matthew Weiner and his production staff to settle some deep-seated emotional and narrative debts. One of the most palpable of these debts concerned the tragic departure of Jared Harris as Lane Pryce in Season 5. Harris seemed to take the exit with a heavy heart, and the impression one is left with is that the actor himself was grieving the loss of the character even as the show moved on. This lingering sentiment is felt acutely in the final season, not just in the performances, but in the direction. Harris himself returned to the fold, albeit behind the camera, to direct the Season 7 episode Time & Life, turning the director's chair into a vehicle for processing the grief of Lane Pryce's death.
The title of the episode, "Time & Life," carries a dual significance, referencing both the titular building that housed Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce since 1964 and the magazine itself, the very symbol of the era's cultural dominance. Set in June 1970, the episode opens with Roger Sterling discovering a disturbing fact: the lease for the office space has not been paid. Roger, naturally assuming this is a clerical error by the staff, soon discovers that the reality is far more consequential. McCann Erickson, having acquired SCDP less than a year earlier, has decided to absorb the subsidiary directly into their own headquarters, effectively dissolving the brand they fought so hard to buy.
The news of this absorption is a bombshell that the senior partners desperately try to contain, but the impact is immediate and devastating. The atmosphere at the office shifts, and those who learn of the news react with a mixture of resignation and anger. Don Draper, ever the visionary, proposes a bold, perhaps foolhardy plan: they should simply relocate their entire operation to Sterling Cooper West, the California subsidiary, and take the most lucrative clients with them, forcing McCann to drop them over conflict of interests. It is a plan that speaks to Don’s refusal to accept a subordinate role, but it ignores the reality of corporate power. Ken Cosgrove, when approached about bringing Dow Chemicals with him, flatly refuses. His bitterness over his firing from the original SC&P run deep, and he has no intention of helping the people who pushed him out.
The tension culminates in a meeting between Don and the McCann executives, led by the formidable Jim Hobart. Don attempts to articulate his resistance and present his counter-argument, but Hobart and his team quickly silence him. They inform him that the merger is a fait accompli and that the resistance is futile. To break any remaining spirit, they mention new, even more lucrative clients like Coca-Cola, a client that would have been the crown jewel of the newly merged entity. The news begins to leak to the staff, and Roger attempts to rally them with a pep talk, but his charisma is strained. In the final scene, Don stands before his staff, trying to deliver one of his legendary pitches, but his words fall flat. The visible anxiety and uncertainty of the employees render his powers of persuasion meaningless; they are too busy worrying about their futures to listen to his grand visions.
While the corporate drama plays out, the episode delves into the personal lives of the characters as they confront the writing on the wall. Seeing the end approaching, various characters dedicate themselves to settling personal affairs. Ted Chaough announces that he is divorced after returning from California and is now seeing an old college girlfriend. Peggy Olson, having decided to stay with McCann rather than join Don in California, confides in Stan about the secret she has been keeping: she has placed her son up for adoption. It is a revelation that highlights the sacrifices she has made throughout her career. Roger Sterling admits that he is seeing Marie Calvet, a move that feels like a desperate grasping for connection after the loss of Joan. Don Draper, ever the wanderer, unsuccessfully attempts to track down Diana Baur, a journey that appears to be as futile as his career rebellion. Pete Campbell and Trudy Campbell experience a brief reunion, attempting to secure a proper school for their daughter Tammy. Their quest leads them to the headmaster, Bruce MacDonald (William R. Moses), a descendant of the ancient McDonald clan. MacDonald rejects the Campbells over a centuries-old grudge related to the 1692 Glencoe massacre—a story that feels strangely timeless in its petty vengeance.
Written by Erin Levy and Matthew Weiner, Time & Life is an episode that probably isn’t among the darkest, but is certainly among the most melancholic. The characters are finally facing the end of an era, with many of the pillars of their old world gone. Bert Cooper is dead, his company is following him into oblivion, and Roger Sterling, for all his business successes and hedonistic lifestyle, complains to Don that without the company and without a male descendant, the "Sterling" name will die with him. The melancholic tone permeates the entire episode, reinforced by the soundtrack. Briefly, the episode features Acker Bilk’s "Stranger on the Shore," a composition that had been used with great effect in Season 2 and again in Season 6. Having the honour of being one of the period music pieces to be featured in more than one episode, here it serves a different purpose; it marks the passage of time and the inevitable arrival of the end.
However, not all narrative beats land with the same weight. Many of the side storylines, such as Joan Holloway’s continuous affair with Richard Burghoff and Don’s fruitless attempts to reconnect with Diana Baur, look like filler designed to bulk out the runtime rather than advance the narrative significantly. The scene that depicts Pete Campbell getting involved in a centuries-old clan feud with Bruce MacDonald looks like a weak attempt at comedy designed to temper the melancholic tone. While Pete’s punch to MacDonald could be interpreted as a form of compensation for the character who is usually the recipient of such confrontations, it feels slightly out of place and forced.
Much more successful is the subplot involving Lou Avery. Lou, having ditched his company, is pursuing his dream of working in film animation, this time in Japan. At first, Don and Roger seem to be laughing at his enthusiasm and the ridiculously low salary he is willing to accept for a dream job. However, viewed from the perspective of a modern audience, in light of the enormous strength of the Japanese animation industry today, Lou’s career move appears to have been prescient and wise. It is a moment of genuine character insight wrapped in a joke that only half-landed at the time.
Ultimately, Time & Life is a solid episode that still showcases the great production values and the immense talents involved in Mad Men. It captures the specific zeitgeist of 1970 and the specific mood of a company on its deathbed. Yet, the episode also serves as a testament to the fact that Matthew Weiner and his team were clearly exhausting their creative energy. The show was running on fumes, producing a mix of brilliant character moments and narrative filler, but it went out on its own terms, leaving a void that few television dramas have managed to fill.
RATING: 6/10
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