Time Zones (S7x01)
Airdate: 13 April 2014
Written by: Matthew Weiner
Directed by: Scott Hornbacher
Running Time: 47 minutes
Matthew Weiner, having cut his teeth as a writer and producer on The Sopranos, was acutely aware of the peculiar burden that descends upon any showrunner approaching the conclusion of a prestigious television series. The Sopranos itself had famously divided its final season into two halves, separated by a lengthy hiatus, and AMC—taking its cue from that precedent—determined that Mad Men should receive similar treatment. The network's decision to cleave the seventh and final season into two seven-episode blocks, with a substantial gap between them, effectively transformed what had been a single concluding season into two truncated ones. This experiment commenced with the premiere episode Time Zones, and the results, it must be said, were mixed.
The episode, written by Weiner himself, makes a surprisingly modest leap in internal chronology. The Season 6 finale In Care Of had concluded in November 1968; Time Zones picks up barely two months later, in January 1969. The period is framed, rather pointedly, by television images of Richard Nixon's first inauguration—a backdrop that carries its own quiet symbolic weight, marking the transition from the chaos of the previous year to an era of grimmer, more calculated authority.
Don Draper finds himself at both a personal and professional nadir. Suspended from Sterling Cooper & Partners following his alcohol-fuelled meltdown during the Hershey pitch, he is desperate to claw his way back into the game. His conduit is Freddy Rumsen—former colleague, old friend, and a man who understands Don's struggles all too intimately, having battled his own demons with alcoholism. Freddy, now sober for years and working as a freelancer, functions as a go-between, delivering Don's pitches and copy to Peggy Olson, who is meanwhile clashing with her new boss Lou Avery—the man installed as Don's replacement in the office. Peggy, in a subplot that feels somewhat abruptly introduced, is also grappling with new duties as a landlord, assisted in this endeavour by her brother-in-law. She additionally endures an awkward encounter with Ted Chaogh, who has briefly returned from California, their unresolved tension hanging palpably in the air between them.
Ken Cosgrove, still wearing an eyepatch from the hunting accident that nearly cost him his sight, appears increasingly agitated and seemingly incapable of fulfilling his duties as account manager. He asks Joan to handle the Butler Footwear account in his stead. Joan meets Wayne Barnes (Dan Byrd), Butler's young head of marketing, whose MBA has furnished him with an abundance of professional arrogance and a thoroughgoing dismissiveness toward Joan. He informs her that his company intends to handle all marketing in-house. Joan, drawing upon reserves of composure and strategic thinking, convinces him to hold on and reconsider. It is subsequently revealed that Joan has been attending business school, and that her professor offers her guidance on business strategy. When he asks what she can offer in return, Joan—who initially, and rather grimly, contemplates sexual favours—is relieved to discover that he merely wants inside information about SC&P for his own academic study. It is a small but telling moment that underscores both Joan's resourcefulness and the limited currency still afforded to women in this world.
Roger Sterling, meanwhile, has embraced certain elements of the counterculture—principally by sleeping with a hippie girl who enthusiastically shares her bed with other men. He receives a telephone call from his daughter Margaret, and braces himself for what he assumes will be a request for money. Instead, Margaret informs him that she forgives all of his transgressions, apparently as a consequence of her own spiritual reawakening. The scene is quietly disarming, though one suspects Roger is more unsettled by this unmerited grace than he would ever admit.
Don travels to Los Angeles, where he reunites with Megan. Her acting career appears on the verge of taking off, and she seems genuinely willing to reconcile. Don, however, has no intention of relocating permanently; he describes his lifestyle as "bicoastal," a term that captures both the geographical and emotional limbo in which he now exists. They purchase a new house together, yet the gesture feels more like a transaction than a commitment. Megan, more independent than before, now drives her own car and objects when Don purchases an enormous colour television set without consulting her. During his stay, Don also encounters Pete Campbell, who has apparently embraced California's laid-back lifestyle with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. Pete now has a girlfriend, Bonnie Whiteside (Jessy Schram), a real estate agent whose presence suggests that Pete has found a version of contentment that has long eluded him in New York. On the red-eye flight home, Don is seated next to an attractive brunette named Lee Cabot (played by Neve Campbell), a widow with whom he shares an unexpectedly honest conversation, admitting that he was a bad husband. In a moment that would have been unthinkable for the Don Draper of earlier seasons, he declines her offer of sex. It is a small but significant marker of change—or perhaps merely of exhaustion.
The episode concludes with Don alone in his apartment, struggling not to drink. He steps out onto the balcony, standing in the cold, dishevelled and near tears. It is a powerful image, evocative of the isolation that has always defined him, yet it also feels like a pose he has struck before.
Just as In Care Of was underwhelming in comparison with the finales that preceded it, Time Zones looks distinctly underwhelming when measured against previous season premieres. The episode's purpose is strictly functional; nothing of real consequence occurs beyond providing a "where are they now" update for the major characters. It performs this task competently enough, but it remains one of the less memorable pieces in the series' catalogue.
Weiner here appears uncertain about how to offer something genuinely new. Certain plot and character details arrive seemingly out of left field, bordering on retconning. Peggy's sudden supplementary income as a landlord is introduced without preamble. More striking still is the state of Don and Megan's marriage, which at the close of the previous season appeared wrecked beyond repair, yet here is presented as a relationship between two people who are, if not blissfully happy, then at least deeply in love. The tonal whiplash is jarring, and one cannot help but wonder whether Weiner has simply decided to skip past the reconciliation for the sake of narrative convenience.
Director Scott Hornbacher, a veteran of the series, provides a considerable amount of fan service in the form of implied or strategically hidden nudity. The most notable instance occurs when Roger wakes from an orgy with a telephone conveniently obstructing the view of his private parts. It is the kind of visual gag that Mad Men has always employed sparingly, and its inclusion here feels more perfunctory than witty.
In the end, Time Zones is an episode that does what it sets out to do—re-establish the characters in their new configurations and set the board for the remaining episodes—but does so without the inspiration or daring that characterised the programme at its best. Weiner, who once seemed incapable of writing a false note, here sounds tentative, as though he is himself unsure how to begin the long goodbye. One hopes that the remaining episodes of this first half-season will find surer footing.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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