Waterloo (S7x07)
Airdate: 25 May 2014
Written by: Carly Wray & Matthew Weiner
Directed by: Matthew Weiner
Running Time: 48 minutes
One of the greatest historical ironies in the canon of Western culture is that one of the greatest battles in the history of the world gained its popular meaning through the perspective of its losers rather than its victors. Waterloo, the site of Napoleon’s final defeat, has become synonymous in the public consciousness with utter, final, and catastrophic failure. This association served the song with which ABBA won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest, a tune that captured a specific melancholy of defeat. Decades later, it served, albeit more ironically, as the title of the episode that concluded the episode that concluded the first part of the final season of Mad Men. The title "Waterloo" is widely interpreted as a reference to Don Draper’s impending downfall, the collapse of Sterling Cooper & Partners (SCP), and the shattering of his personal life.
The irony of the title is underlined immediately because the plot of "Waterloo" is set in days that were marked by the most triumphant event for the United States and humanity. The plot actually begins on 16 July 1969, with Bert Cooper watching the liftoff of Apollo 11 on television from his Florida home. This juxtaposition creates a potent narrative conflict: a man watching the future unfold while his own past and professional present crumble around him. The narrative tension is introduced when Ted Chaochou takes two Sunkist executives for a flight in his plane. During a discussion about astronauts and death, Chaochou suddenly switches the engines off mid-air. Later, he has a telephone call with Jim Cutler, who inquires about the incident. Chaochou confesses to Cutler that he is unhappy with his life, his job, and his career, and that he wants to quit advertising. Cutler, ever the opportunist, uses Chaochou’s instability to secure his proxy vote as a partner.
With this proxy vote in hand, Cutler plots Don Draper’s ouster from the company. He does so by using Don’s unnanounced intervention in the Philip Morris negotiation as a breach of contract. Don is informed about the proceedings by his secretary, Meredith (Stephanie Drake), who was always infatuated with her boss. She attempts to seduce him in this moment of vulnerability, but Don remains focused on the business at hand. Gathering his allies among the partners—Roger and the ailing Bert—Don uses his vote to stop his firing. Joan sides with Cutler, and the balance of power shifts. However, it is only a matter of time before Cutler prevails, especially after Harry Crane becomes the new partner. Don calls Megan in Los Angeles to inform her of the possibility of losing his job and coming there to join her, but Megan’s reaction is cold and dismissive, telling him without words that their marriage is truly over.
On 19 July 1969, Don, Peggy, and Pete fly to Indianapolis to pitch their ad campaign to Burger Chief. Don, unsure of his future in the company, insists that Peggy does it instead. She is initially insecure, but she delivers the pitch with great success, effectively taking the mantle of Don’s de facto successor. The following evening, like almost anyone in the country, they watch the Moon landing on television in an Indiana motel room. Roger Sterling has decided to watch with his family—Mona, Brooke, and grandson Ellery—while Bert watches in the company of his maidservant. Betty Draper has called an old college friend and roommate, Caroline Graspy (Kellie Marin), and her family to join her while watching the landing. Sally Draper is at first attracted by Caroline’s older, athletic teenage son, Sean (Charlie DePew), but later bonds with his nerdish younger brother, Neil (Elijah Nelson), who impresses her with his telescope. The episode highlights the generational divide here; like almost anyone watching, Sally is cynical about the billions of dollars spent on space exploration when Earth has problems, representing the emerging Boomer generation's view of the 1960s establishment.
On 20 July 1969, soon after the landing, Roger Sterling receives devastating news that Bert Cooper has suddenly died. With Bert out of the way, Cutler, aided by Joan, immediately works to have Don thrown out. Roger is quite aware that Cutler won’t stop and that he himself will be out in a matter of time. Salvation comes from an unexpected angle: SCP’s rivals from McCann Erickson. Jim Hobart, one of their executives who was previously testing waters with Roger, tells him that his company would like to buy 51 percent of SCP and make it a subsidiary, but under the proviso that both Don and Ted continue to work. Roger calls another meeting where Cutler’s arguments about a new future for the company based on computers are easily overwhelmed by the financial bonanza of the merger. The only obstacle is Ted, who is honest about going to end his career, but Don talks him into staying. In the end, even Cutler has to vote for the sale. Don leaves the office, and with his professional and financial future secure for time being, he has a vision of late Bert Cooper performing a song and dance number from the 1927 Broadway musical Good News, "The Best Things in Life Are Free," accompanied by dancing secretaries.
The last episode of the first half of Season 7, with its year-long hiatus before the second half, served as a season finale in all but a name. As such, it resembles a more conventional season finale with "wham" developments that redirect protagonists’ personal and professional trajectories—a beloved character dies, a company changes its structure and identity, and a long-term marriage is over. The episode is notable for making all these events all too conveniently coincide with one of the best-known historical events, although its significance has, more than half a century later, lost some of its contemporaneous weight. The McCann Erickson coming to the rescue is another all-too-convenient example of deus ex machina, a plot device that glosses over the complexities of the business world in favour of narrative momentum.
However, the episode is well-acted and well-directed, maintaining the high quality associated with Mad Men. Elisabeth Moss shines in the scene where she takes the mantle of Don’s de facto successor in the Burger Chief pitch, showing a vulnerability and strength that cements her character arc. The episode also provides bits of fan service, most notably in giving some of the characters proper departure; Megan, while having her final conversation with Don, does so while sunbathing in a bikini.
But the most memorable aspect is the symbolic sendoff to Robert Morse. The musical number, originating for the 1927 Broadway musical Good News, which the character might have enjoyed in person, is a grand farewell to an entire generation. The scene also serves as a grand homage to Robert Morse, an actor who became a legend decades earlier by performing in musical theatre, and who uses this rare opportunity to show his skills in character’s grand exit. It is a fitting end to Bert Cooper, a man who valued the "best things in life" in his own way, even if the world around him was speeding towards a different kind of future. Waterloo may be a song about defeat, but this episode, despite its convenient plotting, manages a poetic and poignant victory for the show's legacy.
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