Mad Men: "Commissions and Fees" Review

Note: Full Spoilers follow for this week’s Mad Men episode! If you haven't seen it yet, beware...

“I feel a bit lightheaded.

“That’s relief. I’ve started over a lot, Lane. This is the worst part.”

If only Lane Pryce were as strong as Don Draper. Look, it’s not like Don is Superman (jokes aside both on and off the show) and we’ve seen him at very, very low points… But it is also true that he’s been resilient and he’s been nothing but determined when he’s needed to reinvent himself. But Lane didn’t see any options. He couldn’t possibly look at this as the “new door opening” that Don was going for.

This was a sad, ignoble end for Lane Pryce, in the midst of another terrific episode of Mad Men. All season, as things got crappier for both Pete and Lane, it’s been hard not to wonder if one of them would hit their breaking point. And we got our answer with Lane here.

Lane tried to give his death a bit more symbolism by killing himself inside the Jaguar his wife had just got him – and while it was predictable that the car wouldn’t start (there had been so many references this season to them being great looking but unreliable), on another show, that failed attempt might have resulted in Lane’s wakeup call and ultimately saved his life. Not here. It was just a cruel final joke on Lane, who simply went to the office and finished the job there – and yes, he “finished the job” in a very literal way, as he left his letter of resignation as a suicide note.

It’s brutal that Don will, presumably, now have guilt over this. Yes, you could argue that he could have looked the other way about what Lane had done, but he really was being pretty damn fair with a man he just found out had embezzled from the company – letting him resign rather than be fired and offering to cover the money Lane had stolen. But considering Lane said the reason he simply didn’t ask Don to loan him the money in the first place (that it would be a “humiliation”) and you have a guy who just couldn’t face looking like a failure, even a temporary one, to his wife, son, father and anyone else of importance in his life.

I’ll certainly miss Lane Pryce and the excellent Jared Harris on this series. It’s easy to forget Lane wasn’t even around until Season 3, as he became such a natural part of the series.

Obviously, Lane’s death dominated this episode, but there was other events going on…

It’s funny how uneasy I get whenever Glen is around, thanks to the creepy scenario he was involved in with Betty years ago. But this episode did a nice job of reminding us that he is a kid – even if he might be a screwed up one. Him confiding in Sally (via attempted nonchalance) about some rather horrible bullying was very well done and helped add some layers to his little insults at her earlier, as he said she looked the same and that his friend had a bigger and better apartment than Don’s.

It was also oddly entertaining to simply have Glen and Megan in a scene together, as they represent very different eras of this show. Of course, that being said, the second Megan started being kind and comforting to Glen, I wondered if he would begin to transfer his revolving door crush on the women in Don Draper’s life to her. But at least this episode ended with a nice moment for Glen, as Don – in the midst of his grief over Lane – let the kid drive his car, after being told that was what Glen wanted to do more than anything.

I’ve noted a couple times this season Mad Men feeling a bit more “TV” than it has in the past, and I’d say that again about Sally getting her period. No, I’m not saying doing a story about Sally getting her first period was what felt a bit contrived, it was more it happened – during her secret date with Glen, as they snuck off together after having not seen each other in over a year.

It’s a minor quibble in an otherwise excellent episode though – and yes, it was amusing to see the continually-thinner Betty first get a semi-sweet moment with Sally, as she comforted her daughter… and then be predictably Betty by lording it over Megan - “I just think she needed her mother.”

The follow up to what happened with Joan last week was very interesting, despite not being a huge part of the episode. Don’s snarky, “Should I leave, so you can all do whatever you want?” during the partners meeting was the most direct reference. But what really intrigued me was the scene with Ken that evoked it…

Ken remains a supporting character on this series, often only popping up for a scene or two. And indeed, he was only in two scenes this week (one of which – the discovery of Lane’s body – he was merely an observer in). But his one big dialogue scene, with Roger, was fascinating.

Ken seems like a really nice guy. Perhaps one of the “best” guys left in the increasingly morally bankrupt Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. And last week, think about the couple of notable scenes Ken was involved in: He was there when the Jaguar guy made his “I bang Joan or you don’t get us as a client” proclamation and then later, his buddy Peggy was incredibly cruel to him, while she was dealing with her own crap – and then went and quit to go to another firm, obviously not honoring their “pact” to stick together. So it was good to see a tougher-acting Ken this week, as his line, “No, I don’t want to be your partner. I’ve seen what’s involved,” to Roger clearly let us know he could put two and two together based on what he’d seen happen with Joan. And then he played some real hardball when it came to how to deal with his father-in-law, including some old-fashioned blackmail and specific demands about leaving Pete out of any dealings. It was very cool to see, and hopefully is setting up some big things for Ken down the line.

Also, the horrible nature of how Jaguar was landed as a client, mixed with the discovery of Lane’s embezzlement, clearly was weighing on Don as he was hitting a “Why do we do this?” crisis he unloaded on Roger. And then… He began to get his fire back again. He talked about how much he wanted to go after true big fish clients and then played things incredibly tough in his meeting with Ed Baxter (Ray Wise) in one of those could-torpedo-things/could-totally-get-them-hooked big moves. But with what happened to Lane, who knows how he’ll process it and whether it will strengthen his resolve to make SCDP more worthwhile or simply make him want out. But I sure am curious to find out.

Lastly, I want to mention the complete lack of Peggy this week. I was talking about Peggy leaving SCDP with IGN’s Matt Fowler the other day and I theorized that while I still firmly believe Peggy will be a part of Mad Men going forward, I could see Matt Weiner leaving her out of these last two episodes of Season 5, as she begins her new job. We’ll see if that continues to be the case next week – though perhaps if Lane’s funeral is a part of the season finale, we will see her. I would certainly hope so, at least…

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/04/mad-men-commissions-and-fees-review