Mad Men - Lost Horizon - Review: "Fateful Decisions"

As the team from SC&P moves into their new offices at McCann Erickson, we get to see how the transition goes for everyone. And it definitely does not go smoothly for the key players in “Lost Horizon.” Peggy doesn’t have an office, Roger feels guilty for how things have turned out, Don can’t stand to be one of many at the agency, and poor Joan is treated like crap. The transition is a bumpy one. For Roger and Peggy it eventually gets better but this espoused new beginning isn’t looking so good for Don and Joan. They both make decisions that may drastically change their futures.

Something More

For Don, things start off well at McCann Erickson as the bosses treat him like gold. They bought an agency in Milwaukee so he can work on a Miller beer account and they tell him to ask for anything he wants. But he sees where he really stands when he walks into a room full of creative directors. He is just one in a crowd now, a talented creative director amongst many. Suddenly Don loses interest in his work. It wasn’t surprising – Don likes being needed. And as his daughter recently pointed out, he doesn’t respond well to not being the center of attention. So when he sees a room full of assembly-line employees all acting the same, he immediately loses interest. If he isn’t going to have a special role at the company, he doesn’t want a role at all.

At this moment he looks out the window and sees a plane on the horizon. As he watches, the man giving the presentation asks the group, “How do you get him to open his mind? You better have something more.” The words are purposely placed. Don is thinking about something more. This is not really the life he wants. So why pursue it? Good timing has never been Don’s forte. He doesn’t wait for just the right moment to act. If he wants something, he takes it right then. And in this moment he doesn’t care about his job but only what else could be on the horizon. So without even thinking, he gets up and walks out of the room.

But it’s interesting to see where he goes to find the meaning he’s searching for: Diana’s home. I was a little shocked to realize Don has become almost obsessed with Diana. She is a symbol of his past, someone he identified with because of their mutual pain and past mistakes. She’s also a hope of true connection. But there’s no denying his actions are sad and desperate, tracking her down when she doesn’t want to be found, proving he had no one else to turn to. Even his old pal Bert Cooper tries to talk him out of going after her. (What a fun surprise to see Bert again!) Bert straight up tells Don he shouldn’t be following a waitress who doesn’t care about him. But Don won’t listen to the voice of reason.

At the house Don takes on another new identity to get the information he wants, claiming to be Bill Phillips, the man whose beer pitch he walked out of (and who had given Don his card when he met him). But Don’s ruse doesn’t last long. The husband knows right away Don isn’t who he claims to be. I love watching Don when he gets caught. He never flinches. He is good at pretending because he has a lot of experience. So he just takes a breath and gives another false identity. But the husband knows why Don is really there. He lets Don know he isn’t the first one to come looking for Diana, a “tornado” who leaves a “trail of broken bodies behind her.” The husband says he’s just now getting over everything that happened, losing his daughter to God and his wife to the devil. (What a great line.) He advises Don to stop trying to save Diana, which is good advice for a man who likes to save women.

The trip is a failure. Don is left with a sad picture of the daughter and family Diana left behind. And he retains no hope of finding her. With that sliver of hope gone, he doesn’t know what to do with himself. He has nowhere left to go. So he picks up a hitchhiker and drives him to his destination out of the way. Don would rather drift aimlessly with a stranger than go back to New York. He has lost the vision of his horizon. By the end of the episode I was left with a new thought: Would Don start over again with a new identity? Suddenly the thought felt comfortable. I could easily see Don repeating old behavior by re-making his life in a new city with a new job and a new name, trying desperately not to repeat his old mistakes.

Change in Status

The episode pulled a bait-and-switch when it came to Peggy and Joan. We start off realizing Peggy may be the one at McCann Erickson in danger, not Joan. Peggy has a “mixup” that leaves her without an office and she’s being lumped in with the secretaries. Suddenly I was considering what would happen if Peggy was the one left behind. If Peggy gets forced out, she wouldn’t have much left. She doesn’t have a personal life to fall back on, and she’s banked on this job happening. But just when it looks like Peggy is out, the writers pull the switch and we’re back to being worried about Joan. (Although I’m still not convinced Peggy is fully safe at work.)

Poor Joan. She has come so far to reach another blockade, another wall of jerks pushing her down. All throughout the episode she had to deal with men who didn’t respect what she’s achieved for herself. Dennis, the idiot who offends a man in a wheelchair, has the gall to imply she has no right to be pissed off. Ferg then blatantly offends her while hitting on her at the same time. He expects Joan to show him a “good time” but implies she would have no purpose there if she lost her accounts. When Joan realizes his intentions, she looks like she is about to cry. And you want to cry for her. Again, she’s being demeaned and devalued. When she finally goes to see Jim Hobart, he outright tells her that her status has changed, implying the only way she could have gotten her partnership is if someone left it to her in a will. (This reminds us that Joan slept with someone to get that partnership. But in every moment since then she’s proved she deserved it.)

It was tough to watch Joan get screwed from all angles, with no one able to step in and help. She truly feels trapped. But she still fights with everything she has, at least initially. I loved watching Joan stand up for herself with Jim. As usual, she was fearless. She stuck it to Hobart and didn’t back down, dishing it out as hard as she could. But she realizes she is up against a wall. When she tells Roger it’s not about the money, you understand it’s now about how she’s been treated. And even the full amount of money won’t make up for that. But Roger points out she doesn’t want to end up with nothing. As he encourages her to take the deal, you see her resignation. She can only fight an uphill battle so long, especially with no one backing her up. It was awful to watch. You want Joan to win the fight. You know what she deserves and you want to see her get it. But now I’m interested to see what she does moving forward. After getting the job she’s always wanted, will she take the money and stay home with her son or travel with Richard? Would she be happy with the domestic life? Or will she look for another job? Could she possibly change her mind and fight them in court? I am eager to see what comes of her crossroads.

A Little Push

Some of the best moments in the episode came between Roger and Peggy, a fantastic unexpected pair like Pete and Joan last week. Roger and Peggy each have such different perspectives and approaches, yet they complement each other. It was nice to see them helping one another as they reminisced about what they'd experienced, letting down their defenses in sharing that bond.

I loved Peggy stating exactly what she was thinking, telling Roger she wasn’t enjoying herself and that this was the most attention he’d ever given her. Then she tells it like it is when she lets him know he had a place in what happened and he was supposed to look out for them. Of course Roger doesn’t need her explaining the obvious. He already feels guilty for his part in everything (a reflection you hear later when he tells Joan it was all his fault and he was trying to take care of it). But Peggy helps him move forward, even if she’s just a sounding board for his thoughts. In some ways Peggy is like a stern mother, telling people things they don’t want to hear. But it forces them to deal with those thoughts. Soon Roger is telling a story of jumping off his cruiser after receiving a little push. It was a reminder to both of them that they could do this. Roger’s optimism complemented Peggy’s pessimism.

At the same time, Roger’s teenage-boy peer pressure lured Peggy out of her shell. In this case, he was the bad influence that she needed. Roger was hilarious as he gave a shocked Peggy the picture of an octopus pleasuring a lady and then disputed the fact that she needs to make men feel at ease. By the time these two were drunk and Peggy was rollerskating to Roger’s organ music, I had to laugh at the brilliance of their scenes. Roger can loosen up anyone, and Peggy was the perfect choice. Their encounter clearly gave her all the confidence she needed with her new job. When she finally shows up to move into her offices, I laughed out loud. As she comes down that hall with a cigarette in her mouth and the octopus painting under her arm, we see a Peggy ready to conquer the world. I think this may have been my favorite Peggy moment ever.

Additional Observations

- What a great scene between Betty and Don. Betty’s newfound maturity is still surprising me. She stops Don’s massage because she doesn’t need it. In the past she would easily have encouraged Don to stay while they were there alone. But the thought doesn’t even seem to cross her mind. She’s too engrossed in her studies and her excitement. Despite his outward smile, you get the feeling Don would really have liked to be wanted and needed in that moment. But Betty didn’t need him. She was doing fine on her own. He’s disappointed but still lets her know how proud he is with his final words of encouragement. He may not find the comfort he needs from her, but he gives her the support and respect she’s always craved. This was a nice moment.

- It seems Don has picked a new place to live. I’m not sure if we’ll ever see his new digs but it was pretty funny that Meredith will be decorating it. And it was amusing to learn he had been living at the Plaza Hotel in the meantime. Meredith also impressed me with her loyalty, sticking up for Don to Jim Hobart, acting like there was nothing to worry about when she was clearly worried herself.

- I enjoyed the scene between Don and Joan on the elevator. It was nice to see them both yearning for the way things used to be and trying to reconnect with one another. I am so happy their relationship is not strained any more. It’s so much better to see them appreciate and respect one another.

- Roger had a great line with Joan: “You started something that could leave you with nothing.” It’s a sentiment that could be applied to many of the characters, especially Don.


***All photos courtesy of AMC.


What did you think of "Lost Horizon?" Do you think Don will go back to New York? What do you think will happen with Joan now? How much did you enjoy the Peggy and Roger scenes? Sound off in our comments below.

About the Author - Tonya Papanikolas

Tonya Papanikolas is an online, print and broadcast journalist who loves covering entertainment and television. She spent more than 10 years as a broadcast news anchor and reporter. Now she does everything from hosting to writing. She especially loves writing TV articles and reviews for SpoilerTV.