Mad Men
Season 7 Episode 13 “The Milk And Honey Route”
Directed by Matthew Weiner
Written by Matthew Weiner, Carly Ray
Created by Matthew Weiner
Starring Jon Hamm, Elizabeth Moss, Christina Hendricks, January Jones, Vincent Kartheiser, John Slattery, Rich Sommer, Aaron Staton, Kiernan Shipka, Kevin Rahm
AMC
Air Date: Sunday, May 10th, 2015, 10pm

Last week’s Mad Men found Joan (Christina Hendricks) quitting when the sexism became too much, and because Roger (John Slattery) told her to take the deal. That burned me up. Don (Jon Hamm) quits too (I think). I mean, he walked out right in the middle of a meeting and drove away. So if he didn’t quit, he’s fired. First stop? Diana’s husband’s house. There, despite the false story, he was made. And it was awkward. The driving made me feel like he was in danger. First, when he had a vision of Bert Cooper (Robert Morse) in his passenger seat, and I thought for sure he was going to run off the road. And second, when he picked up a scraggly hitchhiker. It made me Google David Berkowitz or Charles Manson to see if the fictional crossing of those paths could be a historically accurate possibility.

Mad Men 7.13 “The Milk And Honey Route” review: Don is on a road trip. He bonds with Sally over the phone, describing his routes. He then bonds with a group of vets that went from strangers to friends to enemies during the course of one night. I was really surprised at how he was treated, and how he reacted to the way he was treated. What didn’t surprise me was how uncomfortable Don always looks. I think that’s what it is about him. He spent the majority of his life living under an alias, its like he’s never felt comfortable in his own skin. I know we can be like, “Poor Don. He’s not comfortable in his handsome, rich, successful skin.” But handsome and rich doesn’t help if you’ve never gotten over what was missing in your foundational years.

He gives a young kid a chance he never had. The kid didn’t deserve it, but maybe this is his redemption.

Betty is in school. And she falls. She is very sick, and in the 1970s – that’s a death sentence. Mad Men managed to shock me. The rest of her part of the episode consumes her entire family (really Henry and Sally – the boys are clueless still). She is being practical and matter-of-fact about the whole thing. She has come a long way.

Pete seems to be settling nicely at McCann Erickson. He’s happy, but Duck (Mark Moses) tries to get him to do him a favor, which turns into something else. He, in turn, is hovering around Trudy (Alison Brie), and she reacts with mixed emotions. I’m scared this means something bad is going to happen to him now.

This episode was strange and dark. Even though there were not many shocks (with the exception of Betty), an air of hopelessness and despair permeated.

I cried a bunch of times during this episode. Get ready for your tears.

The Mad Men series finale airs Sunday night, May 17th at 10pm ET on AMC.

Video

Next on Mad Men: Episode 713

Don’t miss the next episode of Mad Men, Sun., May 10th at 10/9c.

Talked About Scene: Episode 713: Mad Men: The Milk and Honey Route

Sally reads a letter from Betty.