- IndieWire:
'Mad Men' Has Ended Four Episodes in a Row With the Same ShotA quick screenshot/gif look at what a few people here have mentioned recently.
I feel like "The Strategy" is a shot meaning, especially after the first three episodes, that these characters will never enjoy life until they leave the thing that made them who they are?
From Ken's line of "The life not lived" toward Don to Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?" at the end of "Severance", to Don integrating Peggy about "Then what?" when you achieve major success or goals, then what is there?
When the show first started, all these people were still gaining things in life. Don was the head creative, but his (and their) entire business relied on Lucky Strike. That's all they had. Then he managed a new company to a merger that has made him a millionaire ten times over. Joan went from a secretary, a marriage to now someone who is a partner and can live the good life. Pete was the guy who wanted to be Draper, and while he never got to be Draper, he's millionaire regardless. Peggy went from someone right out of secretary school to a person who could become head of creative, but even if she achieves that, she's right back in the same rut of not being "full" as Don so blatantly was trying to get her to notice.
It seems as rather a true finale, this show is asking the question of "Then what?" to its characters, and to its viewers. That when you focus so much on one thing, in that when you achieve that thing, you're left standing around asking "Is That All There Is?" to yourself when you're not happy at where you're at.
In "The Strategy", they looked happy. They weren't in the office. They weren't talking to clients or working, but just three people who liked each other, and wants/wanted someone to like them back. The more they try to create the perfect life, the further they get away from being happy at their most basic level.