I think they had Betty die of cancer at that age as a call-back to her wish in the early seasons to die with her beauty intact like her mother had.

Isn't one idea around Betty's death to show how fucking unfair life can be? Betty spends all that time miserable and stuck and the moment she starts moving to change that, she gets a death sentence.

My favorite instance of Pete being loyal to Don was when he falls on his sword to prevent Lockheed from exposing Don’s past, losing the account in the process. It was moments like these that made his redemption in the end feel earned

Edit: it was North American Aviation. Haven’t seen it in a while

I loved the character of Dawn Chambers, she was a great person

28:45 LOVE the theory that Dawn and Don have the same name to show the complete invisibility of secretary's work on behalf of the men they work for.

I also think both Don and Dawn are symbolic of upward American class mobility in capitalism, when the show started, the most upwardly mobile character when it comes to class was Don, he went from an illegitimate child of a subsistence farming drunkard in the dust bowl and then living in a brothel to being head of creative (even Peggy didn't go up in class as much as that!) and by the show's end we are meant to realize Dawn is carrying that torch. And both Dawn and Don place all their faith in their competency and hard work to make up for their 'class deficiencies', and unique fear of being 'found out' as 'the other'. Of course, some of that is projection about Dawn because we didn't get much time with her, but I think a LOT was shown by her reaction to the loss of MLK. When Joan tried to hug her and relate to her as 'you are black, therefore this must be tough for you' her reaction was 'I really would rather just get back to work' which was SO Don-coded to me. To refuse the vulnerable bonding moment and the chance to open up, and just avoid pain with productivity. Dawn showed she did everything possible to avoid identity politics, and that's why I put her as even more Don coded than Peggy (who did lean into identity politics to justify her own self advancement from time to time). She puts her mask on at work and never acts like coworkers are family (same with Don), while Peggy does definitely take her personal life to work more (including affairs with multiple coworkers in Duck, Ted, Stan). So Dawn is the real successor to Don, imo, hence her sharing the name

Video essay content being dumped literally the day after I finished binge rewatching Mad Men and have bad post Mad Men depression. Perfect!!!

15:44 YUP, Henry is a PERFECT example of how 'the good guy' often only exists in juxtaposition. If Henry was a 2026 husband, he's condescending and makes so many decisions for Betty without consulting her and a rather disengaged Dad. But compared to Don, he's a sweetheart.

22:15 this was the norm back then. Hell even the Anna Draper storyline where she's never told she has cancer was a common thing. Gary Cooper - yes, THAT Gary Cooper - was not told about his cancer diagnosis, but his family were.

I just finished the show and I felt like the endings for most of the characters were so tragic albeit realistic. They were all victims of circumstance and the time period. Betty’s ending especially hit hard and shows how unfair life can be. Still reeling from the ending😭

Dawn was one of my favorite characters.  I love her talking about how insane the office she works in with her friends.

23:50 Yeah, but that's what I LOVED about Roger surviving and Betty not. I come from a family of doctors, and so many times the patient who was hanging on by a thread lasts for decades and the marathon runner gets one MI and passes. It IS cruel and illogical and.....realistic. In bigger populations, yes, in general, healthy living leads to longer life, but anecdotally there's so many wacky unpredictable outcomes.

Thanks for doing these! It's the mad men community I always wanted to find 😂

"Give a hoot. Don't pollute. Never be a dirty bird. In the city or in the woods, help keep America looking good." A public service announcement from Woodsy the Owl from the 70's (80's? At this age, it all runs together.)

I felt the same way about Betty  Especially when the letter was read. It felt so haunting and that is the way show left her

i can’t help but think Bettys death might be a slight nod to Breaking Bad, showing how even after a cancer diagnosis she is still a victim of her circumstance and doesn’t get to cinematically “break bad” aka achive any sort of self-actualization. she remains a prisoner of her time and a tragic characher through and through. she can’t hide the diagnosis from her family because they call up Henry, Henry informs Sally against Bettys wishes, and her family kind of forces her into getting treatment and dropping out of college. i feel like that is the entire point of her characher, unlike peggy or joan, she didn’t manage to break free from the restrictions placed on women in the 60s

Pete had the best scenes as well. The fight with Lane, the phonebooth scene with Harry, falling down the stairs and the scene with the MacDonald at Tammy’s school

Pete was no worse than Don or Roger, yet is often viewed as the villain of the show, along with Betty. Pete was so much like Don in that he was mostly deeply unhappy, and he got most of his genuine satisfaction from his job, and that was the only time he could aspire to be the version of himself he wanted to be. Pete had a privileged upbringing, but had a cold, aloof mother and a father who viewed him as a dissapointment. His only consistently strong relationship was with his brother, because they bonded over the same upbringing. Pete's unhappiness stemmed from his aspirations to be a suave mans man like Don but hindered by his slight, boyish looks, his youth and impetuously pompous and childish personality when he didn't get his own way. He had complex emotions and constantly analyzed what his life was supposed to feel like to him.

I got to say hearing you recognize the female characters experience and feelings, is doing nice things to my brain.  

Really enjoying your videos.

mad men was a fever dream of my adolescence and I love reliving it with your commentary thanks for this series ❤

You're the reason why I've been making my friend rewatch Mad Men with me, glad you're still uploading these!