I have a theory. A gut feeling really, based on nothing but the subliminal cues of the show and the need for good television. I think Don Draper is going to die by the end of season six of Mad Men and it looks like I’m not alone.
Ta da.
At the time of this post, there are only three episodes left for this season and one additional season to follow. Mathew Weiner has said for some time that season seven is the last. Wouldn’t it be interesting if it was done without who we thought was the main character?
Last week, I listened to a Girl on Guy podcast in which Aisha Tyler interviewed Carlton Cuse, one of the original creators of Lost. They repeatedly listed Mad Men as one of the shows that’s able to be what it is because of Lost. They also talked about how interesting it is to viewers to know that no character is safe. Typically, when we see our hero in peril, we know it’s ultimately going to be OK because he’s the hero, he can’t die. But the creators of shows like Lost and Mad Men want to keep us on our toes and not get comfortable with anything.
The references to death, particularly from Don’s point of view, in this season have not been small. More like a smack across the face with a bullhorn in your ear – “THERE!! DID YOU SEE THAT? THAT WAS DEATH! DID YOU LIKE IT? I SAID, DID YOU LIKE IT, BOY?!” Don has been ill or hurt in a few different ways from a few different poor life choices, each getting progressively more deadly. Wouldn’t it be interesting if he just wanders in front of a bus or crashes his car into another while driving down a windy road blissfully unaware of the oncoming peril as he daydreams about his beautiful young wife and their brand new baby? (Oh, wait…wrong show.) He spends so much time thinking about it – what it’s like, how it feels – while missing out on the sensations of truly living, it would be interesting to see him have to cash in his chips without feeling it.
There are plenty of other story lines not involving Don that would still make season seven interesting. Heck, he could even come back as a memory, a ghost, or some sort of Christmas Carole narrator if we need his pretty face to make the story last.
While it would be sad to see him go, I kind of hope I’m right. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see how everyone’s lives go on without Don? Has he made an impression on anyone? Would anyone care if Don Draper dies? The whole point of advertising is to become unforgettable. We know he’s good at his job, but how long would it take before he’s just a fuzzy memory? As a living character, he is becoming just as irrelevant as Cooper. The only thing he has left is his work, so realizing this might just kill him. How long before he’s padding around barefoot in his office in the sky?
Would he care (if we get to see him post-mortem or as it’s happening)? Would he welcome death? Has he really been living this life or was this all a glimpse into the “what-if” as Dick Whitman debated taking the real Don Draper’s dog tags off of the dead body years ago? Oh, the intrigue.
What do you think will happen? Will we even see a seventh season or is Mr. Weiner punking us all and ending in 2013?
P.S. Can we spend a moment on how beautiful this show is? The last 30 seconds of last night’s episode was simply gorgeous. Who knew Pete Campbell, a joint and a Joplin song could upstage the sexy pair of legs walking by? Golly, that was an amazing shot. If someone can find this GIF, I will love you forever and ever and make it my screen saver.
