Addiction. Addiction plays a major role in Mad Men. Whether it’s the addiction to cigarettes shared by almost every character in the show, or a less traditionally recognized type of addiction, like Don’s to sex. Season 7 looks like it will be building upon this theme and finally expanding it to its logical conclusion.
Don is near rock bottom due to his alcoholism and egotism. The last season saw Don reach a strange new point in his life in which he’s finally coming to terms with his past. This is important as part of the addiction theme because his perpetual lying to keep up the Don Draper character appears to be another type of addiction. Once he started lying, he just couldn’t stop, especially after it earned him a powerful career. Interestingly, season 6 ended with Don apparently conquering his addiction to falsehoods as he finally showed his children the home in which he grew up, only a few episodes after a touching moment in which he finally realizes how much he loves his son.
Don again seems to be past his addiction to women that drove so much of the plot for six years. After marrying Megan, Don stayed faithful for a good length of time before falling off the wagon with the girl from Freaks and Geeks. I can’t say I blame him. But Don’s choice to forego the easy hookup speaks to his new development as a character. While his alcoholism is still prevalent, it’s clear that Don is trying to change and trying to become better. Will he succeed in time? Or is the suicide in the opening video ominous foreshadowing?
The most interesting development in the episode is the realization that Don is feeding ideas to Freddy Rumsen in order to keep working in secret. This is interesting because it’s never made clear that Don actually loves his job. It’s always assumed that he loves the money, the lifestyle, and the adulation. But his actions in this episode imply that perhaps Don’s work is another addiction, one that will likely bring him down in the end when it is taken away from him.
The rest of the cast appears to be at different points in their addiction cycles as well. Peggy and Pete seem to be on opposite ends of their quests for power. Pete seems finally to be happy, though that could be just a façade, while Peggy is dealing with another man standing in her way in a position that she certainly believes should be hers. Roger Sterling is caught up in perhaps the most obvious addictions, as he is likely doing drugs while partaking in nightly orgies. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
The remainder of the show looks like it will be built on the characters’ vices and if they can be conquered, or if the vices will inevitably conquer them. I can say with near certitude, however, that someone won’t make it out of this season alive.