Mad Men -- Episode 4:11

At heart, Matt Weiner is a puritan. He believes that you should suffer for your sins. Don cheated on his wife, and lost his family. Joan cheated on her husband, and had to get an abortion. Pete and Peggy had a one-night stand, and Peggy ended up in an asylum. That's just how Matt Weiner rolls.

This week, it was Roger's turn.

For years, we have watched Roger Stirling flaunt every principle of puritanism. Puritans believe in hard work; Roger revels in leisure. Puritans believe in the family; Roger was a serial adulterer who eventually left his wife for a secretary. Puritans believe in good and evil; Roger believes in having fun. And for the most part, he has gotten away with it. But not this week. In one painful scene after another, we saw Roger's humiliation. We saw him sitting in a hotel room, hiding from his partners because he could not admit that he knew Lucky Strike was leaving. We saw his final confrontation with Joan, as she made clear she never intends to sleep with him again. We saw Cooper ruthlessly say that Lee Garner, Jr. never respected Roger because Roger didn't respect himself. Finally, and most pathetically, we saw him with Jane -- his trophy wife -- who continues to spend money that Roger may no longer have. We saw that Roger can't tell Jane the truth about his work -- that he's embarrassed by the book that she thinks he wrote -- that he is really and truly all alone in this world. It was exactly the sort of portrait a Puritan would paint of how an non-repentant sinner ends his days -- alone and friendless.

But this may not be the end. The sinners on Mad Men are nothing if not resilient. Take Don, who has suffered for his sins over and over -- and yet who continues to survive and sin some more. This week Don's advertising agency is on the verge of going under, he's using emotional blackmail on Dr. Faye to persuade her to give him her trade secrets, he's under enormous stress of all kinds -- and yet he still manages to have yet another one-night stand with someone from the office. Of course, Matt Weiner will punish Don for his wrongdoing. But the worst punishment will probably fall on poor Dr. Faye, who joins a very long list of beautiful and intelligent women who give their hearts to Don Draper -- only to find that Don Draper does not actually exist, that he is only a cold and beautiful mask, and that while he feeds on the love of women, he has no love to give in return.

But for me, the saddest part of this week's episode was watching the suffering of Pete Campbell. I have no sympathy left for Roger and Don; they get what they deserve. But Pete has tried, throughout this year, to be a better person. He has worked hard. He has been faithful (as far as we know) to Trudy. He has resisted whatever temptations he still feels around Peggy. And yet he is trapped on a sinking agency, with his unctuous in-laws pressing him to take a job that he doesn't want, and with no partners who he can really trust.

(I have nothing to say about Peggy's story because I don't care about Peggy or her boyfriend Abe.)

I think there are only two episodes left and a lot of plot lines to resolve. I am very anxious to see how it all turns out.