SAY WHAT??

    

   WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE AND WHY...

DO WE LOVE?

      True, Valentine's Day seems ages ago; yet, that very "Hallmark-ish" holiday emerged as a major theme that played out quite notably vis-à-vis last Sunday night's award-winning drama, MadMen; specifically: Season 7/episode 2. It just so happened that several gals within the ad agency received various forms of flowers and foliage and Peggy Olson definitely thought she was one of them [poor girl!].

Aside from a few majorly rude comments hurled by both Stan and Ginsburg (ouch!), Peggy swiftly gathered up what in reality belonged to her secretary 'Shirley' (i.e., the tall vase of perfect red roses) assuming they were a quasi peace offering from Ted Shaw (double ouch!!). She then proceeded to call him long distance with a most cryptic, disjointed message that no one in this world could reasonably make sense of ... including Ted. Oh, Peggy; what a pitiable little cipher you are even if, in retrospect, the obtuse message was probably your only saving grace. Luckily for Peggy's sake, her obscure verbal gymnastics leave some necessary 'wiggle room' a propos major back-pedaling should she need it later on!

But Peggy's subsequent tirade has absolutely nothing to do with "love", and certainly not unconditional love.  When she ultimately realizes that the floral bouquet actually WAS for Shirley, a look of quiet despair flickers ever so briefly across her countenance. In truth, it's so much more to your advantage to be noticed, if only briefly (and even for the wrong reasons, at times), than not to be noticed at all. OMG, this sounds a bit like the tidings of "Dear Abby"!

Meanwhile, in other parts of the eastern United States, Sally Draper is taking her turn at acting up. After attending her first ever funeral, she loses her purse somewhere in the city and can't remember where she left it. However, it appears 'NOT' very likely to be at the funeral parlor seeing as she and her dorm-mates went on a shopping excursion shortly thereafter. Sally is exhibiting shades of her daddy as far as personal responsibility; that said, it is doubtful that she either sees this or acknowledges it. And this is where the paradox arises: the fact that she may even deny such traits all the more suggests that "the apple doesn't fall far from the proverbial tree"!

Yet, there was a time when she took pleasure in a far more innocent role as "Daddy's little girl" and appeared to prefer him over her mother, 'Betty'. If the truth be known, the coldly callous remark she made regarding her mother in this recent episode almost made my skin crawl. Now in somewhat of a panic after losing her purse and the 'valuable' contents therein, Sally decides to make a much needed visit to her father's Manhattan high-rise and pay her rather aloof respects.

Initially, after confronting her father about his persistent pattern of dishonesty as well as his illicit affair with Sylvia Rosen, it genuinely seems as though Sally is well beyond forgiveness. Later on, when Don orders her a coke and a "patty melt" after she momentarily leaves their booth in the restaurant, Sally still wears an air of nonchalance that is totally convincing. Even when he offers to walk her back into her dorm room at the boarding school, she declines his gesture of evident kindness and parental concern. Moreover, Don appears possibly hurt; it's just that this man has such a difficult time verbalizing his emotional content that one has to look hard for understated facial cues. Does Sally finally pick up on this, as well?

Well, apparently she did. In what was to be the last few minutes of the show, Sally has the stage all to herself. As she exits the car, she also turns around to say:

"Happy Valentine's Day [Dad]...

I love you ".

The camera pans to Draper's face; I imagine he was probably too stunned to even reply as Sally heedlessly saunters away. His expression then grows so quietly earnest that one could almost read his mind's most private and singular thought (slowly, but surely) registering: ..."unconditional love" ... As taciturn as this character may be when it comes to matters of the heart, we can still perceive that he was visibly moved by his daughter's words. Without 'openly' emoting, the audience fully sensed the tidal wave of tender emotion he was experiencing just by viewing his expression. And you know what was additionally conveyed? This man has a soul ... (‘we’, as the audience, most certainly caught a glimpse).

L.P.-G.'s epilogue: as much as I enjoy the show, the closing song  “This Will Be Our Year” by The Zombies  kinda left me flat.  Given the reins myself, I probably would have gone with something more along the lines of either:

·         Turn Around by the Vogues....this would capture aspects of the very last scene.

                                                        -or-

·         It's the Time of the Season ,   Hurt So Bad,  or even   One (is the Loneliest Number)

Yet, with the restrictions and demands inherent to royalties and such, who knows what is feasible within a series' budgetary constraints?

ONE FINAL THOUGHT: fast forward about ~40 years to this potential scenario: Sally Draper has followed in her father's footsteps and heads up the creative end of a large ad agency. There's a request pursuant to a 'lesser tier' auto company for an ad that speaks to the heart-strings of America. Without fully realizing it, this seasoned ad gal taps into her distant past. Her subconscious musings harken back to a time when she felt subtle stirrings that made an indelible mental imprint regarding the ultimate importance of family; and although she can't quite put her finger on it, it most definitely DOES include the image of a car. Applying pen to paper, it takes her less than 5 minutes to arrive at a fresh catch-phrase: "Love...it's what makes a S*****". The pitch is a solid success, yet still she wonders from 'whence' came the definitive wellsprings of her current celebrated achievement!  [Yet we know the answer: one Valentine's Day long ago.]