“The Other Woman”

[Any useful discussion of a television episode will contain “spoilers.”]

Zoller Seitz’s entire analysis is brilliant, starting from the top:

Q: What’s in Mad Men’s rearview mirror?
A: Every other drama on television.

“The Other Woman.” Say it aloud a few times, stress different words, and listen to what happens. “The Other, Woman.” Or “The Other: Woman.”
This episode was about woman as Other in the eyes of men, and how women must constantly negotiate that and try to transcend it. But let’s not get too hung up on that, because Mad Men doesn’t, and because the episode was about situational ethics, loyalty, treachery and compromise. It was the best all-around installment of Mad Men since “The Suitcase,” and while its subject and structure were different, deep down it was great for the same reason that “The Suitcase” was great: because its situations and resolutions summed up and expanded on everything we’ve seen since the start of Mad Men.

Definitely don’t stop there. I particularly agree that Don — playing in gender rather than racial politics terms the moderate 19th Century Republican who formally favors racial progress but not really doing anything that might get in the way of business to Pete’s shameless Redeemer — doesn’t come off much better than his more overtly scummy and/or passive-aggressive colleagues. The whole episode — brilliant in itself and with one payoff after another from intricate plotting and character development that goes back to the first episode — is remarkable. I also agree that we shouldn’t neglect the high quality of the actors, particularly Moss (so good most other showrunners would have had a less satisfying conclusion by letting Don talk her into staying.)

Indeed, MZS wants “to go on record saying how flat-out amazing this season has been.” He’s right, of course, I don’t know that there’s any precedent for an excellent show hitting new peaks in the fifth season. Too close to home, David Simon half-wrecked the final season of The Wire because he could no longer resist the urge to have his characters spoon-feed his diagnosis of What’s Wrong With Journalism rather than dramatizing it, and one of the key related plotlines (created to prove points rather than for dramatic interest) was also silly. Weiner’s former employer was still capable of astonishing episodes in its fifth season, but also had more than its share of Chase’s self-indulgences (with the pretentious, kitschy dream sequences really starting to get out of control.) The way Weiner and his colleagues have largely managed to avoid the pitfalls that generally get even the greatest at a comparable stage of development is a stunning achievement.