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"\"Are you ready? Because I want you to pay attention. This is the beginning of something.\"\nThose three sentences delivered by Freddy Rumsen direct-to-camera lead off a potential ad campaign pitch for Accutron watches. But ultimately, Freddy's speech marks the beginning of the end for AMC's beloved and highly-stylized period drama, Mad Men.\nSEE ALSO: If Other TV Shows Adopted 'Mad Men' Opening\nMad Men's\u00A0seventh and final season picks up in January 1969, a handful of months following season six's finale that left Don Draper's personal and professional life in turmoil: the partners at SC&amp;P informed Don that he'll need to take a leave of absence from the company with no set return date following a slew of unprofessional incidents; and Don's marriage to Megan continued to buckle under the weight of his self-destructive ways, climaxing with word that the couple's move to California would have to be cancelled, even though Megan had left her job in New York to start over in Los Angeles.\nMad Men's premiere does not offer us our whiskey-drinking antihero until several scenes in, instead opening with Freddy in conversation with Peggy Olson over Accutron. Penned by series creator Matthew Weiner and titled Time Zones, the episode does not shy away from winking at its audience with allusions to the impending sunset of the series \u2014 as Freddy finishes his Accutron speech, for example, Peggy says in awe, \"That's a home run ... Actually, it's kind of an end-run.\"\nWith Don on leave from the advertising company, Bob Benson in Detroit, and Ted Chaough and Pete Campbell now based in Los Angeles, it's still business as usual at SC&amp;P. Lou Avery now occupies Don's office and runs creative, though he lacks the brilliance and finesse of Don \u2014 and routinely butts heads with Peggy. Ken Cosgrove (eye patch and all) is frustrated with his lack of mid-level ad men to carry some of the workload, and struggles with Bob and Pete's distance from the office. Without any \"underlings\" to handle meetings with clients, Ken barks at Joan Harris to cancel his meeting with Butler Shoes' new head of marketing. Joan, as we find out, quickly takes matters into her own hands.\nWe finally rendezvous with Don a few thousand miles away \u2014 at LAX, to be precise. Megan picks Don up from the airport for his short visit to Los Angeles, whisking him away in a convertible. Though Don canned the California move in the previous season, we learn Megan still went forward with her plans to transition to LA and pursue her TV acting career. A bicoastal marriage has since unfolded between Megan and Don, though the distance between them takes shape beyond airline miles and time zones \u2014 Megan has delved into the Angeleno artist lifestyle, while Don is still very much a Madison Avenue ad man (albeit, one with a complicated employment situation).\nSEE ALSO: Gaze Into the Dreamy Eyes of Don Draper\nFollowing a dinner with Megan's rep, Megan and Don return to her house situated high above Los Angeles in the hills. Megan, though, is too drunk to consummate his arrival in her city, leaving Don to sleep alone on the couch. Later, Don surprises Megan by purchasing her a large TV where she can watch herself on. Megan snaps at Don, noting that the pricy television is embarrassing to have given how broke her fellow acting friends are in LA.\nNevertheless, the two try to make their marriage work, even though Don confesses later in the episode that Megan knows he\u2019s a \u201Cterrible husband.\u201D\nAs Don visits LA, Ted returns to New York for a quick trip to SC&amp;P. Conflict between Peggy and Ted has not been resolved, instead melting into an awkward tension. To recap, Ted professed his love to Peggy and said he would leave his wife for her at the end of season six, but got cold feet and begged Don to let him be the one to move to California in order to get a nation\u2019s worth of space between him and Peggy, and save his family and marriage. Ted appears happy during his current trip to New York, but Peggy, living alone in the city (and apparently managing her apartment complex), still harbors deep resentment toward Ted.\nInstead of canceling Ken\u2019s meeting with Butler Shoes\u2019 head of marketing, Joan boldly decides to attend in his place \u2014 and quickly learns that Butler is aiming to exit SC&amp;P in order to establish an in-house advertising department. Realizing that she\u2019s in over her head when it comes to navigating such complex client waters, Joan turns to a business professor for advice on how to keep Butler Shoes as a client. Joan\u2019s interaction with both men \u2014 the marketing chief and university professor \u2014 showcases not only the sexism still present in 1969, but Joan\u2019s tenacity when it comes to making herself essential to SC&amp;P. Though Butler\u2019s head of marketing, the biz professor and even Ken all underestimate Joan, she surprises all three with her business savvy, even leading the Butler exec to seek advice towards the end of the episode \u2014 \u201CTell me what I should do,\u201D he asks Joan.\nPete is happier (and tanner) than he\u2019s ever been now that he\u2019s based in Los Angeles. He and Don grab a bite at Canters Deli before Pete offers Don a tour of SC&amp;P\u2019s petite but upscale LA office. He tells Don about his apartment near the Tar Pits, and introduces him to a young real estate agent who is helping Pete shop for a house \u2014 and dating Pete, evidently.\nRoger Sterling, we learn, has fallen into a deep rut. We reunite with Roger in his bedroom early in the episode, him naked and asleep on the floor next to several young, naked hippies and the remainders of last night\u2019s party. He receives a call from his daughter, Margaret, who suggests they get a bite to eat together to make amends. During the brunch, Margaret tells her father that she forgives him for his \u201Ctransgressions\u201D and abandoning her mother, and confesses she has done some soul searching to release anger and embrace love in her life. Roger bucks at Margaret\u2019s new way of thinking, even though he now associates with hippies that embody the Free Love movement of the \u201860s and \u201870s. Roger\u2019s involvement with these hippies, as it turns out, is more due to use of substances, rather than actual new age substance. Though he literally has more people in his bed than ever, Roger has little to hold onto in life now, and doesn\u2019t fully process his daughter\u2019s words.\nDon flies back to New York on a redeye, and finds himself seated next to a beautiful woman \u2014 Lee Cabot, played by Neve Campbell. Lee and Don fall into conversation during the flight, and she reveals her husband passed a year ago due to \u201Cthirst\u201D \u2014 alcoholism. Lee tells Don her husband led a fast-paced work life like Don, and was sent to the hospital by his company. It is here that Weiner offers us foreboding dialogue that resonates with both Don and the viewer.\n\u201CI thought he was really getting better. Then, a doctor told me he\u2019d be dead in a year,\u201D Lee says. \u201CAll of them would be.\u201D\nDon confesses to Lee that he feels \u201Clike a broken vessel\u201D at this stage in his life, possibly a reference to a Biblical psalm \u2014 \u201CI am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel.\u201D Before landing, Lee propositions Don, suggesting he continue to keep his transgressions from Megan and go home with her after the flight. Don, however, turns down the offer, and heads home to meet with Freddy at Don\u2019s apartment.\nDon, we realize, has been using Freddy to pitch his ad ideas to SC&amp;P. Why Don has continued to do covert work for the firm is not entirely clear, though he is still being paid during his leave. Freddy reminds Don how important it is to return to SC&amp;P soon in order to not be \u201Cdamaged goods\u201D \u2014 and after all, Freddy would know, since he once was told to take a leave of absence from the firm in order to get dry.\nUnbeknownst to Peggy, the Accutron pitch was all Don\u2019s. This revelation exemplifies the strong connection between Don and Peggy \u2014 though unaware of Don\u2019s involvement, Peggy nevertheless champions Don\u2019s ideas at SC&amp;P. In her private life, however, Peggy\u2019s loneliness is wearing on her. As her brother-in-law, Gerry, leaves her apartment, Peggy questions whether he should go all the way back to Brooklyn at such a late hour. \u201CI don\u2019t like Anita [his wife] alone in the house\u201D at night, Gerry says as he departs, thereby leaving Peggy alone in her apartment. After Gerry exits, Peggy breaks down in her apartment, sobbing by herself.\nThe season premiere ends with Don deciding to not drink before sleeping alone in his apartment. He tries to close his balcony\u2019s sliding glass doors, but they\u2019re jammed open, letting in a cold January draft. Frustrated, Don surrenders to the weather, slides open the doors and goes outside. He sits in the cold night air, shivering violently in little more than a robe and boxers \u2014 no woman, no alcohol to comfort him.\nWeiner does not deprive \u201CMad Men\u201D fans of the historical and literary references that his show has become known for in this season premiere. While Megan sleeps next to him in LA, Don watches 1937\u2019s \u201CLost Horizon\u201D on the new television. Pages of text appear on screen: \u201CIn these days of wars and rumors of wars, haven\u2019t you ever dreamed of a place where there was peace and security, where living was not a struggle but a lasting delight? Of course you have. So has every man since Time began. Always the same dream. Sometimes he calls it Utopia, sometimes the Fountain of Youth, sometimes merely \u2018that little chicken farm.\u2019\u201D The \u201CLost Horizon\u201D quote underscores one of the fundamental conflicts that has traced its way throughout \u201CMad Men\u2019s\u201D series run: how does one discover a sense of satisfaction with life, when \u201Chaving it all\u201D is not enough?\nBut more symbolic is Nixon\u2019s inaugural speech, which Don watches while polishing his shoes before Freddy\u2019s arrival.\n\u201CWe are caught in war, wanting peace,\u201D Nixon says. \u201CWe are torn by division, wanting unity. We see around us empty lives, wanting fulfillment. We see tasks that need doing, waiting for hands to do them.\u201D This Nixon bit almost perfectly summarizes the challenges that \u201CMad Men\u2019s\u201D characters face during the show\u2019s concluding season \u2014 marriages are divided by space and differences; SC&amp;P is fragmented in various offices and lacks cohesion; families are split up; and ultimately, our leads including Don, Peggy, Roger and Joan are still seeking emotional fulfillment.\nWhether these characters and others will find the satisfaction they crave will be determined during \u201CMad Men\u2019s\u201D split final season \u2014 the first half airing this spring, the second half in 2015. But Lee\u2019s words on the plane will be manifested in one way or another: Don Draper will be gone in a year ... all of them will be.\nUntil then, we\u2019re paying attention."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/04/14/mad-men-recap-still-seeking-satisfaction-when-having-it-all-is-not-enough/>