Mad Men: The Forecast (2015)
Season 7, Episode 10
8/10
A comical exploration of the future
20 April 2015
Don is woken up by Melanie, his real estate agent. She is unsuccessfully trying to sell Don's weirdly deserted apartment. Yet another chapter is about to close in Draper's empty(ing) life.

At one point Don get impatient and lashes out at Melanie for not being able to quickly sell his apartment.

''Why don't you tell the buyer that someone lived here who made a million dollars inventing a Frisbee and they had to move in a hurry to a castle in France' - quickly suggests Don.

It provides a good contrast into the fact that Melanie can't imagine and make up stories like a magician, much like Don have been trying for the past years. She has to "show it to people with their eyes open", accurately summarizing that the eyes tell the clients that the apartment 'reeks' of a sad, lonely, and careless person, Don.

Meantime Joan travels to LA to meet with Lou to interview potential work candidates. By accident she encounters Richard Burghoff, a real estate big shot, divorced retiree, who has transitioned his life into having no plans and responsibilities. What starts as an innocent one night stand quickly turns into Richard following Joan to New York, where he finds out about her child. Overcoming the initial shock, this might be a start of a promising relationship, even though Richard is much older, which again points to Joan's shining 'foxiness'.

Roger assigns Don a task to perform a speech at the Mccan's retreat in Bahamas, giving a foray into the firm's future plans and ambitions. A very sarcastic task for Don who can barely figure out what the next day might bring. Having no idea what to say, in his subtle and at times comical way, Don asks for everyone's opinion, even his assistants.

Sally gets a visit from Glen Sharlock, Drapers' old neighbor who has always had a crash on Betty. In another sad parallel to the current events at the time, Glen announces he is shipping out to Vietnam. The irony is that we don't know what will happen to him but somehow assume the worst; we subtly feel the sadness feeling closure to the character we saw 'grow' up from the beginning of the show, however secondary. This is most likely the last time we see Glen.

In his failed attempt to kiss Betty, we see all the sadness of the situation, where a sweet silly kid who acts tough and strong, really has no idea what to do with his life.

The forecast conveys the thought that no one knows what will happen in the future. Like Don, Glen, Peggy and Joan we are left making uneducated guesses that at best are backed up by judgment, facts and experience.
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