From “Mad Men”: two great minutes of television

I’ve been waiting since last night for this video to pop up online, and it finally did.  (Spoiler alert: if you missed “Mad Men” and have it waiting for you on DVR, just click this window closed now…)

Below is the superlative, wonderful, grin-inducing, spirit-refreshing, heart-swelling end to Sunday’s mid-season “finale” of “Mad Men.” Kudos to director Matthew Weiner and the brilliant Robert Morse for creating what is a minor television classic. In another era (maybe the “Mad Men” decade), people would have gathered around the water cooler Monday morning to talk about this moment and argue about it.  “Did you see it?? What did you think?” ” Now, they gather around Facebook and Twitter. (Though, if people still do talk around water coolers, this wasn’t the best weekend to plan a conversation-starting TV episode, since Monday was a holiday…)

I love what Fr. James Martin said about this on Facebook:

It’s not simply that it’s a joy to see the 83-year-old Morse still light on his feet and still showing the patented lightheartedness that made him a Broadway star 50 years ago. (Watch him react to the woman’s kiss and shrug his shoulders joyfully). It reminds us of the history that each person carries within him or her.

It’s not simply that Don Draper is being offered a message about what matters in life, from the afterlife. (Before this scene, the partners had been arguing about money.)

It’s not simply that Bert calls Don, a man who had come from a terrible family background, “My boy,” before giving him the ultimate in fatherly advice.

It’s not simply that Don is moved to tears by whatever this experience is, and which seems to promise him some measure of happiness and love.

It’s not simply that the viewer is offered a visual representation of someone who has been welcomed into heaven and now understands all things.

It’s this: what he’s singing has the benefit of being true.

Amen.

Film critic Jonathan Lack wrote:

The series, the character, and the actor had earned that moment, in every way, and it is an absolutely beautiful send-off.

But the moment is more than a celebration, because we, the audience, aren’t the only ones watching. This apparition appears to Don Draper, and the look on Don’s face as he watches his old boss sing his goodbyes speaks volumes about the conflicted emotions of the moment (it’s one of many inspired reaction shots Jon Hamm has had this season). “The Best Things in Life Are Free,” Bert sings, just after Don has helped finalize a deal that will net him millions of dollars, and will keep him chained to this agency for at least five years. The look on Don’s face is more than mere sadness or surprise – it’s confliction, because now that he has reclaimed his position in the agency and gotten exactly what he thought he wanted at the start of the season, he’s no longer sure he wants it.

Traveling mercies, Bert Cooper. And thank you. Check out what all the fuss is about below.