Mad Men Season 2 Finale: Kevin Finnerty, meet Dick Whitman

When Tony Soprano found himself in a coma, he became regular-Joe salesman Kevin Finnerty, who while away at a convention, rediscovered who he is. When Tony woke up, Kevin was gone and his number one priority was family.
When Don Draper found himself at a crossroads, he became regular-Joe Dick Whitman (his real self), who while away in California, rediscovered who he is. When Don came home, Dick was gone and his number one priority was family.

Same writers.

Truthfully I enjoy Mr. Whitman much more than Mr. Finnerty, but the dramatic affect was none-the-less similar. Our hero has lost his way and needs to figure out what is most important to him. This whole season of Mad Men has been about the personal growth of three people who have been kidding themselves. And it was slow and dilberate, and in the end...fantastic.

Of course the three people I speak of are Don, Betty, and Peggy. When the season opened, Don was a family third workaholic philanderer, Betty was a subservient push-over, and Peggy was a lost girl in a mental institution. In the end it seems like Don had reversed his priorities entirely, perhaps even walking away from Sterling Cooper (yeah right)....and Betty grew up a lot. I guess banging some dude in the managers office at a bar doesn't necessarily qualify as growing up, but it was still some giant metaphor about revenge and inner-strength, yadda yadda...

Finally, Peggy with her appearance, attitude, and outward confidence has probably grown the most -- telling Pete about the baby, and that she could have had him if she wanted, then leaving was impressive. It was a good scene, well done, and 13 episodes in the making. This show is just fantastic and I already cannot wait for season 3.