Heartbreak unfolds insidiously in “Mad Men” — the heartbreak of dreams slowly lost, of marriages slowly decaying, of characters falling into hamster wheel habits that do nothing but wreck their emotional lives.

But in the penultimate episode of the series, heartbreak hit like a brick wall as we learned that Betty, on the heels of embracing her identity as a psychology student, has terminal lung cancer and has decided to refuse treatment.

SEE ALSO: 'Mad Men' Episode 12: Where are you driving to, Don Draper?

The diagnosis arrives after Betty, out of breath on the stairs at school, takes a fall and breaks a rib. A group of attractive young male students bring her to the hospital, playfully checking her in as “Mrs. Robinson” (riffing on The Graduate). Henry, understandably distraught by the diagnosis, springs into action, researching treatments. But Betty calmly turns them down, leading Henry to track Sally down at boarding school and beg her to come home and convince her mother to extend her life by another year.

After the trip to the doctor's office. Image: AMC

Sally is forced to play the role of adult once again to the parents in her life — Henry breaks down in front of her, weeping about Betty’s near death and asking Sally, “What am I going to do?” And Betty has little hope that Henry will be able to keep it together enough to see her end-of-life wishes through. So she gives Sally a letter and tells her daughter to read it only once she’s passed — instructions that Sally quickly ignores upon returning to school.

The letter details where Betty would like to be buried, what she wants to wear, and how her hair and makeup should be done. Betty, forever vain at heart, has included a photo of what she wants to look like for her burial — in the picture she is happy, beautiful, young, next to Henry. Sally finally cries upon reading the letter, in which Betty makes peace with her daughter, noting that she is happy Sally marches to the beat of her own drummer, and that she hopes Sally’s life is an “adventure.”

Sally breaks down. Image: AMC

Betty’s reaction to her diagnosis is one of either complete denial, or complete acceptance. She is calm in the face of her own death, going back to school shortly after her fall. Betty says to Sally that one of her gifts in life has been recognizing when things are over, and knowing when to move on — no doubt a reference, in part, to her difficult marriage to Don.

One cannot help but notice, however, that right as many of the characters on “Mad Men” seem to be getting what they want, or right as they carve out a new identity, life arrives to stand in their way. Joan believed she was finally in a position of power at a major corporation, but misogyny in the workplace cut that down and left her packing her bags. Peggy was ready to arrive at McCann as a copy exec, but was swiftly assumed to be nothing more than a secretary based solely on her gender. And Betty is the most tragic case of all — finally willing to spread her wings as something other than a housewife, but told she will not live to see it through more than a year.

Could a handful of months be enough to satisfy?

“We’re Entitled to More.”

Is Pete finally getting his due? Image: AMC

One person who does seem to be getting what he wants, however? Pete. He spent his early years thriving on balancing frat boys' ways with the obligations of married life — something he seemed to have settled into based on societal duty alone.

Surprisingly, though, it was Pete who evolved after his divorce from Trudy. A few flings and steadies here and there, but, mostly, Pete has been alone — a dedicated ad man trying to make sense of himself as a bachelor in the world. Sleeping around and being unfaithful doesn’t appeal to him anymore — he says to his brother over dinner that such behavior “feels good, and then it doesn’t.” Unlike Don and Roger, Pete did not jump into another marriage, or fall into self-sabotaging habits. And his relationship with Trudy, his ex-wife, remained amicable for the sake of their daughter Tammy.

Pete tries to invite Trudy out to a business dinner to serve as his “wife” that night, but she politely declines — “I’m jealous of your ability to be sentimental about the past,” Trudy says to Pete as Pete waxes nostalgic about their past nights arm-in-arm at company functions. “But ... I remember things as they were.” Of course, we do, too.

Pete wants to try again. Image: AMC

Pete accepts the rejection. But when he is offered a job in Kansas one night following a string of bizarre encounters with a very drunk Duck, he races to Trudy’s house at 4 a.m. to tell her the news. But, not only does he have a new job offer — he wants Trudy and Tammy to move to Kansas with him, so that they can be a family again. Trudy, suspicious of such emotions, says that there have been things that cannot be undone.

But Pete emphasizes he wants to start over — he’s only ever loved her, and “we’re entitled to more.” Trudy confesses she never stopped loving Pete, and Mad Men has what is about as close to a happy relationship ending as the audience has ever seen. (For now, at least.)

The Road Less — But Once — Traveled

This episode of “Mad Men” is titled “The Milk and Honey Route,” a reference to hobo slang for railroad lines — or a path rich in feeding and fulfillment. By this point in the season, Don has abandoned his life at McCann, and the firm is looking to replace him. But no one there is surprised — this is Don being Don by most people’s estimates, and a level of acceptance over Don’s departure has settled peacefully over people like Pete.

Don’s car breaks down and he finds himself crashing at a motel for a few nights, where he is forced to interact with the motel staff more than his liking — his anonymity on the road, at this stop, has faded some.

Don Draper, King of the Road. Image: AMC

One would think that with Don’s rejection of his ad man life and embracing of life on the road he would shed old habits with ease. But despite the jarring change in scenery, Don still finds himself drawn to the same things he was drawn to back home in NYC, like a moth to the flame. He is willing to pay Andy, the motel maid boy, $20 to get him a bottle of booze (well over $100 for a cheap bottle of whiskey with today’s inflation); he eyes an oiled up woman lying by the pool, like she’s water in the middle of a drought. He kills time watching TV in bed, isolating himself from the world.

Don reluctantly attends a vet gathering at an auditorium near the motel. There, he has trouble making eye contact with war heroes as he is introduced to them as “Don Draper,” someone who served in North Korea. His identity — Don Draper/Dick Whitman — is suddenly thrown into the balance as every single man in the room could potentially call him out on his charade.

But as the vets get skunk-drunk, they begin confessing what they had to do to get home — one implies that he fell into cannibalism to survive being stranded in the snow during WWII. The vets urge Don to share, and finally he says he “killed his CO” and relays the events that led him to adopt his Don Draper identity — all the while not admitting that he conned his way into a new name.

Don gets the book thrown at him by his accusers. Image: AMC

Don is abruptly woken up by hotel staffers and a few vets in the middle of the night, beaten and accused of stealing $500. As it turns out, maid boy Andy has been stealing money all along. Don lambastes Andy for setting him up, and snaps that Andy has “shitty instincts for a con man” — and Don would know. Don tells Andy to get out of town, but Andy wants to keep the money. Don asserts that were Andy to do that, he would have to become a whole different person — an identity shift.

Don turns the Andy-stolen cash back into the motel staff and, while leaving, gives Andy a ride to the bus stop nearby. But at the bus stop in the middle of open fields, Don gives Andy his car and tells him to drive away with it. Andy, shocked at the offer, does so, leaving Don on the bus stop bench, waiting for his ride. Don Draper continues to strip away belongings, status symbols, anything that could encumber him.

He sits, waiting for the bus, smiling, knowing the truth is near.

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