Technically it's not a season premiere, just the first episode of the back half of the seventh and final go-round with Don and friends (and enemies). But who are we kidding? The show has been gone almost a year, and the buildup has reached an ever-marketable fever pitch.
We can't say too much about Sunday's big return (series creator Matt Weiner has issued his usual polite request to refrain from spoiling, and that's how we like to roll here anyway). To be vague but precise: Mortality is in the air, befitting the series' imminent conclusion and the end of the '60s period the series has so deftly dissected. Don is up to some old tricks, but the thrill has waned. Another prominent theme: '70s women's lib and its societal complexities, as personified by the adventures of Peggy and Joan under the corporate thumb of new overlords McCann Erickson.
Remember this: Mad Men is fond of the slow windup; it's not afraid to set the table with a mood instead of an earth-shattering series of actions. Some will surely complain that not enough happens in Sunday's return, that the show better get a move on with only seven episodes left. But those same people will come back for the final six. Here's betting our patience will be rewarded with the graceful storytelling we've come to expect.
