Lane is one of the more often overlooked characters of Mad Men, but has such subtle, significant characterization

Lane is one of the more often overlooked characters of Mad Men, but has such subtle, significant characterization.
From the moment we meet him in season 3, it is obvious he is an ugly stranger in a strange land and while he enjoys the adventure, his wife struggles with the alienation that New York presents her.

In "Guy walks into a Advertising Agency," PPL plans to move Lane to India which rightfully disheartens him. Not only will this move wreck his family once more, but makes it ever so clear that PPL really only sees him as a tool and does not value him personally, which is a theme throughout Lane's character arc.

Later as PPL (and Sterling Cooper) is about to be swallowed by McCann ("Shut the Door, Have a Seat"), Lane asks his boss where his position will be in the move and his boss says the equivalent of "You're good at your job; you'll figure it out," another glaring reason for Lane to believe he is not personally valued, which makes his decision of joining SCDP that much easier.
On that same note, it is also clear that Lane is not personally (to clarify: personally in the sense of him as a person and a not an employee) valued by Sterling, Cooper, or Draper, as his reasons for his invitation to be a part of their new agency were "You can fire us" and "Can you do what he does?" The invitation is based on his skill set and not him as a person as it may have been for Roger, Bert, or Don. Not to say that the three musketeers didn't have valuable skill sets or that their decision to hire Lane was based on incorrect criteria, but Lane wanted someone to value him as a person and the amigos made it clear they didn't particularly value that.

So we enter season 4 with Lane a partner with the stressful job of trying to keep the "scrappy upstart" afloat, while alienating his wife and son (who soon leave for England anyway). This stress rears its head in "The Good News" as Joan flirts with Lane and then asks for time off. Lane is horribly offended that someone would pretend to like him as a person and then just use it to get something from him and blows up at Joan. In an effort to mend his relationship with his wife and Joan, he sends them both flowers which unfortunately get their messages switched and decays his marriage even more.

When Don spent New Years Day with Lane, he was so happy. Someone finally cared about him outside of work. He makes silly jokes and heckles the comedian. The prostitute at the end of the adventure sets a tone for the rest of Lane's life. He continually looks for people whose skill set is to give affection (a reversal of people using his skill set and not appreciating his personality). He gets his playboy bunny girlfriend, which his father promptly denies him of (with the added detriment of rejecting his personality) and commands him to get his family (which does not appreciate him the way he would like them to) in order.

In season 5, Lane opens ("A Little Kiss") with this infatuation for a woman he finds in a wallet (who is presumably a call girl of some sort [falls into the "people whose skill set is to give affection"]). He calls the girl, hoping she would come to his office and is again rejected. The wallet is picked up, but he keeps the picture as a memento of his infatuation and fantasy of a girl of his own.
In "Signal 30," he meets a fellow English expatriate at an English Bar with his wife and has the chance to get an account (and give his wife some familiar friends). This fills him with hope as he believes it will make him more valuable as a person if he can land the Jaguar account (since account nabbing is largely based on personality). But surprise surprise, Lane doesn't know how to talk to people, and even after coaching has a rather lack luster dinner with the Jaguar exec. The exec turns to the other account men for some fun, which goes awry and leads to the account being much harder to get than originally planned. Lane is furious not only because the account is as good as lost, but because his supposed friend thought he as a person was boring and not conducive to a fun time. Lane ends up taking this anger out on Pete in a 1-2 punch, someone he particularly has mixed feelings for, as he admires Pete's talent, but does not understand how such a smarmy dickhead can do so well in accounts when he fails so miserably. This all leads to Lane begging for affection from Joan, a woman who uses her potential to for giving affection as a tool in a hyper-masculine work environment, by kissing her. Lane is rejected again but immediately forgiven, leaving that door just a hair open for Lane to strike again.

BUT THE BOHNUSSEHS

Towards the end of his life, he feels like he deserves more money for what he's done for the company (keeping SCDP afloat after 50% of its billings went down the toilet). The English Tax man is after him and instead of throwing tea into the ocean like a real American, he embezzles money from the company, money he thinks is rightfully his as he put up $100,000 for collateral. He should not have to mar his reputation by asking the partners for the cash since it's his money anyway. Don catches him and asks for his resignation. This coming from Don is extremely painful as ~18 months earlier, Don was the first one a SCDP to be nice to him outside of work. This also destroys his skill set that everyone values him for (trusted bookkeeper) leading him to realize he has nothing of value in personality or work. He tries to kill himself in a car from an account he failed to get, but it fails just like everything else in his life. He goes to Joan yet again looking for some sort of affection and is quickly rejected as Joan is frustrated Mr Toad can't take a hint. He hangs himself in his office with a note as bland as his personality. He saw no value in his life. What he wanted and what people expected of him were completely different and he couldn't reconcile that. The Frog Prince rests in peace.

Lane ;_;

Truly the most tragic character arc in the show, and one of the most well done in the history of television. RIP frog prince.

the scene where everyone finds out he killed himself is amazing. such great little moments Ken comforting Joan while Pete and Harry look in at him through the window and Don insisting they have to cut him down

Dumbledore's son truly was the unsung hero of Madmen

Also, when will Jared Harris star in Game of Thrones?

Lane is a beta, but less than Don. In fact, Mad men has no alpha men. makes you think.

Reminder the little show that Lane put up with the back slut. What a pathetic man.

>what is Ken Cosgrove

>Mad men has no alpha men

>it's a glenn and betty episode
This is the worst kind.

Friendly reminder that, in the 2030s, there will be a spin-off of Madmen focusing on Glenn in the 80s, being that Glenn, after hearing that Betty was dying of cancer, deserted from Vietnam, adopted the name of a dead soldier, finally fucked Betty, and made his way during the 70s through the world of high finance and cocaine, with his new identity

>what is a Peggysode!?

>Punished Ken Cosgrove

Getting shot in the face is the mark of a true alpha

STANDING

That's an interesting character analysis. His moment with Joan in S4 and his black girflriend are things I definitely didn't connect to this character theme.

>no known mistresses
>based Sal's crush
>got shot in the face for his employers
>not a bitch about career like Pete
>only falls to temptation and evil-doing once, when has deserved revenge over his former employers in the end of the show
>writer, but still gladly stuck on his job for his family

Truly the greatest of men!

I always loved his unabashed enthusiasm for Gamera

>only falls to temptation and evil-doing once
When? Watching Mad Men now and I don't want my pure Ken to do something like that.

At the very end, brother. But worry not, he is not to blame for it, or for anything else. He is still the second purest character of them all (after based Meredith)

>that episode where he and don gets drunk and goes to holler at the kinograph

without a doubt on of the top 3 episodes

worst character by far

fuck you Weiner for shoving your shit son in

>MONSUTAA!!

Great scene

>tfw no big texas belt buckle

Dave Algonquin was the true hero of Mad Men. Went on to be a literary giant in the SF genre and his memoirs are Weiner's secret source.

The most heartbreaking moment is when he breaks his big, cheesy glasses.

Let's list some of Roger Sterling's bastard sons:

Anton Chigurh
Walter Kovacs
One of Barney Stintson's parents

...

>anton chigurh

Sterling Archer

This was a great character summary and analysis OP. Well done and have a (You).

If you have other character studies of Mad Men characters feel free to post them.

Damn this was well written. Lane was always my favorite character so his death always fucks with me. Fuck don for killing him, hypocritical fuck.

This, first quality thread on Sup Forums all day.