notes.husk.org/likes images.

I noticed a detail in last night’s Mad Men “Severance” episode. The framing seemed too explicit to be coincidental. Don Draper’s office is No. 3760. A quick Google search found this:

The current Jewish calendar is based on his [Rabbi Yosi’s] chronology. According to this, Adam exited the Garden of Eden and became civilized in the year 3760 BC.  - Jewish Calendar Starts Off With Adam Symbolism

Is Don’s advertising world the Garden of Eden? Did Adam walk around paradise thinking “Is this all there is”? Is the American Dream a contrived illusion where it’s impossible to be happy? And does that mean that Mad Men’s final episodes will see Don shaking off his alter ego to exit this garden of his own making?

I may be reading too much into this detail, and Mathew Weiner may be having a good laugh at our expense, but I love this show because it sets the framework for these kinds of obsessions.