Summary

• Lane Pryce's death in Mad Men was foreshadowed in the show's fifth season, when he made a risky decision to forge Don Draper's signature on a check.
• Lane's suicide was driven by humiliation and a sense of betrayal after his embezzlement was discovered by Bert Cooper. His decision to take his own life was a tragic and shocking moment in the series.
• Actor Jared Harris, who played Lane Pryce, was sad to leave the show but appreciated the impactful storyline given to his character. The portrayal of Lane's death was seen as an act of revenge and a ive-aggressive message to his former colleagues.

The Lane Pryce death in Mad Men was one of the show's saddest moments, but it was subtly foreshadowed at the beginning of season 5. Lane was introduced in Mad Men season 3 as Sterling Cooper's new financial chief when the Madison Avenue advertising agency was bought by the British film, Putnam, Powell & Lowe. Lane eventually quit PPL and ed Don Draper (Jon Hamm), Roger Sterling (John Slattery), Bert Cooper (Robert Morse), and Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) to form a new agency, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. However, he didn't reap the financial windfall the other partners did. Ultimately, money troubles were the reason behind the question of why did Lane Pryce kill himself.

During Christmas 1967, Lane was in financial peril but thanks to his stewardship, SCDP was financially solvent, so Pryce planned to alleviate his problems by awarding himself a bonus that would cover the British taxes he owed. However, the other partners decided to cancel all bonuses and later assign the funds to Joan Harris (Christina Hendricks), who became a junior partner. Left in a lurch, Mr. Pryce then made the grievous decision to forge Don Draper's name on a $7,500 check that he issued to himself. Lane saw it as a 13-day loan that he planned to pay back in full. Unfortunately, the damage was done and Lane had to face the consequences.

The Reason Lane Killed Himself

It Involved Lane Being Humiliated

The question of why did Lane Pryce kill himself comes down to the simple fact that his brief lapse in judgment was found out. Bert Cooper saw the check signed by Don Draper when he looked at SCDP's finances, and he onished Don, who he believed secretly gave Pryce a bonus. Draper immediately realized Lane embezzled funds from the company and Lane became another person Don Draper fired on Mad Men. Don gave him the weekend to think of "an elegant exit" to save face, and Draper kept Pryce's crime to himself so Lane wouldn't be arrested. But Lane was shattered by the humiliation, which was compounded when he found his wife Rebecca (Embeth Davitz) bought him a new Jaguar.

Lane decided to take his own life, although his first attempt to asphyxiate himself by carbon monoxide poisoning failed when the Jaguar wouldn't start. Lane then went to SCDP, typed a boilerplate resignation letter, and hanged himself in his office. His body was discovered by Joan, Pete, Harry Crane (Rich Sommer), and Ken Cosgrove (Aaron Staton) the next day. Lane killing himself was a horrific tragedy that came as a shock since he was a character beloved by fans. But the beginning of Mad Men season 5 actually teased Mr. Pryce's tragic demise.

How Season 5 Foreshadowed Lane's Fate

A Quote From Lane Subtlely Hinted At His Death

As shocking as the Lane Pryce death was, there was an early hint to it. In the second half of "A Little Kiss," Mad Men season 5's two-part premiere, Lane found a wallet in a taxi cab that he tried to return to its owner. Lane also became enamored by the photo of an attractive woman in the wallet and he hoped to arrange a meeting with her so he could return the item. Mr. Pryce spoke to the woman on the phone and invited her to come to SCDP to collect the wallet, and he joked, "Well, I'll be here for the rest of my life."

While that is certainly not what Lane had in mind when he said those words, the fact that he chose to die in his office adds to the heartbreaking nature of his death. He was so proud of what he did with the ad agency in Mad Men yet it also took so much from him and eventually led to his demise.

What Jared Harris Said About Lane's Death

The Actor Was Sad To Leave Mad Men

Show creator Matthew Weiner had been building to the Lane Pryce death throughout Mad Men season 5, but Jared Harris didn't know his character would die until after the table read for episode 10. Harris told EW the moment he was told the news:

"[Matthew] said, 'Let's go up to my office,' which I knew wasn't a good sign, and then he offered me incredibly expensive brandy, and then I knew this wasn't going to go well," Harris says. "And he said, 'I have something I want to talk to you about,' and I said, 'Uh oh. This doesn't sound good,' and he said, 'No, it's not. I'm really sorry.'"

Harris itted that he was sad to leave the series but appreciated the storyline that Lane was given leading to his final end, expressing that "from an acting point of view it was to my benefit to go out with a bang rather than a whimper." Indeed, looking at what the cast of Mad Men did after the show, Harris has one of the most impressive careers, with acclaimed roles in Chernobyl, The Foundation, and The Crown. In speaking to Lane's decision to hang himself in the offices of his former colleagues, Harris felt like it was an act of revenge:

"It was vindictive. He was angry, and it was an expression of his anger. It was a ive-aggressive act. His choice of doing it there was a 'f*** you' to the office, to the people who worked there, particularly to Don. And the ive side of that was the letter, with the boilerplate suicide note, which explained nothing."

Harris also explained that the makeup used to show Lane's corpse was hidden from the rest of the cast in order to get a genuine reaction from them when they first saw it on camera. He also explained that the mood on set for his hanging was "somber" though Harris himself found a lot of dark humor in his final episode, specifically in regards to Lane's first attempt at suicide when he tries to kill himself using his new car's carbon monoxide only for the car to not start. Harris itted "I laughed my ass off. I just fell off the chair laughing."