Why Did Lane Pryce Kill Himself? 'Mad Men' Fans Want to Know After Revisiting the Show

Fans of the AMC hit series Mad Men are revisiting the show, and they are curious about the fate of one of the show's characters, Lane Pryce, who died in Season 5. Lane — who was played by British actor Jared Harris — died by suicide on the show, and fans want to know — why did Lane Pryce kill himself?

Mad Men is about the people working for the New York City advertising firm Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency back in the 1960s. The AMC show starred Jon Hamm as Don Draper, Vincent Kartheiser as Pete Campbell, and John Slattery as Roger Sterling. The three men find Lane's body in his office after his suicide, and fans of the binge-worthy show want to know why it happened.

During Season 5 of Mad Men, in the "Commissions and Fees" episode, Lane hangs himself in his office at the advertising agency. This occurs after the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency becomes the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce agency. Lane writes himself a bonus check to pay his British taxes, but bonuses are canceled at the last minute by the other partners. With his back against the wall, Lane forges Don's signature on a check for $7,500 to himself.

Lane had meant the check to be a loan for a few weeks, and he'd planned to pay back the full amount. However, another partner at the firm, Bert Cooper, comes across the forged check, and he confronts Don. Bert thinks Don gave Lane the check for a bonus despite their decision to cancel bonuses. Don realizes that Lane has embezzled the money, and he fires him. Lane is humiliated, and is also stressed to learn that his wife has just bought him a Jaguar.

Lane tries to kill himself in his new Jaguar with carbon monoxide poisoning, but the car won't start. He later goes back to the office and writes a resignation letter before hanging himself. Roger Sterling, Pete Campbell, and Don Draper break down the door of the office and are in shock to see Lane hanging by his neck.

Jared told Entertainment Weekly that the show's creator, Matthew Weiner, gave him a brandy before telling him of Lane's fate.

"He offered me incredibly expensive brandy, and then I knew this wasn't going to go well," he recalled. "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.' But he explained why he wanted to do the suicide, and he'd been building up to it throughout the season, and from an acting point of view it was to my benefit to go out with a bang rather than a whimper."

Mad Men is available to stream on AMC + and Amazon Prime Video.