Mad Men Season 7 Discussion Thread - Final Episodes - SERIES FINALE

I actually don't feel like Don and that guy were opposites. Don knows him very well. Except for having a better job and being handsome, they share some similarities. Yeah Don gets hella women and everyone wants to be around the charm and charisma, but how many people truly LOVE him and know how to love him. They try, but no one really knows how to love Don. The closest person is Peggy. That's why Don has always been a mess with these broads and chased after Diana, he knew she felt the same feeling of not getting the love she thought she wanted. However, Diana purposefully didn't want the love and thats why she wanted no parts of Don. When the guy was talking about the refrigerator, I feel like that's how Don feels. He steps in a room or into the world and people smile, but as soon as that door closes or people go on, they forget about him. He feels like he is an attractive item on a fridge shelf. Or at least this is my take.
 
^
That's why don cried too and hugged him. He feels the emotions that guy was feeling.
 
DubA169 said:
Maybe he saw that the guy who is the opposite of him feels the exact same way and that he needs to just be at peace. If don wanted love he could have easily been with Megan and had a kid plus be with his other kids more. Maybe he is always looking for love since he never understood it when he was a child. He's always been the most complex character on the show.

http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coke-lore-hilltop-story#TCCC

After seeing which company created the coke ad, I'm even more convinced that's what we should be believe. He made it.

Reddit has a good mad men thread

"did don find inner peace or was he thinking of that coke ad". Hmmmmmmmmm

http://www.vox.com/2015/5/12/8589783/mad-men-finale-predictions

Kudos to this guy. Wow. ^
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Was just about to post the vox link, major kudos
 
I had meant that on the outside they were opposites, but on an emotional plane they had a lot of things in common, and Don saw that. It resonated within him immensely, & broke through that dispair.

Also that scene with the hippie blond girl after the communal where she breaks down about her life & child was great. Don always was put off by religion, and always ran from so many things, but always tried to save people on some level too. Such a juxtaposition, like everything about Don. He tells her "I just know how people work. You can put this behind you. It'll get easier as you move forward." After her telling him no, you can see it in his eyes, and his facial expression that he has doubt's about what just came out of his mouth, but was trying to save someone he loves.

*edit, more thoughts *

Joan's ending was fitting, but dam do I feel bad for her in the guy department. I wanted her to have it all, even though she did screw Don over when he was on his probation. I'm glad she was a strong woman and didn't compromise what she wanted to cater to a man.

Peggy was always another person I loved, and wanted her to have it all. Glad she finally got the love she deserved, and most likely the freedom to excel in her career.

I didn't think too much about Roger Sterling's ending one way or another
 
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I love how his daughter told him about the lung cancer, and he just popped a cigarette in.
 
^ Betty on that DGAF I'm dying anyway tip

laugh.gif
 
Betty went out like a G i guess true to her roots. 8)

Joan's venture will probably flop

Pete came up!! out of everyone didn't see that.

Peggy won over all. Glad how her story ended.
 
That final scene would have been so much more definitive if Don opened his eyes right before they cut to the Coke ad.
 
Big Van Vader said:
 
That final scene would have been so much more definitive if Don opened his eyes right before they cut to the Coke ad.
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I think the smile can be interpreted the same way you're implying him opening his eyes.

I still maintain that Don gets the win-win: creates Coca-cola's defining ad campaign after this hippie experience + becomes a better person after he returns.

Edit: Re-watched the episode again and it's true Wiener form in handling Don's character arc.
 
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This was a great finale.

Happy for Joan. Pretty much knew she'd eventually get back to work and this laisez faire tanned old guy would get the boot. He basically wasn't happy with her having her own thing despite him pretending he was easy going. Now he trying to pull the attention card. Son knew he probably couldn't deal when he saw she had a kid.

Thought there'd be more in store for Roger but he really got his conclusion with that acid trip, divorce and dealing with his daughter. Son knows he's too old for another life crisis and is basically in retirement mode with Megan's mom. Liked he didn't forget about his son though.

Peggy. I'm glad she got a nice happy ending at least for her. I gotta say though there were some grim things in there where it just felt to me she settled. Pete says that line that she'll be head of creative in 1980. That is bleak to me, she immediately mentions it. Then her reaction to Joan's offer. To me that was a great opportunity for her but you even know she's gonna pass with or without the argument with Stan. Now honestly while I thought he at some point wanted to bang I felt this whole I'm in love with you and her saying the same was forced. It's not so much I didn't see it coming as in why now? Why like that? It didn't satisfy me much except to show she wouldn't end up like Don with no long lasting relationships and all work obsessed like Joan. I honestly feel though had it been done that broke down and confessed his love for her Peggy would've reacted the same way. I think she was looking for this and would've took it with just about anyone that it made enough sense with. I could've seen her responding to Pete similarly if he pulled the same stunt. While her outcome is probably the most realistic for a person in her position I kinda just wanted more for her.

Pete flying off in the jet with Trudy and his girl :pimp: Boss

They did last ep but nice to see Sally continuing to basically sharing the dual role of big sister and now mom to her brothers.

Don's whole story had me engaged. When it comes down to it even before he became Don he's kind of just been having a life long crisis not just mid. Dude has been struggling to find himself cuz he wasn't happy with his past for a long time and by the time he finally came to terms with his past he found himself in a crisis holding on to his present. When he finally worked his way back to establishing his present things changed a bit (personal and professional) and even though it was for the better he then just found himself looking ahead to his future and realizing it was bleak. He knows he wants his happy ending, a family or at least in this case a wife and he specifically goes looking for it in damaged woman cuz he himself is damaged and he knows going for women who would be too caught up in him would only end with him ruining them. That marriage proposal was almost damn pitiful and as bad as searching for this waitress in Ohio. It is cool that this "niece" does end up taking him to a place where once he opens himself and after kinda hitting rock bottom he can actually find some peace and really find himself and be okay with being alone. You go back to before he got married and he was writing in his journal he just wasn't okay with that life he was living. Simply never was happy with it. Then when he learns about Betty it's kind of his past reminding him how he ****** that up and I'm sure he probably blames himself a bit in an unreasonable way not for Betty dying but for the fact that best situation would be letting your kids stay with their aunt and uncle instead of with you cuz you're simply not reliable or in a good place to take care of 3 kids. It's pretty ****** up and horrible but that's just how it is. Don knows this and can't argue with it.

Then he finds himself in what's basically that life counseling session/pseudo AA for ppl who aren't alcoholics. That dudes story of being overlooked at work and by his family, that sense of feeling alone, the idea that even in his dream when he's getting the attention and feeling that good feeling that the ppl really aren't looking at you but more the idea of you or the station you represent and how fleeting it is when the door closes and the light is gone (which was coincidentally how Pete felt earlier in the series), the core of that story is the same way Don feels. Despite he's lived mainly the opposite adult life and that the persona he's adopted has gotten him respect and for his family to look at him a certain way, for him to always have all eyes on him at work, that deep down he knew it wasn't real and while having that the longer he stayed the inevitable happened and the facade faded. Everyone from family to colleagues began to see the **** in Don Draper. He began to disappoint. No wonder he started crying and hugged dude too.

It was nice to see him at peace in the end.

I'm sure that Coke commercial probably had a deeper meaning. Somebody online will break it down. I found it funny. Only connection I saw was the Happyish ep also did a pardoy of the commercial




rocman23 said:
The real MVP was Sally's teacher
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Can we get like a picture gallery list of all of the broads Don has slayed in these 7 glorious seasons?

I know who you talking about but I just want to compare and contrast all of them. Maybe we can get a ranking going.
 
Slighted said:
Big Van Vader said:
That final scene would have been so much more definitive if Don opened his eyes right before they cut to the Coke ad.
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I think the smile can be interpreted the same way you're implying him opening his eyes.

I still maintain that Don gets the win-win: creates Coca-cola's defining ad campaign after this hippie experience + becomes a better person after he returns.

Edit: Re-watched the episode again and it's true Wiener form in handling Don's character arc.
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I was half expecting after the commercial to show Don back in a suit in McCann's after the video finished playing with everybody applauding him.
 
Master Zik said:
I was half expecting after the commercial to show Don back in a suit in McCann's after the video finished playing with everybody applauding him.
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I see what you're saying but it wasn't needed. We didn't need to see McCann's validation because that ad went on to become a one of the biggest slogans in American history. We know it was approved by McCann because everyone 40 years or older knows that song in real life today. It's the equivalent of showing Steve Jobs and then showing an Apple logo. To spell it out with McCann would only cheapen it, it was bigger than McCann.
 
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I hated the ending.

I feel like when it comes to these finale's writers try to hard to give you the "anti-finale" as I like to call it and not an actual ending as we all would like to se. We all want closure for these characters and these story arc's but the writers feel that it would be too easy to go that route so they come up with the most abstract ways of "closure". Too many shows have done that.
 
Will write more tomorrow but I loved the ending. I personally believe he went back to work and made the coke ad.

The double switch with Peggy and Don was amazingly well done. The phone conversation they had was beautifully written and wonderfully emotional. I'm very satisfied with how everything ended. Sad it's over but a really well done finale.
 
HybridSoldier23 said:
Will write more tomorrow but I loved the ending. I personally believe he went back to work and made the coke ad.

The double switch with Peggy and Don was amazingly well done. The phone conversation they had was beautifully written and wonderfully emotional. I'm very satisfied with how everything ended. Sad it's over but a really well done finale.
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As much as I hated the ending I totally believe that as well. I think the idea came to him at the end when they were meditating. That smirk kinda gives it away. I could've totally watched another hour of him getting out hippie camp, going back to NY, going to Betty's funeral , then going back into that office and somehow getting his job back with an the amazing coke pitch. They wouldn't even have to show the whole pitch just him starting it, voices go silent as the camera pans out of the office, fade to black then show that commercial. Either way some more interaction with the rest of the cast would have been nice.
 
I want to believe that he didn't create it, or that maybe he told Peggy or someone about what he experienced and they ran with it. Here's what I like to believe:

- Don truly did find inner peace and is no longer interested in advertising and is going to stay in Cali
- The ad is used to show how advertising changed and bought together the lives of all these different characters. They all came from different worlds, all had their trials and tribulations, and all started and ended in different places. Just like coke brought all of those strangers and the world together, their world of advertising brought all of these strangers together and it's the one thing that led to better lives for everyone. All of their lives are drastically different from where they started and every last one of them had a lot of ****** things happen to them, but they are where they are now due to advertising.

Again just my thoughts and what I want to believe.
 
ORSRT8 said:
I hated the ending.

I feel like when it comes to these finale's writers try to hard to give you the "anti-finale" as I like to call it and not an actual ending as we all would like to se. We all want closure for these characters and these story arc's but the writers feel that it would be too easy to go that route so they come up with the most abstract ways of "closure". Too many shows have done that.
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What more did you want to see? You can't get closure because the characters' lives don't end. They continue on even though you can't see it. This was a great ending. We got to see where the characters we cared about were heading into their future(screw Harry). You don't need to see Don pitching the Coke commercial because it doesn't matter. He found what he was looking for on his road trip and the ad at the end very obviously implies he went back to Mckann Ericcson. He continued his brilliance and rekindled his passion for the job that he had lost as the seasons progressed.
 
rocman23 said:
I want to believe that he didn't create it, or that maybe he told Peggy or someone about what he experienced and they ran with it. Here's what I like to believe:

- Don truly did find inner peace and is no longer interested in advertising and is going to stay in Cali
- The ad is used to show how advertising changed and bought together the lives of all these different characters. They all came from different worlds, all had their trials and tribulations, and all started and ended in different places. Just like coke brought all of those strangers and the world together, their world of advertising brought all of these strangers together and it's the one thing that led to better lives for everyone. All of their lives are drastically different from where they started and every last one of them had a lot of ****** things happen to them, but they are where they are now due to advertising.

Again just my thoughts and what I want to believe.
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If you don't think Don made it, how do you explain this?
View media item 1538925
 
^ homie I said that's what I like to believe. In my mind it didn't happen. The happy ending to me is him not making the commercial. Also as I mentioned he could have just mentioned what he saw at the commune or he sent pictures to show his new life. I'm not trying to argue, I'm just saying with open interpretation this is what I like to believe.
 
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