BenjaminBirdie
Banned
It's the real thing
What the world wants today
What the world wants today
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Mad Men - Season 7, Part 2 - The End of an Era - AMC Sundays
- Thread starter Cornballer
- Start date
Why would he spoil the ending to his own show before it aired?
"What's the meaning of life, Mad Men?"
C O C A C O L A I T ' S T H E R E A L T H I N G
Excellent.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
Coca Cola getting that free advertising. Can't wait to hear matt weiner talk all about it. He said he's doing at least one big interview or something right?
CharminUltra
Member
I'm having a Coke.
Right.
Now.
Right.
Now.
Neko Godot
Member
I remember reading an article saying he wanted to end with a flashforward to Don as an old man.
greycolumbus
The success of others absolutely infuriates me.
I could have sworn he's lied before.
He also mentioned in a HitFix interview that he would never have someone from the show come up with such a famous ad campaign. But that was a few years ago and I guess he changed his mind.
The final season begins with a zoom out on Freddy's face and the show ends with a zoom in on Don's face. Listen to the sound Freddy makes 59 seconds in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSNVy7FeL3g&feature=youtu.be&t=59s&ab_channel=accutron-watches
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSNVy7FeL3g&feature=youtu.be&t=59s&ab_channel=accutron-watches
megamerican
Member
Here's the article I was thinking of. I was wrong, Weiner said he wanted to end it in present day when Don is in his 80s.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Omg last week he "fixed" the "coke machine"
brianmcdoogle
Member
So is Joan.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Fuccckkkkkk
Read a great tweet that summed up the series. We spent seven seasons going from the back of a man's head through to the front of it.
Weiner has always been a master troll. He loves to mislead viewersI think it's possible he had other ideas for the ending, though.
An ending with an old Don would have been too derivative.
NYR
Member
Okay, that's pretty good. Too bad it happened nearly a year ago.
PastorOfMuppets
Banned
Why are people saying this was a bad finale? I thought it was awesome, fits right into the show.
Goodness!
and let's not forget that Jim Hobart whispered 'Coca Cola' to Don when McCann absorbed SCP.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
No one forgot that. It was gifed instantly.
Oh man I'm gonna go check now, I'm guessing with Gelman being in it he loved it? It'd only make sense that Gelman/Woliner are all about Mad Men, adventurous filmmakers like adventurous film and tv.
EDIT: also yeah I posted that David Ehrlich tweet about going from the back of Don's head to his face in here, great summation line.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Nah Woliner is just talking about how every ad charac ever should have been in the commune. Deadly.
RangersFan
Member
Who was Joan's partner? Holloway was it?
That's her maiden name.
It was only a matter of time.
Corporatizing the idea of corporatizing an idea. Pretty meta.
Byakuya769
Member
Did I miss something?
Dion Blaster
Member
Personally I don't think there's much left to the imagination. It pretty much lays out the future for all the characters.
Which is perfect for her-- her marriage was a travesty but the one thing she got out of it was another name. And with two names her makeshift production company doesn't sound like it's being run out of an apartment. Joan, always making the best of a shit situation.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
The thing that really broke through for Don was the moment where guy was like "they're all trying their best, and you don't even really know what..."
That part just wrecked me. So simple and profound. I don't know. Stuff like that in art, about how people communicate and try to build lives together and just, God damn it.
That kind of stuff is so moving to me.
Discotheque
Banned
i'm probably interpreting this so wrong from it's intended meaning but i just saw that as Don not getting 'real' peace and all that retreat really did for him was allow him to profit off of what should have helped him. lol
pretty powerful ending imo.
pretty powerful ending imo.
GoldenEye 007
Member
Don has made allusions to that too recently. Basically asking why people are doing that they're doing. What's next, etc.
Mr. Saturn
Member
Why do people keep saying that Don went back to take care of his kids? Don't get me wrong I want to believe that's what happened, I just don't know how some are arriving at that conclusion. I mean isn't it possible that Don simply created a great ad? Is it the love and harmony aspect of the ad and its contrast to Don at his lowest when he has the mini breakdown at the payphone? I guess if he didn't kill himself he must have gone back to take care of his kids then?
I think it's incredible -- and speaks volumes about this show -- that there was a whole page-long discussion of what song the show would end on in this thread and not one person (that I saw) got it right, and yet in hindsight it's so absolutely right and perfect a song to cap off this show.
I'm glad we saw more of Peggy in the finale, but I'm really unsure of how I feel about her ending in general. I'm also unclear on what her ending even is exactly. Is she just typing regular copy for McCann in that scene? For a second I actually thought it was her writing the Coke song, but that obviously wasn't the case given the full context.
Basically, I feel like she got what looks like a happy ending but isn't really. I think Peggy would regret not seeing where that opportunity would take her, and honestly for a driven career woman in the 60s I'm not sure there really *could be* 'more to life than work.' Everything about the other aspects of life at the time were set up to sabotage a woman's career. To some extent they still are.
I'm glad we saw more of Peggy in the finale, but I'm really unsure of how I feel about her ending in general. I'm also unclear on what her ending even is exactly. Is she just typing regular copy for McCann in that scene? For a second I actually thought it was her writing the Coke song, but that obviously wasn't the case given the full context.
Basically, I feel like she got what looks like a happy ending but isn't really. I think Peggy would regret not seeing where that opportunity would take her, and honestly for a driven career woman in the 60s I'm not sure there really *could be* 'more to life than work.' Everything about the other aspects of life at the time were set up to sabotage a woman's career. To some extent they still are.
BoboBrazil
Member
Definitely not what I expected for a finale, but pretty happy that everyone got a good ending for the most part.
GoldenEye 007
Member
That's pretty fair and probably likely. Everytime Don hits a low, he finds a way to get out of it without really addressing his core issues. With what should be a meditation moment, he's thinking about ads!i'm probably interpreting this so wrong from it's intended meaning but i just saw that as Don not getting 'real' peace and all that retreat really did for him was allow him to profit off of what should have helped him. lol
pretty powerful ending imo.
As Stan says, Don is a survivor.
That was a terrible finale, if only because it confirmed what has been pretty obvious for the past three seasons: Don's character has completely fizzled out and they had no idea what to do with him. An episode like "Tomorrowland" established a lot of the same thematic ideas... the new, yet illusory, beginning... without letting the show drag on for a few more seasons, spinning its wheels.
What was up with all the phone conversations?
Having said that, great show. Even if it did peak in S3-4. Will be missed.
What was up with all the phone conversations?
Having said that, great show. Even if it did peak in S3-4. Will be missed.
Dion Blaster
Member
I think after his breakthrough at the very least he'll be around for them. After watching the entire series I can't really see any situation other than Don staying involved in his kids' lives.
You guys think he never saw his kids again? Ever?
He just cut off his life from Sally? I'm not saying he adopted them and became a stay at home dad, but I can't believe in a thought that says he stopped being a part of their life.
I loved the ending. It feels like a really natural progression from where the show began.
What I find interesting to think about is whether or not the implication Don created the Coke ad is a positive step in his life or a negative one. From his face at the California Cult, we definitely see he's reached some sort of self acceptance, yet what he does with that revelation is turn around and sell it to the same industry that helped him slide down to the horrible place he was before. Like so many experiences he's had before, he just turned around and used it to sell the public on another thing. Is the fact he went back really a positive sign and can he carry this new Don forward or is this a sign that he's temporarily found a way to cope and just set himself back on the same destructive path he was on before?
What I find interesting to think about is whether or not the implication Don created the Coke ad is a positive step in his life or a negative one. From his face at the California Cult, we definitely see he's reached some sort of self acceptance, yet what he does with that revelation is turn around and sell it to the same industry that helped him slide down to the horrible place he was before. Like so many experiences he's had before, he just turned around and used it to sell the public on another thing. Is the fact he went back really a positive sign and can he carry this new Don forward or is this a sign that he's temporarily found a way to cope and just set himself back on the same destructive path he was on before?
-Pyromaniac-
Member
The entire finale was about Don embracing his own life and realizing who he is and who those that love him are like Peggy and his kids etc.
World SkiFree
Member
Haha, there are quite a few of us on the thread who had a similar take!i'm probably interpreting this so wrong from it's intended meaning but i just saw that as Don not getting 'real' peace and all that retreat really did for him was allow him to profit off of what should have helped him. lol
pretty powerful ending imo.
I think people are hoping he went back to the kids but I don't think anything in the final moments of the finale suggests that though. I think he just came up with a great ad.
Exactly! They even say that Don "always does this" (runs away but returns with inspiration). This time, it just happened to take place in the series finale and involved an experience at a commune and Coca-Cola.