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Mad Men - Season 7, Part 2 - The End of an Era - AMC Sundays
- Thread starter Cornballer
- Start date
The first 10 seconds I fucking hated that ending for Don....then when it snapped into my brain that he made that commercial and all the implications that come with I started cracking up with glee.
I felt the stuff with Peggy was a little corny....but besides that it was pretty excellent. The stuff with Don will be debated for years.....but for me that Coke ad at the end was brilliant.
I felt the stuff with Peggy was a little corny....but besides that it was pretty excellent. The stuff with Don will be debated for years.....but for me that Coke ad at the end was brilliant.
War Peaceman
You're a big guy.
That's why it was out of place, it was so contrived and un mad men like.
I agree with empty that the coca cola as never felt like it was don's work. It was only when I read the thread that I realised it was an interpretation. That said, I do believe Don's smile was more a smirk - not pure happiness but a cynical satisfaction.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
I kind of wish the scene with Peggy ended with her still on the phone, knowing he's running up to her floor. I don't feel like we actually needed to see it. It felt a little too Jerry Maguire.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
The smile was him coming up with the idea. There's even a "ding" at that very moment.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
It wasn't out of place at all. Don has always been aware that an idea imbued with honest human emotion is the most powerful marketing ammo in connecting with audiences. His process has always been about how to imbibe that feeling and the answer often only ever comes to him when he's feeling it himself.
The Carousel pitch is all the proof you need.
World SkiFree
Member
Right! The ding and a smile. A million dollar idea was born.
infinityBCRT
Member
Completely agree with the bolded part. But what I took from it was that Don was more the charade, and Dick was the real person that no one saw. But yes, maybe he realized he didn't have to be Dick after all.
World SkiFree
Member
Yes, definitely earned some traction for discussion.
Yo, those 3 women...
The episode finally went up on Amazon Video so I watched it. Fuck. It was Perfect to me. It far exceeded my expectations. As other people here have said, Weiner and crew handled the splitting of the final season very well(which for me was a concern after Breaking Bad just felt...incohesive).
Mad men is now tied with The Shield for me at #1 goat.
Mad men is now tied with The Shield for me at #1 goat.
Kotetsu534
Member
Loved the finale. Laid on the sugar a little thick for Stan and Peggy, but I think they'd about earned a moment like that. I appreciated that little moment of dramatic irony when we all knew Stan was about to pop up behind Peggy before she did - at it's best, Mad Men can pull off scenes that would normally require the intimacy of the stage (indeed, one of its greatest episodes, "The Suitcase", is basically a two-hander).
Don had spluttered out straight across the US, gradually leaving everything and everyone behind - even Sally ("Glad you're having fun!"), Betty (telling him not to come back, not to seek custody of the children, saying their final farewell) and his Anna Draper/Stephanie past (literally leaves him stranded with a bunch of hippies) - but, when it came down to it, there was one person who would inevitably listen to his confessions, dismiss them, and say, paraphrased, "Come home, don't you want to work on Coca Cola"? Leonard regrets that no one notices or remembers him at all, despite his stable home life, but Don knows, despite the continuous mess he's made of things, that's not yet true of him. Excellent observation from Walter Dellinger at the WSJ that the "real thing" advert is projected in 4:3 aspect ratio, as if on one of those Kodak carousels (recalling Don's finest pitch given in season 1's "The Wheel").
But as with the last episode, Kiernan Shipka as Sally gave the performance which affected me most, as she returns home from school, sends Gene away (delivering Betty's "go watch TV" instruction), tactfully extracts from Bobby that he knows Betty's dying, and sets about teaching him to cook without setting the kitchen on fire. Shipka sells Sally's maturity and emotional sense with every expression and gesture. Henry is notably absent, one of his last significant scenes seeing him comforted by Sally, after he notionally anticipated her needing him.
Don had spluttered out straight across the US, gradually leaving everything and everyone behind - even Sally ("Glad you're having fun!"), Betty (telling him not to come back, not to seek custody of the children, saying their final farewell) and his Anna Draper/Stephanie past (literally leaves him stranded with a bunch of hippies) - but, when it came down to it, there was one person who would inevitably listen to his confessions, dismiss them, and say, paraphrased, "Come home, don't you want to work on Coca Cola"? Leonard regrets that no one notices or remembers him at all, despite his stable home life, but Don knows, despite the continuous mess he's made of things, that's not yet true of him. Excellent observation from Walter Dellinger at the WSJ that the "real thing" advert is projected in 4:3 aspect ratio, as if on one of those Kodak carousels (recalling Don's finest pitch given in season 1's "The Wheel").
But as with the last episode, Kiernan Shipka as Sally gave the performance which affected me most, as she returns home from school, sends Gene away (delivering Betty's "go watch TV" instruction), tactfully extracts from Bobby that he knows Betty's dying, and sets about teaching him to cook without setting the kitchen on fire. Shipka sells Sally's maturity and emotional sense with every expression and gesture. Henry is notably absent, one of his last significant scenes seeing him comforted by Sally, after he notionally anticipated her needing him.
What a beautiful and heart breaking episode. One of my favorite series finales ever. That miserable don --->brilliant coke ad ending. Knew Matt would leave us depressed lol.
Peggy and Stan thing was just weird. Felt like some cringey Adam Sandler finally gets the girl moment, not like Mad Men at all imo. Only thing I didn't really like.
Overall, episode definitely wetted the eyes. Time to watch the entire series again.
Peggy and Stan thing was just weird. Felt like some cringey Adam Sandler finally gets the girl moment, not like Mad Men at all imo. Only thing I didn't really like.
Overall, episode definitely wetted the eyes. Time to watch the entire series again.
LifEndz
Member
Going to miss this show. It's shot so damn beautifully and every character felt like a real person. I could tell when Harry was about to make an ass of himself. You could almost predict when the smart ass comment was coming from Roger. And I knew as Don sat in that office with a box lunch in front of him, listening to some canned ad pitch that he was going to get the hell out of there. The ending could've just been Don smiling, or maybe that and play the buy a world a coke song as the credits roll, but as it was it felt really out of place. Would love to know what wiener was trying to convey.
Anyway, it's always sad when great things end, but end they must. Now pardon me as I Burt Cooper dance my way out of here.
Anyway, it's always sad when great things end, but end they must. Now pardon me as I Burt Cooper dance my way out of here.
Fried Food
Banned
Great finale. There was one free fall tear. This episode makes me wish more of the series had been about Don. Like, I want to recommend the series to people, but so much of it deals with stuff and people that I don't think are good enough for me to recommend other people spend time on it. I mean, I like the other characters, but I bought into the series a long time ago.
AlphaSnake
...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
Beautiful ending.
a secret-boss
Banned
Really satisfied by the end.
Stupid Coke product placement
Stupid Coke product placement
Z..
Member
I don't agree at all. Don is the the hook but he's a classic example of overcompensation. The other characters are what really make the show shine, but they needed someone who would draw attention... his arc is a convoluted mess. He's essentially like Omar in The Wire or Rust in True Detective, in that while he is easily one of the best characters ever in the medium, his absurd and overblown persona make him look amateurish compared to the rest of the cast's underplayed subtlety. They are sensationalist by definition and although they are incredibly entertaining to watch, they are very poor in substance. But every modern show needs a cartoon larger-than-life character to reach a broader audience. And while that's neither bad or good, it's starting to feel unnecessary in a medium that has reached maturity.
Great ending, by the way.
I surprised at people who are down on the hippie stuff. I get not being into that personally, but I think when you look at Mad Men as sort of this embodiment of the era it takes place in, the hippie/mystic subculture was a big part of that. It was a lot more vocal and prominent at that point in history than it has been in American history before and after, and it naturally fits in with the rebirth themes that the series has been homing in. It ending up in a commune where Don undergoes his "rebirth" or whatever you want to call it fits perfectly.
shadyspace
Banned
Can Don and Peggy ever have a conversation without crying
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
'It was a joke!'
lastflowers
Banned
yeah man. If Don killed himself after that, my man tears would have crafted the mouth of the pacific-northwest 'amazon'.
Just finished the finale. Feeling gutted that it's truly over now. And I'm really surprised that what I just saw is what Andy Greenwald called "unambiguously awful".
I loved all of it. Even the romcom phone conversation between Peggy and Stan. And that last montage actually provided a surprising amount of closure for me. It was surprisingly satisfying. Though Betty and Sally in the kitchen really hit me hard. Betty was one of my favourites characters, Sally too, so everything about how the family ended up was heartbreaking.
The only character I'm not sure about is Don. Kinda feels like he could still be stuck in his loop. That the smile at the end was just a spark of professional creativity and not any sort of revelation or inner peace....then again, maybe that creativity is his inner peace. Creating ads. Maybe he's just 100% Don Draper from now on and that smile at the end was him letting go of Dick Whitman. Which is interesting and not really what I expected before the finale. I figured the ending would result in him rejecting Don Draper, the ad business and everything that came with it.
Either way, I hope my man is happy. For some reason I rooted for Don all the way through, despite his mountain of mistakes. He was the core of the show for me and I'll really miss the character. Truly a legendary performance by Jon Hamm throughout the series (and props to Matt Weiner for creating him of course).
I loved all of it. Even the romcom phone conversation between Peggy and Stan. And that last montage actually provided a surprising amount of closure for me. It was surprisingly satisfying. Though Betty and Sally in the kitchen really hit me hard. Betty was one of my favourites characters, Sally too, so everything about how the family ended up was heartbreaking.
The only character I'm not sure about is Don. Kinda feels like he could still be stuck in his loop. That the smile at the end was just a spark of professional creativity and not any sort of revelation or inner peace....then again, maybe that creativity is his inner peace. Creating ads. Maybe he's just 100% Don Draper from now on and that smile at the end was him letting go of Dick Whitman. Which is interesting and not really what I expected before the finale. I figured the ending would result in him rejecting Don Draper, the ad business and everything that came with it.
Either way, I hope my man is happy. For some reason I rooted for Don all the way through, despite his mountain of mistakes. He was the core of the show for me and I'll really miss the character. Truly a legendary performance by Jon Hamm throughout the series (and props to Matt Weiner for creating him of course).
BoogerFart
Banned
Eh, like she said, he's not her family.
Meh, still don't think he deserved that... it was her idea dragging him there. Family or not it's about decency... but I guess she's just a really broken person.
Eh, I dunno. He did just sort of pop in out of nowhere and she was clearly dealing with some heavy shit.
I love Don, but it's not like he hasn't left people hanging before. And I was sort of glad when she left. Helping her wasn't the answer for Don, even though it seemed like he thought it was momentarily.
soul creator
Member
fixed for fan theories
Ninja Scooter
Member
Do you guys think Peggy is going to abandon Pete's cactus with her mother?
I think that is exactly it. His happiness comes from starting over, new things, just like the ads he creates. Going through that rollercoaster makes him happy for a while until he starts the cycle over again.
RatskyWatsky
Hunky Nostradamus
I really liked the finale :3
Did Leonard remind anyone else of Matthew Weiner? The hair, the sweater, and the way he talked about the refrigerator as if it were maybe a television set. In one interview, Weiner talked about how uninteresting he was: "I had no personality to speak of. I kept wishing I had grown up interesting so I could be a great writer." And on Conan, he said that his kids don't watch Mad Men.
Excellent episode. I thought the endings for Peggy and Joan were great. They pretty much reversed 7 seasons of storyline with them. Peggy always chose her career over her love life, and Joan always wanted to have a family and a husband. In the last ~15 minutes of the entire series Peggy all of a sudden chooses love over a better career and Joan chooses a big career over her dream man/husband.
Dion Blaster
Member
Isn't one of his kids on the show??
But maybe he's finally changed. I dunno, Don just felt different this season. Maybe that happiness from Don Draper's creative spark is, as the song says, in perfect harmony with his past as Dick Whitman so that he can stop running from it and trying to start over.
kinda stole this from Matt Zoller Seitz :lol but it makes sense
Yeah, Glen is played by Weiner's son.
He didn't know he was being filmed, they just put him in a room with January Jones and he asked for a piece of her hair.
meltingparappa
Member
Ice. Cold.
The finale delivered on every single front for me. We got great closure to every main character, Meredith even had a shining "That's So Meredith" moment at the beginning, Don's final conversation with Betty was heartbreaking, Peggy and Stan's moment was pure corn perfection and I loved every bit of it, Roger was Roger, Joan finally made a conclusive decision for her future, and Don....well, Don's conclusion was pretty great because it struck that middle ground for me by being both introspective and literal without being too heavy-handed on either side. His was a balanced ending that was clearly good, but I could see a lot of different interpretations as time passes as to what the episode really meant for Don.
My immediate interpretation of the final coke ad was Don just imagining it in his mind during meditation since at heart he's an ad man and he's surrounded by hippies. Kind of like a combination of his current state of mind and the acceptance/realization of who he was in the past as an ad man.
Also, on the "feels" scale, I shed a lone tear during the Peggy/Stan moment since I was hoping more than anything in this finale that Peggy would get her well-deserved conclusion. I was also misty-eyed during the Don/Betty conversation and the final montage.
My immediate interpretation of the final coke ad was Don just imagining it in his mind during meditation since at heart he's an ad man and he's surrounded by hippies. Kind of like a combination of his current state of mind and the acceptance/realization of who he was in the past as an ad man.
Also, on the "feels" scale, I shed a lone tear during the Peggy/Stan moment since I was hoping more than anything in this finale that Peggy would get her well-deserved conclusion. I was also misty-eyed during the Don/Betty conversation and the final montage.
I don't think Peggy turning down Joan's offer was her going back on her dreams at all, even though the offer sounds like it would be the greatest thing in the world at first. It's been established that she sees McCann as a legitimately valuable opportunity in her career, one that she intends to take with as much as much determination as she can possibly muster. Though it will take her "a long time" to get there, she wants to achieve Don's degree of success in the field of advertising. I don't think that she really would ever take the offer unless her side work became something that she felt could give her a chance to create something "of lasting value." Of course, she still has a shot at that merely working for Joan on the side, which is actually the best of both worlds if you think about it.
In fact, even her relationship with Stan seems to work, at least to the point where he understands who she is and how ambitious she is about her career and likes her more because of it. There is the question, however, of whether his belief that "there's more to life than work" eventually ends up benefiting her life and their relationship or if it ultimately ends up driving a wedge between them.
In fact, even her relationship with Stan seems to work, at least to the point where he understands who she is and how ambitious she is about her career and likes her more because of it. There is the question, however, of whether his belief that "there's more to life than work" eventually ends up benefiting her life and their relationship or if it ultimately ends up driving a wedge between them.
Don drunkenly stumbled into her life that he was never really part of, and said the worst thing to her. It's about time someone ran away from Don rather than vice versa