The Mad Men Thread

[GoGo Yubari]

I was so desperately hoping for Paul Kinsey to show up at that new age retreat.

I liked the Don stuff just fine but ultimately I wasn't invested that deeply in him anyway. All the New York stuff was fucking exceptional and I wish there'd been like another 20 minutes of that.

[zero]

I've always assumed the show would end with the Coke ad. I'm surprised how much debate there is over whether or not we're to believe Don wrote it, but a lot of people seem really split on it, with many thinking Peggy wrote it.

It's the perfect end/yet another beginning for Don. He has a legitimate emotional breakthrough and appears to be on the cusp of an actual life changing moment and he turns it into the most famous commercial of all-time. It's so cynical, but in the 60s, he sold nostalgia of the 50s (which weren't that great) and now in the 70s, he's selling nostalgia for the 60s (which weren't the "perfect harmony" they were cracked up to be), so it's perfectly Mad Men. "Buy stuff and you'll be happy."

I'm not sure I was sold on Peggy's finale though. I know people have shipped her and Stan for years, but I'm not sure a final 15 minute push for "life isn't all about work" was enough for her. It's not like she quit her job to be a mommy or anything, but I really wanted her and Joan to go off on their own. Although Joan using "Halloway Harris" as her company name is the most badass thing anyone has ever done on the show.

[Monkey D. Lars]

Guys! Tonight I'm going to start watching Mad Men! ABOUT DAMN TIME!

[gunnar hendershow]

I never knew what I expected from Don's finale, but the Coke ad being his brainchild has been hinted at for years. Weiner just threw in so many red herrings to keep us off the scent until that final scene I didn't think he was ever going back to New York. As GoGo said, in the end I wasn't overly invested in Don himself but where Don was going. He was such a captivating character for the whole show, but after the Hershey's pitch it was as if everything with him had come full circle. And now instead of reinventing himself after this season-long journey of self-discovery he's just going back to making ads, possibly a bit more in touch with accepting who he is but who knows.

Peggy and Stan was sudden but overdue.

Roger was fantastic, "she's old enough to be her mother... actually she is her mother"

Joan starting her own company and throwing away another self-centered man was her perfect end, and here I was worried she'd just finally start being the woman he wanted and not the person she wanted to be

I'll miss this show more after I forget some of the missteps of the last few seasons and remember that the first four seasons were the best television I've ever watched.

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

Matthew Weiner on the finale

Obviously spoilers

Edited May 21, 2015 by TheSqauredCircleMessiah

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

[Jimmy]

Avoided spoilers for months and finally finished it. Wonderful stuff, nothing quite beat Burt's send off, but it capped off a brilliant show in a very good way.