Enjoyed it. underrated scene was Pete and Peggy goodbye. Felt organic. Agree with most on final scene take but think it is possibly Don found himself but along the way realized how to balance life and happiness while back at work. The phone calls were great . I was wanting Don to go back and have final meetings with those possibly leaving his life, peggy, Pete, betty. But I believe that due to the final scene, it is clear he goes back to work and continues on with peggy and would see pete, roger, Joan again. And I see him seeing Betty while in a better place. I think it was ambiguous enough but a solid fan service. The show did not seem built for a great finale but I enjoyed it. I expected Don to go back to NY, but the fact that he figured things out in cali is almost fitting and since you figure he went back, you can appreciate it more. Leonards speech, his phone call with betty and peggy were amazing. Sally becoming the woman of the house was a nice touch. Love the last we saw of Harry was him eating cookies and Ken calling his kid weird. Also, Stan Rizzo is always right.... he said Don always comes back better than ever
Im positive weiner thought about putting a final don pitch before the ending ad, but thought this ending left it more Open. But im sure he seriously considered
I enjoyed AV Club's take on the whole "did Don really change or not" thing. The ending was all about the cycle of renewal, which is how life works. It never stands still even though we want it to. http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/mad-men-person-person-219567
Agreed. If I hadn't watched the marathon all weekend I wouldn't have remembered but Peggy tells Pete she's "Really happy for him" either when they find out Trudy's pregnant or just has their daughter. She said the exact same words in their last meeting, but meant it this time. Feels on feels.
I always felt Pete was an extremely interesting character. The work dynamic between Don, Peggy, and Pete always interested me, why I loved the Burger Chef, eating at the table scene. People hate Pete but he is actually quite progressive with women, blacks, etc and he seems like he can adapt to the changing times, again making him the best at what he does. pete and peggy didn't talk much the last few seasons, as they forgot about their past. But when they did, they were always supportive and positive of one another. Also, you have to go back to Ep. 12, but Roger's last words ever to Don (you didn't know that at the time) and then kissing Don were pretty great.
also, in the Times of out Life promo shown before the episode, when Pete walks out of the meeting room, looks at don, raises a glass and nods, and Don nods back, what is that about/what episode? I have forgotten
Don put up Pete's portion of cash from the partners to keep the agency running after they lost Lucky Strike.
ah yes. those moments and don/peggy moments then all of them at burger chef are my favorites, besides Don's pitches Think I might rewatch the finale tonight. anyone gonna rewatch the show?
I would have loved this. Don is my favorite character of all time, and my favorite Don is smug on top of the world Don. Would have been awesome to have our last image of him "wow-ing" everyone again like he did with the "nostalgia" speech.
Came on the heels of Pete losing the airline account so that the Feds wouldn't dig into don's background
I hated Pete's whiny entitled ass at the start. Now he's a pretty stand-up dude. It was a nice progression to watch.
Like others, my image of Don is this confident guy, making an amazing pitch in the boardroom and not some kumbaya, inner peace hippie. I feel it's kind of like the Sopranos ending where everybody wanted Tony to die yet had been cheering him on all show. I guess I want Don to find peace but at the same time still want him to be that badass in NY. That being said, did anybody else think, at the end, that the "ding" and then the smile flowing right into the Coke ad, signaled that at that very moment it wasn't Don finding some inner peace but Don thinking of the Coke ad?
Just paraphrased this to someone saying they wished it would have ended with the DB Cooper thing. Thanks for thinking for me
I don't necessarily think he was imagining the AD at that moment. I would murder someone to see Don give that pitch in the boardroom though.
I don't think that is true. I saw him taking that job to try and fix his family life, not the other way around.
And his comment to peggy showed a real maturity and growth. I choose to think that pete really did grow the lastffew seasons.
The scene where he was at dinner and basically talked his brother out of adultery also showed a marked change in Pete, imo
The part I loved about the Don and Peggy phone call, wasn't what was said but who it was said to. I think Don has always known the man he is, the horrible choices he's made, so I didn't view it as Don coming to terms with himself but the fact that he verbalized it to somebody. I don't recall him ever doing that and I think its great that the person he finally verbalized it to was Peggy. It kind of completed that relationship for me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esalen_Institute Holy shit dude. The yoga place Don went is basically a real place. I kinda feel compelled to leave my life in South Carolina and go there
if you want a great and entertaining interview with Weiner, Ask me Another from NPR did a great 35 minute extended interview only podcast with him or you can listen to the shortened quiz show version which has a great guest quiz hosts, the interview with Weiner starts at 34 minutes http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510299/ask-me-another
not enough love given to Peggy's constant incredulous questioning "What?" as Stan expresses his feelings towards her, that was a great scene as he runs out of his office to be there with her
that was some beautiful writing on a tangent, Bill Simmons has such an eye for talent, hope he brings the whole Grantland crew to whichever endeavor he does next
yeah the whole peggy/stan scene was great. one of the few times I think Ive been genuinely happy for a tv couple to get together.
http://mccann.com/ "our latest work" Gotta say, while not surprising, given the work they do, but the McCann people killed it this last few weeks. I'm sure they were very happy Weiner chose to feature them so prominently (even if they were the bad guys)
Her character was written so perfectly. The Lisa Simpson comparison in the Grantland article is so good