It often works out that I watch my favorite shows on On Demand a day or two after the original airing.
I'm looking forward to the next Mad Men, but I'm traveling and won't get to see it until Wednesday. I'm losing interest in Game of Thrones.

Interesting synopsis of someone's idea of the 20 "best" Madman episodes... a good precursor to tonights final episode:

The 20 best 'Mad Men' episodes ever

After watching the final episode I'm going to assume that Don discovered his real self out in Big Sur, got his life back in order, went back to McCann and wrote the famous "I'd like to teach the world to sing" Coke ad. Or he wrote it out in Big Sur and gave it to Peggy for old times' sake.

Mad Men, over and out.

Was that one wwii vet guy talking about eating people?

glad Peggy finally got what she wanted!!

A cactus?

A big prickly thing.

Loved it. Pete got his family back together--Trudy knows him better than anyone and knows his business. He finally realized he's better off, much better off, with her by his side. Roger is still Roger but mellowing as he heads into the sunset with Marie and he did the right thing by setting up he and Joan's son. Peggy and Stan finally stopped dancing around one another and formed their own potentially great partnership. Joan's BF said no thanks and walked out but it's 1971, still at the dawn of the women's movement, and she wants to do something big for herself with the money from McCann. Sally is becoming a smart young woman, a perfect blend of Betty and Don's strengths. Poor Betty. Don cried it out in Big Sur and then wrote the biggest Coke ad in history. He unloaded all of his baggage (crying, hugging and meditating above the ocean) and got his mojo back.

I don't remember that coke ad. Do people in the ad business think it was good? I don't get it.

.................................................. ..................................

Thought I'd drop by and add some new thoughts. I think this last season has been better. I think I caught every episode. If so, it was a short season. All the shows run for a short season anymore. I guess the money is in reruns and syndication. But, on to the show....

As I said, I thought things were more interesting this last few weeks. And maybe the actors upped their game a bit, I can't be the judge obviously because my opinion is in the minority (as usual :D).

HOWEVER, and pardon me for slipping back into my curmudgeon hole, but that was not a very good series finale, or was it? A very good insight can be found here.

BE911SC, I think you've got it as right as anyone will get it. Myself, yes, the old curmudgeon was very disappointed. No closure. None.

Dose that mean this wasn't really the finale? Does Jon Hamm now go off to his own series? I do think his character was profound enough to carry the weight of a new story line. Based on that observation, I will more or less stand on my original opinion that most of the writing and most of the actors would not provide enough fodder to move to a sequel. Just one.

It's similar to Bonanza in that Michael Landon had 2 more hit shows. The other characters would not have enough for a stand alone production. There have been dozens of spin offs over the years, mostly sitcoms. I will predict that we will see more by Mad Men's creator, Matthew Weiner. And if you don't read the article I linked, here is his take on the subject, “I hate to say it: I don’t really feel like I owe anybody anything,” as told to the New York Times regarding the end.

Really? After 7 years? No, he's not done with this.

The world was a different place then to begin with (which may be why you don't get it) and it doesn't matter what anyone in the ad business today thinks of it although any of them would probably give their proverbial left arm to have developed it. I would think anyone over the age 50 can probably sing along with it (kind of like American Pie), it is the iconic coke commercial and so to say that it was successful is a mild understatement.

Yep, the world was a different place all right. I remember when that ad first ran and it did make an impression on people. The "free love" mood of the latter 1960s existed into the early '70s and baby boomers had not yet discovered the joys of making a lot of money (1980s). There was still a communal feeling in much of the culture. Very catchy song too. From a Mad Men perspective that Coke ad was a huge home run.

The Don Draper character could easily continue in a new series. The writing, while a little confusing (to me) at times, was as good as it gets in this kind of series. Plus, since it seems he finally found himself and buried his demons last night and went back to become the king of the ad men, they left a tantalizing story line to dangle there just as it made yet another fascinating turn. It would be fun to watch the series go on into the 1970s and even the 1980s.

Thank you for the excellent summation, BE. You pretty much nailed it and I agree 100%.

I loved the finale but only after it was over did I like it. Along the way I kept asking myself....how is this going to be a wrap on the whole series with all the characters? Heck there's only 7 minutes left...eek! Then one by one they wrapped everything up very nicely --- but NOTHING was predictable at ALL - which was the best part!

Pretty amazing stuff.....especially if you (like me) were around in the 60's and can relate to the whole "scene". :D

>Don cried it out in Big Sur and then wrote the biggest Coke ad in history

Sorry, I might have been distracted and deleted it from the TIVO since. How do we know Don wrote that ad ? Missed that...

Greg - Go to post #175 (above) and watch the video. Play close attention to the emphasis on Don - the initial setting looking out over the Pacific - the close up - his facial expressions...the words that are being spoken.....and especially the big grin as the scene fades into the Coke commercial.

You have to connect the dots. There's no doubt who wrote that ad....the writers did a brilliant job with this finale....simply brilliant!

Ah, makes sense... Subtle.. I might have looked away at precisely the wrong time ;-)
Well done then !

Not being a steady watcher of "Mad Men" at the beginning I have appreciated the AMC marathon to fill in the holes. I also appreciate this thread for helping me understand the end. Don Draper at the California retreat (est?) leading to the iconic Coke commercial. How on earth did I miss that?! Must have killed too many brain cells in the 60's! Thanks for your help.

David's/Targa911s, wife, MJ