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Mad Men - Season 7, Part 2 - The End of an Era - AMC Sundays

D

Dion Blaster

Member
Wow I think I disagree with every single paragraph Andy Greenwald typed. Especially surprised he brushed off Leonard - that actor had the performance of the episode I thought.
 
W

World SkiFree

Member
Rehynn said:
The ending also worked well as a commentary on US society.

In 1967, there was a 'Death of Hippie' march mourning the commercialization of the counterculture. The Coke ad might be seen as the epitome of that process.

EDIT: And, of course, this makes Don's coming up with the ad at a hippie camp even more cynical.
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Haha, just saw your post after posting mine. Well put!
 
stn

stn

Member
Although somewhat cynical, Don coming to terms with being Don is still a positive for the character. At least he acknowledges that he cannot change and comes to terms with it. And using the spiritual experience to create the biggest commercial ever is a great twist. In fact, the question now is whether his smile at the end is due to his spiritual awakening or his new ad idea.

Love it.
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Dany said:
tumblr_nokfnt3pXr1s7x8zro3_1280.png
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5ZyiF2d.gif
 
W

World SkiFree

Member
rhino4evr said:
Really? You don't think her being the last link to Dick Whitmen had any significance? Don tells her to "forget her past, that it will get easier" but then is called out for it. It's not true. Running away doesn't make dealing with pain easier.
My take: she left suddenly because she realized she needed to be with her daughter. the therapy and Don's poor advice just pushed her to that conclusion
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rhino4evr said:
And continuing with the theme of being completely stripped away. When she leaves him, he feels that she was basically the last link he had left. It's at that point when the transformation to the "new you" begins...which is him finally coming to grips with who he's always been.
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Good observations. I've been dismissive of her role in this finale but she is certainly a last link to Dick Whitman.
 
P

phanphare

Banned
ZackieChan said:
Back up my claim that I thought it was awful? I basically didn't like anything that I was seeing. The only interesting part dealt with Joan - her story over the last season was my favorite, all told. The Coke commercial doesn't make up for an entire episode of nonsense with Don. Previous episode was great, btw.

I'm not saying how others should feel or making an argument, really - so there's no "claim" to "back up."

I'm a casual viewer because I watch the show, but don't really get into any of the deeper meaning that you guys seem to discuss, nor do I really care to. Maybe I'm missing a lot of depth, but I'm definitely not the guy who watched Season 1 of Lost and came back for the finale, declaring it trash.
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perhaps "elaborate" would have been a better word. basically you said some stuff without actually explaining why you feel that way.
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
The series finale was the third highest rated episode of the series with 3.3 million viewers. For comparison, the season 5 premiere earned 3.5 million viewers and the season 6 premiere earned 3.4 million viewers.
 
W

World SkiFree

Member
RatskyWatsky said:
The series finale was the third highest rated episode of the series with 3.3 million viewers. For comparison, the season 5 premiere earned 3.5 million viewers and the season 6 premiere earned 3.4 million viewers.
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Is it common for a series finale of a popular, long-running show to not trump its previous episodes in ratings?
 
W

War Peaceman

You're a big guy.
It was never a huge hit, but it had a solid dedicated audience. That is likely more resilient to the general rating decline than other, more casual programmes.
 
S

Shauni

Member
RatskyWatsky said:
It's hard to believe since Mad Men has never been known for its ratings, but it just goes to show how tiny Breaking Bad was until its final half season.
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Yeah, not to go OT, but I think people would probably be pretty surprised if they would go back and look at BB's rating before the last 8 episodes if they didn't follow the show before that. It was fun and kind of bizarre seeing it almost randomly explode into a full-blown cultural phenomenon after following it from pretty humble beginnings rating-wise.
 
M

MidnightCowboy

Member
I notice a lot of people say their interest in the show tapered, but I was never in that camp. I could take another few years of these characters easily.
 
R

rhino4evr

Member
I think the show could have probably ended sooner. There was a lot of rehashing and repeating of themes toward the end. Still , I was always excited to watch it. Sad it's gone. I think the show peaked at season 4 (or maybe 5) though
 
R

rhino4evr

Member
Those who haven't done so, I would highly recommend watching the first episode again... Thinkin of rewarching the whole series actually
 
K

Kotetsu534

Member
BobbyRoberts said:
Really like that Klosterman piece.
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I do too. I've followed several blogs since the very beginning (well, halfway through season 1) and it's been interesting to see the sea change in opinion in the commenters over several characters, especially Pete and (to a lesser extent) Betty. The vitriol that went Pete's way after his dubious encounter with the maid during 'Souvenir', midway through season 3, is a distant memory now. Ken was once pretty disliked too; at least as much as Harry, who's probably the only major character to have seen his stock decisively drop as the series progressed. Opinion was pretty split on Ted during season 5 too. Once affections are won, seldom are they lost.
 
T

T Dollarz

Member
My last two days have been filled with split second remembrances of a character or scene from the show, followed by me trying to keep it together emotionally because I was at work.

Pretty sure this is the most emotional I've ever been over the passing of a series, and I attribute this to the finite characterization displayed over the 10 year run of the show. Really felt the connections to characters because of rich dialogue and tremendous insight into each character's most personal feelings.
 
B

Blader

Member
Sunday night, my conclusion when the finale was done was that I liked most of the episode but Don's ending left me a little cool on it. I got the juxtaposition of his meditation and the Coke ad, but thought the editing was a bit abrupt and jarring. Also, frankly, a lot of the historical context of the ad was lost on me -- I knew the ad, have seen/heard it before, but never knew it was THAT big a deal.

But two days later I still haven't been able to stop thinking about the ending and all its implications, and now I just completely love it. It's not my favorite ending ever, but it's my favorite kind of ending: cynicism masked as optimism. I love what it means for Don's self-discovery, I love what it means as a resolution to his arc and the triumph of Don over Dick Whitman, and I love it as basically a 90-second encapsulation of everything Don Draper was and everything the show has ever tried to say.

So yeah, I like it a lot more now.
 
F

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
The more I digest the final episode the more Don's ending is leaving me with a good feeling. It may have been somewhat cynical, but having him finding a kind of unconventional inner peace that gets him back into his groove to the point he becomes a legend and leaves a mark in the world is a very positive message for me, and I wasn't even looking for one.

Said mark being achieved in advertising of all places makes it even more poignant. For me those final moments are about accepting who you are, about doing what's ultimately most fulfilling to you regardless of how others may perceive your work or way of life.
 
J

JTripper

Member
lGBk2Ak.jpg


Just saw this comparison image. I think it's pretty safe to interpret that the coke ad at the end was in fact a creation of Don's. Whether or not he returned to McCann and did it himself or lent it to Peggy or something else is all up to a variety of interpretations and honestly I don't think theorizing whether or not he went back into advertising is the point.

For me, the important thing that the ending said was that Don found some sort of inner-peace where he was at that moment, with his current self and with his past.

Man, I'm gonna miss this show so much.
 
H

hypernima

Banned
Rubenov said:
No hate for Stephanie (?) leaving Don stranded in the hippie commune? That was a shitty move on her part, even if it resulted in Don finding inner peace or whatever.
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If you think about it, Stephanie might be the only woman to not placate Don in the sense of giving him what he wants. There's been arguments with him and Peggy but Peggy never really had to power to truly deny him.
 
D

DanteGhost

Member
I'm going to miss the show so much. I remember stumbling upon it by mistake in 2009, and since then I could never stop watching.

I loved the ending but I felt it was kind of abrupt. I feel the show peaked in season 4 and 5, but this final season reached almost the same heights. I'll have to rewatch the show, since honestly I can't clearly remember the first three seasons.
 
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