So, of course, there's a lot of speculation and debate about the final episode of Mad Men, which makes sense. I don't recall any show being dissected as thoroughly as this one was on a weekly basis. Not the Sopranos, not Game of Thrones, not even the imminetly dissectable Walking Dead. There are recaps of those shows, pieces on the motivations of characters, etc. But none of the what-does-it-REALLY-mean in-depth analysis that Don Draper, et al, have garnered from the press and fans. Perhaps much of the search for deeper meaning comes from the fact that the characters on the show were closer to us than people like Tony Soprano or Khaleesi or Rick Grimes. Very few of us have been mob bosses, queens of mystical realms or post-apoclyptic survivors. But most of us have worked in an office, had offices "romances," dealt with asshole bosses and had conflicts with our spouses or other family members. Then there's the familarity of the subject matter: advertising. It operates on our emotions so it was great to see what goes on behind the scenes, or at least one man's interpretation of what goes on behind the scenes. What do the people who make us feel warm and fuzzy about Chicken McNuggets really do and look like (probably not like Don Draper, but still...). So in light of that familiarity, most people assumed there was something working under the surface. Which is why you had all of these theories about how the final direction of the show and how it would end. Everything from Don Draper is really D.B. Cooper to Don (or someone) is going to fall out of a window and die, a la the Mad Men opening credits. The mix of theories all pointed to one thing: people wanted something definitive. Which makes the actual ending all that much more perfect. SPOILERS FOLLOW There is, actually, something definitive about how the saga of Mad Men wrapped up: Don reaching bliss in a "hippie" mediation/personal growth retreat in California. He's always dabbled in marijuana so he's familiar with a different plane of consciousness. He appeared to be most relaxed and at his TRUE self (Dick Whitman) when visiting the real Mrs. Draper at her home in California. And his "lost weekend" of partying with Hollywood wanna-be starlets and the like seemed right up his alley. And then there's my personal theory that the end of the line would be California: In a promo teaser for the first half of Season 7, Don is shown driving along a coastline, a vast expanse of water behind him. The music playing is Doris Day's version of "Que Sera Sera" which not only was featured in the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Man Who Knew Too Much" in which she also starred, but was also the theme song for her TV show in the 1970s - which was set in California (San Francisco, to be exact.) Then there was the final use of the old "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" Coca-Cola ad of 1971. It was intriguingly jarring an ending as the infamous abrupt blackout closing of The Sopranos. But it was perfect. Don is an advertising man, through and through. He took to it more than anything else in his life: marriage, kids, responsible drinking. So when a guy like Don finds bliss, he also finds a way to capitalize on it. No one in his office had that kind of connection with that type of counterculture (well, maybe Paul Kinsey and Stan Rizzo, but he wasn't about to listen to them). To him, it was a revelation. So why not share it...and make some bucks in the process? You could argue that the ending was tied up too neatly, with most of the characters finding the place they wanted/needed to be. People can (and do) bitch about how there was no big payoff, no final unmitigated ending. Don dies. The future is shown where Sally looks at her own children and vows to raise them differently. All of the kids secretly birth by Don meet to discuss their never-present old man. But if having the consumate advertising man find a way to use his newfound happiness in his line of work isn't a realistic and perfect ending, I don't know what it.
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