What did you think of the Mad Men finale?

[MAXXply]

I was disappointed Don found creative enlightenment at the hippie retreat and returned to McCann-Ericksson to come up with the Coke campaign.

I didn't think Don 'hurt enough' in the series finale. There wasn't enough 'payback'. I wanted to see his past unravel right before his eyes culminating in his leap off the Big Sur clifftop.

Overall it was as disappointing as the Sopranos finale.

 

[ollinger]

....so you wanted some indication that life ultimately is fair, when we all know life is largely indifferent to such considerations??

 

[MAXXply]

Well, Don was estranged from all whom he loved by this time and his breakdown at the phonebooth was one emphatic acknowledgement of his failings. But to emerge from that situation reinvigorated after a session of dawn meditation just seemed a big fat final capstone on American consumerism and said nothing about everyone he wrecked along the way. Yes, I wanted to see him broken beyond tears.

 

[ollinger]

Odd. You weren't satisfied with the pain he exhibited with his "breakdown at the phonebooth" but rather would only be satisfied by his suicide. You sound like a troubled fellow.

 

[MAXXply]

I just wished all his chickens came home to roost; stealing his war buddy's identity, for one thing. He started off his life with a lie (as he acknowledged at the motel) but the past never caught up with him. He seemed to have evaded it all the way to the end.

I was hoping to see Peggy and Stan work on the Coke campaign while enjoying bottles of the stuff. Ex-wife Megan, while written out earlier, could've made one final appearance.

 

[Carsomyr]

I just wished all his chickens came home to roost; stealing his war buddy's identity, for one thing. He started off his life with a lie (as he acknowledged at the motel) but the past never caught up with him. He seemed to have evaded it all the way to the end.

I was hoping to see Peggy and Stan work on the Coke campaign while enjoying bottles of the stuff. Ex-wife Megan, while written out earlier, could've made one final appearance.

You don't think that his cycle of emptiness, which begins anew in the 1970s by creating what can be understood as the most cynical ad in his oeuvre ("I think guys like me invented happiness and spiritual connection to sell a Coke bottle") isn't punishment enough?

Do you really think a man who found "enlightenment" and turned it into an ad is really happy?

 

[Feña14]

Thought it was mehhh.

The scene where Peggy and Stan got together was random. As for the ending, there are a few interpretations. Maybe Don made the Coke Ad, or maybe he became a hippie and it was to show advertising would follow him everywhere, no matter what he did to get away.

The final 7 episodes were just ok imo, thought Betty and her storyline, along with Sally showing signs of growing up were the highlights.

 

[navigator]

I liked it. It's hard to end a show like that in a manner that doesn't disappoint lots of folks. I thought it was a pretty good ending, all things considered.

The bigger question is how "The Americans" is going to end... that should be some crazy sh*t.

 

[70sHollywood]

I thought it was a good enough ending. I like that nothing "BIG" happened. You could easily have another series and carry on where it left off. More shows should end like this.

Now it's done I think the last 2 series were slightly weaker than the first 5. I think the ending of series 5 would have been great to end the show on ("You Only Live Twice").

On a side note, for those who know their movie history, do you think Joan's ending was a nod to Julia Phillips? She was a big producer in the 70's (The Sting, Taxi Driver, Close Encounters...) and was also a notorious coke fiend.

 

[accidental]

I didn't really like it.

I really thought the only way it could end was if Don died, either by killing himself or by getting killed by someone from his past, or in some ironic circumstance

kind of disappointed he didn't die tbh

 

[La Grande]

I liked it. The scene with Betty and Don (on the phone) was so sad, as was the scene with the guy Don hugged at the end. All in all, great great show. But specifically the finale? I liked the smile from Don at the end and the idea he made the ad, for Coca Cola (THE advertising heavyweights)

 

[La Grande]

A lot of people thought he was would fall like in the opening scene (the man falling off the building)

 

[El Diablo]

You don't kill off a star character when there might be a mini-series sequel or even a movie down the road. Get your tickets for "Entourage" yet?? (The studio exec at Disney who OK'd the "Turner and Hooch" script that had Hooch dying at the end was fired; Hooch's puppies were then added to the script later to allow a sequel.)