1. No sloppy goodbyes
If there's one thing that always seems forced and unpracticed and unnecessary in finales, it is that we spend too much time on giving every character a great big speech and something that sends off their relationships with other characters. There was little of that here, and the ones that were there left things unsaid (Betty/Don, Pete/Peggy, and of course Peggy/Don). I will admit to crying three times in the night, though, during these goodbyes (both Betty/Don, giving January Jones a pretty wonderful send-off as well as Peggy/Don, ending the most meaningful relationship on the show, and finally Peggy and Stan, which brings us to...).
2. Roger and Marie? Really?
The show gave into some fangirling when they decided that Peggy and Stan, who have had a Sam-and-Diane style flirtation for years now, should be together, and I get it, and I kind of loved it. I admit that it would have been fun to see Peggy prove that she could be happy without a man, but we got that from another principle female character and let's face it-we kind of just wanted Peggy Olson to have it all. But as a result of trying to find resolution to Roger, we see him end up with Marie? I get the symbolism of him ending up with a mother when he lost his so young, but Roger's philandering and history with marriage doesn't bode well for either of them-this isn't what you'd call a particularly healthy-looking marriage, unless we see it as a way for Marie to have money once Roger dies of a heart attack from years of booze-and-cigarettes.
3. Joan Needs No Man
Peggy was never the ONLY independent woman on the show. Joan, who spent so many seasons as the object of men's affections and trying to fit into a perfect mold of a homemaker, realized that work was her life, and she watched her real estate mogul walk out the door in a wonderful moment where we realized that Joan feels valued when she's doing a good job. There was a brief squeal of glee from me when we thought that we'd see she and Peggy team up, but it made more sense for Joan to be her own boss while Peggy worked her way through the sexist sludge at McCann. Still, this was a pretty awesome way to sendoff our Joanie.
4. LOVED the Quick Sendoffs
Again, I loved that we saw the likes of Harry Crane, Ken Cosgrove, and Meredith all get a brief moment, a quick aside, and nothing more. These characters were always best as window-dressing in the episodes, and that's where they remained in this episode, without any a-characteristic asides. Some of the funniest moments in the episode (and Mad Men frequently went for funny, particularly of the black comedy variety) involved these characters, with Meredith saying, "there are better places to work than here" without any sort of filter. She initially annoyed the crap out of me but I grew to love her, which may have been the point. Either way-I'll miss their little asides...even if Harry Crane is a jackass.
5. I'm So Glad I Didn't Have to Watch Betty Die
One of the great worries of the final episode would be how would they handle the Betty story. Despite what everyone says about Rachel or Megan, I think that it was Betty, truly, whom Don loved the most (and vice versa) and I think she's the only person who would have ended his sojourn into the West. However, I also loved that Sally put a quick kibosh on the arrangement, and that they didn't get a traditional goodbye (like so many times, they said they'd talk soon...and the reality is that they would-the show's characters all live past this, even if we didn't see what happened next), though they both resisted saying "I love you" even if the name Bertie clearly meant that that was what had been said. Kudos to both January Jones and Jon Hamm for selling the crap out of this scene several seasons after their marriage ended.
6. Dick Whitman as a Hippie
I buried the lead, you said? I skipped the entire part where Don Draper became a hippie? Some people will say this was wildly out-of-character, and those are the same sorts of people who look at Sex and the City and think it was just about the clothes or Lost and think it was just about what caused the mysteries of the Island. The reality is that Don Draper has spent the entire series trying to find himself, and it makes sense that Dick Whitman, the man he abandoned in Korea, might be an entirely different puzzle to solve. We see him start to overcome his past with some truly bravura acting (if this episode isn't the writers of the show begging for Jon Hamm to get an Emmy, I don't know what is) and him leaving the 1960's behind, just as the series did, to become-what? A future peace-and-love enthusiast? Or a meditator that lives on Madison Avenue? We don't know, but we got a hint with...
7. "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing"
The show ended with a multilayered answer, giving us a question mark similar to The Sopranos so many years ago. With the iconic Coke ad as the ending, we can't quite tell what Matthew Weiner is saying, but perhaps he's saying everything. Perhaps he's saying that Don used his experiences in the commune to create this capitalist propaganda, selling a sugary drink to the masses by exploiting hippie culture (we get a hint with the red-and-blonde-haired girl with braids being in both the ad and at the inn's desk). Or is it a commentary on how advertising still exploits us today, trying to answer the question of "did you buy it?" Or is it simply an ambiguous fade-to-black, acknowledging that ending a series this massive is too difficult to do without offending some so you instead choose the abstract? Either way, it made for conversation, which is honest of everything on Mad Men, and so it's at least true-to-form.
Those were my thoughts-there are others, though (Pete off in married bliss, Betty's plans for the kids, the entire throwback to the Anna years)-share your thoughts on these or anything I highlighted above in the comments!
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