Your entire post was good but this in particular. Hobart doesn't give a shite about Roger and his team; he just wanted to remove the competition. He really doesn't expect Don & Co. to "take it up a notch" rather he just wants them out of the way. They have their big accounts in each category and they could care less about the small fry conflicting accounts/brands.

Don had the right of it in proposing the move to California but apparently their buyout/contracts preclude them from splitting off on their own again, thus the futile pitch to Hobart to allow them them a branch office in Cali. But that is part of the problem with interpreting the show; we don't really know about the legal limitations.

Don and Roger will never be happy working working for a big firm like McCann that they weren't part of building. They should take whatever severance deal they can get (like Joan is doing) and start over again in California with their 18 million worth of conflicting/small potato accounts. Frankly, I would like to see it end like that with them starting over again but of course, the show is ending so that likely won't be happening. Don was looking out the window during the McCann meeting at a jet that was far off in the distance. His mind was far off in the distance also and he obviously didn't want to be there.

My guess is the Mad Men will come to realize what it's like to be on the losing end of being overpowered. They reveled in their time but their time is coming to an end. I hope Don doesn't become a jumper, as many suggest based on the intro but I could easily see it happening. But my guess is he will either return to his true identity, as Dick Whitman, or take on another new identity.

I think Don realizes that he has accomplished about as much as he could in advertising and now he is just looking for sincere love in his life. He pissed away his family by being unfaithful to his wife and now Betty and the kids have moved on without him. The scene in the kitchen with Betty reading Freud and telling Don that it's what she always wanted to do (go back to school) was telling. And she made it clear that Sally is an independent person now as well. Don's only real hope for happiness it to start a new life for himself and hope he can get it right next time. But Don's problem is he is torn between wanting true love and his ongoing urge to be a Mad Man. He will never have a lasting relationship as long as he remains an alcoholic and fricks around with random women he meets.

This post was edited on 5/4/15 at 11:32 pm