re: Mad Men Series Finale - "Person to Person"

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Then he became someone that we all rooted for. That's tremendous writing.

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Sorry. I never rooted for Pete.

The blackmailing coupled with his constant, self-important egotism was too much for me to ever root for him.

I don't really give a damn what others think. This board will always say that Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones are better (of which I love both), but consider the demographic. I think MM is the best written show of all time. It's my personal favorite. It's unquestionably top five. Beyond that we are just splitting hairs.

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Remember that season 1 episode 1 began on Peggy's first day; the series is almost as much about her journey with Don as her mentor, as Don's journey. It's possible that he gave her the pitch for the Coke commercial, as a way of passing the torch, and helping fulfill her dream of creating something lasting. If Don went back to work at McCann Erickson, he'd have to submit to Jim Hobart, which doesn't seem likely, and doesn't fit with the white whale reference, either. It's fantastic to think of Peggy becoming so valuable, especially since she doesn't have a contract and could now pretty much write her own ticket with the Coke commercial under her belt.

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That's interesting. I can buy the idea of Don giving Peggy the pitch for Coke much more than the idea of Don going back to work for McCann Erickson.

Since Don began the season relaying pitches through Freddie Rumsen, it also makes thematic sense.

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That's interesting. I can buy the idea of Don giving Peggy the pitch for Coke much more than the idea of Don going back to work for McCann Erickson.

Since Don began the season relaying pitches through Freddie Rumsen, it also makes thematic sense.

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I'm not buying the Peggy-Coke theory at all. There was nothing in the episode to suggest this was the case. Nor would she be given an account like Coke that quickly into her career at McCann. The ad was only created like three or so months after this episode ended. We can assume that she worked on it with Don, but that's all conjecture.

Freddy is important though and what turned out to be his final line in the series was perhaps the most prophetic the entire time.

"I mean, are you just going to kill yourself? Give them what they want? Or are you going to go in your bedroom, get in uniform, fix your bayonet and hit the parade? Do the work Don."

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That's interesting. I can buy the idea of Don giving Peggy the pitch for Coke much more than the idea of Don going back to work for McCann Erickson.

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Peggy could barely hold on to her Chevalier account at that point in time. The Coca~Cola campaign was conceived in January of '71 and launched later that year. No way does Peggy jump up to the Coke account from Topaz Pantyhose in a span of two months.

McCann Erickson wanted Don more than ever. If he walked back in with a killer campaign for Coke, they'd jump at the chance to have their new hired gun leading the charge.

This is my favorite piece I've read on the finale today and pretty much aligns with how I perceived it.

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That smile wasn’t just about having a clever idea for an ad. It was the real thing.

He may not always be nice. Maybe he’ll win his daughter’s love back, maybe he won’t. Making ads makes him happy, so he’ll go back to making ads. But he’ll be Don Draper and Dick Whitman, and all stops in between, and he’ll be okay, and so will Peggy and Stan and Joan and Roger and Marie and Sally. Life is a horseshoe, but you can be okay.

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LINK

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Just wanted to say that it's awesome the finale creates this kind of debate. For that, I'm happy with it.

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I agree. It's masterful writing. Keeps people talking.

Yea, for all we know, Don pitched the idea and is just collecting his royalties, living like a king off the coast of Patagonia

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I don't really give a damn what others think. This board will always say that Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones are better (of which I love both), but consider the demographic. I think MM is the best written show of all time.

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Yeah, its not Lost, 24, or House of Cards. Its not going to give you intense, suspenseful storylines that have cliffhanger after cliffhanger. It really is a character-driven show and the writing was superb. Layers and layers of character development that took time to flesh out. Yeah, we all got pissed when things wouldn't move along fast enough for us, but that's the way the show worked and that's why it's not for a lot people. It rarely, if never, sold itself out. For instance, it would've been really easy to create a "will they or won't they" storyline with Don & Joan, especially in the later seasons when ratings weren't as high as they were at the start.

Going back to Don's "return" to McCann, I think he easily would've been welcomed back. Holbert could've been pissed but at the end of the day, they'd rather have Don with them instead of with the competition.

Loved the ending. Anybody got any ideas how the waitress fit into the ending. As much as I loved the ending there were a couple of the the episodes in the second half that seem pretty pointless. Maybe I am missing the deeper meaning behind the waitress.