Mad Men: Season 7 (Part 2) 'The End of an Era' - April 5th

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CM_Burns

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Food Mane said:
Going in to the finale, I think most of us assumed that there were three possible outcomes for Don. He would symbolically kill Don Draper and revert to dikk Whitman, he would adopt a new persona to embody in the next stage of his life, or he would end it all, likely in a similar manner to the opening credits. What we saw during the last ten minutes initially seemed maudlin and offensive. Don finds redemption through new-age therapy. He apologizes for his wrongs, absolves himself of guilt and rebuilds his true self through transcendental meditation. Then we get hit with the Coke commercial and all fears of a sentimental, tone-deaf ending go out the window.

His existential crisis during the final episodes wasn’t about his guilt; it was about his fear of not being relevant. He left his first meeting at McCann because he realized that Don Draper was no longer unique. At that meeting he is surrounded by Dons. Charmers in suits selling people nostalgic dreams of worlds that never existed. So Don goes on the road and tries to recapture that nostalgic magic. He knows he needs to find something no one else has to keep existing as Don Draper.
He visits the America he sold people for years and can’t find it because it doesn’t exist. He visits a picture perfect suburb and finds a man almost destroyed by infidelity. He visits a legion hall and finds the true after effects of war. When he’s asked to choose between veterans and a con-man in he picks the con-man. Don starts to realize who he really is and what archetype he truly identifies with.

He fully realizes that archetype in California when he finally comes across an idea as powerful as nostalgia he can use to sell people things. Utopia. Nostalgia looks back and imagines a perfect past, Utopia looks forward and imagines a perfect future. Neither are real, neither are possible. Both are very effective sales tools.

The smile Don flashes during the last shot isn’t self-acceptance or inner peace. It is the relief of a man who was on the brink of irrelevance and found an angle he could use to continue being exceptional. It isn’t a happy, optimistic ending. It’s a dark cynical ending. This man’s ego has destroyed a lot on a micro and macro level and now he has a new tool to keep on doing it. He can’t use images of cowboys to give people cancer but he can use world peace to give people diabetes. Don didn’t change, Don didn’t apologize, and Don didn’t learn anything except how to exist as a salesmen in the coming decade.

The prophecy of title credits did come true. He killed the ad man in the black suit and white shirt, but he didn’t kill Don Draper - he made him relevant for 1970 and on. He found a new skin to drape himself and in doing so anticipates all the great salesman of today. All the tech utopians who happen to make billions as they struggle to give us a perfect world. The man who perfected nostalgic advertising stopped looking backwards and started looking forwards.
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Just watched the finale tonight and I interpreted it the same way. Your explanation was more clear and verbose than mine would've been, but the idea is the same. He went out on that journey to understand the counterculture and he distills it to an idea of a welcoming community being the appeal.

Great post.
 
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_DC

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I AM WARHOL said:
Almost cried over Betty of all ppl. Sally has grown so much. This show man. Sad it's over
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Yeah.. Easily one of the dopest shows in my opinion! The way people talked, the way they party, the style. All of it just added to the intrigue of the performances/script. Definitely wouldn't be mad at a spin-off or something.
 
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I AM WARHOL

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Funny thing about this show is that I used to hate it. Put it on in the background has I did homework. Thought it was boring. Slowly but surely it grabbed me. The dialogue is amazing. The style and cinematography excellent. The symbolism and motifs. The evolution of the characters. Such a rare pleasure
 
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