One of the things that annoyed me most about all the crazy Mad Men finale predictions (Don is D.B. Cooper! Don is the freefalling man from the opening credits! Pete will die in a famous plane crash!) was that it was antithetical to the very spirit of the show, which trafficked in nuance and subtlety.
And yet, that’s the funny thing about show finales—certainly finales of great, complex shows like Mad Men—they’re almost always slightly out-of-step with the show’s typical form. Unless you’re David Chase (showrunner Matt Weiner’s mentor, by the way)—maddeningly cutting to black at the end of The Sopranos (whyyyy?)—they usually do provide some semblance of closure. They almost have to.
So in this case, Weiner—a Baltimore product, by the way, who went to the Park School and who made a point of including local references in the show (Don’s accounts included London Fog and Utz Potato Chips and he once stayed at the Belvedere Hotel and ate at Haussner’s)—went against his own instincts, and managed to give at least some of the characters a traditional happy ending.
He also managed to tease us for our silly online theories, starting the episode with an image of Don in aviator style goggles (D.B. Cooper, anyone?), then showing us Pete boarding the plane with his family (but no plane crash!), and—damn him—dangling the prospect of a Peggy/Joan business venture that never came to pass.
I mostly liked the final episode a lot, except for my annoyance with the fact that Don was so detached from the main action. Too many important conversations happened via phone call. (Even one that didn’t involve Don, although that conversation ultimately ended up face-to-face—literally.)
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to break down the final arcs of each of our beloved characters and see where Weiner left them.
Betty: Betty, who was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in the penultimate episode, certainly had the saddest of arcs. At the same time, there was something extraordinary about how dignified, how self-possessed, and how considerate of others she was as she approached her own death. She really has come a long way. She and Don had a phone call that started with some tough love—Betty not-so-gently reminding Don that he was something of an absentee father—and ending with a genuinely touching exchange between the two of them.
“Birdy,” Don said, referencing an affectionate nickname for her, his voice breaking. And with that, Betty—and the rest of us—began to cry, too.
Did Betty get a happy ending? Decidedly no.
Was there closure? It doesn’t get much more closed than death.
Grade for Betty’s finale arc: B (Her death is simply too sad for me to go any higher, but she’s doing things on her own terms now.)
Joan: Aided by Ken Cosgrave—who emerged as one of Mad Men‘s few unambiguous good guys—Joan really “leaned in” this episode, deciding to venture out on her own with a new production company. (She invited Peggy to join her, but Peggy ultimately declined.) Her new guy Richard, who had seemed so enlightened, wasn’t quite ready to sacrifice his traditional ideas of a life (and wife) of leisure. It was sad that Richard didn’t work out, but, frankly, screw him. Go Joan!
Did Joan get a happy ending? She didn’t get it all (whatever that means), but she got something even better: The chance to be her own boss and call the shots—something she’s wanted and deserved all along. Also, thanks to baby-daddy Roger, she doesn’t have to worry financially about her son.
Was there closure? Yes
Grade for Joan’s finale arc: A
Peggy: The best thing about Peggy’s part in the finale was that she was…in the finale. I’d heard some speculation that her strut through the halls of McCann Erickson, smoking a cigarette, looking ready to kick ass and take names, would be our final image of her. Cool as that was, I really wanted more. Luckily, that was yet another online theory that didn’t pan out. Nope, Peggy got what was closest to the most traditional “happy ending.” For one, she had a beautiful phone conversation with Don where he “just wanted to hear her voice”—suggesting that the connection between them (theirs is one of the great platonic male/female friendships in the history of television) would go on forever. She also manipulated the brass at McCann Erickson into giving her the account she wanted, demonstrating that she was going to use her brains, experience, and mettle to go far. “You’ll be creative director by 1980,” Pete suggested. (You see? Even Mad Men characters themselves can’t resist a little theorizing!) I wouldn’t bet against him.
But the best moment for Peggy happened during a phone call with the gruff but doting Stan (again with the telephone), where he confessed that he was in love with her. After being slightly taken aback (“What?“), Peggy gradually realized that she loved Stan, too. Suddenly, Stan appeared at her door and they exchanged a romantic kiss. Corny? Yes. Out of character for the show? For sure. Did I love every minute of it? You betcha!
Did Peggy get a happy ending? Yes
Was there closure? Yes
Grade for Peggy’s finale arc: A+
Roger: Good old Roger—the bon vivant and old-school charmer, always quick with the quip juste—was one of the most reliably entertaining characters on the show. The final joke of Roger’s arc was that the unrepentant skirt chaser, who always traded up for a younger model, ended up with a woman “old enough to be Megan’s mother. Actually it is her mother!” Roger is in love with Marie Calvert, and did the right thing by Joan and his son, without ever losing his rascally wit (he introduced Marie as “my mother” to a waiter). Now, if only he could lose that porny mustache!
Did Roger get a happy ending? Why, yes
Was there closure? Sort of. It wasn’t totally clear if Roger was going to leave McCann Erickson and move to Quebec with Marie. Either way, he’ll land on his feet. He’s Roger Sterling.
Grade for Roger’s finale arc: A-
Sally: Oh Sally. Poor, poor Sally. It breaks my heart to see her hurting, but Betty was right in the letter (meant to be opened after her death, but she probably knew that was unlikely) when she called Sally smart and strong and a survivor—just like her dad. She’ll be okay. And she’ll always love her father, but see him in a clear-eyed way, flaws and all. Sally has always been the most mature character on the show, so her behavior in the finale—telling Don the truth, being a rock for her family—was not surprising.
Did Sally get a happy ending? Not really.
Was there closure? No…but there was a real sense that Sally is going to be just great.
Grade for Sally’s finale arc: Like Betty, too sad to go any higher that B.
Pete: Of course, entitled, bratty Pete got the great job, the Lear jet, and his family back. (There’s a reason why they call it the Peter Principle.) Still, one of the remarkable things about Vincent Kartheiser’s performance was that he actually made us root for the little weasel. I’m (grudgingly) happy for him.
Did Pete get a happy ending? Duh
Was there closure? Yes
Grade for Pete’s finale arc: B+
Don: Don’s arc for this finale was slightly frustrating because he was so far away from the rest of the action. But, true to his character, he was wandering, in search of answers and redemption. (The eternal irony of Don’s character is that a man who seemed to have it all was, in fact, racked with insecurities and shame.) But he had several epiphanies in the finale. One was when Peggy bluntly asked him, “What have you done that’s so wrong?” Even as he laid out his crimes, he realized that perhaps none warranted punishment by death. Later, in group therapy at the New Age retreat in California, he made a connection with another man, embracing him, forgiving him, weeping with him, and—as such—forgiving himself. The final shot of Don is him sitting yoga style, chanting, an uncharacteristically blissed-out smile on his face.
Which leads us to the next cut: The famous Coke “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” commercial, featuring a bunch of hippies who look strikingly like the folks Don had interacted with at the retreat.
So what did this mean? Was that Don’s ad? (Presumably yes, although some have speculated that it was Peggy’s, appropriating Don’s experience for herself.) And if it is Don’s ad, does that mean he’s a sell-out, commercializing his own enlightenment? Or is the commercial supposed to suggest that Don was able to be both—a happy guy and a successful adman? I have my thoughts…but Mad Men has never been about absolute truths, so I’ll leave you to yours.
Did Don get a happy ending? By his standards, deliriously so.
Was there closure? Ish
Grade for Don’s final arc: A-