Leonard’s pain: I’m a good, honest man but everyone (including family) treats me like I’m invisible. I’m all alone. Don’s pain: I’m impossible to ignore. I’m good looking and command every room I’m in, but what they see is a mask and completely fake. I’m all alone.
This is what I didn’t get about this scene until recently. Don is in pain despite not feeling much like Leanard. But doesn’t have to. He just has to feel alone and hurt with him.
@@frogtownroad9104 That's why Leonard is the perfect catalyst for his realization/connection. He's in many ways the anti-Don Draper - a milquetoast American man who dresses plainly, works in an office, does what he's told, and leads an altogether average existence, probably wishing everyday he was Don Draper. Little does he realize "Don Draper" is just a reaction to that very same pain he feels.
@@BatmanHQYT We see the same theme played out in the elevator scene with Pete after he gets his ass kicked by Lane. Pete is visibly beaten, bleeding, and at a low point mentally/emotionally. He says "I have nothing, Don," despite having all the trappings of a happy, successful life. He envies Don's life not realizing that Don has the exact same gaping hole inside that he does, that Leonard does, that Roger does, etc. They are all trying desperately to fill an unending emptiness within themselves in different ways and with varying levels of failure. They lead lives commanded by consumerism and material wealth, or the appearance of it, all the while failing to realize that the only things that will truly fulfill them are the "free" things in life like love, community and all that gooey stuff.
The monologue of Leonard really spoke to the whole premise of the show. “You spend your whole life not getting it, but you don’t even know what it is” sums up the loneliness of manhood, and the emptiness of consumerism.
@@juicifercoppinson1570 "it is cold paternalistic systems that leave the main character depressed." and this is somehow in contrast to American consumerism? I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. I think you're speaking in the old American Red Scare context because you mentioned "traditionally communist countries"? Which "traditionally communist countries"? Vietnam? :D I'm Finnish. What did you mean with your last paragraph about people deciding for themselves about something? They enlighten themselves with the coke commercial?
"They should love me. I mean, maybe they do, but I don't even know what it is. You spend your whole life thinking you're not getting it, people aren't giving it to you. Then you realize, they're trying. And you don't even know what it is." How can you not be moved by this?
To someone that has not experienced this would not understand. It would probably not even make sense but someone who has experienced this can understand the meaning and the pain behind each one of these words.
I’m not moved by it. The man has financial stability plus a wife and two kids, and is still unhappy. He’s also apparently got his health. Sky is the limit for this guy. I have no sympathy for people who squander their gifts. He needs a near death experience to understand what the fuck he has.
You know, I can completely understand your viewpoint on this. Especially for people who are struggling with very concrete problems like financial hardship, listening to this guy talk about what he has might be a little much to take. But I don’t think that sentiment is really at odds with the point the writers were trying to get across. The main theme in this show is that people are always people and can feel profoundly lonely and misplaced even when they have a lot of everything. So the point of showing this man isn’t for us to feel bad for him, but to realize that we’re all complex human beings who get stuck in our heads even when we get what we think we want. The thing that brings us peace is true connection and vulnerability. And you might be right that a near death experience would help this guy understand that or see what he has in a better light. To me it doesn’t make the pain or emotion expressed in the scene less authentic it moving.
The whole show is about loneliness and how a man deals with it. And someone who rly knows what loneliness is, will understand the raw beauty of this show.
Agreed. No money, promotion, woman, object could give Don a revelation. We saw that in the past and it didn't work. Don's final turning point (that we see anyway) had to be internal. I'm so glad the show resisted the temptation of betraying its nuance and pace just for the sake of a series finale.
I love the Peggy story arc. In the pilot, she is this timid little secretary who looks like she just hopes to survive a week at Sterling Cooper. In the end, she has accomplished so as a woman in that industry and is one of the very few people in the world who Don actually bonded with and would say something like "I just wanted to hear your voice" to. Elisabeth Moss was fantastic in that role.
Love how she went from being completely pissed to completely worried. The moment everybody thought Don was going to jump off the cliff lol. Except he went back and did one of the best commercials ever ahha.
I always thought he would have killer himself. The intro showed him always falling out a window and I thought literally either they were gonna show that as the outro or he comes back nd everything happens again and instead of letting anyone knows he remains calms goes to his offices sits down decides to pour a drink but stops bc his hands shaking looks out the window and realizes he’s not shaking anymore and just jumps out everyone watching him fall and don truly is happy at the end for his troubles are over he’s not living a double life now he’s has no life
@@JermaineLal Back when the show was airing, almost every other freaking reader comment on the episode reviews would predict this ending incessantly whenever the topic came up. Yes, even after the writers basically shut it down with that one episode where Don makes a vacationing ad that looked like suicide. Nothing against you but your comment really brought back a lot of nostalgic frustration lol.
Don, finally embracing who he is in the realization that he is not alone, and in doing that, he is showing Leanord that he isn't alone either. This is the essence of connection, and empathy. This scene is so emotionally authentic and profound.
His whole career was built on his idea that he could empathize, put himself into someone else’s shoes. But he never shared in the loneliness of others, he just sought relief from his own loneliness in them.
Why I think it's so sad is because so many people can relate to the story. Being picked last or not even being picked at all. Why did he or she pick them and not me? So many different ways one can interpret the fridge scenario. It's very interchangeable in life
@@whazzuphere Also reminds me of Carly Simon's - That's The Way I Always Heard It Should Be ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ux7HgO9QhAc.html
I loved this ending, at least partly because it confirmed the sense I had throughout the series that Peggy was the only person he truly loved other than his children.
If Wiener visualized that ending from day one, as he's said, he's a goddam genius. To describe Don's character arc, deal with the backstory and have it tie up with the ' new spirit ' of the 70s with Don reborn.Storytelling-wise that must be about as good as it gets. I'm so going to miss this show.
I am not sure if he hugs the guy because he understands what the man says, or because he finally realized what caring for somebody else means. Don does seem very emotionally detatched in regards of empathy towards other people, mostly very self-concentrated. However, considering that coca cola ad was supposedly made by Don, it might be implying he finally felt other people around the world. Seriously, this is one of the most emotionally satisfying TV show ever. Amazing job by everybody involved in the show.
RoyRoger I took that Coca Cola ad to be a reflection of the times, not an ad that Don came up with. Like Don in this episode...as was Don in all the other episodes, he could be anywhere between that retreat and the moon...:) "He could be Batman for all we know" as Harry Crane once said.:)
+stillayl I agree man, I dint think don went back with this as a sales pitch, I think it just shows how shallow and evil the world he had left became such is what his realisation of it was
+RoyRoger Of course he did the coca cola add man. He struggles in between being good or bad, Dick or Don, and in the end the evil wins. Why? Because the show is about the american way of life until the true rising of corporate america.
I always thought Leonard was channeling Dick Whitman and that struck a chord with Don. Don truly realized why he ran away from his old identity. Dick felt like Leonard growing up and became Don once he got away from Korea. After all this time, he's finally able to take characteristics from both Dick and Don. He realizes that most people put on a facade or their version of Don Draper (especially in advertising), but at the end of the day everyone is really like Dick Whitman inside. He can combine who he was and who he is into the person he wants to be. It's like the instructor says at the end: "The new day brings new hope. The lives we've led and the lives we've yet to lead. A new day. New ideas. A new you."
I binged watched the show the last month on Netflix i finished the last episode today and i don't think i have ever cried so hard over a show. I felt like i had been hit by a train. Mesmerized by its beauty that it hits you hard. I feel like theres something so relatable not only about Don but the other characters as well. I don't think i have ever cared so much for characters my heart broke a bit. Mad Men is by far the most beautiful masterpiece i have ever had the privledge to watch. Mad Men i will miss you...:'(
I just did the exact same thing but finished it today. So so good. Amazing finish. Very bittersweet. I cried a lot in that last episode. The way all of the characters develop throughout the show is breathtaking. Everyone is so important. My heart broke when don said he broke his vows scandalized his child and made nothing of another mans name. Then peggy saying that's not true was the bittersweet cherry on top. Also broke down when Leonard was saying that fridge metaphor. So sad. I don't know if I feel sorry for don or not. I definitely feel terrible for Betty and that's something I totally didn't think I would be capable of. But I do know that this show had amazing heart. I'll miss u mad men. Thank you for the profound impact you've left
Watching this show is incomplete without coming to YT to read comments. The comments on the mad men clips on YT are so insightful that these seems to be. Part of it. Indispensable.
Mad Men is the finest television I have seen in 50 years, a remarkable achievement. I could and have enthused for hours to friends and others about this show. I was fortunate that I shared my life for five years with a man who equally understood and cherished this show. Sadly he died suddenly well before the end (and missed what would have been upsetting for him - Lane's death). Knowing him, watching Mad Men have both enriched my life.
Totally accurate and true - the finest television that was ever written... Don Draper was the finest ad man we have ever seen - it was something he truly understood - probably the ONLY thing he truly understood- and that’s cool because he was the best ever - period!!! So let it go at that... He was the best ever - if you do not like it, you had better learn to deal with it - period, end of discussion ....
There's this line on 30 Rock where Tina Fey thinks Alec Baldwin wants to kill himself and she runs screaming "Jack, no! Don't you wanna know how Mad Men ends?!" I will think about you whenever I remember that line, which was pretty funny at the time. I can't imagine how hard it would be losing someone you love, who decided to share their life and interests with you. Incredibly sorry for your loss.
I never felt like the show was directly criticizing “capitalism” or consumerism. Parts of it. But I think that Dons knowing smile, the coke ad, mirroring themes of connectedness and presence that he’s learned at the retreat, is meant to show he’s negotiated a position with his job, himself, and the world. Just because you make an ad out of a true human feeling, doesn’t mean it’s less valid.
I think Leonard is how Don sees himself when the booze runs dry and the adrenaline wears off. Despite his status and his charm, Don still hasn’t shaken the feeling of being a discarded deadweight. Even though everything in his life appears to say otherwise, it’s never enough to quiet his inner Leonard. He tried the big job, but Leonard still chased him. So he tried the perfect marriage, but Leonard was still on his heels. Then he put his foot on the gas with affairs, booze, drugs - anything to become more than the orphan without a name. But after everything, after all of his exploits throughout the show - he never outpaced Leonard. The two men were in the same, deep pit of despair. Who knows if Don ever figured out how to be happy or learned how to draw strength from the love of your family. All we really know is that he finally came to terms with his inner Leonard. Don finally realized that everything he had done had not made him feel a single bit better. And that’s a start.
I have felt that I wanted to be a "cool guy", and have tried to make myself that person. I was a Marine, a Firefighter, Scuba Diver, a college degree, friendly to people. But inside I am still just myself, the scared, selfish, imperfect, awkward person I have been since the day I was born. A lifetime of imposter syndrome. Is that how Don and everyone feels?
This perceptive take eases the pain of distance from this greatest of shows. When I read these sorts of comments from others who were thoughtfully and profoundly moved by "Mad Men," I feel the show still goes on. Thanks!
It's significant that Don left New York City (the epitome of American success) and ended up at "Esalen," a place known for bringing people to see the world as it is or could be, and to see themselves without the artifice they have adopted. The physical reality of Esalen is that you cannot go any further because it is on the edge of the continent. It is the end point and paradoxically the beginning.
There seems to be a continuity flaw, when they greet the morning sun. The ocean view scene is on the west coast, where the sun would be setting. A little mistake.
Don telling Peggy, “I just wanted to hear your voice”. Wow. This was written perfectly. Don was finally at the deepest emotional low that allowed him to stop thinking for a minute and listen. He hears the thing that shatters him and he has the emotional release he really needed. What’s amazing is that he got up the next day, healed. He showered groomed and got well dressed yet did not leave the retreat. He tried AGAIN. That inner peace, that final meditation, gave him the Coke ad, Peggy needed. BRILLIANT.
The beauty of this scene, and why I think it struck such a chord with Don, is that everyone is going through this. Everyone wants love but they don't know what love is. And then Don, like everyone, thinks he's alone in this experience, and it is so lonely. When Leonard talks about his experience Don realizes he is not alone, and that sudden realization is so overwhelming all he can do is hug Leonard and cry. Absolutely beautiful, I loved this show for so many reasons, but this ending was so perfect.
It also bookends perfectly with his conversation with Rachel Menken in the very first episode, where he says that love isn't real, and that people like him just exploit those feelings to wring money from strangers. Compare the man who said that in 1960 to the man hugging a complete stranger in 1970.
@@dwsimmy2599 wow great point, I didn't think of that, but the arc is obvious in a way. Great point tho, amazing writing, wasn't perfect but madmen was so good.
I remember watching this and of course I was confused but the instant I realize what it all meant I began crying. Mad Men was about all of these characters who were really products of the 40's and 50's transitioning to the people they would become in the 70's. Rest in peace, Betty Draper
That was me.. i was like, this is so cliche that he finds solace in a hippie commune but then i realized it was the late 60’s spiraling into the 70’s where this was normal and then the ad hit and it all made sense.
Fucking superb acting from Leonard. His whole monologue is so calm and resigned that you'd think he's made some sort of twisted peace with his unhappiness, only for him to suddenly explode into tears at the end, all that suppressed pain turned raw again. And then that beautiful catharsis with Don. Fuck I love this show.
"Don, listen to me. What did you ever do that was so bad?" " I broke all my vows. I scandalized my child. I took another man's name and made nothing of it." "That's not true." Makes me cry every time.
This is by far the most intelligently written TV show I've ever seen in my life. Stories so complex and unpredictable that you could never know what direction they would take five minutes from now, yet everything made perfect sense.
This ending literally made me rethink my life, my goals and what I want from life. This scene is literally soul crushing and soul relieving at the same time. Its like a catharsis for the every person (including me) working in the entertainment business. You just work for the shallow desires for people to end up removing your soul from the very basic feelings of morality. The part where Don hugs and cries the average man of society explains it all. He finally makes a emotional connection with the average, unatractive person. And with that his soul is finally relieved.
Very moving, yes. Don showed compassion to strangers, tho (it's people in his life he struggled with). But, who knew that's how he felt about himself, the one not 'picked.' Leonard, btw resembled Don's Season 1 description to Pete, 'the balding man in the corner office that women go out with out of pity' - who knew that was a portent of how he would about himself in the end. It's like he finally pulled the green curtain back on himself.
One of the best endings to a show ever ! A guy who is lost trying to find his true meaning , and finds it when he lets go, then goes back to what he was that got him lost in the first place
Me: "There's only 5 minutes left. Where's this great ending I keep hearing about?" Me: "There's only 2 minutes left. What could possibly happen that's so great?" Me: "There's only about a minute left..." Me: "Holy f-ck, that's awesome!"
Nothing we consume can ever make us truly happy, and this is why the Coke jingle at the end sounded like a death knell rather than an anthem of hope. Don spent his iife consuming things (especially booze and women), yet he was lonely and sad from start to finish. In a consumer society, all of us are Don Draper in one way or another. What a brilliant show.
Dons very much happy in the end. He’s no longer running from his past, “a new day, new ideas, a new you” he’s embracing the future for once in his life, empathizing with people he doesn’t even know on a personal level but rather due to a different connection bc of how much he relates to this man’s confliction with the truth behind the love of others. He transcended the darkness, Don Draper is finally at peace, which is more of a resolution than what most television protagonists usually have
agreed. and assuming don makes the coke ad, it shows he absolutely has not changed besides maybe understanding himself. he used enlightenment for a buck
@@itsbrendannn7175 The thing is, we want wholesale, full-fledged change in movies and TV. We want characters to become the best they can be. But that's not how it happens in life. All you can do is try to be a better person in each moment. What Don had at the end was a meaningful, cathartic, ultimately positive experience. Was it the answer to all of his problems? Of course not. Nothing is. That he made a Coke ad out of it shows the two sides of his existence. He's pushing a sugary consumer product, but he's also really tapping into something that moves people. Ads were his particular genius. We don't think Peggy or Stan are doomed for staying in advertising. So why is Don? If he's doomed, it's because he never learned how to be happy. I think the end of the show tells us there is maybe the possibility he could find some level of happiness- maybe not for the rest of his life, but I think he made some progress, at least. I don't think Don becomes a lifelong practitioner of meditation, for example, but in the moment it helped him. Just find what works to get by, essentially.
Wow this made me cry. He did not need to say anything because the guy spoke verbatim to him. That is why he was the only one to hug him and the only one to cry. You know his heart healed because he made that Coke commercial. All this without one word from his mouth. That was very powerful and genius. Much respect to the writer(s) who made this.
Binged this in literally 3-4 days and I freakin loved it and LOVED how realistic it was, they refrained from makings Dons secrect a constant threat and focused on just good television, 10/10 definately in my top 3 now
During the phone call Don's wearing the same shirt as in his dream about his birth in Season 3, but in the final scene he's wearing his white shirt, either representing a blank slate, or the advertising world.
The way I interpreted the ending is that once Don realized he wasn't alone in feeling that way, he was able to move forward. Then whilst meditating and humming in perfect harmony ("new ideas, a new you") the chime sounds as if a lightbulb goes off in Don's head as he smiles, because he has just thought up the best marketing commercial to ever grace the planet.
Johan Libertarian I think the root of Don's problems were he never saw the other side. You need to know what light is before you can understand the dark's purpose and how the two need each other. I think this is when Don comes full circle. He finally understands the entire picture. If you could see the exact opposite of you, wouldn't you tell them everything is going to be okay?
Johan Libertarian yeah he was everything Don Draper wasnt, he was timid, definitely lacking in self-confidence, not good looking, not succesful but yet he was going through the exact same pain as Don Draper
The guy was basically the "real" Don Draper (i.e. the wounded, tortured Dick Whitman). Had he not become Don Draper, he would be a lot like this guy. Don instantly felt that connection. So, so many man tears.
+Johan Libertarian So basically like the rest of us. I think Don finally got to saw what it's like not being Don, having to work hard and still have no one notice or care about you.
I seriously loved this ending because it is an ending of self-reflection. Don was a lost soul searching for meaning in this world, and he found it thanks to this group of hippies. I cry every time I see Don hugs the man because he found someone whom actually knows what it feels like to work 24/7 and no one notices it. I don't care if people say this series is boring, it is a work of art because it connects with the imperfect characters in only way people can do it. The acting is also top notch! I really dig this series!
These weren’t just a group of hippies. This happens to be the Esalen Institute, which played a key role in the formation and development of the Human Potential Movement, beginning in the 1960’s. Don happened to be at and had found himself at the best place he could possibly be.
After being sometimes hugely disappointed by the endings of some major television series over the years, this was a much-needed excellent & satisfying ending. Bravo to everyone involved!
Such a good ending to a masterful show. Don's self-actualization and acceptance of himself leads to the best advertisement of all time. What a great ending.
Jon Hamm should have like 2 or 3 Emmys other than the one he won for this but how Elizabeth Moss didn't win one I don't know, she's equally good in this scene and in the continuation of it with Stan. Plus her character changes more throughout the show and she charted that as an actor perfectly
Don went back to make the coke ad. The sound of a cymbal often symbolic of a lightbulb (idea) being thought of. At the same time he smiled, then they went directly into the coke commercial. Not to mention how in the episodes leading up to and including the finale there was the presence of coke throughout the episodes. I think he probably will continue to use his life to make another ad. In a world where nothing is certain for him and he can't control much (in terms of relationships) he would probably go back to something familiar which is advertising. He's proven time and time again throughout the series that he is incapable of change. I just don't see how Weiner could have all of a sudden became cliche where everything ends with rainbows and sunshine.
I just watched this and cried my eyes out during this scene. Its as if it took me a long time to get to where I am. Im only 29 and have my own place and im just speechless right now. It took me so long to overcome certain fears/anxiety and to assert myself while not caring what others think, similar to Peggy. That's what I liked about her. I do have times when I feel like I'm spiraling or just "existing". Im an ISTJ but I have close friends.
I know it's a year later but I related to this - also an ISTJ, struggle with anxiety and confidence. I'm 38 and have been making incremental changes since I was your age. It's never too late. Good luck.
I've watched this wonderful show four times all the way through. The ending... it's perfect, one of the most powerful ever. If you are a man, about the same age, with a wife and kids.... it hits you like an absolute freight train. Essentially, it's your worst nightmare laid bare, and you've either experienced it or absolutely fear it. Peggy was always special to Don, and she is there for him, just like all the times Don was there for her. And it ends with Don's best advert - the greatest advert of all time.
Jimmy Darmondy told Nucky right before getting killed that the only thing he had to worry about was "when you run out of booze and you run out of company and the only person left to judge you is yourself.". This resonates with Mad Men and Don Draper too. Sopranos, Mad Men, and Boardwalk Empire are absolutely amazing and brilliant. The Terry Winter and Matt Weiner trifecta.
Leonard speech gives a fantastic description about emotions and life's important things. Don been doing fake presentations for years (e.g. carousel) - to sell products and earn more money. Without a short stop what this really means. Leonard isn't selling anything - he just describes how depressed he is. Pure genius of directors where Don finally realises his mistakes and non-emotional life approach.
Mad Men! The greatest TV show of all time. The emotions I felt watching it, the admiration and respect for all the effort that went into it…I doubt any show will ever top it. Thank you so much for the memories. Thank you to everyone who was part of it. It’s meant more to me than you will ever know
That was really beautiful. Don attained everything he thought would make him happy and it didn't. He needed real love and human connection, not just the superficial appearance of it.
This ending was truly superb, it could be that Don finally found peace and has decided to make a change in his lifestyle and values or it could also be that he just thought up a new idea in all that peace, that smile at the end is truly deceptive. Make of it what you want.
Here's my interpretation of this finale. Don's career in advertising, and overall the new life he borrowed, was about telling people what they wanted, giving advices and being, albeit reluctantly, an inspiration to others. But deep inside he knew he was no role model, and in the end playing the game right, while made him financially successful left him spiritually and emotionally ruined. I like to think that when he hug Leonard he feels he's no different from him, all the cynicism that worked so well for him and defined his character through the show's seasons finally broke down for he finally understood what the world needed at that moment: it needed an hug and holding hands together in such a way nobody would feel excluded and left apart. That I believe was a brilliant closure for a brilliant show.
@@beeragainsthumanity1420 given the self destruction arc he endured along the whole serie I wouldn't say cynism won him ultimately. He an Ad creative tho, certainly not a prophet, at least this time he tried to convey a good message.
@@beeragainsthumanity1420 > That's the point of advertising, isn't it? Manipulating feelings? Yes, and he was a master in that as I wrote >I definitely think in his meditative moment, he had finally felt acceptance of who he really was though...that's the arc. Yes, yours is a good point. But thinking of him returnng to his old self after having burnt so many bridges ... I don't know. It's up to us to try figure what kind of person and creative he would have been throught the 70s and the 80s, at some point people like him that remained in that business were called 'gurus' rather than 'veterans'. Maybe all his exruciating personal journey was to come up with a killer Ad for Coke, a bit sad but consistent with the serie's overall writing. Or maybe he wanted to use his standing in that business to spread a positive message for once. Maybe a bit of both.
What a brilliant way to end the show! What makes Dan such an amazing ad man is his ability to understand the emotions behind the ads he's selling. He understands that people make logical decisions for emotional reasons. When Don hugs the other man, I think it's Don finally feeling and understanding the emotion of love. Now that he understands love, he can sell it. Hence the smile at the end and the Coke ad. He's cracked the code. Absolutely brilliant.
i love how don gets offered healthy accountability, forgiveness, belonging, reassurance, pride and emotional space to unload his shame and rejection wounds, all within a simple phone call, but it's not until don is brave and vulnerable enough to give compassion to himself through leonard that he feels worthy of receiving what peggy, and for that matter, the world, has for him. a fucking therapy session in brilliant tv form. empathy, self love and community instead of hedonism, power and perfectionism as timeless antidotes for profound loneliness. god bless mad men.
Just finished this show today and it truly is an absolute masterpiece. The scene where Leonard talks about loneliness and Don hugs him is perfect because when the seat is empty, it's as if anticipating Don to sit and speak about his feelings but Leonard does instead, and he articulates loneliness in a way that Don never could - throughout the whole show he's never really spoken on a personal level about his own feelings. So when Leonard speaks about something so perfectly relatable, it's almost as if Don's feelings the entire show have finally been put into words and his reaction; the crying and the hug is so moving. The ending with the coke ad is kinda bittersweet for me, for the whole lifestyle Don lived throughout the show which involved advertising did really just make him extremely miserable. I really think Don is just a free spirit and is clearly happier when just on the road and living so part of me just wanted him to find peace and leave advertising for good. I suppose this really is because Don is, at heart, a country boy whose entire identity was a lie and forced to a degree. But it's a beautiful end; as Matthew Weiner explained the iconic ad was one of the best in advertising and serves a metaphor for the great mind and talent of Don Draper.
I like the implication that he goes back into the ad business. As fake and empty as most of his life before was, Don is at his heart a creative. No matter how dysfunctional he was, pitching ads, coming up with ideas, and connecting with people is where he thrived. It gave him a form of fullfilment even when he knew that the rest of his life was in shambles. I think he just needed to come to terms with himself to lead a better life. The ad business is in his blood
I watch this scene from time to time dunno why but it’s stuck with me more than any other tv show moment. I’ll never forget bawling my eyes out the first time, I hope we all find that light in our life
this was so medicating. I worked over 20 years in the corporate environment starting when I was 26 . Hobnobbing, money, deals, life on the road. One day I found out my job was dissolved. I spent the next ten years wandering from job to useless job that never compared to what I had. I became an alcoholic and constantly looked back at the career that was taken from me. I then had a dream one night. The dream had ALL the things I had hated but never knew it. Being away from my family 20 weeks a year, the pressure, the stress, the unreasonable expectations, the blame, the guilt for things I had done to people. The A hole I had been to serve myself. I woke up, looked at the ceiling and said THANK YOU to the man above. He showed me that I didn't enjoy it, that I didn't like that life and my real life was right there inside my house. I was a changed man and have never been happier. Life is not about making the president or CEO happy. He doesn't give 2 squirts of pee about you as a person. Its not about the road life, they only want your money. Its about the people that TRULY care about you, and there aren't but maybe 6 or 7 in your life, but they are what makes you happy. Don Draper saw that he wasn't the man he had been but was much simpler, much less ruthless. He wanted people to like vs not caring what people thought.
I love how the people in the coke commercial look just like the people he met at the retreat. You can just see Don saying "and one of the women has to have pigtail braids, tied with red ribbons..." to a bunch of men in suits.
Those complaining that he should've been a responsible father and raised his sons are forgetting that he was asked to stay out of their lives by his ex-wife and his daughter. I don't know that he could have reconciled that difference with them through time if he tried. But, he was a hell of an adman. And I imagine that this ad was his magnum opus that allowed him to basically name the days he'd be working and how much he'd make.
Kenneth Perkins I see it a little different but fair enough. Of course the series was so great and serious precisely because the character is so complex between his usually good work and far from perfect relationships
Kenneth Perkins How easy to use his ex-wife's and daughter's demands as an EXCUSE. It would have been cheesy and strange for sure, but hopefully he would've get into a car and "Do what a man's got to do" and still be a good enough adman
+Kenneth Perkins "Don" may have been "asked" to stay out of the lives of his sons, but I guarantee the regret and guilt on his death bed would not have been over missing out on a great career, but missing out on being a Father to his children. No man dies wishing he had made more money or had more things, he dies regretting what he craved and needed most while alive... to love and to be loved back (primarily by his family)! Why would anyone ever listen to someone who said to stay away from that which one has created? A man's best and most important creation is not himself, it is his children!
+Kenneth Perkins At the end of the sixth season Don sorta lost it all. Seventh season he was struggling to get his professional life in order. By the end of the season he made it - back as an important part of the company, back in the favor of Peggy and adored by the company's most important accountant at the time (Pete). Then he sees the spirit of Bert telling him he should sort out his personal life ("best things in life are free") so in season 8 he does that - in his own way. The thing is Don was always a conflicted, unhappy person, belonging nowhere and to no one, who kept pushing people away and looking for happiness in someone who doesn't know him that well while abusing the love and trust of those closest to him. But that was Don. For most of the season 8 we see him shedding the Don Draper persona episode after episode (the company - gone, second wife - gone, apartment - gone, lust - gone, being in love (with the new chick) - gone, etc.) so he just starts running towards his Dick personna, trying to find a lifeline there. When he reached Cali it turned out that the Dick personna would not save him (the only person knowing and loving him as Dick turned away from him, telling him he's not her family) so he just shed everything and became nothing, feeling alone and unimportant as ever. Then he sees himself in the guy in therapy and finally gets to share his feelings with someone. In the final moment he get's reborn (new life, new ideas) and find peace. The point I'm trying to make is - the Coke commercial is not only the best commercial in history. What made it significant and powerful is that it featured people of different races united, smiling, singing... It's a message of love and peace. It just shows the man he became at that beach and the tells of the capacity for love he discovered within himself. I think he not only came back to do the commercial but also came back to his kids and found a happy, less-turbulent life for himself. Sorry for the wall of text, I just love this show and always get excited talking about it.
Still one of the greatest endings I have ever seen. Most endings are 1 dimensional, a person dies, marriage, wins at something, ect. But this ending is about as real as you can make it, Don tries to find himself, and through his struggles, regular life still intersects with his personal struggles, which is a great way to end a show. Most endings don't usually capture both dynamics well. The fact Don finally realized who he was in life I think helped him and he became at peace with himself. Many assume the show is Don Draper dying, as he struggles to find out who he really is, and in a sense I think the old Don Draper died the moment he realized who he really was when the guy spoke about his own personal struggles and the dream of being in a fridge.
What is interesting about Leonard is that his and Don's shared feelings of loneliness and isolation from everyone else is foreshadowed. We actually first see Leonard in the last scene of an episode prior to the finale, with both men sitting alone only a short distance from one another at the counter of the Diner.
It shows the triumph of consumer capitalism over the old hirarchy, and it’s ability to adapt into all shapes/forms. Don’s pain, is transformed into something beautifull, and profitable. It’s also the start of the « californian» capitalization of all things exotic like meditation, yoga, to hippi industrialists like Steve Jobs. Striving for not just function and power but also art.
I love that after all of his years of womanizing it's two women who have the ability to save Don. Peggy becomes his mentor by saving his life and reminding him that he's valuable. And the seemingly insignificant character who invites him to come to the last seminar helps save him, too. He would be lost without their intervention.
@@muiresuilgorm3452 she saw he was in trouble and asked for his help in getting her to walk into the group, appealing to his emotions, she knew he was stuck.... she knew from moment one that he was the one needing the help.
He finally escapes the game long enough to stare deeply into the gaping void inside of him and has a moment of true human connection even if he isn't totally sure what it means (and neither are we). And what does he do? Turns around and once again cheapens it by using it to sell more unnecessary, semi-poisonous junk. Don is a doomed man.
i think the coke ad is meta. like a ribbon to tie off the show. i wouldn't know where in the text of these scenes is what you say happens *after the show end*. its like coming off of, say snowhite, and be all like " well ya know she dumped him, later, see, had to get herself an apartment, i think she's seeing grumpy's cousin these days, oh she overweight now, got gout, its messy"
Such a deeply bittersweet ending. It's open ended enough for someone to take what they want from it IMO, but I always viewed it as you said. The man finally gets some sliver of hope that maybe he can get out of that hole he's been in all his life, but instead he perverts that brief moment of peace and happiness. And who can say how that ends for him?
"You’re always trying to get things to come out perfect in art, because it’s REAL difficult in life..." and that's what made him one hell of an ad-man.
"I took another mans name and made nothing of it" his face when he says this and the fact that this is the last in the list of things he did wrong, more than anything else he tells Peggy, really cuts me. Don's decision to take the real Don Draper's name is something that eats away at Don throughout the whole series. It gives him this immeasurable guilt because it means that few people if any will ever be able to love him for who he actually is. and here at the end of his meandering journey with no destination he finally has to face the reality that this thing he did and has eaten away at him for years...was ultimately for nothing and its all because of him. He was a terrible husband and only slightly less bad as a father, he burned nearly every bridge he ever had, and at this point torched his career. He has nothing to show for this choice at the root of all his problems.
what an amazing show. Such an emotional ending. I cant lie, i was tearing up knowing it's over. But it was such an amazing time watching the show, thanks to everyone in the show, but especially thanks to Jon Hamm. He seems like a great man. much love to mad men forever
I cried while watching this. That analogy, being just one of a million shiny things in the fridge that people can pick, that they look at you but also right through you, that even when the fridge closes and the light goes off they'll continue laughing without me. That portrays perfectly how it feels to be liked by people but understood and feeling loved by none. Maybe that's what Don felt - everyone loves Don Draper, but nobody knows Don Draper. I fucking love this show
I don't stop marveling at how every scene in the entire run of this show seems to fit snuggly into a masterpiece of a jigsaw puzzle, as if the entirety of the show was comprehensively worked-out from the get-go. There doesn't seem to be one lackluster moment or false step from episode to episode, season to season. I'm rewatching this scene and for the first time I'm recognizing the weight of Peggy's one little question about Coke. It planted in my brain, I guess, when I first watched it and left its seeds so I could subliminally appreciate the ending. Now I can see that the whole thing was diagrammed and how what worked scene by scene in this final episode feels like how everything worked scene-by-scene, episode-by-episode, for the entire series.
123reletive123 He described the life of almost anybody I guess, in some respects or some moments. Hope you got inspiration to improve things. All the best!! :)
+Tha Real Mccoy I'd say some of the people who appear to have great social lives are also lonely and craving real, intimate connection. We have friends and family, yeah, but are they really *there* with us? Or are they just in their space, and we're just in ours? I dunno, man. We should cherish the connections we do have, but we have to be okay with being alone, too.
+Tha Real Mccoy I spend a lot of time alone. But I like being with my close friends and keeping in touch with people. I agree with you that a lot of people try to be with as many people as possible to make them happy, but it won't work if there's no real connection. But it goes both ways, too. You have to reach out in order for others to reach out to you.
Don definitely did the coke ad. Earlier when they faced the merger, Hobart is naming all these big league brands then looks right at Don and says... "Coca Cola". Then later while on his journey Don is asked to fix the coke machine by the motel owner, and Don asked why the company did not fix it and the guy says they want to give him a new one but he likes THAT one. This is heavy foreshadowing of the commercial that Don later comes up with.
