Jadzia

Speaking of Pete and Learjet, did anyone think that he might die in a plane crash like his father?

Lastblade

I enjoyed this finale, there were some very good closure (Peggy/Joan/Birdie). The others are good as well. I like the ambiguity of Don's ending... Good stuff.

Decker

I wanted to sleep on it before putting my thoughts down here, but I also wanted to write them down before I read Alan Sepinwall's piece, before that biases my opinion of the finale like it probably did with "Felina".
At first I was a little disappointed that the big Don payoff was something as corporate as a famous Coke ad, but then I thought about it. Perhaps the most telling storyline of this (half) season was when Don was tasked by Roger with writing a Mission Statement for SC & P. He didn't know what his vision was for the future, but he wasn't impressed with Ted and Peggy's answers of more and bigger accounts. He didn't hit on what his vision really was (and it would have been too big a tip-off if he had), but I think deep down what Don wanted for the future was to create something so special, so indelible that it would still be iconic a half-century later -- not just to get the big account but to create a masterpiece for them. And really in advertising there are only two masterpieces -- that and the crying Indian PSA. I of course had heard and read the speculation that the finale would have him create this ad and didn't want that. I didn't think it would feel real or earned (and we've seen him do the pitch so many times, I didn't need that again for a famous real-life ad). But the way Weiner did this here : no pitch, no storyboards, just enlightenment then payoff was brilliant and very unexpected.

I also thought they were smart in how they did Don's experience in this episode, how he got to that point. From the non-verbal shove he's greeted with, to Stephanie pouring her heart out to the group and getting judged openly for it, to Don admitting his many failures to Peggy and being so emotionally crippled he couldn't move, then being shown some compassion, going to the next session and then his response to another stranger's pain - the hug, the acceptance. It feels like that's the sort of journey that could result in the sentiment "I'd like to teach the world to sing". In the future we're going to now assign more importance on this ad then before in the same way we've over-emphasized the importance of "Don't Stop Believing" after the Sopranos, but on some level it does make sense to me here.


I did feel that Peggy's phone realization with Stan "I do love you!" was very Meg Ryan rom-com and beneath this show, though to be fair, that is exactly how Stan would have finally told Peggy about his true feelings towards her, so it was only a partial cheat of a scene. Joan's ending made sense and honestly I'm much happier to see her build something for herself by herself than if she had just run off with a rich, handsome man (though I had thought I would have been okay with that ending).

Thought Hamm's work on those two heartbreakign phone calls to Betty and Peggy was amazing. Please, pretty-please Emmy voters, give this man an Emmy!

slop101

Here's a great essay on the finale, talking about how the ending, with Don meditating, smash cut to the ad is a great punchline/joke. It also gives some great background and historical context for the episode.

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/05/...e-world-a-coke

Coral

I had the same experience. I was born in 1969 and obviously can't remember the commercial on it's release, but I do remember the commercial airing well into the late 70s - and if memory serves, it was used close to Christmas time every year.

mcnabb

I think it begs the question, "Was Don Draper behind the New Coke phenomenon of 1985?" I was old enough to remember this debacle which many called a hoax as they purposely brought out New Coke and people hated it, and everyone yearned for Classic Coke, which led them to overtaking Pepsi.

Coral

Re-watching the ending and realized the meditation leader guy pretty much told us what would happen next with Don... "New day, new ideas, a new you" - basically confirming he's been re-born/refreshed and gifted with a new idea (Coke).

DthRdrX

More likely that Don retired in 1984.

slop101

Yeah, I like thinking that Coke and it's advertisers made a HUGE mistake right after Don retired.

mcnabb

But the one rumor that was always talked about it was they purposely put out New Coke to fail because they were losing to Pepsi so people can yearn what was newly named 'Classic Coke.' And who else but Don Draper could think of such an idea!

In all seriousness, I think Coke never anticipated the backlash and the Classic Coke moniker just fell in their lap.

For the record, I do remember liking New Coke when I first tasted it as it did have a more syrupy taste.

PopcornTreeCt

4chan, of all places, had the best concise analysis of the ending I've read so far:

DthRdrX

Most likely New Coke was a huge disaster and Classic Coke was the great idea.

slop101

The rumor I heard is that they went to New Coke as cost cutting (replacing sugar with corn syrup), and they bid their time during the backlash to figure out a formula that would cost even less and taste more like the original Coke.

DthRdrX

Wouldn't surprise me. Pretty much the entire industry moved towards corn syrup in time anyway. (Unfortunately)

Jack Straw

Slapping that Coke commercial on at the end felt completely incongruent with Don's journey up to that point. Don/Dick seemed to be at an unavoidable crossroads in his life that did not seem to include returning to McCann and advertising and the life that brought him to this empty existence, far as I could tell. That confessional phone call to Peggy was framed as some sort of final goodbye to her and seemingly that part of his life. So to have the show seem to indicate otherwise at the last minute because he's Don Draper, ad-man savant, made the prior two episodes misdirection. I was expecting and would have much preferred the fade to black on the close up of his inner reflection. That would have provided a more satisfying ending, imo.

I am glad that they were able to include the phone call to Betty. I guess Henry is now literally out of the picture now.

Mike86

I do agree with that a bit. I find it believable that he came up with the Coke ad, but having him go back to his old life just with a new perspective on things doesn't feel entirely right.

slop101

You kidding? His journey was filled with references to Coke, the most obvious was being asked to fix the old broken Coke machine - but the intertwined Coke with his journey, similarly to the point of the ad, wanting to intertwine the product as a part of our lives, or the lives we wish to have.

mcnabb

I understand what you're saying and I think Don Draper went back to his old life with the same perspective, and but that's Don Draper in a nutshell: Never changing and doing things over and over again despite experiencing the same ending.

Do we doubt that Don will get married again? And do we doubt that he will screw up marriage #3? And do we doubt he will cheat on #3 wife? Do we doubt that he wanted to come back and take care of his children, and then regret it after Betty dies because they are holding him back?

Remember what Faye told him, "You love starting things....."

The only thing Don is good at is creating ads, and if he created the Coke ad then what a cynical ending it was. He essentially created one of the most popular commercials of all-time from a self-help group that was designed to help him spiritually. And what we he thinking of during that last minute? Not himself but an ad for a commercial.

Jack Straw

I get it. There were soda vending machines all over, everywhere. It seemed like too sharp a u-turn, and I was anticipating a fundamental change in this character's thinking, priorities, and life direction, one that would hopefully result in some sort of lasting happiness, not the kind of temporary career satisfaction he'll garner from the douchebags at McCann for coming up with a successful ad campaign.

bluetoast

He wasn't doing it for the McCann people, the ideas always come to him. There's an artistry to them, despite the corporate nature of the business. I believe it was in the Pilot that Don said that "love" is a concept made up by people like him to sell products.

BuckNaked2k

That's kind of the conclusion Sean Collins reached in his Wired article:

BuckNaked2k

For me, Don's final revelation was the crux of the series, season, and character arc. He was on a journey for self-discovery throughout, but in the end, he realizes his true nature: he's a great ad man.

Regardless of how shallow or commercial some may find that, I think it's perfect. If only we all could discover our true nature....

bluetoast

The end definitely gave me a Clockwork Orange vibe. "I was cured all right."

Three Day Delay

I was born in 1971, and that ad was very prevalent throughout my childhood, and it seemed to always play around Christmas. My Dad associated it with hippies and really hated it. Somewhere around the house, I have a 45 rpm record of it.

DthRdrX

The only things I am upset with is that the show never brought back Sal, and I would have liked to have seen a different close for Harry.