The smirk was perfect.
Don has gone through an awful lot over the past few episodes. He got beaten with a phonebook. He gave his car away. He raced on the salt flats of Utah. He broke down and had a soul cleansing conversation with Peggy. He spent days in a hippie commune in California which seemed to have cured this broken man of his inner aches and pains. But, no. He’s not a changed man. Those of us expecting him to be were foolish.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned over these seven (or eight, whatever) seasons is that Don doesn’t change. He yearns for broken, dark haired women. He drinks. He smokes. He whores around. And he sells. He sells shit better than anyone. We’ve known that since the end of the series premiere when he wowed Kodak. So why stop now? The self-help stuff, the call to Peggy (more on that later) and the embrace with the saddest man in the world were nice moments, but ultimately Don Draper is going to do what he always does. Sell. That smirk told us everything.
I know a lot of people aren’t going to like this finale. I loved it. They want Don’s story to wrap up nicely with him coming back to New York and tying up loose ends. That’s not what this show was about. This is Don Draper’s story. He’s never going to be a great father or husband. We know what he is and shouldn’t have had expectations of him having a life-altering revelation with a bunch of hippies. He may end up being a nice cog in the McCann machine after he gives them that Coke commercial, but I doubt it, and we’re never going to see it. This was Don Draper. Selfish, egotistical, broken, brash, and god damngood at what he does.
As for the other characters, we’ll address them one at a time. They deserve it.
Peggy: Joan gives her a pretty enticing offer but is reminded by Stan that advertising is what she’s best at, and is encouraged by Pete of all people, telling her she could be creative director by 1980. Also, the area her apartment is in ends up being some of the most expensive real estate in the city, so, I hope she keeps it. I’d have been fine if the last we saw of her was the smoking, drunk badass of a few episodes ago, but this put a nice bow on her story. The romance with Stan was expected if not a little rushed. That’s okay, though, because they’re the best and who can’t resist that beard professing it’s love for you? I can’t stop thinking about what Stan dropping the phone and running down the hall toward Peggy’s office must have looked like to their coworkers.
Joan: Holloway and Harris, because you need two names to make it sound professional, is going to be a success because Joan has been a success at everything she’s dipped her toe into. Aside from relationships. Those haven’t worked out well for her. Richard wants her to be a kept woman he can do bumps of blow with. From all we know about Joan being the fiercely independent woman that she is, that ain’t happening, jack. He’s the one who ends up walking out, but she knows it’s for the best.
Roger: Roger’s story could have finished when we saw him sadly playing the organ in the old SC&P offices. He knows he has no place in the world of McCann. All Jim Hobart wanted was Don anyway, and he’s been MIA for weeks. So marrying Marie — “I met her through Megan Draper. She’s old enough to be her mother” — seems like a vertical move, if personally. He gets to make right by Joan and their son by leaving him a slice of his fortune in his will, and hang out in Quebec and deliver the funniest lines of the episode: “Yell at me slower. Or in English.” Not a bad life.
Pete: With the past few episodes being so Pete-intensive I was fine with him not having much to do here. The goodbye to Peggy was sweet and shows how far he’s come as a person for me even to be saying that. I don’t think he’s going to like living in Kansas being the suburbanite he is, but he has a jet at his disposal if he wants to visit New York. Could be worse.
Sally: She’s just a teenager who can’t even drive yet, but she’s absolutely the most mature and stable member of her family. The way she handles the conversation with Don is perfect. She knows the man she’s talking to and speaks to him appropriately. She also knows exactly how to handle her brother when he brings up Betty’s cancer. Sally for President.
I’m not including Betty because her story basically wrapped up last week. However, I’d be leaving out so much if I didn’t discuss the phone call with Don. That was a beautiful, heartbreaking call between two deeply flawed people who still have a slice of love in their hearts for each other. She too prideful to want Don’s help, but also knows that Don showing up to be a parent all of a sudden is a horrible idea.
“Birdie…”, Don says, tearing up. “I know”, Betty replies crying. That’s all that needs to be said between two people who know each other better than anyone. Just lovely.
Don’s call to Peggy was equally as heartbreaking at the time, though she does tell him that McCann would welcome him back (that’s how much Jim Hobart values his talent) and plants the bug by asking “don’t you want to work on Coke?” The rest is a fantastically written exchange by Matthew Weiner and acted by Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss.
Besides Don and Sally, Don and Peggy have the most important relationship on the show. It has to be hard to act as well as they did when talking into an empty telephone, but they made it look effortless.
Peggy: “What did you ever do that was so bad”
Don: “I broke all my vows. Scandalized my child. Took another man’s name. And made nothing of it.”
Peggy: “That’s not true.”
Don: “I only called 'cause I realized I never said goodbye to you.”
Peggy: “I don't think you should be alone right now.
Don: “I’m in a crowd. I just wanted to hear your voice.”
There has never been a better written show. The emotional depth this show gave even the most ancillary of characters was impressive. I could watch these characters work and live in that world in perpetuity, which is the highest compliment I can give a TV series. I’m going to miss the shit out of it.
This article appears in May 14-20, 2015.