Let me start by saying that I have not been a regular viewer of "Mad Men." I thoroughly enjoyed it as a new show but found myself losing interest after a season or two, especially when I was no longer employed at an ad agency. But the show has become a modern classic, and since I have a soft spot for a series finale, I allowed myself to get sucked in by the hype and have been watching the last set of episodes.
Fans have been wildly speculating about how story lines for their favorite characters will end. Having missed several seasons, I don't have enough information to make a truly educated guess. I've only read one list of theories via Mental Floss. That one list was more than enough for me. Connecting the characters to D.B. Cooper or Sharon Tate? I saw tweets suggesting a hitchhiker was actually Bob Dylan! Really? We're not watching "Forrest Gump" where the title character was inserted into numerous historical events. I have no guesses as to the grand finale and haven't read any more about it, but I do have a few thoughts.
Since the beginning, Don Draper has seemed to be eternally seeking something. It's true for a lot of people, though not to such extremes. He has a dream career and had a lovely wife and family. Possessions, success, sex, love...none of it seems to be enough. He drinks. He sleeps around. He breaks rules and pushes boundaries. Does he secretly wish someone could make him behave? I wouldn't begin to psychoanalyze him in that respect. (Besides, he's just a fictional character.) Is he afraid of being discovered as a fraud? I vaguely remember that he was born as Dick Whitman, then essentially stole the identity of Don Draper. Maybe he's realizing that his seeming success isn't really his, because he attained it when he wasn't really himself. He dreamed of being pulled over by a police officer who said something like, "We've been looking for you." To me, that has always been in the back of Don's mind: One day, they're going to find out I'm not who I've pretended to be.
It wasn't until after it aired that I learned the episode title was "The Milk and Honey Route." Well, that adds another layer to it. In the Bible, God promised to free the Israelites and lead them to a land of "milk and honey." Perhaps that phrase has been used outside of the Bible, but my mind went immediately to Exodus. (Well, I suppose my mind first went to Charlton Heston in "The Ten Commandments.") I can see parallels. Don Draper has been living the life of a pharaoh's son for years. It's time for him to return to his original identity, his Moses, or his Dick Whitman. He needs to, as they say, rediscover himself and find his true calling. Perhaps he is destined to be an auto mechanic. Maybe he'd be a fine English teacher. (I loved how he continually corrected the grammar of the kid at the motel!) He's been wandering in the desert that is his life for too long. Even if he can't go "home" again, it's time for Don to cross into his own land of milk and honey and find some peace.
I happen to think he has passed the mantle of the Don Draper identity on to the young con man. He now has the car and the pink slip. He can become his own version of Don Draper.
As for the other characters, I wouldn't know where to begin. They've all played important roles in Don's life, and in the show. While it might be nice to get a glimpse of what the '70s has in store for them, I don't know if we need any more than what we've already been given. I think Roger will go on being Roger. He might not be happy at the new agency, but he's good at his job and will adapt, I think. Peggy, too, has found a lot of her power. She can bide her time but will continue to move onward and upward. I'm not sure that Joan will be content to leave things as they stand, either at the agency or with her beau. And I don't believe Don will completely desert his kids. He's got plenty of issues, but he does love them in his own way. I hope that these stories aren't wrapped up too neatly. Leave something to our imaginations.
One more note. Pete seems to be finally getting out from everyone else's shadow. He can have a new job in a new town and not be the same annoying pest in the same old circumstances. But I found myself not really caring about the details. Once I heard him say, "I'm going to Wichita," I could only think of a song with that phrase as a lyric: "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes.
I can't say I'll really be sorry to see the show go. It hasn't been on my to-watch list in ages. But as it comes to a close, I find myself caring just a bit about how it ends. And I wonder if these mad men will ever really be happy.
Fans have been wildly speculating about how story lines for their favorite characters will end. Having missed several seasons, I don't have enough information to make a truly educated guess. I've only read one list of theories via Mental Floss. That one list was more than enough for me. Connecting the characters to D.B. Cooper or Sharon Tate? I saw tweets suggesting a hitchhiker was actually Bob Dylan! Really? We're not watching "Forrest Gump" where the title character was inserted into numerous historical events. I have no guesses as to the grand finale and haven't read any more about it, but I do have a few thoughts.
Since the beginning, Don Draper has seemed to be eternally seeking something. It's true for a lot of people, though not to such extremes. He has a dream career and had a lovely wife and family. Possessions, success, sex, love...none of it seems to be enough. He drinks. He sleeps around. He breaks rules and pushes boundaries. Does he secretly wish someone could make him behave? I wouldn't begin to psychoanalyze him in that respect. (Besides, he's just a fictional character.) Is he afraid of being discovered as a fraud? I vaguely remember that he was born as Dick Whitman, then essentially stole the identity of Don Draper. Maybe he's realizing that his seeming success isn't really his, because he attained it when he wasn't really himself. He dreamed of being pulled over by a police officer who said something like, "We've been looking for you." To me, that has always been in the back of Don's mind: One day, they're going to find out I'm not who I've pretended to be.
It wasn't until after it aired that I learned the episode title was "The Milk and Honey Route." Well, that adds another layer to it. In the Bible, God promised to free the Israelites and lead them to a land of "milk and honey." Perhaps that phrase has been used outside of the Bible, but my mind went immediately to Exodus. (Well, I suppose my mind first went to Charlton Heston in "The Ten Commandments.") I can see parallels. Don Draper has been living the life of a pharaoh's son for years. It's time for him to return to his original identity, his Moses, or his Dick Whitman. He needs to, as they say, rediscover himself and find his true calling. Perhaps he is destined to be an auto mechanic. Maybe he'd be a fine English teacher. (I loved how he continually corrected the grammar of the kid at the motel!) He's been wandering in the desert that is his life for too long. Even if he can't go "home" again, it's time for Don to cross into his own land of milk and honey and find some peace.
I happen to think he has passed the mantle of the Don Draper identity on to the young con man. He now has the car and the pink slip. He can become his own version of Don Draper.
As for the other characters, I wouldn't know where to begin. They've all played important roles in Don's life, and in the show. While it might be nice to get a glimpse of what the '70s has in store for them, I don't know if we need any more than what we've already been given. I think Roger will go on being Roger. He might not be happy at the new agency, but he's good at his job and will adapt, I think. Peggy, too, has found a lot of her power. She can bide her time but will continue to move onward and upward. I'm not sure that Joan will be content to leave things as they stand, either at the agency or with her beau. And I don't believe Don will completely desert his kids. He's got plenty of issues, but he does love them in his own way. I hope that these stories aren't wrapped up too neatly. Leave something to our imaginations.
One more note. Pete seems to be finally getting out from everyone else's shadow. He can have a new job in a new town and not be the same annoying pest in the same old circumstances. But I found myself not really caring about the details. Once I heard him say, "I'm going to Wichita," I could only think of a song with that phrase as a lyric: "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes.
I can't say I'll really be sorry to see the show go. It hasn't been on my to-watch list in ages. But as it comes to a close, I find myself caring just a bit about how it ends. And I wonder if these mad men will ever really be happy.
