Sunday
May172015
Goodbye To Dear Loved Ones
Sunday, May 17, 2015 at 7:00PM 
I'm too distraught at the moment to truly process it but my favorite television show of all time ends tonight. End of an era, indeed. In just a few short hours at that. I'm off to co-host a finale party at the Museum of the Moving Image. (We will surely discuss later and probably through the Emmys so awards seasons have their blessings in keeping conversation relevant and alive.)
But to those who are also in mourning, you are not alone. This show has fascinated so many and inspired such wonderful writing on the web for seven years at many different sites. Let us cry on each other's virtual shoulders. Favorite episode. Favorite character. Favorite season in the comments please!
Reader Comments (17)
I'm in denial right now.
I hope it ends beautifully (not that it needs to, since it's already one of the major TV series of all time).
Favorites:
Episode - the iconic 'Shut the Door, Have a Seat'
Season - the fast-pacing 3rd season, which doesn't have an episode that deserves less than an A. Brilliant all around.
Character - I have to give it for Don Draper and Jon Hamm, for I can't imagine someone epithomizing so well someone I both loathe and love so effervescently. Don Draper is an enigma wrapped around an enigma. And at the same time he's a loveable 'miserable loner' who only wants to belong and is afraid of his own mortality.
The quality of the writing took a huuuuge nose dive by season 5 --- the first 4 seasons were wonderful but given how unremarkable season 5, 6, and 7 and 7 was, I won't miss the show at all.
I abandoned this show around season five I think.
I like peggy, betty, pete.
Season 5 was my favorite season of the show. It's interesting that others disliked it. Alan Sepinwall recently pointed out that it marked a transition where the show became more thematically complex and ambitious, and I agree.
favorite:
episode - shut the door, have a seat
season - five
main character - peggy [runners up - pete, sally, lane]
recurring character - bob benson [runners up - francine, mona, meredith]
least favourite characters: bobbie & jimmy barrett, creepy glenn
Don Draper. I love characters who can reinvent themselves. Joan runs a close second. She really knew how to work those skirts to her advantage. I remember those pencil skirts from childhood. So sexy.
Episode was the Italy trip for Hilton. Betty with the hairdo being hit on by the locals in the cafe. Brilliant.
This is gonna be a tough one. It really is my favorite thing, and it just kind of got better and better as it went on - crazy, since it began so confidently.
I don't know if we'll ever have a show that details character so well. I just spent 10 minutes thinking of all the secretaries from Alison to Clara to Shirley to Meredith. With minimal screen time, they are all fullly imagined characters.
Favorite Character: Pete
Favorite Episode: Waterloo
Favorite Season: 5
Episode: The Other Woman
Characters: Peggy & Joan, both brilliant characters (and portrayals)
Season: Everything since dreary season 3 has been A+
Favorite Season: I love Season 3 and Season 5 best I think but every season has A+ moments here and there. Favorite episode might well be The Suitcase but I also love that Marilyn/Jackie episode from really early on. My favorite character: Joan.
Mike -- that's so true.
Favorite season: 5 by far.
Least favorite: season 6. it's where i lost all patience for Don's storyline and his glum bullshit.
Episode: The Other Woman. It's a crime Christina Hendricks didn't get the Emmy that year.
Character: Seasons 1-3: Betty, Season 5: Joan and Peggy gets the rest.
Favourite Season: Season 4 for how it focused on so much more then Don
Favourite Episode: The Suitcase is the peek for the show and while it was brilliant before and after this episode just is so brilliant.
Favourite Character: Peggy Olson, the show was largely about Don's redemption especially towards the end but for me the series was about the growth of Peggy from the mousy secretary of Don to almost his equal or better which is what I take especially from the finale.
Overall the greatest television show of all time even with faults because the best things in life are never perfect and have just as great moments as bad ones.
I've always loved Mad Men, and it's the only show on TV that I've watched from the beginning. When it started, I was a senior in high school, and I checked it out because I was curious about AMC's first drama, and because it received a 76 on Metacritic. I wanted to see what the fuss was about. I'm sure I wasn't old enough to fully appreciate everything, but I kept with it, and always looked forward to another episode. In a way, I grew up with the show. Now I'm in my 20s, a completely different person, and this show is coming to an end. I'll always cherish this as the show I watched the old-fashioned way, on Sunday nights when each episode aired. Every other show that I adore, from The Wire to The Sopranos to Breaking Bad, I've binge-watched after-the-fact. Even when fans turned their back on Mad Men during seasons four or five, I always appreciated and admired what Weiner was doing. I'm glad I stayed with it because these final episodes have been astounding.
Anyway, I thought the series finale was beautiful and satisfying, and a great gift to all the fans that love the show. Yes, you can complain about the tidiness of some of it (especially Peggy's love interest storyline), but at least it wasn't a middle finger to the fans like The Sopranos. And although I'm sure you can find some cynical and/or ironic undertones, I think Weiner promotes a truly humanist message that we can all get behind.
I am already missing Mad Men,
Favorite episode: The Suitcase, The Other Woman and The New Girl.
Favorite characters: Don, Peggy, Joan, Sally, Betty.
Favorite season: Five.
I want more "Mad Men," less "Mad Max."
Favorite episode: The Suitcase
Favorite underrated episode: The Crash
Favorite: Season 5
Favorite Underrated Season: 6
Favorite Character: Peggy
Favorite Underrated Characters: Betty/Pete