Who is Don Draper?

Magnet #969 - Don Draper

[spoilers here]

I refused to read any of the articles or Tweets about the Mad Men finale, so I don't know if everyone liked or hated it. What I can say is that I loved it. Like, loved it.

Who is Don Draper, indeed? It's a question we've been asking since the first time he graced our screens three years ago. And, I gotta tell you, after this finale? It's a question I'm still asking.

I think that's the beauty of this show. We may never know the answer, but we'll sure as hell be intrigued by the journey.

Earlier yesterday, a friend and I were talking about what we thought would be the big cliffhanger, and I threw out there that I didn't think there'd be a big cliffhanger, so all that's left was that he'd propose. Only, seriously? I actually thought he'd settle down with Faye. I'm happier than I should be (and just as damn snarky as Peggy and Joan) that it's Megan, but I really thought he'd do the practical thing and marry Faye and find a house in Stamford or Greenwich. It's what they do, those boys.

I do think I might be the only one happy that he's happy with Megan. Clearly, Don being Don, he won't be happy because he's just feeling all sad about Anna, but I don't remember Don being this puppy dog over any of his many women, so maybe this will stick? Even though, there's a part of me that thinks Megan's a little more devious than we think and that she really might end up as one of Peggy's creatives. (Though a part of me was scared Peggy was gonna go cry in the bathroom over Don, and that's a whole can of worms I don't want to see. Yet.)

The finale on the whole though was just fantastic. Freakin' Peggy and Cos nailing the pantyhose account, with Peggy writing copy on the spot for the clients? Awesome.

Bets freakin' out on Carla, classic. (Though, dudes, tonight, when Don pulled out that bottle from the cabinet? It reminded me that we haven't seen an honest smile from her in years.)

And Joanie, keeping Roger's baby? I kinda figured she'd do it, but damn, to pass it off as hub's? Can't wait til next season, though I'm calling it now. He's gonna get killed in Vietnam, and Joanie (the new awesome DOO at SCDP) is gonna be stuck on her own and Roger's gonna have to deal with the fallout and a new baby carriage.

Overall, I've had mixed feelings over this season. While I know in my head it's fiction, I couldn't help seeing the last year and a half of my career in this season - the beginning of a new agency, the animosity of a new regime, the fighting over office supplies, the fear of losing clients, false promises, beating the bushes for new clients, wondering if we'd be around in the next six days, let alone six months. It's some scary stuff. Watching Don go through it at SCDP has been painful on a professional level.

But, this was a terrific way to end the season...though, I would have loved to actually see the Drapers wandering around Disneyland.

Oh! I'll probably do a longer post on it, mainly because I have five of the six buttons magnets for it, but ya'll need to run out right now and grab this book, Mad Men: The Illustrated World. It's adorable. It's well designed, cutely written in the spirit of the show and the times, and I loved it so much, I bought it twice at Comic-Con.

Seriously. Go. Now.