Yes, and he ends up comfortably in a chair with a cigarette. It's a dream of falling. It seems like someone points this out every season, and then it comes around again next season. Whether it foreshadows the end of Don himself is an open question, but I strongly doubt the show has been telegraphing something like that so far in advance.
Why? The fact that they made it abundantly clear since the first episode seems to be enough proof for a certain segment of the fan-base to believe with absolute certainty that its -not- exactly what it is, so when it comes to fruition, they'll be both shocked and upset.
In reading or listening to interviews with Matthew Weiner since 2007, I don't get the impression that pulling a switcheroo on the fan-base was high on his priorities.
I suppose, if the guy in the credits drives and smokes like no one really does, steering with the left hand and holding the cigarette in the right toward the center of the car.
Stan might look a bit like a bum, but he's a decent guy. I think he could help Peggy keep it more real. I thought it was funny how it was impossible to keep things quiet about the McCann takeover. It was also amusing (in a sadly inevitable way) how everyone tried to paint this as a good thing and no one believed it. It was pure corporatism on display.
I've worked for three different companies that were acquired by larger companies. It is never a good thing for the rank-and-file employees, and someone always ends up without a seat when the music stops. The last scene was spot-on, and I've heard that last line that Don spoke more times than I can remember.
that was an excellent analysis. The only thing I think they might have missed is the idea that 'what's in a name' could, and possibly did, refer as much to "Dick Whitman" as to the agency. is "Don Draper" running out of time and life? maybe so. But maybe "Dick Whitman" isnt?
For fun I went back and watched Episode 1 of Season 1. Amusing how much younger everyone looked and how different the styles and fashions were. The whole vibe of the era is different from what we're seeing in these final episodes. What a difference a decade can make in story as well as real life.
I think Dick Whitman is going to move to California in the last episode. That clearly his dream that he can not seem to find a specific goal yet. Don/Dick's talent is really that of a storyteller. He can do that out of advertising. Hollywood perhaps?
I thought the same. And the impossibility of rumor control was spot-on as well. Some interesting father-daughter parallels set up with Pete and Roger. Will Sally end up with a "dad" or an absent father? And will it be Don or Dick? This episode had some moments that seemed final. The firm's impending dissolution and Ken's and Lou's "giving the finger" exits of course, but also Roger's affectionate parting from Don. You can really feel the end of the series coming now. For Seinfeld fans: "Jimmy wants to find Peggy a new job!"
I haven't seen the last episode, so I'm not reading the last few posts until later. I just caught the episode prior to that, and I think it's pretty cool to have Bruce Greenwood on the show. I've always been a fan of his acting, ever since I saw "Nowhere Man" in the nineties. It was always worth having to sit through an hour of "Star Trek: Voyager" first. And then "Nowhere Man" was cancelled. Anyway, I also wasn't sure who else Joan had been married to. This has got to be one of the most true-to-life television shows I have ever seen.... and I don't mean getting caught up in historical details. I mean the depiction of human nature and behavior, society, corporatism, etc. I wonder what will happen with the whole Dick Whitman storyline. I'll check back here after I watch the latest episode. Kor
It was Jim Cutler, who opposed Don coming back and was bought out as a partner but not invited to stay with the firm. So it seemed like Roger and Don had beaten Cutler, but with McCann taking over completely it seems more like they ended up the same as he did.