Parental Discretion Advised

Photo by Michael Yarish/AMC

What was I anticipating most about the season finale of Mad Men? What woman was going to be the subject of the “partial nudity” warning at the onset of the episode. Maybe it would be a drunk Megan who tells Don she needs him “right now” and “that’s all I’m good for.” Or perhaps Alexis Bledel, rolling out of bed before having her memory erased. Or Marie Calvet, considering her skill with wind instruments. But no. It had to be Roger Sterling in the buff, staring out the window in the midst of an LSD trip (he wasn’t about to jump, was he?). Not that I should be surprised. I remember seeing Steven Soderbergh’s Full Frontal—the answer is David Duchovny, lying in bed with a plastic bag around his head.

There is a consensus the finale was a dud. How much better would it have been to end on the penultimate episode? The only serious discussion seems to be whether or not Don has tired of his young wife and will return to his old ways. I’m inclined to agree with Julia Turner over at Slate who said, “Watching him troll for young lasses over Old-Fashioneds would feel, to me, like a retread.”

Speaking of which, it’s nice to see a consistency at least when it comes to Don’s drink of choice: The Old-Fashioned on the rocks.

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