… By validating the stance he already took against cigarettes, even though it was only for professional attention?
Something like that. I wonder if he knows that Betty helped Sally start smoking?
Of course, he’s never stopped; probably never even considered it. A great role model, he is!
Really good episode, I can’t wait for the finale. I don’t expect fireworks, but it will be interesting to see what happens. And then to speculate on what happens to the characters after the show.
The kid is a hustler. He can stop somewhere and find another job, or find a way to con people out of money, or find out something to do. Don saw through him because the kid is young and not expert at it, and because he’s a conman recognizing another kindred spirit. Not that Don’s ever been a conman per se, but with the way he’s dropped his real name and changed his life, and the conman charisma he used as an adman.
I had thought that was the most obvious conclusion for him after the last episode, but that was before Betty was diagnosed with cancer. Sally doesn’t exactly need him parenting her as much anymore, and I guess he could continue on calling her from the road as Dick Whitman. Do Bobby and Gene even know his real name?
Gene isn’t biologically Henry’s son, but for all intents and purposes, he’s Henry’s son. Gene was born in 1963 and Betty married Henry in 1964. Bobby is a different case, apparently he was born in 1957, so he was 7 when Betty married Henry, and is 13 now (in the show). It would be weird for him to be raised by his stepfather, but it’s been a long time since Don has been a father to him.
Also, I would guess widower like Henry Francis, in his class and career, would not stay unmarried for long. So then the kids would have another new stepmother. Or not really a stepmother, since she’d be the wife of their stepfather.
I don’t know if there will be time for this to be addressed, but I am curious about what will happen with the Draper kids.
I find this unsatisfying because Don is “more than just a beautiful person”. He’s intelligent, talented, creative, hard working, charismatic, knows people well, helped make SC what it was and helped made SCDP into an even larger agency… he’s not some stereotypical dizzy blonde getting by on his looks. Maybe he’s not doing what he wants to be doing or maybe he’s looking for greater purpose but seven people out of ten would probably trade to have Don’s non-physical gifts even if it meant getting a hunchback.
Dick Whitman was KIA in Korea. He may take a different name than Don Draper (but I doubt it) but it won’t be Dick Whitman.
I haven’t watched the show this season (except for this episode) so I have nothing to base this on except my own feelings. We have seen the last of Joan, Peggy, and Trudy/Pete. Betty will have died in the final episode, Sally will be left to help her brothers, and Don will be a bum on the road, and happy about it. So many people have said he will fall out of a window as in the opening credits. That’s a metaphor for his life. Falling from grace yet landing where he should.
I believe my mother was emotionless but Betty makes my mom look positively warm and cuddly. She tells her daughter what dress and lipstick to bury her in, yet doesn’t hold her? Ice.
But it’s true that he does get a lot farther than he would otherwise because of his looks and charm. Like from a few examples ago of Don telling the copywriter what to say to smooth over the awkwardness in the meeting, and it not going well because it was the dorky little copy guy saying it, and not Don Draper. The copywriter specifically says something to Don about how he gets by on his looks.
Don still looks better than a vast majority of the population, but they’ve definitely showed that age is catching up to him, and also lately he’s not able to skate by as easily as he used to.
Yeah, that’s true, I hadn’t thought about that. The natural end to the arc seems to me for him to give up the name Don Draper, like he’s given up everything else in his life, but I don’t know how he could do that and stay connected with his kids.
I’m sorry, I don’t know how to quote. But I have to say I don’t think Don actually gives a crap about his children. I can’t see him turning nto Father of The Year because Betty had the temerity to die and inconvenience him.
Not to be pedantic but those are two separate things. One certainly assists the other but there are plenty of charming and charismatic people who aren’t anything special in the looks department and plenty of attractive people who skate by on their appearances despite a terrible personality or people skills. And, charm, even if it doesn’t come naturally is something you can work to develop – or at least fake.
Don is miserable as Don Draper. He’s even lost the one thing that made him special, from the very first scene in the show, his advertising ability. He might have it but McCann doesn’t want it. It isn’t just professional shtick, he is really good at what he does. That’s been shown over and over.
Why was he lecturing the kid on being a con man? Because Don Draper has lived most of his life in a con game, selling himself as something he wasn’t, especially in a place where many of the people went to top schools and came from our aristocracy. (Except the women, of course.) Maybe giving the car away represents him quitting the con, handing it off to a kid.
If this discussion is any indication, I think that the last episode will leave us with more questions than answers.
Whether or not Don is really a conman, he certainly feels like one.
I suppose he could find redemption in his children, but that would be a real stretch. While Diana’s abandonment caused him to really leave, he is looking for her again. If the kids were in some need or danger maybe, but they’ll be fine if he just calls. It doesn’t matter what name he goes by.
Why weird? It would not be uncommon. At this point Don is going to have a really hard time if he wanted custody.So I pretty much agree with you.
I think the answer is obvious. The clue was right there in the episode - an episode all about the issue of parents and their legacy on their children. What was the first question that Don asked Sally? “Is is getting colder there?” And she says yes.
It’s getting colder. That means winter is coming. The last episode therefore will be set on Westeros.
There is one more thing I’ve been wondering about - Don’s mojo. It has vanished. He asked Betty when the kids were coming home, which in the old days would have been a come-on line. She was not the slightest bit interested. He saw the woman by the pool - who had a husband and kids. Is he chasing Diana as the last person who was willing to sleep with him? Remember, that started because of a misunderstanding. The old Don probably would have not been interested.
This is the longest Don has gone without that I can remember. Dick did not seem that successful - Don is becoming Dick again in this respect also.
And let’s not forget Anna Draper, who’s doctors and family lied to her about her cancer being terminal.
Betty’s brother, William, has a better shot at custody than Henry, and even that’s a long shot. Unless Don never comes back he’s going to end up with the kids. I doubt trying to sue Don for custody would even occur to Henry.
While that may be your perspective, it is obviously not one that Don shares. From the very beginning of the series he’s made it clear that the purpose of advertising is to make the product attractive. It is the same trap as getting through life by being a beautiful person: it is ultimately superficial and empty. He’s an attractive person who is skilled at making people think other things are attractive - and he’s finally realized that there has to be more to life than just being pretty.
Don obviously does not value all those things you mention because he’s literally just left them behind. When he’s calling back for the things of his life as Don Draper that he’s holding on to, it’s not to SCDP or the people there; it’s his kids he’s holding on to.
His redemption is not going to come from what he’s accomplished as an ad man.
Henry or Don? It depends a lot on what the terms of the divorce were. While Don might be the natural father, and they both have money, Don just walked out on his job and disappeared. Plus Henry has powerful political connections which no judge is going to want to oppose, especially if he wants a better appointment some day.
Assuming Henry wants the kids, which he will because it looks noble, he got them.
I saw a theory online that the series will end with him returning to McCann for one last pitch and he will create what might be one of the most famous ads in history. This one.
All the foreshadowing of Coca Cola is the basis plus the timing works. I don’t see it but it could be interesting.
We discussed the timing earlier. Someone had suggested that this campaign must already be in production at McCann.
He hasn’t though. He’s still intelligent, still talented, still creative, still has a feel for people, etc. Whether or not he uses those gifts, who knows but he’s never been an empty suit or just another pretty face. He’s a remarkably gifted person. You don’t become partner at an ad agency by looking nice and you don’t land multi-million dollar contracts just because you know when to smile.
I don’t know what direction they’ll take for the final episode and I don’t disagree that there’s been threads in that direction (such as his parting words at the bus to Sally) but, as I said, I find that whole direction very unfulfilling and false to who Don really is. He’s not a simple country boy faking being talented and gifted, he’s legitimately a gifted and talented man. Hopefully he’ll find something fulfilling to base his future on but casting all of his talents aside seems a terrible waste.