Jon Hamm Thinks There’s a Correct Interpretation of the End of Mad Men

Mad Men fans have made much of the show’s final moments on Sunday night, with many agreeing that Don Draper had a moment of meditative clarity that led to the iconic Coca-Cola jingle “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke.”

Jon Hamm weighed in on his character Monday in an interview with the New York Times, and it sounds like he agrees with that interpretation. Asked whether there’s a correct way to view the scene, he said “I think there probably is. But I think, like most stories that we go back to, that it’s a little bit ambiguous.”

In his interpretation, Hamm says Don wakes up the day after his emotional group therapy session and “has this serene moment of understanding, and realizes who he is. And who he is, is an advertising man. And so, this thing comes to him.”

Nevertheless, Hamm doesn’t necessarily see that as a cynical conclusion, but as a moment of self-acceptance. He also pointed out, contrary to some of the episode’s critics, that the happy endings for certain characters shouldn’t be interpreted as sappy: “No one is suggesting that Stan and Peggy live happily ever after,” he said, “or that Joan’s business is a rousing success, or that Roger and Marie come back from Paris together … these aren’t the last moments of any of these characters’ lives.”

Read more at the New York Times.