--- title: Mad Men Finale: Jon Hamm Says There's a Right Interpretation description: The actor says it's all about a moment of self-realization. canonical: https://time.com/3883496/mad-men-finale-jon-hamm/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-19T00:27:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:13.697Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Here's What Jon Hamm Thinks About the End of 'Mad Men' og:description: The actor says it's all about a moment of self-realization og:url: https://time.com/3883496/mad-men-finale-jon-hamm/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70d27ff6c51e110a/69884d00428a9e0542cccf0c/madmen4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1920 og:image:height: 1080 og:image:alt: Jon Hamm as Don Draper - Season 7, Episode 14 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's What Jon Hamm Thinks About the End of 'Mad Men' twitter:description: The actor says it's all about a moment of self-realization twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70d27ff6c51e110a/69884d00428a9e0542cccf0c/madmen4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 03:31 video:published: 2014-03-19 section: entertainment topics: Mad Men, behind the scenes, set design, period detail, advertising, youth culture, television drama, final season genre: documentary, behind the scenes tones: reflective, admiring, observational, nostalgic emotions: nostalgia (medium), admiration (medium), wistfulness (low) sentiment: positive audience: TV fans, Mad Men viewers, pop culture readers, media enthusiasts people: James Poniewozik, Don Draper, Alex Majoli organizations: TIME products: Mad Men, Rolodex, iPhone, Samsung Galaxy transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Jon Hamm Thinks There's a Correct Interpretation of the End of _Mad Men_ > Sponsored content. 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Photographs by Alex Majoli._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video offers a behind-the-scenes look at the set of Mad Men before its final season, narrated by TV critic James Poniewozik. He discusses the show's secretive production, its portrayal of 1960s advertising and youth culture from an outsider perspective, and how small personal secrets drive its drama. He also describes the meticulous period detail on set and the actors' sense that their final season together is approaching. ## Key points - Mad Men is described as history told by the losers, focusing on people just a little too old for the growing youth culture. (00:35) - The show's advertising setting suits its story because advertising grabs cultural trends to sell products, letting it tell a story of change from an unusual angle. (00:57) - Mad Men shows that small personal secrets, such as who Don Draper really is, can create dramatic stakes as exciting as big conspiracies. (01:09) - Set details such as Rolodex addresses and hand-typed papers are procured and art directed to a level of detail often not visible on screen. (01:31) - Period-accurate sets and costumes make walking through the set feel like an American office in the late 1960s. (02:29) - When the director calls cut, actors in 1960s costume pull out modern iPhones and Samsung Galaxy smartphones. (02:42) - Actors sense finality as the final season approaches and they realize it is the last time they will work together. (03:08) - The show is described as possibly the best TV drama of its time and a historic television show. (03:16) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:38] Secrecy and the show's perspective. Poniewozik introduces the show's guarded secrets and frames it as history told by outsiders. - [00:38 to 01:09] Advertising and youth culture. The advertising setting is explained as a way to examine cultural change from the margins. - [01:09 to 02:05] Small secrets as drama. The show's storytelling relies on personal mysteries rather than large conspiracies. - [02:05 to 02:36] Meticulous set and prop detail. Rolodexes, typed papers and period costumes are shown to be carefully crafted on set. - [02:36 to 03:31] Modern phones and final season. Actors' modern phones contrast with period sets, and the cast reflects on the show ending. ## Key quotes - [00:35] James Poniewozik: "Mad Men is sort of history as told by the losers." - [01:09] James Poniewozik: "One thing that Mad Men showed is that you can make dramatic stakes out of very small stories" - [02:42] James Poniewozik: "And then the director will call Cut on a scene and everybody whips out their iPhones." - [03:08] James Poniewozik: "Among the actors, I think there's definitely a sense of finality, of it setting in that this is going to be the last time that they're working together" ## Questions this video answers - Why does Mad Men set its story in the advertising world? [00:57] - How does Mad Men create dramatic tension without big conspiracies? [01:09] - How detailed are the props and sets on Mad Men? [01:31] - What do actors do between takes on the Mad Men set? [02:42] - How do the cast members feel about the show ending? [03:08] by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley May 19, 2015 12:27 AM UTC  Jon Hamm as Don Draper - Season 7, Episode 14 Jon Hamm as Don Draper - Season 7, Episode 14 Courtesy of AMC by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley May 19, 2015 12:27 AM UTC _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](http://time.com/3882114/mad-men-finale-id-like-to-buy-the-world-a-coke-ad/).” Jon Hamm weighed in on his character Monday in [an interview with the New York _Times_](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/mad-men-finale-jon-hamm-interview/), 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_](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/mad-men-finale-jon-hamm-interview/). ## Transcript [00:00] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3883496/mad-men-finale-jon-hamm/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3883496/mad-men-finale-jon-hamm/"},"headline":"Jon Hamm Thinks There's a Correct Interpretation of the End of Mad Men","datePublished":"2015-05-19T00:27:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:59:13.697Z","description":"The actor says it's all about a moment of self-realization. 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