--- description: Within the first minutes of the show, the writers seemed to nip the death conspiracy in the bud. title: How the "Mad Men" Finale Put the Don Draper Death Rumors to Rest image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50886b89a2034f1a/69868a83d0b6f2f821303c73/mad-men-season-7-premier-don-draper-jon-hamm.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How the _Mad Men_ Finale Put the Don Draper Death Rumors to Rest  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. May 18, 2015 3:28 AM CUT  Jon Hamm as Don Draper in the Season 7 premiere of AMC's Mad Men. Jon Hamm as Don Draper in the Season 7 premiere of AMC's Mad Men.Michael Yarish—AMC  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. May 18, 2015 3:28 AM CUT Since the very first episode of _Mad Men_, many fans have interpreted the show’s opening credits—a suited man hurtling toward the earth from the top of a skyscraper—as foreshadowing of Don Draper’s ultimate death. Showrunner Matthew Weiner has suggested that the title sequence is meant to be metaphorical rather than literal, but it hasn’t stopped the conjecturing. But in the first ten minutes of the series finale Sunday night, the writers seemed to nip that theory in the bud—and with a joke, no less. As Roger Sterling sat with his secretary, Caroline, and the now-several-days-missing Don’s secretary, Meredith, the latter remarked on her boss’ prolonged absence. “Is he dead?” she asked Roger. Roger responded that he didn’t think so. “Well, I hope he’s in a better place,” Meredith responded, offering what _sounded_ like condolences even in the face of news that Don is likely alive. But as it turned out, Meredith wasn’t offering condolences. “There are a lot of better places than here,” she clarified. Apparently, Don seemed to think so, too. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3882091/mad-men-don-draper-death-rumors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3882091/mad-men-don-draper-death-rumors/"},"headline":"How the Mad Men Finale Put the Don Draper Death Rumors to Rest","datePublished":"2015-05-18T03:28:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:24:10.368Z","description":"The death conspiracy theories were finally retired","url":"https://time.com/3882091/mad-men-don-draper-death-rumors/","keywords":["Television","Mad Men"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50886b89a2034f1a/69868a83d0b6f2f821303c73/mad-men-season-7-premier-don-draper-jon-hamm.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50886b89a2034f1a/69868a83d0b6f2f821303c73/mad-men-season-7-premier-don-draper-jon-hamm.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jon Hamm as Don Draper in the Season 7 premiere of AMC's Mad Men.","caption":"Jon Hamm as Don Draper in the Season 7 premiere of AMC's Mad Men.","creditText":"Michael Yarish—AMC","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3882091/mad-men-don-draper-death-rumors/","name":"How the Mad Men Finale Put the Don Draper Death Rumors to Rest"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Behind the Scenes of 'Mad Men'","description":"TIME gained rare access to the set of 'Mad Men' before its final season. 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