Mad Men

Series Finale:     
Episode #92 — Person to Person
Wearing goggles and a helmet, Don speeds in a hot-rod through a desert in Utah.

Don pulls into a warehouse. He tells two young guys that they need to “take care of that shimmy.” They ask for money for parts. Don stares at the car.

Caroline and Meredith meet with Roger in his office. Caroline tells Rogers his “package from Canada” will be delivered to his hotel tomorrow. Roger informs Caroline that there’s no need to be covert — Meredith knows about Marie Calvet. After Caroline leaves, Roger tells Meredith that he doesn’t need two secretaries — he apologizes and says he thought Don would have been back by now. Meredith asks if Don is dead, but Roger believes otherwise. He agrees to give her a recommendation.

In the Conference Room, Lorraine assigns accounts to the creative teams. Peggy notices she and Stan have been taken off of Chevalier and pulls Lorraine aside after the meeting. Lorraine explains that “Stu Riley took over from Pete Campbell and he has his favorites.” Dissatisfied, Peggy asks if David, the creative director, is aware of the change. Lorraine threatens to call him and “let him know you’re unhappy.” When Peggy doesn’t back down, Lorraine gives her back the account.

In a motel room that night, Don lies in bed with a woman. He asks if his wallet happened to “fall out” of his jeans. Don knows she’s taken money and says if he has to pay for sex, he’d rather do it voluntarily. The woman returns Don’s manila envelope from her purse and he hands her fifty dollars. She asks who the ring in the envelope belongs to.

In a hotel room in Key West, Richard opens a packet of cocaine he received as a birthday gift. “We said we’d try everything,” he tempts Joan. She scoops some up and snorts it off her fingernail, followed by Richard. Richard tells Joan to “take advantage of all I have” and encourages her to leave New York to pursue a future with him. “Your life is undeveloped property,” he says. “You could turn it into anything you want.” Joan asks if they have to get married. Richard says they don’t. They kiss.

In her office the next day, Peggy tells Pete she’s happy for him and his move to Kansas. “Everyone’s going to miss you who doesn’t hate you for getting that big job,” she says. Pete tells her she’ll be a creative director by 1980. “Someday, people are going to brag that they worked with you,” he gushes.

At her school, Sally is on the phone with Don. Sensing something is wrong, Don asks if she’s having boy problems. Sally tells him about Betty’s cancer and asks him to convince Betty to let Gene and Bobby stay with Henry instead of their uncle William. Don promises they can all live with him instead, but Sally feels “they should at least be in the same bed and at the same school.” Don says grown-ups make these kinds of decisions, but she begs him to take her seriously.

Don places a collect call to Betty. He tells her that Sally told him about Betty’s cancer and he plans to come home. “The kids need me,” he insists. Betty tells him not to “let your pride interfere with my wishes” and accuses him of not visiting them often regardless. “I want to keep things as normal as possible and you not being here is part of that,” she says. Don tears up.

Ken and Joan dine at a restaurant. Ken asks if she “held onto your Rolodex when you retired.” He needs the name of the producer who worked on Birds Eye so he can bring him over to Dow to work on a film. Joan agrees to help.

That night, Don lies drunk in bed. The two car guys stop by for the money Don promised. Don grabs his envelope then asks them to drop him in Los Angeles.

The next day, over the phone, Joan offers Peggy $1200 to write Dow’s film script. Peggy accepts.

Don stops by Stephanie’s house in L.A. Don tells her he’s retired. “I’ve been on the road,” he says. Don asks about her son, but she tells him he lives with his dad. Don says he also stopped by to give her the ring, which Anna wanted her to have. Stephanie suggests he’s in trouble. “A lot has happened,” Don admits. She invites him to crash at her place while she goes to a retreat.

That night, Roger and Marie lie in bed. He mentions Emile, who Marie says “suddenly discovered he wants me.” Roger asks if she slept with him and reminds her of her divorce. “You’re the one who will throw me over and leave me for your secretary,” she spits. In French, Marie yells about how she’ll be left alone when Roger disappears. She sends him to sleep on the sofa.

Stephanie wakes Don on her couch and tells him to come with her to her retreat.

Sally arrives at the Francis home, while Bobby is trying to make dinner. Surprised to see his sister, Booby asks “Is it going to happen now?” Bobby knows about Betty. Sally tells him she’s no longer going to Madrid, and then offers to show him how to make a grilled cheese.

Stephanie and Don enter a communal cabin. Don begrudgingly looks over the retreat schedule. Stephanie advises him to be open.

The next morning, Roger arrives at Joan’s apartment after taking Kevin out for breakfast. He tells her he wants Kevin to be in his will and hopes it doesn’t put Joan in an awkward position with “the good doctor.” Joan says Greg “had twins with some nurse” and doesn’t care about Kevin. Roger asks about Richard then tells her he’s getting married to Marie.

Back at the retreat, Don watches a group doing tai chi.

A therapist observes a group, including Don and Stephanie, as they walk around and stare at one another. The therapist tells them to look at the person nearest them and communicate, non-verbally, how that person makes them feel. The older woman opposite Don shoves him in the chest.

Joan and Peggy meet for lunch. Joan hands her a check and explains that the director of the Dow film has two more projects he wants produced. Peggy mentions her current workload, but Joan reminds her that she doesn’t have a contract. Joan suggests they turn the work into an actual production company. “We won’t answer to anyone,” Joan says. “It will be something of ours.” Peggy asks for time to think.

At the retreat, Don sits in a circle with other attendees. Stephanie opens up about her parents who make her feel bad about not loving motherhood. A fellow attendee recounts her own mother leaving her. Stephanie cries and walks out.

Outside, Don comforts Stephanie and offers to move to L.A. to help her. Stephanie tells him he’s not her family.

In Peggy’s office, Peggy tells Stan about Joan’s plan to build a production company with her. Stan thinks Peggy’s just “excited about being in charge.” Peggy thinks he has no ambition and calls him a failure. Offended, he leaves.

Don sleeps in the cabin.

The next day, Joan cancels plans with Richard to meet with Nathan’s Hot Dogs for a proposal. Richard accuses her of devoting all of her attention to her new business. “You act like this is happening to you, but you’re making a choice,” he says. Richard wishes her good luck and leaves.

Don wakes to an empty cabin and looks for Stephanie.

At the main lodge, Don asks how he can leave the retreat since Stephanie has taken the car. “People just come and go and no one says goodbye,” he says.

From her office, Peggy accepts a collect call from Don. Peggy berates him for leaving. “I know you get sick of things and you run,” she softens. “But you can come home.” Don says he can’t. “I’m not the man you think I am,” he says. Don says he called to say goodbye, then hangs up.

Peggy phones Stan in his office and tells him that she’s worried about Don. Stan tells her to let him go. After she apologizes for her callous comment earlier, he admits he didn’t want her to leave McCann “because all I want to do is be with you.” He’s in love with her. Peggy chokes up and admits she loves him, too. Stan rushes over to her office. They kiss.

Don sits by the payphone. One of the therapists invites him back to the seminar room.

Don sits in a circle with other retreat attendees. A man named Leonard talks about no one caring that he’s gone. Don listens attentively. “You spend your whole life thinking you’re not getting it. People aren’t giving it to you,” Leonard says. “Then you realize they’re trying and you don’t even know what ‘it’ is.” Don gets up and hugs him, as he cries.

The next day, Pete, Trudy and Tammy exit a limo and are escorted onto a Learjet plane.

At Joan’s apartment, Maureen answers Joan’s phone as “Holloway-Harris.”

Roger and Marie dine at a café in Paris.

That night, Sally washes dishes at the Francis home, while Betty smokes a cigarette.

Peggy types at her desk. Stan embraces her. She smiles at him.

The next morning, Don sits in a lotus position with retreat attendees. They all chant an “om” mantra together. Don, eyes closed, smiles. A bell goes off and the famous 1971 “Hilltop” Coke commercial plays: “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony…” (Courtesy AMC)
First aired: May 17, 2015.