The good folks at Vulture debuted the official Mad Men final season poster this morning, and as you can see, Don Draper is driving off into the sunset. Actually, wait. It’s not really the “final season” poster because it’s just for the last seven episodes of the season, which was split by AMC into two parts spread over two springs. And I guess Don isn’t really “driving off into the sunset” either, since he appears to be driving away from it, technically. Unless he is driving into it and that’s the reflection. Or maybe there are TWO SUNS NOW and Mad Men is about to get weird as all hell down the home stretch. Probably not, but still.
Anyway, if you’re looking for revealing insights into the imagery of the poster and what exactly it all means, there’s good news and bad news. Good: Vulture also spoke with Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner about it. Bad: His answers were… well, classic Weiner. A sampling:
- “He could be going to work, he could be going away from work. But there is a feeling of, I hope, a little bit of a desperate drive. We see him in his car, and we see that he’s alone, and I think you just have to basically feel that there’s going to be a sense of motion.”
- “Is he driving off into the sunset because the show is? It’s the end of a workday, clearly.”
- “I don’t know if you could say he’s looking at the end of the show in his rearview mirror. But he’s being pursued, and he’s on his way.”
Sense of motion… he’s alone… end of the day… being pursued. So… alien apocalypse? That what the second sun is about? I dunno, too soon to rule it out.
In other Mad Men related news, last night during the Oscars AMC rolled out a new preview clip titled “Nostalgia” that set a bunch of memorable moments from the show to Don’s “Carousel” speech from Season 1. It’s really great, and if it doesn’t get you all jazzed up for the April 15 premiere, I honestly don’t know what will. Shoutout to Peggy’s tiny bangs.
