Mad Men - “Let them open the kimono.” — Burt Cooper

[William Murderface]

Pete has a child that is given up for adoption against his will ironically. But Pete has a huge list of misdeeds. Constant cheating on his wife. Cheating with married women including one who is given electroshock treatment. Raping his neighbor. Tons of backstabbing of friends and coworkers. Ratting on his father-in-law's prostitution frequency to poison his wife's relationship with her father.

His ending is similar to Joan's in that he's immoral the entire show. But then lucks into a multi-million dollar career and business partnership. And even gets his wife and kid back. And is allowed to leave behind the trail of wreckage and damaged women and friendships with zero consequences. Other than Betty (cancer) or Roger Sterling's daughter being in a cult most characters get away unscathed in the finale. In the end Lane or Don's brother killing themselves becomes an afterthought. And Ginsberg's mental breakdown is played for laughs and immediately forgotten.

And when people bring up how Joan got the ending she didn't earn or Pete got the ending he didn't deserve, I remind them that life isn't fair a whole lot of evil and shitty people just skate through life and good people who make all the right decisions and avoid all of the major pitfalls still end up getting kicked in the teeth over and over and over. But then again, who ever claimed life was fair?

 

[TheHarbinger]

And when people bring up how Joan got the ending she didn't earn or Pete got the ending he didn't deserve, I remind them that life isn't fair a whole lot of evil and shitty people just skate through life and good people who make all the right decisions and avoid all of the major pitfalls still end up getting kicked in the teeth over and over and over. But then again, who ever claimed life was fair?

It makes sense for someone like Don to just leave work then come back like nothing was wrong. People like Don get away with things all of the time is one of the themes of the show. Or for someone like Lee Garner Jr. to sexually harass and fag his way through life and life as a millionaire despite promoting cancer sticks. Because his wealthy family protects him. Or for Harry to become a casting couch creep and rise his way through show business preying on young women. Despite being a lecherous pervert who isn't a creative talent.

It doesn't make sense that Pete is gifted a CEO position and his wife reconciles with him other than forcing an ending for the finale. And Joan's ending is also out of nowhere. She has no experience in movie production. Yet falls into being a studio executive with defense contractor connections. It's just the writers rushing the endings for the side characters to make the audience feel happy. Even Peggy marrying Stan is abrupt and is just fan service. They needed too many characters to go out on a win because the writers weren't as committed as the people behind The Sopranos, The Shield, Oz, or Boardwalk Empire.

 

[William Murderface]

Maybe. I see where you're coming from, and I agree to a point, but at the same time seeing characters fail upwards and get the world handed to them and make irrational decisions that pan out while the guy who does everything right fails is just part of life. So I can see where a writer who has to stick the landing at the last minute just to tie up a loose end can kill two birds with one stone by giving an unearned but somehow still possible ending to a character. It happened in the Sopranos, The Shield, Oz, Boardwalk Empire, and a million other shows. Should Paulie have been the last one standing after selling out Tony to New York? No, but that's the ending of the show. Should Vic Mackey still have been out on the streets? Probably not, but that's how it ended. So on and so forth.

 

[TheHarbinger]

Should Paulie have been the last one standing after selling out Tony to New York? No, but that's the ending of the show.

Paulie is a survivor. It makes sense. We also see him betray Tony to New York in the fifth season. It's foreshadowed. Paulie also cares more about money than Tony. After Tony sides with Ralph and starts accusing Paulie of leaking the Ginny Sac joke he knows he can't trust Tony. Paulie didn't want to give Carmela the money from the Colombians. He hates Tony.

Should Vic Mackey still have been out on the streets? Probably not, but that's how it ended. So on and so forth.

Vic loses his entire family. He rats on his best friend. His other best friend is murdered by their best friend. His last best friend kills himself and his family including his pregnant wife. Vic doesn't fail upwards like Joan or Pete from Mad Men. He has everything taken from him and will likely violate his employment terms or die in the streets. An actual brilliant ending. Not the sappy fan service of Mad Men's cast. Betty is the only main character in Mad Men to get a more realistic ending. She smokes her way to an early grave. And dies young like Marlyn Monroe or Grace Kelly.