It did indeed happen. I feel sad and glad that it all happened.

I’ve read too much about the ending, the series, the lawnmower.

Two highlights of all the analysis and one bullet point:

Starting with the bullet point:

• The lawnmower incident of Season 3 was amazing. I can remember watching the episode the day after it aired on a recording and having to rewind and watch what happened. I must have been multi-tasking and huh? what? I definitely made a sound and watched it at least three times. The incident shows up in all types of articles about Mad Men – the best, the craziest, how the show pushed limits, was funny and poignant (poor victim, whomever he was), etc. So, this bullet point is to make a point comparing the lawnmower storyline (GIF here) to the Michael Ginsburg nipple storyline (GIF here) and wonder aloud, why wasn’t that scene mentioned more in recaps? It is not everyday that a show demonstrates mental illness in this way? Was it too graphic? Too sexual? Too NOT funny whereas the guy getting a part of his foot chopped is funny? Maybe I am answering this here and now. It was too gross and too perverse to mention too many times. But still. Nipple and lawnmower in some ways are similarly “out there” plot points.

And the two quickies:

1. A cartoon from the New Yorker with a witty and not entirely factual summary of the final episode

2. My favorite daily e-newsletter writer’s non spoiler alerting and brief summary. It also happens to sum up my own Mad Men feelings as well.  “I managed to keep my Mad Men thinkpiece extremely short and spoiler-free.”