The "Mad Men" series finale is soon approaching and everyone is anticipating how the show will go out. Creator Matthew Weiner is already expecting mixed reactions for the series finale.
In an interview with Esquire, Weiner shared details about the finale and how the cast felt about ending the series. Weiner also has a new movie coming out, which makes the summer bittersweet for him.
"It's the fulfillment of dreams and also super-emotional," Weiner said. "It's very exciting to have the movie come out, it's been a long time in the making, and the timing is a good distraction, although I'm still in the middle of post-production on the show.
"Ending the show was a huge thing in my life."
Of expected fan reactions, Weiner told Esquire that "the road has been paved for a mixed review."
"I do what I've always done on the show and rely on the people around me," Weiner said. "The actors, the writers, and my wife all liked it, so that's all I can go on at this point. I hate to say this — obviously ending the entire series is significantly more pressure — but it's been that way every year.
"I never knew if the show was coming back for most of the series, so we treated every episode 13 like it was the end. It's very bittersweet and high pressure."
Weiner is still set to meet with the cast at awards shows, parties and press for the final season.
Weiner said that despite all of his emotions "there has been this little safety net."
"The people at Breaking Bad, Lost, everybody told us this, too, what a safety net it is to not be off the air yet," Weiner said. "We all know that, whatever splitting the season meant, the true ending of the show hasn't happened yet. So yes, it will be a reunion and then after the last episode airs, that's going to be interesting."
Weiner said that after shooting of thr the final episode concluded he took "too much home from the set."
"I would have taken everything! It's my favorite period. I had emotional attachments to everything," Weiner said. "One of the specifics — I took Don's Clio, the one he broke upon his desk. I have to admit, I took something from almost everybody's set. I took Roger's bar. Roger's bar is the happiest bar on the show, so I always thought that would be nice."
About shooting the final two episodes. Weiner said that the experience was like a family being torn apart.
"It's funny, I directed the last two episodes and there was a lot of that," Weiner said. "When somebody says goodbye in a scene, it's not just "goodbye" when it's the last day of shooting. You've got to get over that.
"Certain things, like Kiernan [Shipka], Sally Draper, I've know this girl since she was six and seeing her there and her parents on her last day... I'm getting emotional just thinking about it. It wasn't her first job, but it was certainly her biggest job so far.
"Part of it is also my oldest son, who's on the show. [Martin] is going away to college at the end of the summer, so I've got a lot of stuff to deal with. He was like, 'Dad, I'm graduating high school and you're ending the show. We're both kind of going through the same experience,' and I was like, "Yeah, but you've got a job next year."
Don't miss the final season of Mad-Men on AMC.
