Despite the airplane imagery in the promo pictures and video, series creator Matthew Weiner says that it doesn't imply anything about the theme.
- Mar 12, 2014
AceShowbiz - More sneak peeks at "Mad Men" final season are shared in form of photos. Making their way out online, the pictures feature the characters, including Jon Hamm's Don Draper, Jessica Pare's Megan, Elisabeth Moss' Peggy Olson and John Slattery's Roger Sterling, in various settings around an airport.
The images, taken at Ontario Airport in California, are in the same vein with the previously-released teaser which showed Don descending the stairs of a TWA airplane. Despite the prominent airplane imagery, series creator Matthew Weiner says it has nothing to do with the show's theme.
"I don't want to disappoint any attempts to read into any meaning for the show," he tells fans, "but we pick a milieu for the publicity photography every year where we can lean on the good looks of the cast and place them in an environment that puts people in the mood for the show. We love the contrast because there is zero glamor in air travel right now. It was just an environment to take pictures."
He adds, "We've done debutante parties, bar scenes, office scenes, we've done abstract a couple times. Frank Ockenfels shot them. To me, it's pretty glamorous -- but it is not related to the show."
Viewers, however, may get a hint from the key art. "The poster is derived from the story," Weiner tells Buzzfeed. "Asking Milton Glaser to give us an abstract representation of something that is both psychedelic and art deco and Milton Glaser... It was the creation of an ad for the show. It was the first time we used the icon of the character and it was a great way to say, 'OK... Don's in this world now."
The last time fans saw Don, he showed his daughter Sally the brothel where he was raised. Dishing on Don's state when the show returns, Weiner says, "We left Don in a pretty bad spot in the material aspects of his life, but in a pretty positive spot as he opened up to his daughter. Whatever that moment was, we hope it was the beginning of something. But even if that's all it was, it was a big moment for him and the show."
As for Peggy who took over Don's place in the office, her personal life "remains a disaster," so Weiner reveals. He elaborates, "Her story last season was really about not having any choices. She went out on her own to the new firm and the next thing she knows, the agencies have merged. And she has this relationship with Ted (Kevin Rahm), who respects her creatively besides being in love with her. And there's Don, who won't stand for it and does not have that relationship with her. We put her through that because we felt that's where she was. Professionally, she's OK. Is that enough? That's part of the story."
The seventh and final season of the period drama series is split into two parts consisting of seven episodes each. The first part dubbed "The Beginning" will premiere Sunday, April 13 at 9/8c on AMC, while the second half called "The End of an Era" is slated to air in 2015.
"Mad Men" season finale photos: 
"Mad Men" season finale poster: 
