Summary

• Don's smile at the end of Mad Men could indicate his relief from letting go of his Don Draper persona and embracing his true self as Dick Whitman.
• Don's smile may be a sign of his forgiveness towards himself for his past wrongdoings and neglect towards his family.
• The smile could also suggest that Don is reminiscing on his journey and feeling a sense of accomplishment for his successful career in advertising.

When the ending of Mad Men first premiered back in 2015, audiences were initially confused about what to make of it. By the end of the 7 season series, Don Draper (John Hamm) is completely out of his element after being abandoned at a hippie commune in a remote and verdant area of coastal California. Throughout the Emmy-winning series, Don Draper represented a steadfast image of masculine bravado and material wealth in the bustling and cutthroat world of advertising during the 1960s in New York City.

Having escaped the trappings of his corporate job and Manhattan after hitting the road on a seemingly spontaneous impulse, Don finds himself living a blue-collar lifestyle for a stint as a racecar driver in the deserts of Utah. The final image of Don Draper in the series finale of Mad Men features a glimpse of his suspicious smirk that had audiences questioning what exactly Don could have been happy about, if he was happy at all. While the ambiguity was creatively intentional, a few things can be considered true as to the meaning behind Don's final frame.

10 Don Lets Go Of His Mad Man Persona

Don's smile could have indicated the relief from accessing his true self as Dick Whitman without the expectations of the city and people that helped built up his projection as Don Draper. Don Draper is very much a reinvention of Dick Whitman, the hidden internal side of Don's persona who has seemed much more thoughtful and emotional than Don's surface-level ego-driven corporate personality. Don, or Dick, could have been smiling in response to his decision to let go of Don Draper once and for all.

9 Don Forgives Himself For His Failures

Don realizes that his own family doesn't want much to do with him anymore because he has never truly been there for them in a permanent and lasting way.

Part of Don's healing and recovery process could have to do with his acceptance of the ways he has wronged others, specifically his two wives, Betty and Megan, and his children. Don realizes that his own family doesn't want much to do with him anymore because he has never truly been there for them in a permanent and lasting way. Don's life as a big shot in advertising completely overhauled his family life, not to mention his numerous affairs and acts of infidelity that drove wedges in his relationships. Don's smile could indicate that he has forgiven himself for his deceit and negligence towards his loved ones.

8 Don Reflects On His Fondest Memories

Don's smile could also point to him reminiscing on the journey he had that led him to that point of clarity. In a way, Don Draper was a way for Dick Whitman to live outside of himself, hinting that throughout the entire series, there was always a part of Don that knew nothing he had would last forever. During Don's meditation, he could have learned gratitude for all the rare and exclusive opportunities he had through his Don Draper persona, ready to leave it all behind in the memory vault.

7 Don Feels A Sense Of Accomplishment

In a similar vein, Don could be smiling because he feels a wave of accomplishment for going so far in his career. Don keeps so much of his emotions at bay in the series and rarely allows himself to acknowledge the success he had throughout most of Mad Men. Don could have finally gotten the chance to take a deep breath and give himself some credit for the determination, creativity, and assertion he brought into Sterling Cooper as it evolved through his achievements.

6 Don Embraces His Existential Isolation

Don's smile could hint that he is ready to begin the long process of self-discovery and self-improvement.

As part of Don's journey of self-acceptance, he could be learning to embrace his loneliness and isolation and see it as a positive thing. By owning his existential crisis, he can then learn how to get himself out of his situation and hopefully become a better overall person. Don's smile could hint that he is ready to begin the long process of self-discovery and self-improvement and will want to be alone to spend more time learning his true self, even if that means he has to walk away from advertising altogether.

5 Don Finally Makes Peace With His Past

Don broke down crying in the Mad Men series finale, demonstrating that he finally opened his heart enough to feel empathy. Empathy is not a very useful tool in Don's world of advertising and could certainly be perceived as a weakness during that era. Because of this, Don has never accessed empathy for himself and the harsh upbringing that he had, which he leaves buried throughout his adult life. Don's smile could imply that he has cleared out the skeletons of the past from his cerebral closet.

4 Don Connects With Nature Outside The City

At the end of Mad Men, Don is in a truly idyllic location full of green grass, palm trees, and salty ocean air. He had spent so much of his life within the daily back-and-forth grind of going from the city to the suburbs and working within the heart of Manhattan. In this light, Don could have learned to appreciate a newfound connection with nature that fulfills him in ways he has yet to experience before. Don did enjoy his time in California in previous episodes of Mad Men, so his smile could indicate that he belongs on the West Coast.

3 Don Discovers Meditation For Stress Relief

Even though it's the norm for many people in his profession, Don has two serious dependencies, if not addictions, to alcohol and cigarettes. As an ad man, Don would not have taken up meditation in his office or at home because that would have changed how his employees, peers, and family would have looked at him, breaking his classic masculine image. Don could be smiling because he realizes that meditating gives him a better buzz than alcohol or cigarettes ever did.

2 Don Comes Up With A Brilliant New Ad

The most popular theory as to why Don was smiling at the end of Mad Men was because he had a stroke of brilliance in the form of the Coke ad that plays during the final seconds of the series. Many believe that Don's smirk, followed immediately by the real-life Coke ment that featured a large group of people singing in a grassy field about soda, is the show's way of saying that Don went back to advertising. It toys with the idea that the fictional Don had come up with the idea for the 1971 Coke ad, which does actually line up pretty well with the timeline of Mad Men ending in 1970.

1 Don Confirms He Found His True Purpose

If Don smiled at the end of Mad Men because he thought of the 1971 Coke ad during meditation, then it indicates what he knew all along about his true life purpose as an ad man. Any doubt that Don might have had about the meaning of his life up to that point can be erased since his creative epiphany proves that he truly does belong in Manhattan doing what he's doing. Don's smile could also point to the fact that he really can't stop himself from bringing his ideas back to NYC to be praised as they typically are. This shows that despite his efforts to come clean and face the music as Dick Whitman, the allure of being Don Draper is just too good to up.