After seven seasons of cable television glory, AMC's Mad Men ended not with a bang but with a whimper. However, the series finale gave viewers an authentic, if unwelcome dose of reality. In real life, there are far more open endings than clean breaks and the final episode understates the incredible rarity of getting to say a proper goodbye. It may not have been as gratifying as being given explanations and closures for every loose end, but Mad Men's conclusion, or lack thereof, delivered what Hollywood seldom does -- honesty.

At the end, do we really want to see that what he ultimately feels he must do in order to find peace is... to throw himself out a window? We've already had tons of suicide on the show; is what really needs to happen is that the main character needs to splatter across the sidewalk for it to have closure? He's a narcissistic ad man, for crissakes, not Julius Caesar.