Mad Men: 10 Greatest Episodes

The season 3 finale is one of the most renowned episodes of the show for the simple reason that it’s a tight, breathless hour which takes care of all loose ends and shatters the status quo in preparation for an entirely new playing field.

Knockout scenes present themselves one after the other, as the impending sale of the company tightens the vice on everyone at Sterling Cooper. There’s no respite in the domestic scenes either, as Betty strikes in her intention to divorce Don. It’s a total role-reversal of where they started, with Betty now the one in charge, making demands and holding the power, before Don is forced to surrender even as he embarks on a terrifyingly unknown challenge.

For the main meat of the episode focuses on the head honchos of Sterling Cooper collaborating for liberation from their constant swap between masters and setting out as the captains of their very own vessel. It’s legitimately thrilling to witness as the show upends the established order and unites only the best of the firm, including a returning Joan, to barrel ahead for change.

Altogether, the whole thing feels more huge than anyone would expect of a series about wealthy advertising executives in the 1960s, and it’s easy to get swept up in the breathtaking pace with which our heroes free themselves from the corporate trap. Set to the tune of Roy Orbison’s Shahdaroba, we’re completely won over, like so many beguiled clients of Don Draper, to the idea that the future really will be so much better than the past.