How Will Mad Men End? Intriguing Details From Creator Matt Weiner, Jon Hamm and the Cast

Exclusive! "Every show has its ending, and I think we found ours"

Mad Men just launched the first of its final seven episodes tonight, rolling into what will probably be a muuuuccchhhh talked about series finale.

How do we know? Well, for starters, creator Matt Weiner comes from the world of The Sopranos—perhaps the most talked about series finale of all time—and, of course, Mad Men remains one of the biggest watercooler series  of the past decade.

So how will it end? And when did Weiner come up with the idea?

I sat down with Weiner and the rest of the cast to see what secrets they can tell—without, of course, giving anything away that would ruin your viewing experience.

Watch the video interviews here…

And here…

What is perhaps most fascinating for anyone who loves quality TV, is how mastermind Matt Weiner came about the idea of the final ending for the show. He describes it as something of a "caption contest," because he usually arrives at an image he wants, and then must figure out what it means, and how to get there.

"I see Betty on an airplane or whatever—they're more specific than that," Weiner told me. "And then as I start writing when we get there, I don't want to do it anymore, because it's a commitment and you're painting yourself into a corner. This one had the same kind of feeling, especially because there's not going to be any more show after it. I kept thinking, however it ends will reflect on the beginning of the show, and that was a little bit of pressure. But I don't know, I always enjoyed that, and I like taking risks and we found something that I think is very true to the story. You know, every show has its own ending, and I think we found ours."

The cast also had some emotional thoughts about the finale, too.

"I thought how on Earth am I going to be happy after eight seasons?!" Christina Hendricks told me. "I just love her so much and I don't want to say goodbye. And nothing's good enough for my Joan! And then I read it and I went, ‘OK. Yeah, very pleased.'"

Check out the videos above for more interesting insight from Jon Hamm, January Jones and more!