It wasn't necessarily the conclusion imagined by many of the show's fans, who pictured him jumping out a window (like the Draper silhouette on the opening credits) or turning into hijacker D.B. Cooper.

Instead, he sat on a California shoreline, welcoming the dawn of a new day, with "new hope ... new ideas, new you."

If that wasn't the dramatic finish many expected, it fit with the "Mad Men" style, which was more about the slow accumulation of character-based details than major plot shockers. Indeed, what was out of character for the finale was the willingness to tie up a number of loose ends happily.

Still, the tumult of the '60s had ended, and the '70s -- the "Me Decade," in Tom Wolfe's famed phrase -- were all about finding new paths. Each character got at least one shining moment in the spotlight as Sunday's finale aired: