4 ‘Mad Men’ Scenes That Changed the Show Forever

Mad Men, one of the best shows ever created, was known for its quietly jaw-dropping character moments and unthinkably sharp writing, so it’s no surprise there are still plenty of memorable moments that fans are still thinking of today.

AMC’s period piece drama about an advertising firm and its employees in the 1960s ran from 2007 to 2015, and notched 16 Emmys—with four wins for Outstanding Drama Series.

With that in mind, here are four of the series’ most memorable moments.

‘Shut The Door, Have A Seat.’

Our friends at Sterling Cooper hatch a plan to break free from their British bosses and start their own ad agency in the season 3 finale. It’s a blast seeing who our friends decide to take with them to their secret new venture—and even more fun seeing who they leave behind. An uncharacteristically upbeat episode where the team literally raids their former offices in the dead of night, the episode’s best moment is when Don Draper (Jon Hamm) tells Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) that if she doesn’t come along, he will spend the rest of his life trying to hire her.

‘The Suitcase’

Any fan of Mad Men will read The Suitcase and instantly think of Jon Hamm yelling the series’ most well-known line. In what is arguably the best episode of the entire series, Don and Peggy pull an all-nighter for a Samsonite ad campaign and somehow experience a break-up, a death, a loving embrace, a spilling of secrets, and several heart-to-heart conversations all in one evening. The famous scene where Peggy asks why she never gets recognition for her work and Don yells “THAT’S WHAT THE MONEY IS FOR!” is just one of many incredible moments in a truly special episode.

The Lawn Mover Scene

While not the most impactful scene in terms of Mad Men‘s story, it’s certainly one of the most memorable. In the episode Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency, account executive Guy MacKendrick is brought in from Britain to take over the company. During an office party filled with copious amounts of drinking and smoking, secretary Lois Sadler hops on a John Deere lawnmover and runs over Guy’s leg as the mower spurts blood all over his coworkers. Later on, Roger Sterling asks “Any news?” and hears that Guy will likely lose his foot and have to quit his new role before delivering one of his most memorable one-liners: “Right when he got it in the door.”

The End of the Finale

What else could it be? A final montage shows the concluding moments of each of our supporting characters before ending with Don meditating at a self-help retreat in California… and then we immediately see Coca-Cola’s famous ‘I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke’ ad. However you interpret the ending, whether you’re optimistic or cynical about what it means for Don, it’s hard to say that the finale was anything short of breathtaking.