The mid-season finale of Mad Men, “Waterloo”, ended with the tragic passing of a beloved character who has been with viewers since the beginning. However, Don’s (Jon Hamm) touching send-off to the dearly departed reminded fans of the series why they’ve been sticking with the show for 7 long seasons.
Bertram Cooper (Robert Morse) passed away suddenly on the May 25 episode of Mad Men, the cause of which was not explained. A founding member of what is now Sterling Cooper & Partners, his old-fashioned ways were seen by some as a detriment to the company; indeed, Jim (Harry Hamlin), immediately upon Bert’s death, was eager to begin portraying SC&P as the “agency of the future.”
However, Don was always very close to Bert — when Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) went to Bert way back in Season 1 with information about Don’s past in an attempt to throw him under the bus — and climb the ladder like the weasel he used to be — Bert shut Pete down immediately and told him that he doesn’t care about Don’s past.
That said, it was only fitting that the person most affected by Bert’s passing would be Don; at the closing of the episode, Don hears Bert say, “Don, my boy,” and then has a vision of Bert doing a song-and-dance number to “The Best Things In Life Are Free” along with the ladies of the secretarial pool.
It was a fantastic way to send off an immensely talented actor and to highlight Bert’s importance to Don, just before the “C” in “SC&P” is about to be metaphorically crowbarred off the front of their offices by Jim in the latter half of Season 7 — the final episodes of the series.
WATCH: Bert Cooper’s Song-And-Dance Number To “The Best Things In Life Are Free”
What did you think of Bert’s send-off, HollywoodLifers? Appropriate or a bit bizarre? The final episodes of Mad Men will air in 2015 — couldn’t you just die over how far away that is?! Let us know!
— Amanda Michelle Steiner
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