Even though in many ways, Mad Men's final season has felt like The Long Goodbye (especially given that it was split in two), it's still difficult to believe this is really it. Mad Men has been such a seminal series in so many ways. It has helped launch many careers, it put AMC on the map, and it has been one of the hallmarks of this Second Golden Age of Television. There have been resurgences in 60s fashions, in retro-oriented TV shows, and a new commitment to "prestige" television. But though there may be many imitators, there is but one Mad Men. Its style, extraordinary actors, and glossy surrealism has truly made it a one-of-a-kind series.

You'll be seeing lots of Mad Men lists leading up to the finale that try and rank and quantify the show's past, but we at Collider just wanted to share some of the scenes that have stood out the most to us over the years. Obviously, this is an impossible task -- we could all choose 25 scenes and still want to add more. But as we explain under each clip below, these are some of our particular favorites:

Adam's Pick: "The Other Woman" -- Peggy Gives Her Notice to Don

It was damn near impossible for me to pick a single favorite moment from the entirety of this series, but if forced to choose, I would have to go with Peggy’s resignation from SCD&P. So much else is going on in “The Other Woman” that informs Peggy’s final scene with Don -- namely Joan’s decision and subsequent promotion to being made partner -- but we really feel the intimacy of Don and Peggy’s relationship during their final encounter.

Don seems to run through the five stages of grief within the context of the entire scene, and Elisabeth Moss has that perfect moment when Don kisses her hand, during which she conveys a whole range of emotions on her face. The Peggy and Don relationship is the heart of Mad Men, and to see that (seemingly) come to an end was emotionally devastating. And yet, we as an audience knew that Peggy deserved to succeed, so after her tear-jerker encounter with Don, it’s fitting that she walks out of the office with a smile on her face while the first few notes of The Kinks kicks in. You do you, Peggy. You do you.

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Image via AMC

Brian's Pick: "Signal 30” -- Lane and Pete Exchange Fisticuffs

Pete Campbell has always been a punchable character. Before he does indeed get punched in Season 5's "Signal 30" by Lane Pryce in a board meeting, though —one where Joan is excused, and the remaining mad men encourage the fight (Lane and Pete have the least amount of history within the agency that rose like a Phoenix from Sterling Cooper's ashes)—his icky acumen is terribly apparent. What makes Pete Campbell so punchable? He's smug, he takes no accountability, and he only wants to please the old guard—because it's quicker to get a raise that way. And Peter Campbell is all about the easy road.

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Prior to this, Pete had been a weasel for years. There are the obvious touchstones of his awfulness -- he impregnated Peggy, breaking not only his marriage vows, but also breaking Peggy's ability to trust a man, and he also blackmailed his way into a partnership as the only person who discovered Don Draper's secret past life -- but Pete Campbell Shittiness™ had left a longer, more subtle trail throughout. In addition to his nothing-can-touch-me dalliance with Peggy and his approach with Don's past early on, he also asked for his parents' charity donation to be returned so that he could have the money, asked if he could buy a dog to keep at the office so that clients would find him more appealing, lamented the lack of good old-fashioned cheap labor in California, claimed to have invented "direct marketing" because he thought of it before knowing it existed, and he threw a turkey out the window when his wife Trudy essentially accused him of cheating on her (which he did numerous times).

But I am not picking this scene just for the visceral thrill of seeing Pete bloodied on the floor (nor just for Lane's old school boxing straight-arm jabs; though both are welcomed sights). No, in retrospect, this scene is a reminder of how subtle and genius Mad Men is with its characters. I've spent most of all seven season loathing the entitled Pete Campbell, as many viewers have. But last week, when he laid it all on the line to get Trudy back, I felt happy for him that she said yes. How did this Pete Campbell Heart-tug™ happen? (Aside from Vincent Kartheiser's fantastic acting, that is). The Pete redemption was slow and natural; he started to learn from his mistakes, but he never announced an epiphany. His likability might have started when he lost Chevy because he couldn't drive. (But no, I relished that, too. Send Bob Benson and his short shorts to Detroit!) Ultimately, Pete had to experience actual hardships, and embarrassment, and work hard. He had to take the hard road. I don't know when it happened, but I am happy it did.

... And then he had to go and tell Trudy this selling point about moving with him to Wichita: "we'll have our own private jet; we can fly anywhere we want!" Urge to punch rising.

But maybe I'll give him a pass this time.

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Image via AMC

Chris's Pick: Ken Writes a Story Based on Pete

When we talk about “Signal 30,” the astonishing fifth episode of Mad Men’s fifth season, we usually talk about Lane and Pete Campbell duking it out (see above!) Before all of that, however, we learn that Ken Cosgrove is secretly "David Algonquin," a science fiction writer in the vein of Philip K. Dick, during a dinner at Pete Campbell’s house. Don’s fascinated, but Pete is petty and makes fun of his stories, a rude reaction to deflect that fact that Pete has no imagination; later on, Don also proves he’s no good at fixing up the house. It’s worth noting that the episode was co-written by creator Matthew Weiner and Frank Pierson, who wrote Dog Day Afternoon and The Anderson Tapes, two films about the stress and fear of masculine archetypes.

The last sequence of the episode involves Pete, defeated and bruised, attending his driver’s ed class, where he must also watch the young woman he’s harbored lust for get felt up by a younger man. It’s that spark, that thrill of danger and lust and not caring, that Pete is seeking out but marriage, responsibilities, and fatherhood have taken precedence. He wants to feel like a man the way Don looks like a man, and the fact that he isn’t finally sinks in as he watches the young man inch his way up his crush’s skirt. Over the shot, Cosgrove reads “The Man with the Miniature Orchestra,” a new story referencing Pete and his new turntable, and though he’s writing about some strange alternative time, the story nails the fear of death and stasis of routine that have rot Pete out from inside. It’s Weiner’s most potent reflection on the power of fiction and its ability to reveal sides of people and places that facts simply cannot, not unlike what Mad Men has done.  

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Image via AMC

Allison's Pick: "Lost Horizon" -- Roger Plays the Organ, Peggy Roller Skates

One of my favorite things about Mad Men is sometimes it's just incredibly, wonderfully weird. I think that fact often gets forgotten when talking about the show's place among "prestige" television and our fond memories of it. Mad Men can be exceptionally surreal, and one of the best examples of that was a very recent one. In Season 7's "Lost Horizon," Peggy is left behind at the SC&P offices while everyone else has moved to McCann. But later she finds Roger there, too, both of them not quite ready to leave a place where they -- perhaps more than anyone -- have the most to fear from moving on.

It was a great moment not only for their characters (who so rarely if ever shared screen time), but also in perfectly illustrating Mad Men's quirky strangeness and humor. At first, Roger's surprise organ music frightened Peggy in the echoing, empty halls of the office. But in the end, Roger (possibly my favorite Mad Men character of all time, thanks to John Slattery's portrayal) drank and smoked while playing "Hi-Lili, Hi Lo" as Peggy roller-skated around him in those same halls. Mad Men is often at its very best when it skews into these Lynchian moments, but Roger and Peggy being the last two out of SC&P was also symbolic of the firm's past and its future. It was passing of the torch, in a way (especially when Roger gifted her Burt Cooper's painting), but it was also wonderfully funny. When it wants to, Mad Men has immense humor. And it should. The King ordered it! (And as part of Mad Men's insanely rich layering, he actually did).

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Image via AMC

No Mad Men Moments list would be complete without this one, which may be Mad Men's most defining moment, and certainly its most memorable advertising pitch. Season 1's Carousel pitch is also Don Draper (and Jon Hamm) at his finest. Fare thee well my honey, wherever the finale takes you.

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