The reviews for last night’s season finale of Mad Men have been mixed (maybe due in part to a lack of a big event like the previous ep), and now show creator Matt Weiner is addressing what happened and what’s ahead.

We’ve highlighted a couple of the most interesting parts of The New York Times’ post-mortem interview with Weiner:

Past season finales have ended with climactic moments, whether it’s the whole staff leaving to open a new agency or Don proposing to Megan. Was this finale a deliberate attempt to go against those expectations?

Maybe it’s too early for people to absorb it. But I never think in terms of cliffhangers, I don’t. I always want it to be a satisfying ending to the story that we start to tell that year. To me it was very satisfying last year to see Don propose and Betty’s reaction to it and the office absorbing it. It could have been the end of the series and I like all of them to feel that way.

You’ve still got a movie to finish filming. How long do you have before you have to start thinking about the show again?

I actually go open the writers’ room in July. So it’s not that long. The movie is helping, but I always try to give myself as much time as possible to heal from the experience and recharge the batteries and get back into whatever is next. It’s really important for me to not think about it. It’s been a very satisfying experience to come back after being off the air all that time, and to go to this next phase of Don’s life. I feel like we really took a huge risk and I’m very excited that the audience came along. I’m sure when we’re midway through next season, they’ll be talking about how much better this season was. [laughs]

Read much more analysis of the episode from Weiner over on the Times. Were you satisfied with last night’s finale? You can discuss more by joining this thread we posted last night.