Thanks to Alex Manaly for the guest post.

The best season finale I ever watched was the final episode of season three of Mad Men. After what had been one of the most intense, oppressive seasons in television history, it felt like a breath of fresh air. Or ripping off a band-aid, depending on the situation. Don and Betty call it quits after years of falling apart at the seems.

The real meat of the episode, however, was watching the Sterling Cooper team race against the clock to assemble the pieces that would form a whole new company. Don, Roger, and Burt give up on the penny-pinching company that bought out Sterling Cooper and start a new adventure together, creating a brand new advertising agency. They bring sycophant and secret marketing genius Pete Cambell and Don’t protege Peggy along for the ride.

The plan doesn’t really come together until Roger brings in Sterling-Cooper’s secret weapon: Joan. It was such a relief to see her back and working after watching her mortifying and unfulfilling marriage grind through a series of quiet disappointments. Here’s to seeing more of her in Season 4.

Of course, it almost wasn’t to be: my cable cut out and I had to make a mad dash to my friend with satelite TV from www.expertsatellite.comto watch it. Luckily, a bullet was dodged and I got to see one of the best hours of television ever.