"Sexy, successful ... and so sad": these are the words NBC News entertainment writer Anna Chan used to describe Don Draper during season 6 of Mad Men in an article written Saturday. The show's protagonist has seemed to suffered with the loss of what once made him dynamic, most recently diminished love from his daughter Sally who caught in the midst of an affair.

Showrunner Matthew Weiner, however, said that the character has always been a product of the times, and as the show moved to 1968, a most pivotal year in American history, so was the drama amped up in Don's life.

"People expect Don to be out of touch, but given society's identity crisis in 1968, he's never been more in touch," Weiner told The Los Angeles Times Saturday, ahead of Sunday's season 6 finale.

"It's like the entire world is in a state that Don is in all the time - the id has overtaken the culture."

This new take on the character has been frustrating to many critics -- New Yorker TV critic Emily Nussbaum once wrote that, "Don, instead of being the show's engine, has become its anchor - heavy, even in the sixties sense" -- and the show creator expressed a bit of his own frustration with them.

"The only thing that has been consistent through the history of the show is from episode 2 on, the show is never as good as it used to be," he said, about the intense scrutiny and criticism the show has gotten over the years.

"I am both completely thrilled there is so much conversation, but also I'm really bored of that conversation."

The character Bob Benson seems to have taken over as a candidate for most intriguing character this season, and Weiner seems to have enjoyed creating the dynamic between Bob and Pete. He called their nudging of knees, in the eleventh episode Favors, as "one of the most beautiful love proposals we've ever had on the show."

"Honestly, Bob is in love with Pete. I don't know that he's gay. He's just in love with Pete," said Weiner, arguing that Bob's feelings are predicated on a deep admiration for Pete and who he is.

"Pete has everything Bob wants. Bob is someone like Don that grew up on the outskirts of things and had a fantasy of who he wanted to be, and Pete really is that person," he added.

Another topic of discussion among fans during the season were the multitude of conspiracy theories, with a major being Megan's Sharon Tate-like star tee shirt. The show's costume designer Janie Bryant said that she was somewhat amused by the fanfare around her costume choice.

"I'm glad there was so much attention on one T-shirt. It's amazing the power of costume design," she told The Los Angeles Times Friday.

Bryant stated that every decision she makes is heavily dictated by the script, which she consults as she dresses each individual character.

"It gives me so much information in terms of mood, tone, understanding the sets and also what the characters are saying to each other. That is the foundation of understanding of how do the costume design for each character," Bryant said, comparing it all to one's favorite book.

"I can't help but read the script and form the visual information for who they are and how you see them," she continued.

To Bryant, a lot of style ideas go toward balancing the classic and the modern, so often represented by Betty and Megan; she compares them to points in a triangle, with Don as the top of that triangle.

"Betty always tries to have that facade of perfection," she said, while Megan and her looks are "the freshness and newness of Don's life."

However, while Megan's fashion choices have been the talk of the town, Bryant said that it's been her soap opera character that she's enjoyed dressing the most over the season: "It's all about Colette [the evil twin Megan plays in a soap opera] and her jumpsuits."

Watch the preview for Mad Men's season 6 finale In Care Of, which airs on Sunday.

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