With less than three months to go, Mad Men is fast approaching the end of its final season.

On Jan. 10 cast and crew attended a Television Critics Association Pres Tour panel to promote those last seven episodes and even revealed the show's official premiere date for 2015.

According to Indiewire, the series will return on April 5 to kick off the beginning of the end.

"I was definitely surprised," admitted Elisabeth Moss (Peggy) after reading the script for the series finale. "In the best way, but yes, surprised."

Co-star Christina Hendricks (Joan) also found the ending unexpected, but for an entirely different reason. "I was pleased," she explained. "I thought there was no way I could be happy because it was ending…but then I thought, 'You know what? That makes sense.'"

Creator Matthew Weiner has remained guarded in discussing those final episodes, trusting the content of it with Jon Hamm (Don Draper) and Jon Hamm alone. The show's creator has known for months now that the finale won't please everyone, but Weiner seems to remain satisfied with staying true to his vision for the story. The fact that the cast remains satisfied with the show's end suggests perhaps it might be a more hopeful conclusion than some fans might have expected.

Mad Men returns on AMC for the remainder of its seventh and final season April 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

Tags
Mad Men, AMC, Television