Xealot posted:

Her ending is absolutely somber, but I do agree with this assessment. Sally and Glenn were clearly Matt Weiner working out some poo poo from his own childhood, as they both have these parallel processes of coming into an adult awareness of how flawed and disillusioning the adult world is, how fallible the adults in their orbit actually are. Betty's death in particular makes a lot of sense as a capstone to that. Sally's series arc is kind of the audience's, seeing with sobering clarity how the glamorous and ideal suburban family she was born into is actually sick with dysfunction. Her handsome, successful war hero dad is actually a drunk, lecherous imposter, and her gorgeous cake-topper of a mother is actually an immature, miserable child.

Her ending also harkens back to what Don said to the American Cancer Society: "children will look to their parents and see they're not long for this world," but also that "the children will really be thinking of themselves." Sally's teen years are full of hosed up psychological lessons, inappropriate parentification, way premature exposure to sex and lies and resentment. But the silver lining, I think, is the point you're making here: she's not taking this out on her brothers, she's choosing to be a better person internally in spite of her parents' example. It sucks that she was asked to be the adult in the room so often, but now she is one. And a far more responsible, caring one than she ever saw modeled for her.