While I have to say that I’ve been quite happy with the way Mad Men is completing its seventh and final season, I want to know how some of my favorite characters ended up. We’ve seen the endgame stories of Rachel Katz (née Menken), Glen Bishop, and Megan Draper, among others, but there’s one person missing: What happened to Sal Romano? If you remember, Sal was fired back in Season 3 after he resisted the advances of Lucky Strike client Lee Garner, Jr. Though Sal was gay, he just wasn’t feeling it, and Garner was not at all happy. He threatened to walk, and Don was forced to can Sal in order to save the account (which was like $25 million dollars or something). Poor Sal! We know that Sal was married to Kitty (played by the lovely and talented Sarah Drew, now on Grey’s Anatomy), that he had a thing for bellhops, and he was a total Italian mama’s boy, but not much else.
Since I suspect that Matthew Weiner is not going to give me or the other Sal fanatics the Romano send off we so desperately hope for, I’ve come up with a few options for Sal’s endgame on my own. A girl can dream of her closeted ad man, you know?
Sal Got A Job At Another Agency & Kept On Doing What He Was Doing
I realize that this is the most likely situation given the time and place that Sal was living, but it’s so boring. And so depressing! I just want Sal to be happy! I’m not sure he’s happy as an art director. I also hope that he could even get a job — you don’t know the kinds of things that Lee Garner, Jr. was spreading about him. Let’s abandon this theory.
Sal Divorced Kitty & Found A Man
This is definitely the least likely of the scenarios. I mean, we’re now in the free-loving 1970s, but for a man like Sal to come out would have been momentous at the time. If Sal did divorce Kitty, Kitty would be a-okay. She is cute as a button, charming as hell, and a consummate hostess. She deserves everything she wants, and I hope she gets it, no matter the scenario.
Sal Moved Back To Italy To Experience His Homeland
For an Italian stallion from Baltimore, getting canned from Sterling Cooper could have been a real wake-up call. Perhaps he scooped up Kitty and bought a villa, making his home in the golden Italian countryside. They have their own olive oil operation, you know, and Sal even moved his ma back to Italy to help with it.
Sal & Kitty Started Having Kids & He Became A Stay-At-Home Dad
After he got fired, maybe Sal realized that he wasn’t down to work. He didn’t want to deal with the office politics or the misogyny anymore — he just wants to stay at home. He impregnates Kitty (that’s definitely all she’s ever wanted) and then decides that he will stay home and raise those Italian-American babies. Sal’s a pioneer!
Sal Threw Away Art Direction & Became An Interior Designer
We all know that Sal’s a pretty creative guy, and what’s going from one creative endeavor to another? Did you see how excited he got when he and Kitty were watching Jackie Kennedy’s tour of the White House? Sal’s got a thing for wall-to-wall white carpet, and he just needed to live that dream.
Do you hear me, Matthew Weiner? I want Sal, and I want him now. Please tell me you'll indulge me: There are so few episodes left!
Images: Doug Hyun/AMC; Giphy (5)
