Mad Men (2007)
TV Show

While Don struggles to control his problematic love life, he tries to keep the agency from losing a big tobacco account.

Inside a swank New York City bar, men in suits sip martinis and throw their heads back in laughter. Don Draper, however, sits alone at a booth and scribbles words on a cocktail napkin next to an ashtray of crumpled cigarettes. When a waiter comes by, Don - the creative director for Sterling Cooper ad agency - tries to convince him to convert from his choice of smokes, Old Gold, to his brand, Lucky Strikes.

"Reader's Digest says it will kill you," the waiter says.

"Yeah," Don pauses and looks around the room. Every hand at the bar holds a cigarette. "I heard about that."

That night, Don knocks on the door of a sultry artist, Midge. Despite her flirtations, he's all business. The trade commission has cracked down on tobacco health claims, and Don's without a plan for tomorrow's meeting to keep the Lucky Strike account from leaving the agency: "All I have is a crush-proof box and four out of five dead people smoked your brand." He asks to run some ideas past her but when she unbuttons her white blouse to reveal a lacy black bra, he decides to take a break from work for awhile.

The next morning, while Don suggests he and Midge get married, the revolving door of one Madison Avenue high rise whirls with businessmen. On the floor of Sterling Cooper, up-and-comer Pete Campbell - accompanied by an audience of three smooth-talking execs - speaks angelically on the phone to his fiancé. "I love you," he says, igniting chuckles from the men, whose only concern is planning a bachelor party. "I'm giving up my life to be with you, aren't I?"

Meanwhile, Joan - with fire-engine red hair and the perfect hourglass figure - introduces new girl Peggy to life as a secretary. Among other skills, Joan recommends showing a little leg, encourages her not to be overwhelmed by the typewriter's technology and offers her a doctor who prescribes contraceptives to unmarried women.

As the antacid fizzes in his glass of water, Don stands in his corner office. When he reaches to grab some weights, a purple heart - labeled "Lt. Donald Francis Draper" - falls to the floor. He puts it back in the drawer without much thought as Salvatore enters with a mockup of the new Lucky Strikes ad. It's a sketching of a bare-chested man next to a white box with a read dot. The word Relax is at the top. As Salvatore stares proudly at his handiwork and contemplates a pre-meeting drink, Greta - a researcher - comes in to share her report that people's desire for cigarettes is actually a Freudian death wish, and that if you love danger, you should love smoking.

"We can put a skull and crossbones on the label," Salvatore jokes.

Greta hands the report to Don who promptly files it into the trashcan. "I'll take that drink now," Don says.

When Peggy brings Pete into Don's office for their next meeting, he looks her up and down. "Who's your little friend here?" he asks.

On their way to a meeting with a Jewish-owned department store, Don offers Pete some man-to-man advice about how his playboy escapades - despite the fact that his wedding is this Sunday - will make it hard to climb the ladder. "You'll die in that corner office, a midlevel exec with a little bit of hair who women go home with out of pity." Pete's coy smile quickly faded as they walked into the boardroom.

Surprised to find a woman at the other end of the table - along with David Coen, a token Jewish employee from the mailroom - Don has little patience for Rachel Menken's demands to turn her store into the next Chanel nor her distaste for his less-than-innovative idea to offer coupons to housewives. "I'm not going to let a woman talk to me that way," he says as he walks out the door. As David reaches for the pitcher of bloody mary's, Pete follows closely behind Don to offer his superficial support.

"Having money and education doesn't take the rude edge out of people," Pete says.

Soon after, Don and Pete join Roger Sterling, the head of the company, in welcoming The Lucky Strike family to the office. While everyone coughs through smoke rings, Roger advises that they are no longer allowed to advertise that cigarettes are safe and opens the floor to Don's big idea.

Silence fills the room as Don fumbles through papers and stammers over his words. Pete jumps up to fill the void, and he offers up the "death wish" psychology from Don's trashed report. Shocked by the "you're-going-to-die-anyway" slogan, the Lucky Strike gentlemen get up to leave.

Just then, Don has an epiphany. "Advertising is based on one thing," Don says. "Happiness." Everyone else's tobacco is poisonous, but Lucky Strike's is "toasted." Within moments, the Lucky Strike folk are sold.

Back in Don's office, Roger encourages Don to reconsider the presidential campaign - the agency's got a young, handsome navy hero by the name of Dick Nixon.

With her first day nearly complete, Peggy thanks Don for standing up for her with Pete. She rests her hand on his. After an awkward moment, he removes it. "I'm your boss, not your boyfriend." He then chastises her for letting Pete go through his garbage to get the report but tells her that she has a fresh start tomorrow.

The young execs, led by Pete, hit the gentlemen's club and soon find themselves surrounded by girls. "I love this place," one of them says. "It's hot, loud and filled with men." Salvatore, his eyes twinkling as he scans the room, agrees.

Meanwhile, Don attempts to reconcile with Rachel, and she teases that the flashy mai tai nearly does the trick. When he asks why she's not married, she admits that - aside from wanting to have the option to be a businesswoman - she's never been in love.

"The reason you haven't felt it is because it doesn't exist," he says. "What you call love was invented by guys like me to sell nylons." Soon, she agrees to come back to the office.

The bachelor party long over, Pete shows up at Peggy's door. She asks why he came. He leans in, his lips brushing against her bangs. "I wanted to see you tonight," he whispers. Without a moment of hesitation, she lets him in.

It's been a long day for Don, and as the rain pours down from the night sky, he takes the train to a parking lot where he drives his car and pulls up next to a picturesque home. As he walks up the stairs to his bedroom, a woman - his wife - wakes up to greet him. He then crosses the hall and walks into the bedroom of his two young children. As he strokes their hair, he looks off into space.

Betty consults with a specialist about her health issues; Don is pressured to help with Nixon's presidential campaign; Peggy fends off the advances of a copywriter.


Roger Sterling, three martinis into his dinner with Don and their wives, recounts his upbringing and urges Don to open up about the same. In the ladies room of the restaurant, Betty's hands go numb and Roger's wife Mona must assist her with her lipstick.

Back home, Betty -- tipsy from drinking -- continues Roger's line of questioning and asks her husband if he ever had a nanny. "It's like politics, religion or sex," he says. "Why talk about it?" When he finally says that he never had a caretaker, they make love.

The next day at Sterling Cooper, Peggy -- dressed less frumpy than her first day -- chats with Joan about getting her very first paycheck. Peggy's reverie is interrupted when they enter the ladies room and see Bridget sobbing near the stalls.

In Don's office, a group of the junior ad execs clamor around their latest project: canisters of Right Guard, the first aerosol deodorant. Dale and Paul decide to unwittingly test the product on Ken just as Bertram Cooper, one of the agency’s partners, steps in. He wants Don to reconsider taking on the Nixon election campaign, and after some discussion, he agrees.

Joan decides to take Peggy out for lunch, but before they make it out the door, Ken, Dale and Harry offer to take them out. Between flirtatious remarks and sexual innuendos, they admit that the office has been rif with speculation about whether or not Peggy has any romantic attachments.

Back at the Draper house, Betty sits in the kitchen with her friend Francine. Francine, six months pregnant, puffs her cigarette as she gossips about a new neighbor, Helen Bishop, a divorcee with a 9-year-old boy and a baby.

A bit later, Betty drives down the tree-lined street in her station wagon with her children, Robert and Sally. As she slows down to watch Helen drag boxes into her new Dutch colonial, her hands go numb and drop from the wheel. The car bounds up a curb and hits a bird bath on the lawn.

Meanwhile, Don rolls off Midge's bed. He looks for a lighter -- and his underwear. He's surprised to see a small portable TV. "I remember someone wasting a good piece of a beautiful afternoon reciting a diatribe against television," he says. When he won't let up, Midge grabs the set by the handle and drops it out her window without a glance.

Hours later, Don arrives home and apologizes for not being reachable when Betty was at the hospital. Betty, who has seen several doctors to no avail, wonders if her numbness isn't a physical condition but a psychological one. She asks if she should see a psychiatrist. "Doctors must love that they finally have an answer for 'I don’t know what’s wrong,'" Don says.

At the next meeting for the Right Guard account, Paul tries to push copy that compares the aerosol can to space-aged astronauts. Don disagrees, contending that the future is actually something that many people fear. Instead, he thinks targeting women might be more effective, but none of the men in the room can figure out just what these women want.

Disgruntled from yet another futile creative gathering, Paul chats up Peggy at the pie cart. He then gives her an unofficial tour of the office and explains the delicate hierarchy of the different departments: There's media -- they buy space and sell at a markup -- as well as accounting, account management -- those with no talent and plenty of vanity -- and, of course, creative.

Feeling guilty for assuming that Betty has it all and has nothing to be unhappy about, Don comes home with a white gold watch. She's thankful but, through tears, asks again if she should see someone.

At 11 a.m. the following day, Don sits outside Midge's apartment. He took his wife to a shrink and called in sick. Over on Park Avenue, Betty lays on the leather daybed of Dr. Arnold Wayne and awkwardly alludes to her anxiety.

With Don out of the office the Sterling Cooper creative team is scarce. Unlike Salvatore, Peggy remains hard at work. She knocks on Paul's office to tell him that she's too busy to go to lunch, and he responds by closing his door and kissing her. She pulls away. "I think we've misunderstood each other," she says, admitting that there's someone else. Back at her desk, she's ready to follow suit and leave early until Joan arrives with more work. Noticeably moody, Peggy asks, "Why is it that every time a man takes you out to lunch, you are the dessert?" Ready to break down in tears, she heads to the ladies room only to find yet another woman already doing so by the stalls.

Feeling better after a romp with Midge and after figuring out that what women really want is "any excuse to get closer," Don takes his wife out to dinner in the city before heading home. As he watches Betty climb the stairs to bed, he goes into his study and shuts the door behind him. He picks up the phone and calls Dr. Wayne who remarks, "I had a very interesting hour with your wife this afternoon."

Upon returning from his honeymoon, Pete is troubled by what happened with Peggy after his bachelor party. Don's professional relationship with Rachel undergoes significant changes.


Don, flipping through the latest issue of Life Magazine, happens upon the latest Volkswagen ad: a black and white photograph of the car with the word "Lemon" in bold letters. A tap on the shoulder interrupts his train reading. "Hey Dick," says a portly man named Larry Krizinksy as if the two were old friends. "Old Dick Whitman, what are the chances?"

Don awkwardly smiles, and without ever correcting the name, makes small talk until Larry’s stop. Only then does Don breathe a sigh of relief and return to his magazine.

The morning rush on Madison Avenue is evident by the crowded elevators. Just before the doors to an elevator close, Pete sneaks in, back from his long honeymoon. All the way upstairs, through the bullpen and toward Pete’s office, the men all ask for salacious details and everyone else gives him a warmer welcome than expected.

As Pete opens the door he asks, "When did this place get so friendly." In his office, he finds a Chinese man, woman and an elderly woman eating as chickens run about aimlessly. The entire office erupts in laughter. They paid the family to be there.

Once the practical joking subsides, Pete approaches Peggy to get in on a meeting with the creative team. Before joining Harry, Paul and Salvatore in Don’s office he pauses to tell Peggy that he’s married now. Lowering her voice, she says she understands, despite her look of disappointment.

Although the meeting was to discuss Secor laxatives, constipation, oddly enough, isn’t on their minds. The Volkswagen ad, however, is. The men debate whether the copy was a brilliant piece of advertising or whether the ad detracted from the product. "Love it or hate it, the fact is, we’ve been talking about it for the last 15 minutes," Don says.

Over at the coffee cart, Joan returns a tattered copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover to Marge, one of the switchboard ladies. The book, a 1928 novel that was banned for its explicit sex scenes and four-letter words, sparks Peggy’s interest. With some prodding, she borrows it.

A bit later, the conference room fills with Don, Pete, an executive from the research department and Rachel Menken, the Jewish department store owner. While the researcher presents a report on top competitors such as Saks, Don’s cuff link falls off and slides toward Rachel. Without missing a beat, she flicks it back. They smile and lock eyes. Pete notices. The researcher then gives his recommendations, including having a personal shopping service and designer collections, both of which are current staples of Rachel’s company. No one from Sterling Cooper bothered to come into her store, and Don promised to correct the oversight.

Pete offers to walk her down, but Don steps in. That evening he meets her at Menken’s Department Store. Rachel gets him new knights in armor cuff links, and shows him the store. They end up on the roof, Rachel's favorite part of the store, where she keeps four German Shepherds. Rachel confides that the store is much like her home, especially because she grew up without a mother.

As Don takes her hand in his he says, "Don’t try to convince me you were ever unloved." He lifts her face up and kisses her deeply. She kisses back. When their lips part, Don pulls her close and quietly admits that he’s married.

Shocked, Rachel asks if he does this all the time. Before he can answer, she tries to maintain her professionalism -- she’ll keep the account with Sterling Cooper, but she wants someone else on it.

The next morning, Don wakes up to his 6-year-old daughter Sally: "It’s my birthday!" Betty, already dressed, begins preparing for the party they’ll be throwing and instructs Don to build the "P-L-A-Y-H-O-U-S-E."

Soon, the guests arrive, including Francine and her husband Carlton, Janet and Henry Darling, Nancy and Chet Wallace and Jack and Marilyn Farrelly. Betty admits to inviting new neighbor Helen, much to Francine’s chagrin. When Helen arrives with her son Glen, she offers a gift in Christmas wrapping.

The children play around the house as the men share jokes in the living room and whisper about Helen’s car choice -- a Volkswagen -- and the women talk about their honeymoons in the kitchen -- not-so-delicately bringing up Helen’s single status. All the while, Mozart’s "Marriage of Figaro" plays on the radio in the background. Don, videotaping the goings-on with his new 8mm camera, even catches Carlton volunteering his paternal skills to an unamused Helen. He also happens upon Janet and Henry in a passionate kiss identical to his with Rachel.

Flustered, Don leaves to pick up the cake. Nearly an hour later, Don still hasn’t returned and Betty begins to worry. As the Farrellys begin to leave, Helen saves the day with a Sara Lee cheesecake which she takes out of her freezer.

Meanwhile, Don's car is parked alongside the railroad tracks. He sits inside and drinks, lost in his own thoughts. When he arrives back at home, Betty -- unable to remove her kitchen gloves -- walks into the living room to find him playing with the children and Sally's birthday gift -- a young golden retriever. Betty can only comment, "I don't even know what to say." She turns and walks away. Don kisses Sally, rolls onto his back and closes his eyes once more.

Don teaches Pete a lesson when he oversteps his authority in dealing with a valuable client. At home, Pete is pressured from his newlywed bride to buy their own apartment unit.


The junior ad execs all stand around listening to the comedic stylings of Bob Newhart when Pete's secretary informs him that his wife's in the office. After Pete makes the rounds, introducing Trudy to Don and the gang, she takes him to a post-war Park Avenue building. As they stand on the empty hardwood floors of the 1,500-square-foot apartment, Pete explains that his $75-a-week salary just won't cover it.

Rachel Menken walks down a back hallway of Sterling Cooper just as Don comes out of the projection room. Don asks if they can grab lunch, but she has no interest in awkward conversation.

That night, Betty takes the new family dog Polly for a walk. The suburban street is quiet, except for a handsome man banging on the door of Helen Bishop’s house: "Dammit, Helen! Open the door!" When he notices Betty, he asks to use her telephone but she refuses.

Late that night, Helen stops by to thank Betty for her help. Over some coffee, she reveals that the reason for the divorce was her husband Dan's many women in the city.

That same night, Pete sits in his parents' living room. The furniture, covered in white sheets, is prepared for the summer months. His father, Andrew, doesn't understand his line of work, which seems to only include wining and dining. Pete gives up trying to explain how his business works and hints at how he and Trudy need help with a down payment on the upper eastside apartment. Andrew snubs the request. "We gave you everything," he says. "We gave you your name, and what have you done with it?"

The next day, the conference room fills up with easels as well as the creative team. They are congregating to share their advertising mockups with steel company head Walter Veith. Don flips over each board, revealing the campaign: a picture of the Manhattan skyline with the words, "New York City, brought to you by Bethlehem Steel." Similar boards showcased Chicago, St. Louis and Pittsburgh. Walter, although he understands that most cities are all steel, isn’t completely sold. Just as Don was a few sentences away from sealing the deal, Pete apologetically says they can try to come up with something else and sends Walter on his way. "You do your job -- take him sailing, get him into a bathing suit -- and leave the ideas to me," Don says.

As Betty prepares dinner, Helen calls with a favor. She's supposed to stuff envelopes at Kennedy headquarters but her babysitter cancelled. Helen's house is a mess, with newspapers and mail across the coffee table and laundry piled on the chair. Helen, scouring under the couch for her shoes, thanks Helen and says goodbye to her son Glen, who's playing the piano.

One night after an evening with his own parents, he and Trudy are out to dinner with hers, Jeannie and Tom Vogel. They, however, are more willing to help finance their apartment. Pete resists the offer, worried that taking a loan would take away his independence. Still, Tom and Trudy get their way.

Back at Helen's, Betty and Glen watch "Gang of Outlaws" on TV when she gets up to use the restroom. As she lifts her dress and sits on the toilet, Glen opens the door and stares. She yells at him to get out. He cries, apologizes and then hugs her, much to her surprise. Moments later, he asks if he can have some of her hair. Spotting a pair of sewing scissors, she obliges his request before sending him to bed.

Ken and Walter sit at a booth in a hotel bar as Pete escorts two beautiful twenty-somethings to the table. Pete tries to talk shop about the steel campaign, but Walter’s thoughts are all on the young ladies.

Back in the conference room, the group reconvenes and Walter eyes the mockups. This time, Don tries to sell an "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" theme, but Walter prefers the one Pete pitched the night before: "Bethlehem Steel is the backbone of America."

After Pete escorts Walter out, he returns to the conference room. Don isn't pleased: "I need you to go and get a cardboard box. Then put your things in it." Pete, trying not to hyperventilate, pours himself a drink in his office. Now isn't the time to buy an apartment.

At Dr. Wayne's office, Betty shares her concerns over Helen and her children. She thinks that perhaps Helen is jealous of her and her happy family.

Don and Roger Sterling meet with Mr. Cooper in his vast, Japanese-style office to discuss Pete's termination. Unfortunately for Don's ego, Pete's mother is Dorothy Dykeman, the family that used to own nearly everything north of 125th Street. Thus, Pete is the gateway to many of the city's marquee interests. Don and Roger enter Pete's office to tell him he's off the hook. Roger tells Pete that he and Cooper wanted him gone, but Don decided to give him another chance.

That night, Don and Roger talk things over. "Maybe every generation thinks the next one is the end of it all," Roger says. "I bet people in the Bible were walking around complaining about 'kids today.'"

At Pete and Trudy's new apartment, Mrs. Lyman -- their new neighbor -- meets the newlyweds and implores for stories about Pete's Dykeman roots. As Trudy shares the stories, Pete looks to nothing in particular.

Don's past catches up to him when he wins an award and gets his picture on a prominent industry periodical. Ken makes his colleagues jealous when he gets a short story published in a national monthly magazine.


Drunk and giggling, Betty and Don -- carrying a horseshoe-topped trophy -- arrive home from an award ceremony. As Betty playfully congratulates her husband on the "Newkie," he remains modest. The next morning, Don wakes up, severely hung over, and arrives late to the office. According to Peggy, Pete had given up waiting on him and said the award, which was mentioned in Advertising Age, had gone to his head. In the same breath, Peggy congratulates Ken.

Ken wrote a short story, "Tapping a Maple on a Cold Vermont Morning," that was published in the acclaimed Atlantic Monthly. Pete and Paul are stunned by the news, especially when Ken reveals that he’s also written two novels, one about a roughneck on an oil rig who has to move to Manhattan and the other on a widow forced to keep the family farm. "Those don’t even sound stupid," says Paul, who -- along with Pete and Harry -- are not at all pleased with his good news.

The group meets to discuss the Liberty Capitol Savings account. The bank wants to draw people back in, and the men brainstorm how.

Later, Peggy intercoms into Don’s office that he has a phone call from Bix Beederbecka. Confused, Don picks up to hear Midge’s voice on the other end. Peggy clicks onto the line accidentally, but before she hangs up, she hears the highlight of the conversation: "Pull my hair and ravish me and leave me for dead," Midge says. Within moments, Don leaves the office for "lunch."

That evening, Pete has Trudy read his own short story. He sees it as Norman Mailer-caliber, but she finds it a bit too modern: "I just think it’s odd that the bear is talking," she says. He implores that she ask Charlie Fiddich, a mover and shaker in the publishing world, to get the piece in print. Trudy -- who had broken off an engagement with Charlie, who was also her first -- was noticeably hesitant. With some negotiation, Pete persuades her to agree.

The next morning, the Sterling-Cooper ad team files into the conference room for the traffic meeting, in which they go through the client lineup and discuss outstanding campaigns and costs. Before they begin, Roger compliments Ken for his creative talents outside the office. Then, Joan goes down the list of clients, including Maytag, Rio de Janeiro and Lucky Strike. Peggy interrupts and hands Don a piece of paper. "His name is Adam Whitman," she says. "He’s in reception."

Don, crumpling the paper in his hand and closing his eyes, excuses himself from the meeting. He approaches the lobby, where a 25-year-old redheaded blue-collar man waits. "I know I’m grown up, but Dick, it’s me, your little brother," Adam says, pulling out the latest issue of Advertising Age. Until now, Adam thought his big brother had died in the army.

Don agrees to talk to him, so they go to a nearby diner, Deelite. Adam is now a janitor at the Empire State Building. Don asks about Adam’s mom, careful to state that she wasn’t his mother as well. Adam confides that she died of stomach cancer, and Don says, "Good." Soon, Don can’t take much more. He gets up to leave and tells Adam to forget everything and never come around again.

Meanwhile, Betty has arrived -- children in tow -- to Don’s office for a scheduled family portrait. Peggy, assuming that Don is spending his afternoon with another woman, panics about how to explain his absence to Betty. She seeks advice from Joan, who finagles the gossip in moments. "I’m not going to tell anyone, but you shouldn’t have told me," Joan says, confiding that hiding such extramarital behavior is part of the job.

Peggy and Betty small talk until Don arrives. Without hesitation, he apologizes for running late from the printer. With that, Peggy apologizes profusely.

Meanwhile Trudy is visiting Charlie Fiddich's office to see if he'll publish Pete's short story. While Charlie professes to have "enjoyed it as much as anyone can enjoy that sort of thing" he's far more interested in Trudy than the story. He wastes no time propositioning her and has no scruples about her marital status, confiding, "I can keep a secret." Beleaguered by his advance, Trudy turns him down.

The next day, Betty complains with her friend Francine about the proofs. Sally looks too fat, and Don’s office just isn’t as friendly as she’d like.

After a successful meeting with Liberty Capitol Savings, in which they all agree on a campaign to offer men "Executive Accounts" that are separate and private from those of their family, Don returns to his office. As he sorts through his mail, he notices an envelope addressed to Donild Draper. Inside is a photograph of Don, 20, in his uniform next to a 9-year-old Adam. On hotel stationary is Adam’s address and room number.

After a long day, Pete arrives back at his apartment, where Trudy has prepared a pot roast. She’s got good news: Charlie offered to publish his story in Boy’s Life Magazine. Pete is far from thankful. Trudy admits, "I could have gotten you in The New Yorker if I wanted to, I just don't know why you'd put me in that position."

At another dinner table in the suburbs, Don and Betty discuss plans to use her parents’ Cape May house for the summer. Don’s distracted and retreats to the study where he burns the photograph and calls Adam. Before he heads back to the city, he opens a desk drawer and fills a briefcase with its contents.

When Don arrives at the Times Square hotel room, Adam exclaims how happy he is to see him. Soon, Don opens the briefcase, which is filled with stacks of $10 and $20 bills. He offers Adam $5,000 to leave New York and never see him again. "That’s not what I wanted, that’s not right," Adam says through tears. Still, they hug and Don leaves.

Back at home, Betty inquires about buying a summer house of their own instead. "Cape May will be fine" Don says. "We’re not that flush right now."

Rumors spread in the office about a surprise romantic affair. Peggy's ideas get noticed during a pitch meeting and her future at the agency begins to look more promising. Don asks Rachel's advice about an ad campaign.



As toast pops out of a stainless steel toaster, a can of frozen orange juice plops into a glass pitcher. Don, wrapped in his cotton robe, puts together a breakfast tray -- a china cup with coffee, a crystal vase with daffodils, the works. As he grabs the paper and heads up stairs, his foot lands squarely on a Wheel-O toy and he -- along with the tray -- crash to the ground.

At that moment, Don flashes back to a Depression-era Pennsylvania farmhouse. There, a man named Mack Johnson looms near a hallway as Dick, 10 years old, lays on the floor after tripping over a chair. Uncle Mack prods him to get to his feet. Once he does, Dick goes toward the bedroom where a woman named Abigail just gave birth to a baby boy. "Come meet your new brother," she says.

Back on the floor, Betty and the children help Don up. Later that night, after putting the kids to bed, the two chat about Joan Crawford and how Betty thinks that her mother -- up until her death -- aged better. Don wishes she wouldn’t be so melancholy, but she claims it’s part of the mourning process suggested by Dr. Wayne. He teases her and as they are about to make love, she tears up. "I want you so badly, it scares me," she says.

At Sterling Cooper, Don meets with Nick Rodis and two men from the Israeli Tourism Bureau, Lily Meyer and Yoram Ben Shulhai. Nick, from Olympic Cruise Lines wants Israel to become a tourist destination. "If Beirut is the Paris of the middle east, we’d like Haifa to be the Rome," he says.

Roger’s wife and 16-year-old daughter Margaret show up at his office. Margaret is getting a haircut, and Joan offers to set up the appointment. Later, in a hotel room, Roger lays on the bed in boxer shorts and stocking feet complaining about how his daughter has no motivation and has only dated two boys, one of which committed suicide. Joan comes out of the bathroom in only a slip. As she puts on her dress, she says he’s too hard on her. He changes the subject: "This has been the best year of my life," he says. "Do you know how unhappy I was before I met you? I was thinking of leaving my wife." He says he wants her all to himself, but she reminds him that her social calendar is fine just the way it is.

Back at the office, Don, Paul and Pete sift through stacks of research on Israel -- including a copy of Exodus and the Old Testament -- as Salvadore doodles. They struggle to find anything to make the nation enticing. After the meeting, Don calls Rachel Menken and asks to meet for a drink, for business. She agrees to lunch the following day.

At home, Don is reading Exodus. Betty notices and confides that the first boy she ever kissed was Jewish.

The next morning, Ken and Salvatore poke into the office of Fred Rumsen, a life-long midlevel copywriter. He’d been clipping ads of Belle Jolie, a lipstick company but is ready to give up on the account. Moments later in the research room, Dr. Greta Guttman herds in a line of eager secretaries to test out the lipsticks. On the other side of the two-way mirror, the men enjoy the show, perhaps a little too much. As the girls apply different shades and answer questions, the execs gawk. They even salute to Joan’s figure, a transgression noted silently by Roger.

Meanwhile, Don’s at a luncheonette with Rachel. He needs her advice on his Israeli Tourism client. "I’m the only Jew you know in New York City?" she says. When he doesn’t relent, she explains that Jews have been living in exile for a long time, first in Babylon and then all over the world. "We’ve managed to make a go of it," she continues. "It might have something to do with the fact that we thrive at doing business with people who hate us."

When Rachel returns to her office, she calls her older sister Barbara to tell her she met someone -- someone their father would hate.

Don, still wrapped up in the Israel campaign, gets a visit from Salvatore and Fred, who explains that while at the lipstick brainstorming session, Peggy made quite the revelation. She had called a trashcan full of blotted tissues a "basket of kisses." They decide to have her come up with some copy for the campaign.

Elsewhere, at a hotel, Roger gives Joan a fluttering tiger finch in an ornate birdcage in a flirty attempt to keep her occupied without other men.

Across town at Midge’s apartment, she and Don -- engaged in quite a tryst -- are interrupted by a knock on the door. It’s Roy Hazelitt who invites them to see a friend, Ian, perform at the Gaslight. Midge agrees to go and persuades Don to do the same. When they arrive at the Greenwich Village hotspot, a man is onstage reading the newspaper as performance art. Roy grabs a table and takes the spot next to Midge. Don looks on as they discuss his anti-establishment plans to create a cooperative theater. When Roy finds out Don’s in advertising, he asks how he sleeps at night. "On a bed made of money," Don replies.

When Ian takes the stage, cradling a mandolin, he sings "By the Waters of Babylon."

Roger joins Don for an evening of dinner and drinking, during which Roger's behavior leads to a rift in their friendship. Though Don accepts his apology, there are further consequences for Roger. Pete faces trouble at home as he continues to struggle with the demands of his new marriage.


Don calls Dr. Wayne, Betty's psychiatrist, to find out how she's doing and what she's been talking about. "She seems consumed by petty jealousies and overwhelmed with every day activities," he says. "We're basically dealing with the emotions of a child here." It seems such behavior is common among housewives who constantly try to measure up to their husband's success.

In a nearby office, Roger is enjoying his morning milk-and-vodka when Cooper walks in. Nixon's people will be coming by the office at the end of the week to see if the agency is right for the presidential candidate. "The ones with the best products make the worst clients," Roger says.

As the day winds down, Roger notices Joan dabbing on some makeup. He invites her to his house -- his wife and daughter are out of town for the weekend. Just then, Joan's roommate Carol arrives. They already have plans.

Roger, eager to fill his evening, approaches Don. "One drink, you owe me that," he says. Just then, Pete approaches, but Roger brushes him off, calling him Paul in the process. Trying to recover, Pete chats up Peggy. When she tells him she's writing copy for the Belle Jolie lipstick account, he offers to take a look at it once she's finished.

At the Oak Room Bar, Roger and Don talk shop until Roger mentions how Mona stopped cooking ever since Margaret stopped eating. Don invites him to the Draper house for dinner. Betty, unprepared, serves them steaks and has a salad for herself. "You sure you won't have some?" Roger asks.

"No, thank you, Roger," Betty replies. "I'm a vegetarian sometimes."

The three chat about their childhoods. "From the way you drop your G's every once in a while, I always thought you were raised on a farm," Roger says. Don looks at them and quickly changes the subject. A few drinks and three half-full ashtrays later, Roger tells stories about his glory days in the war. When Don goes to the garage in search of more liquor, Roger helps Betty carry the plates to the sink. Standing very close to her, he slides his hands around her waist. She pushes his hand away, but he nuzzles her. "You've been making eyes at me all night," he says. "You can't tell me I'm not giving you hot pants." When Don returns, he notices something wrong, but Roger quickly takes a drink for the road and says his goodbyes.

Don returns to the kitchen and demands an explanation for what just happened. She retaliates, claiming she was just being friendly to his drunken boss. "You made a fool of yourself," he says. "You were throwing yourself at him, giggling at all his stories. Sometimes I feel like I'm living with a little girl."

The next day, Roger comes into Don's office with a bottle of rye and an apology. "When a man gets to a point in his life when his name's on the building, he can get an unnatural sense of entitlement," he says. Don plays it cool.

Meanwhile, Pete forgoes lunch with the boys to stand in line at a department store's customer service so he can return a Chip ‘n' Dip wedding gift. He and Trudy had already gotten the tomato-and-leaves tray. When Pete sees that a young clerk named Rosemary will be helping him, he lights up. Because he has no receipt, she will only give him store credit. He cakes on the charm, but she doesn't budge. Just then, Kicks Matherton appears with a squash racquet. He and Pete catch up, and Rosemary takes to Kicks' flirting far better. Pete notices this. "You should know he summers in Palm Beach," he says. "He has the clap."

Back at Pete's office, Paul, Ken and Harry arrive to see Pete holding a 22-caliber rifle overhead - his exchange purchase for the Chip ‘n' Dip. He aims it into the bullpen, checking out the secretaries until a pink fuzzy sweater blocks the view. It's his secretary. They have a meeting.

"Nixon's brain trust is coming in tomorrow," Roger says to the group. "The nomination is a lock. We just need an opponent." There's some discussion about Lyndon Johnson and Kennedy. Roger winks at Don and encourages him to weigh in. Once he does, Roger smiles curiously.

The next morning, at the building's entrance hall, Don notices Pete arrive, rifle in hand. He gives Pete a quizzical look before stepping on to the elevator. He asks Hollis, the elevator operator a question and hands him a few bills.

Pete, sitting on the couch in his office, stares at the rifle -- the purchase outrages Trudy because he exchanged a gift from her aunt for a "stupid toy." Peggy enters with a folder. She asks if Pete would still take her up on his offer to critique her work. He tosses the paper aside and pats the couch for her to sit. "You ever been hunting?" he asks.

At the grocery store, Betty is sizing up heads of lettuce. Helen wheels by and, despite making eye contact, doesn't say a word. When Betty asks what's the matter, Helen says that she found some of Betty's hair in her son Glen's treasure box. Betty tries to explain, but Helen won't have it. "What's wrong with you?" she says. Impulsively, Betty slaps Helen in the face.

Don and Roger slurp down raw oysters and liquor at the oyster bar as they talk about the GOP, sending dogs into space and the second divorce of Desi and Lucy.

On their way back to the office, the two -- drunk and full -- realize that they never went over the Nixon plan. Worse yet, Hollis informs them that the building's elevators are out of service. They brave the 23 flights of stairs -- Don, hardly sweaty and Roger, armpits soaked and face red pauses at each lannding, struggling to go on. Don arrives at the top to find three Nixon men waiting for them with Pete and Cooper. Betram introduces him to the Nixon men when Roger arrives. He opens his mouth to speak but then vomits onto the carpeting. A Nixon man observes that he must have had a bad oyster.

As Roger regroups and everyone files into the meeting, Don has a hint of a smile on his face.

Don is tormented as pieces of his secretive past begin to haunt him. Peggy’s new success at work, and resulting boost in confidence, threaten her office relationship. Salvatore (Bryan Batt) gets a little too close with a client.


he elevator doors slide open at Sterling Cooper, and Pete enters. Just as the doors are about to close, Peggy rushes in. It’s early and they are the first two employees to arrive. Both have big days ahead of them: Pete is moving into his newlywed apartment, and Peggy’s copy is being presented to the Belle Jolie lipstick clients.

When they arrive on their floor, which is devoid of any ad men, Peggy enters Pete’s office to see if he wants any coffee. He tells her to come in and close the door.

"Do you know how hard it is to see you walking around here everyday?" Pete says, grabbing her waist and leaning in for a deep, passionate kiss. Within moments, they’re on his couch, Peggy unbuckling his pants and Pete fumbling with her skirt. A janitor walks into the bullpen, sees their bodies moving through the glass and pauses to watch before moving on. Moments later, Pete tucks in his shirt, and Peggy notices her torn collar -- from when Pete ripped it open. In an attempt to clear the air, Pete says that he hasn’t looked over Peggy’s copy as he promised. "I have all these things going on in my head, and I can’t say them," he adds.

The phone rings, and Peggy leaves. The office comes to life before either can really figure out what just happened.
In the switchboard room, Joyce, Marge and the new girl, Lois Sadler, field calls. Salvatore’s mother calls for her son. Lois connects them and listens in as they talk in a mix of English and Italian. Lois asks the others about Sal as they continue to transfer phone calls.

Elsewhere, Don sits outside of Mr. Cooper’s office -- his shoes off - nervous and unclear about why he has been summoned. Once he's invited in Cooper gives Don a $2,500 check for his talents. "I believe we are alike," Cooper says. "You are a productive and reasonable man, and in the end, completely self interested." He points to a book by Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, and tells Don to read a copy.

Later, Lois ventures over to the art department. She meets Marty and Duane before Sal saunters in. She coyly asks for directions back to the switchboard and then gathers the courage to say something he had said on the phone earlier: "Ciao ciao."

In the conference room, Fred Rumsen presents the ad campaign for Belle Jolie: "Mark Your Man." A poster on an easel shows a woman standing next to a man, a lipstick kiss on his cheek. Elliot, one of the Belle Jolie representatives, seems impressed but Hugh isn’t satisfied. The brand has more colors than any other and this ad makes no mention of that. Frustrated, Don gets up to leave. "You’ve already tried your plan, and you’re No. 4," he says and continues with the pitch. "Every woman wants choices, but in the end, none wants to be one in a box of a hundred… You are giving every girl who wears your lipstick the gift of total ownership." With that, Hugh asks Don to sit back down.

The men celebrate in Don’s office and invite Peggy in for a well-deserved drink of her own. Elated with her writing success, Peggy gathers the switchboard girls as well as Pete and the other men for drinks at P.J. Clarke’s. Lois even gives Salvatore a call to invite him along.

Instead, Sal meets Elliot at the bar in the Roosevelt Hotel. They share a drink as Elliot rhapsodizes about the wonder of New York City. Before long, their conversation changes tone. Elliot reaches across the table and drinks from Sal's glass. The sexual tension is obvious, but when Elliot asks if Sal would like to go see the view from his bedroom Sal declines, clearly embarrassed. "I know what I want to do," he says.

At P.J. Clarke’s, most of Sterling Cooper is doing the twist on the dance floor. Peggy notices Pete sitting alone and twists her way to him. She asks him to dance, but he declines. "I don’t like you like this," he says. Her eyes fill with tears as she returns to the crowd.

Meanwhile, Don knocks on the door of a crowded apartment. Midge is there, along with her beatnik friend Roy. Don pulls Midge aside. "Pack a bag," he says, pulling out his bonus check. "We’re going to Paris." She has other plans -- to get high and listen to Miles Davis. After taking a hit from the joint, Don goes into the bathroom and looks at himself in the mirror.

We flashback to Don as young "Dick." He’s outside of a farmhouse digging as his father Archie is working on a truck and Abigail Whitman is hanging laundry. A hobo approaches and asks if he could work to earn a meal. Abigail obliges and at dinner discovers that the hobo has especially good manners and actually hails from New York. That night, Dick brings him some blankets, and they begin to talk. Dick reveals that he’s "a whore-child," and the hobo admits he’s actually a traveler who gave up the conventional life to be free. He even shares the chalk codes -- a symbol for good food or a nasty dog -- that hobos write on the houses they pass. When the hobo leaves the next morning, Dick notices that on the gate is a picture of a knife: a dishonest man lives here.

Back at the apartment, Don takes a Polaroid picture of Roy and Midge, and once it develops, he notices something: They’re in love. Then, some of the beatniks in the apartment harp on Don’s lifestyle. "You make the lie," one of them says. "You invent want. You’re for them and not us." With that, Don asks Midge to go to Paris again. When she declines, he endorses the check and sticks it in her bra. He goes home.

A rival ad agency courts Don, involving Betty in their attempt to lure him from Sterling Cooper. As the presidential campaign heats up, the agency looks for new ways to counter the latest Kennedy ads. Tempers flare over Peggy.


Don steps out into the lobby of a theater. He seems less than thrilled that Fiorello! is only half over when Jim Hobart approaches. Jim, the head of a rival advertising agency, mentions how he and some of New York's most influential were talking about Don's campaigns at the Athletic Club. He encourages Don to consider moving up in the professional world. "If you were with me at McCann, you'd have over 500 people at your disposal," he says. "We can get a lot of things done."

Their wives approach. Adele, Jim's wife, links arms with Don to get drinks at the bar while Jim chats up Betty. He sees an uncanny resemblance in Betty to Grace Kelly. She admits to dabbling in modeling when she was younger, and Jim thinks she could be just the look for his Coca-Cola campaign. She takes his business card.

The next day, as Betty tidies up the kids toys -- including a BB gun -- she tells Francine about Jim's offer. She remembers when she was a muse to Italian fashion designer Gianni. Within moments, they are in her bedroom as Betty tries on all the dresses he'd made for her.

When Don gets to his office, he notices a package on his desk. It's from Jim, and it's a membership to the Athletic Club. Don calls him and proceeds to listen to Jim's pitch, which includes a high salary, an international network and clients that include Pan Am and Esso. Don thanks him for the gift and hangs up.

At Dr. Wayne's office, Betty continues to revel in her days as a model. She explains that she met Don while modeling a coat. She also remembers how her mother was dead set against her nascent career, comparing modeling to prostitution. "You're angry at your mother," Dr. Wayne stated. For the first time, Betty took offense to his provocation: "She wanted me to be beautiful so I could find a man -- there's nothing wrong with that."

In the Sterling Cooper conference room, the men watch a 30-second video of Jackie Kennedy speaking in Spanish and discuss their plan of attack for how to handle Nixon's campaign. Salvatore thinks women will hate Jackie anyway: "It's like their better-looking sister married a handsome Senator and now she's going to live in the White House? I'm practically jealous."

Back at the Draper residence, Betty pulls a ham from the fridge while she reveals to Don that she wants to return to modeling for a few days a week. Don starts to argue but gives up.

The next day, Peggy feverishly scrubs a piece of paper with an eraser when it drops to the floor. When she bends to pick it up, she hears a loud rip. Her skirt split down the side. She ties a sweater around her waist and goes into the break room, where Joan, Marge and Lois are chatting. Joan offers Peggy her spare outfit to avoid ruining her silhouette.

Meanwhile, Roger shows up in Don's office with golf clubs. He says they're from Jim and mentions the bonus Cooper gave him. "It was designed as a kind of armor against men like Jim Hobart," he says. "I like to think there's more holding you to Sterling Cooper than trinkets." Roger tries to explain that big clients such as Pan Am aren't as glamorous as they seem and the hands-on approach doesn't follow to big companies, but Don remains silent. "It's business," he says.

As the other men gossip about Don's offer, they notice Peggy in a very attractive yet ill-fitting dress. They switch subjects and focus on Peggy's newfound big-headedness now that she's writing copy. Pete, however, just listens before leaving entirely.

He and Harry retreat to his office to discuss the Secor laxatives campaign before they go on a tangent about fraternity memories. As Pete's halfway through a story about how one of his pledges had a funeral for the house dog, Mamie, during a beauty pageant parade, he gets an idea. To boost Nixon's chances in the undecided states, they'll need to decrease Kennedy's presence there -- and they'll do that by buying up on-air ads for laxatives. "We're selling laxatives, Nixon's selling Nixon and Kennedy's watching Mamie's funeral," Pete says.

In the reception area of McCann Erickson sit a row of young models. Among them is Betty, wearing the dress she'd tried on earlier. Clearly overdressed, she fidgets with self-consciousness until Jim arrives. His colleague Ronnie Gittridge, who handles the art for Coca-Cola, escorts her to the audition.

The phone rings at the Draper residence. It's for Betty. She's the girl with the Cola. Feeling proud, she seduces Don, and as he unzips her dress, he seems genuinely happy for her.

The next day, Betty puts on a smile for the photographer as she sits on a picnic blanket with her bottle of soda. Meanwhile, Ethel -- in her 60s -- sits asleep on the couch as Robert, Sally and their dog Polly barrel through the living room into the backyard. Just then, their neighbor Ross lets some pigeons out of a cage and Polly grabs one in her mouth. Quickly, Ross grabs Polly by the collar and the bird falls from her mouth. It's wounded but healthy. "I see that dog in my yard again, I'm going to shoot it," he says.

That night, Betty wakes up to the sound of Sally sniffling and sobbing. She had a bad dream that Ross was going to kill Polly. This is news to Don and Betty. Angry, Don gets up to have a few words with his neighbor, but Betty stops him.

In Don's office, Harry, Paul and Pete all compliment -- some more reluctantly than others -- Don's work on the Lucky Strike campaign when >Roger and Cooper barge in. "Who is responsible?" Cooper asks, regarding the purchase of yet unproduced Secor commercials. Harry and Pete timidly take ownership, and to their surprise, get nothing but congratulations.

Before Don leaves, he gets another envelope from Jim. This time it's pictures of Betty and her ideal family from the shoot. A bit disgusted, Don flips them face down and leaves and beelines for Roger's office. He demands a raise with no contract and Roger obliges, happy with Don's decision to stay. Don assures his boss that if he leaves, it won't be for advertising. "I'd like to stop talking about it and get back to it some day," he says about life.

Don calls Jim to decline the offer, despite Jim getting his wife into the company. "It's a pity to lose both of you," he says. Meanwhile, Betty poses for another shoot when Ronnie approaches with some bad news. They're looking for more Audrey Hepburn, less Grace Kelly.

Pete and the boys are celebrating his success in the bullpen when Peggy walks by. As they did before, they make fun of her. "They call a girl like her a lobster," Ken says. "All the meat's in the tail." All of a sudden, Pete clocks Ken in the jaw. They fight onto the ground while Don and Roger leave, unphased.

That night, Betty tells Don over a casserole that although they offered her many possibilities, she doesn't think she wants to go back to modeling after all. Don gets it. The next day, Betty goes through her morning routine and sits in the kitchen. When she notices the pigeons circling the sky, she grabs the BB gun, takes aim and fires at the birds.

Don loses an account. Roger, stuck in the city for Labor Day weekend, attempts to cheer him up. Meanwhile, Joan has a night out on the town with her roommate.


Don comes down the steps for work as Sally cheers, "Grandpa’s here! And Aunt Gloria!" He goes into the kitchen to find Betty’s dad sitting at the table, Gloria standing beside him. He wants sugar in his tea, but Betty only allows him saccharine. They’re getting ready to leave for the beach when Betty suggestively asks Don to help her with something upstairs.

"Was she waiting at the funeral unbuttoning her top button?" Betty asks, regarding her father’s new girlfriend. "She’s a vulture." Don tries to calm her down and suggests that her father can’t even fix himself a cup of tea by himself after having been married for 40 years.

Don heads to the office for one more day before the long weekend. There, the men are watching a Kennedy campaign, trying to strategize their next move for their pro-bono work with Nixon. Perhaps a negative ad would be more powerful than a positive one, which only attracts people who already like him. Don thinks there is more to the story: "Kennedy? Nouveau riche, a recent immigrant who bought his way into Harvard. Nixon is from nothing. Abe Lincoln of California, a self-made man. Kennedy, I see a silver spoon. Nixon, I see myself."

They cut that meeting short for another, this one with the Menkens -- both Rachel and her father Abraham. Abraham is somewhat open to the suggestions Sterling Cooper offers -- they want to add a restaurant on the ground floor and close the store during construction -- but he has concerns that he’s creating a store that even he wouldn’t shop in.

Don, looking at Rachel, describes how his customers have changed: "They’re like your daughter, educated and sophisticated. They are fully aware of what they deserve and are willing to pay for it."

Roger passes Joan in the hall and tells her that his wife and daughter are out of town this weekend, so they can do whatever they want. Instead, she asks to see the new movie, The Apartment before making a comparison to how Shirley MacLaine’s character was handed around to the office men like a tray of canapés.

As Joan puts up a memo in the break room, her friend Carol -- her eyes bloodshot -- walks in. She had just gotten fired after covering for her boss. "These men, we’re always building them up, and for what?" Joan says. "Diner and jewelry? Who cares?" They decide to spend the weekend on the town in search of actual bachelors.

Meanwhile, Pete walks into Don’s office with some bad news. They lost the Dr. Scholl’s account because, as Pete says, they were disappointed with the creative. Angry, Don shoves everything off his desk onto the floor. He goes to Roger’s office, where he’s getting his hair trimmed, and tells him the latest.

"The day you sign a client is the day you start losing them," Roger says, echoing Don’s sentiments.

On the main floor, Pete pesters Peggy while she tries to ignore him. "Every time I walk by I wonder, are you going to be nice to me… or cruel?" Peggy says when he won’t let up. Disappointed, Pete walks away.

Meanwhile, the other ad men are busy flirting with a group of models, all sets of twins, at the Cartwright double-sided aluminum casting call. Roger and Don show up and set their sights on Eleanor and Mirabelle Ames. Roger hires them on the spot and requests a private celebration upstairs in his office. Drinks all around, Roger flirts relentlessly. "Do you love your sister?" he prods. "Why don’t you show her how much? Give her a kiss." Before anything happens, Don rises to leave. Before he can, Eleanor asks him to dance.

Across town, Joan and Carol are getting ready in Joan’s bedroom. When Joan notices Carol staring, Carol reveals her true feelings. "I did everything I could to be near you -- all with the hope that one day you would notice me," she says. "Joannie, just think of me as a boy." As she finishes packing her purse, Joan simply asks if they can forget about it and just go out.

Later that night, Joan and Carol return with Franklin, a Fordham college professor, and Ralph, a carpenter. When Joan asks Franklin to change her light bulb -- in her bedroom -- Ralph makes a move on Carol.

Back at Sterling Cooper, Don and Eleanor sit in Don’s office when they hear Mirabelle scream. "I knew I shouldn’t have asked him to do it a second time," she says. Don rushes in to find Roger, naked on the floor. Several moments
later, two orderlies push a gurney with a conscious Roger toward the elevator lobby.

At the hospital, Roger recovers from a heart attack and asks Don if he believes in human energy, like a soul. When his wife Mona arrives, he breaks down and cries. Then, his daughter Margaret comes in. The three embrace.

That night, Joan rushes to the office to help Cooper send out telegrams to all Roger Sterling clients, assuring them that business will go uninterrupted. She holds back tears as Cooper tells her she could do better. Don calls Betty to tell him he won’t be going to the beach house, and Pete watches a television ad for Kennedy -- in which President Eisenhower trashes Nixon -- in the hospital waiting room.

Don knocks on the door of an apartment. Rachel, in a robe with tousled hair, answers. She lets him in and fixes him a drink. He leans in and kisses her desperately. "Is this like the end of the world," she asks, stopping him. "Just do whatever you want?"

Don opens up and talks about the first time he was a pall bearer and being that close to death. "This is it, this is all there is," he says. "And it’s slipping through my fingers." They kiss passionately, slowly laying back onto the couch. He asks if she really wants this. "Yes, please," she replies.

Afterwards, Don opens up once more. His mother was a prostitute, and when she died in childbirth, they delivered
the baby to his father and his wife. His father was a drunk who got kicked in the face by a horse. When he died, she took up with another man. "I was raised by those two sorry people."

Peggy is given a difficult assignment. Roger's work problems provide new opportunities for Don, and Pete grows more frustrated. Betty finds a new outlet for her growing dissatisfaction.

On election night, the Sterling Cooper staff pulls a rowdy all-nighter while watching the returns. Pete's ambitions cause him to directly challenge Don.

As Thanksgiving approaches, Don's work responsibilities interfere with his domestic life. Peggy is given a new opportunity, provoking the ire of some of her colleagues. Betty makes a startling discovery.

It’s Valentine’s Day, and the Sterling Cooper advertising agency is hustling to stay on top of its game and buzzing over the newest office equipment. Don and Duck find themselves at odds over an account. Betty reconnects with an old friend and once again finds herself struggling with car trouble.

Paul hosts a party at his apartment and introduces someone special to his Sterling Cooper colleagues. Peggy visits her family for dinner. Despite a conflict of interest, the Sterling Cooper agency aggressively pursues an airline account and Duck attempts to appeal to the client using an unorthodox approach.

Trouble arises on the set of a commercial; Harry tries to gather support for a controversial sponsorship; Betty and Don try to appease a client with a friendly dinner.

Peggy's family hosts a lunch for their church's new priest; Don and Betty enjoy a weekend together; Freddy and Ken take a client out to lunch; the staff works to prepare for a last minute pitch meeting.

Don has to deal with issues between a TV comedian and his wife; Joan finds Don the perfect secretary.

Don and Duck try to make peace; Peggy tries to get into the executive's after-hours meetings; Duck deals with a family visit.

Don buys a new car; Pete, Harry and Ken strategize to attract new business; Don's secretary makes a grave error; Cooper has a new piece of art in his office.

Peggy contributes on a church project; Duck and Don try to create market appeal for a foreign beer brand; Harry recruits assistance to help with the workload in his department.

Freddy Rumsen disappoints his team during a pitch. Pete finds an opportunity at the office to exploit while Don proves his loyalty to an old friend. Betty finds a welcome distraction in Sara Beth.

Betty visits her father; Paul's girlfriend tries to convince him to prioritize his duties; Pete's mother disapproves of his and Trudy's idea.

Don makes some new friends on his trip to Los Angeles; Peggy looks for romance; Duck ponders the future of Sterling Cooper.

Don meets up with an old friend; Pete's personal life presents problems; Joan brings her boyfriend to the office.

The office scrambles without Don; Betty learns some disconcerting news.

In the third-season opener, Salvatore and Don take a business trip out of town. Pete Campbell and Ken Cosgrove worry about the changes at Sterling-Cooper and how the changes will impact them.

Don's father-in-law pays a visit to his daughter's family. Peggy works hard on a campaign while the firm tries to decide if they will accommodate an unusual request from a client. Elsewhere, Roger plans a wedding.

The writers make an attempt to stave off late-night boredom during a mandatory overtime session. Roger throws a party as Joan and Greg host their own party. Sally has a run-in with Grandpa.

Don and his father-in-law cross paths. Meanwhile, Peggy is in search of a new roommate; and a rich new client is excited to be doing business with the firm.

Sally's behavior causes concern for Don and Betty. Betty has an eye-opening dream that has a strange effect on her. Pete tries to work a new business angle in his dealings.

Sterling Cooper receives a surprise visitor; Sally has been spooked by something (or someone); and Joan receives some shocking news.

Betty tries her hand at local politics. Don is forced into thinking about the future. Peggy receives a luxurious gift.

Don decides to include Betty on a company business trip. Pete lends a hand to a neighbor in his apartment building.

There is trouble for Don and Sal in giving their clients what they ask for. Meanwhile, Betty hosts a fundraiser.

The firm celebrates as they hit a milestone. Peggy and Paul compete to secure the same account.

A former client makes a return; Betty and her kids go on a trip; and Joan and Greg make plans for their future.

Peggy's taste in men proves questionable. Pete has to make a big decision about his career and a candidate makes a big impression on Don.

Don has a big meeting with Connie about their future relationship. Betty is the beneficiary of some interesting advice and Pete has a serious sit-down with some clients.

A visual depiction of the relationship between "Big Tobacco" and advertising

Meet the mad artist behind the illustrations inspired by Mad Men

A documentary exploring the life and legacy of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers

The historic "I Have a Dream" speech accompanies a pictorial gallery of the March on Washington

Don deals with a trade-paper interview but doesn't want to talk about himself. A manufacturer of a "wholesome" two-piece bathing suit wants to hire the firm but doesn't want anything too risque. Pete and Peggy try to secure more money for the firm.

The agency's Christmas party is nearly spoiled by the late arrival of a surprise and not-so-welcome visitor.

Don takes a trip. Joan has scheduling problems. Don and Lane get to know each other a little better.

An edict from Roger and Lane puts Pete in a personal dilemma.

Don and Pete disregard Roger's plans in order to land a new client.

Peggy clashes with her new creative partner; Don pitches under unusual circumstances.

A deadline disrupts Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.

Joan and Peggy deal with high-jinx in the office.

Peggy is forced to face some unpleasant facts about a client's discriminatory business practices. Don and Faye's burgeoning relationship is tested when Sally runs away from home and turns up at the office. Roger tries to rekindle his affair with Joan.

An unannounced visitor at the Francis home rattles Betty.

Sterling Cooper Draper Price employees resort to scuttlebutt after an agency wide meeting is called.

In the midst of a crisis, Don runs into an old friend.

Don and Peggy are faced with life-altering decisions

The 1960s, dominated by the Civil Rights Movement, is a time of change throughout America, and for the Draper family, life has certainly changed. The children, Sally and Gene, must adapt to a new home, a new brother, and a new stepmother. Don, now living in a fancy new apartment with his sexy new wife, Megan, seems to have everything a man could want. However, Megan, still employed at the agency, has difficulty interpreting Don's expectations of her. His desire for a sex kitten at home and a prim and proper employee at the office, means Megan must learn to navigate the dual role while also struggling to earn the respect of her co-workers, many of whom believe that being the boss's wife is how she "earned" her new position. She throws Don a surprise birthday party, an unpleasant reminder to him that he has turned 40, but after Megan performs a risqué little number in front of everyone, Don is anything but happy.

For other folks at the agency, life never seems to change. Peggy continues to be outspoken, Pete continues to feel unappreciated, Lane and Joan continue to wallow in their loneliness (however, they find mutual comfort in sharing it with each other), and the first two named partners, Roger Sterling and Bert Cooper, continue to do absolutely nothing.

Life at Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce goes on.

Don and Megan work out some of their issues, Roger and Pete butt heads, and Joan has a run-in with a house guest.

As Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce tries to build upon its current business, Peggy is given new responsibility. Don and Harry indulge a client.

Season Finale: