Mad Men Season 4

An Advertising Age reporter's question, "Who is Don Draper?" begins the season as it picks up in November 1964, and Don avoids the question. The article is to promote the new Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce advertising agency which, despite its status as the scrappy newcomer, is struggling. The article's finished product does not go over well, making Don look like a cipher. Don comes back from this public relations disaster by cavalierly throwing a client out of his office after they show concern about his supposedly risque advertising pitch. The main narrative of the fourth season is driven by Don Draper's identity crisis after the dissolution of his marriage to Betty. As Don falls deeper into existential despair, his alcoholism worsens and he begins regularly meeting with prostitutes. Don's life is falling apart. He snaps at his maid. He meets with a prostitute over the holidays. He is dismissive toward his blind date. He sleeps with his well-meaning secretary Allison – breaking his own rules and her heart – and she eventually quits in a flurry of anguish and resentment. His relationship with Betty is toxic, and she makes it hard for him to see his children. He is drinking more than ever before; frequently, he blacks out. He makes a trip out to California to see Anna Draper and meets her niece, Stephanie. After he tries to seduce her, Stephanie tearfully tells Don that Anna is dying of cancer, a fact her family has hidden from Anna thus far. Don, unable to spend time with Anna knowing she is going to die, tells her he will return to California soon with his kids, knowing that it's a lie. Sally is having a difficult time at the Francis home. After a friend's mother catches Sally masturbating at a sleepover, Betty demands that Sally be sent to therapy despite Don's protestations. Sally's therapist offers comfort to Sally but additionally spends a significant amount of time analyzing Betty. Pete and Peggy seem to be going off on different cultural paths. Pete accepts fatherhood when Trudy gives birth to a baby girl. Peggy, meanwhile, makes friends with a group of beatniks, including Joyce, a lesbian photo editor at Life magazine and Abe, a liberal writer whom she starts to date. However, Peggy's relationship with Don becomes frayed after Don wins a prestigious award for a commercial whose success largely depended on Peggy. When Don causes Peggy to miss her own surprise birthday party( arranged by boyfriend Mark) in order to work on a presentation for Samsonite suitcases, the tension comes to a head. Nevertheless, the tension is defused when a drunk Duck (still longing for Peggy) shows up and punches Don after assuming the two are lovers. That night, Don and Peggy fall asleep on the couch in Don's office, and Don has a vision of a spectral Anna Draper carrying a suitcase. Anna's ghost simply smiles and walks out of the office. Don instinctively knows to call Stephanie, who confirms that Anna Draper has indeed died. After hanging up the phone, Don turns to Peggy and breaks down in tears. Peggy comforts Don, and the two hold hands in an act of friendship. After Anna's death, Don cuts down on his drinking and is shown to be increasingly introspective; he begins to keep a journal and exercise regularly. He asks Faye Miller, a consultant at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, out on a formal date. The two become involved in a relationship. Around the same time, Roger and Joan have sex after getting mugged in a poor neighborhood. Joan becomes pregnant and decides to pass the child off as Greg's rather than take Roger's money for an abortion. At the agency, Roger loses the Lucky Strike account, putting the financial security of the entire company in jeopardy. Don worries about his secret after FBI agents come to the Francis home to question Betty about Don. The interrogation turns out to be a routine response to any requests for security clearance at North American Aviation, the application for which was submitted by Pete and Don's new secretary Megan Calvet. Don forces Pete to drop the aforementioned client in order to prevent any discovery of his identity theft. Furthermore, he confesses his secret to Faye, who advises Don to come clean about his past to the authorities rather than continue living in fear. Don distances himself in response to this as well as her proclamation that she cannot see herself as a mother to Don's children. He later discovers that his past mistress (from season one), Midge Daniels, is now in the throes of heroin addiction. In order to put a positive spin on being dropped from Lucky Strike (and perhaps partly motivated by Midge's desperation and inner destruction), Don writes an Op Ed in The New York Times proclaiming to the nation that Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is taking a healthful stand and, from here on out, will no longer be doing business with Big Tobacco. The sensational move does not go over well with the other SCDP employees, except Megan, who admires it. In October 1965, Don takes his kids on a trip to California (with Megan in tow) and stops by Anna Draper's home, now occupied by Stephanie. Sally notices a message painted on the wall ("Dick + Anna 64") and asks Don who Dick is. Don responds: "That's me", and brushes the question off by claiming it's his nickname. Over the course of the weekend, Don decides that he is in love with Megan and after a night of lovemaking, proposes to her in a state of whimsy. Peggy and Ken, meanwhile, save the company by signing new work with Topaz Pantyhose. Betty and Henry move out of the Drapers' Ossining home after Betty fires their nanny/housekeeper over her refusal to help Betty break up the budding friendship between Sally and Glen, a neighborhood boy who warns Sally of the dangers of parents who remarry. Don announces the news of his engagement to Megan to the office and, later, over the phone to Faye, who is left in tears. Don returns to the Draper home one last time to say goodbye to Betty, who shows signs of regret towards the ending of their marriage as they leave their former home for the last time. They depart through separate exits. The season closes with Don lying awake with Megan, looking out toward the window.