Mad Men Season 4
Overview
Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is a scrappy little startup now, and season 4 is the show at its leanest and best. The new agency is short on money and clients, which means Don actually has to hustle — and he's not doing great. Freshly divorced from Betty, living in a dark apartment, drinking through his days, he's a mess that the show refuses to glamorize. The heart of the season is his partnership with Peggy. Their all-night session in "The Suitcase," arguing over a Samsonite pitch while Don avoids a phone call he knows will break him, might be the single best episode the series ever made. Around them, the firm scrapes by on Lucky Strike money that everyone knows won't last, Sally starts acting out in ways that worry even Betty, and Joan and Roger face the consequences of their reunion. Don slowly pulls himself together the only way he knows how — by reinventing his life on impulse. Watch the finale's big announcement and decide for yourself whether it's growth or just another escape hatch.
