When Mad Men first appeared on our screens, it simply asked “Who is Don Draper?” Several seasons later, we were still asking the question despite many revealing details in his back story: the invented identity; the fear in his past, loathing failure and an inability to stay committed to anyone including himself. At the end of Season 5, we are left with Don once again alone in a bar cradling his proverbial drink, and we are left to assume about to plunge into the “sex is like shaking hands” world of his not so distant past. But this is much more grave than Don’s previous dalliances outside his marriage to Betty.

Photo courtesy of AMC

There is some fateful urgency in his getting his personal relationships right this time. You sense that perhaps Don is facing the ultimate test in his personal definition — his invented character must become real, mostly to himself. This is the quintessential American story and it could easily become “Death of an Ad-Man”. Audiences will be waiting to see if Don can sell his way out of another trail of broken promises and personal casualty.

Don Draper (Jon Hamm) - Mad Men - Season 6, Episode 2 - Photo Credit: Michael Yarish/AMC

And it is not only Don who is facing the identity question. Joan and Peggy have over the first 5 seasons established themselves as independent women who have won the respect of their male peerage. In fact they both have broken the trajectory of their character type: Peggy the nerdy and bland but intelligent and ambitious breaks new ground as an ad executive in her own right; and the curvaceous not so plain Joan exerts herself from office secretary to a managing partner. And both of them in a striking display of independence, effectively used sex to corral their male adversaries. Mad Men now has a full-blown roster of Mad Women, and it is these women who will certainly begin to define the series and its men in the coming season.

Megan Draper (Jessica Pare) and Don Draper (Jon Hamm) - Mad Men - Season 6, Episode 2 - Photo Credit: Michael Yarish/AMC

Look for much more from Megan and Betty, a study in contrasts yet sharing the fate of figuring out who Don Draper really is. In a way, the legion of Mad Men viewers will cling to their stories and Joan’s and Peggy’s as much as they will Don’s, Roger’s and Pete’s as Season 6 unfolds. The Producer’s have successfully created a conscious culture of identity in their storytelling. We are engrossed by characters who ask about their status in the world, both intimate and social and Mad Men has not left us wanting in this regard.

Roger Sterling (John Slattery), Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) - Mad Men - Season 6, Episode 1 - Photo Credit: Michael Yarish/AMC

What other surprises are in store for us will depend on how much deeper the Producer’s will take their character’s doubts and personal crises. What will keep us keen is knowing there will be no resolution to these crises (the bounty of episodic television), but seeing how each of the Mad men and women cope with the consequences of their respective ambitions and human frailties in the face of understanding who they really are.

-Alfredo Romano

Is this truly the second last season of Mad Men? As we head into a double episode to open AMC’s Season 6 of Mad Men. Mad Men is Mathew Weiner’s AMC TV series is set in 1960’s NYC and based on the life of ad men and women who work at the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Advertising Agency .

Don Draper (Jon Hamm) - Mad Men - Season 6, Episode 1 - Photo Credit: Michael Yarish/AMC

‘Set in 1960s New York, the sexy, stylized and provocative AMC drama Mad Men follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising, an ego-driven world where key players make an art of the sell. Mad Men has made history wining the “Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in four consecutive years. Created by Emmy and Golden Globe-winning executive producer Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate.”           AMC

Joan Harris (Christina Hendricks) - Mad Men - Season 6, Episode 1 - Photo Credit: Michael Yarish/AMC

Check out the Official Website for Mad Men.

Main Characters:

Photo courtesy of AMC

Don Draper, Jon Hamm, Betty Francis, January Jones, Megan Draper, Jessica Pare, Roger Sterling, John Slattery, , Joan Harris Christina Hendricks, Peggy Olsen, Elisabeth Moss, Jane Sterling, Peyton List, Freddy Rumsen, Joel Murray, Lane Pryce, Jared Harris, Michael Ginsberg, Ben Feldman, Harry Crane, Rich Sommer, Bertram Cooper, Robert Morse, Pete Campbell, Vincent Kartheiser, Sally Draper, Kiernan Shipka, Trudy Campbell, Alison Brie, Paul Kinsey, Michael Gladis, Faye Miller, Cara Buono, Henry Francis, Christopher Stanley.