Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
At Sterling Cooper, Don Draper is the polished creative director who can turn a product into a feeling, but he guards the life behind his name. His affair with Rachel Menken, the department-store owner who challenges his assumptions, brings that distance into focus. In the office, Pete Campbell tries to turn family connections into authority, while Peggy Olson arrives as Don's secretary under Joan Holloway's supervision and learns how limited the women's choices are. Flashbacks reveal that Don was Dick Whitman, a soldier who took a dead lieutenant's identity in Korea.
Peggy's work begins to outrun her job title: she finds an unexpected angle for a weight-loss product, earns Don's notice and becomes a junior copywriter. Her brief affair with Pete leaves her pregnant, though she does not acknowledge what is happening. Pete marries Trudy and presses Don for a senior accounts role, then uses a parcel from Don's brother Adam to threaten him with the truth about his identity. Don stands his ground, and Pete's attempt to exploit the secret costs him influence rather than giving him control.
After Roger suffers two heart attacks, Don becomes a Sterling Cooper partner while Duck Phillips is hired to lead accounts. During the election-night struggle with Pete, Don asks Rachel to run away with him, but she refuses to become his escape. In the finale, Don sells Kodak's slide projector as the Carousel, drawing on family photographs, while Peggy is promoted and then gives birth to a son. Betty has recognized Don's affairs and leaves with the children for Thanksgiving; when Don returns from his pitch, he finds the house empty and spends the holiday alone.