Mad Men Season 3 Finale Recap

Multiple award winning Mad Men returns to AMC this Sunday July 25^th for its 4th season. Coming off a year that was nominated for 17 Emmys, the new season expects to jump ahead in some time as had the previous two. As per usual the time skipped has not been revealed, but only to be said as “the show won’t pick up on the following day”.

Shut the Door, Have a Seat, starts with Don Draper meeting Connie Hilton in his hotel room, where Don is informed of the sale of Sterling Cooper’s British parent company to a rival ad agency. After a little bit of prodding by Conrad Hilton, Don Draper goes to Bertram Cooper (Robert Morse) with the idea to buy back Sterling Cooper back from PPL. With the offer dismissed, Draper and Cooper, along with Rodger Sterling (John Slattery) and Lane Pryce (Jared Harris) plot to open their own rival agency that involves stealing clients and luring talent. With the instruction to only approach those with whom they are certain will join them, the mad rush begins. After assembling a skeleton crew composed of Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser), Harry Crane (Rich Sommer), and Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss), everyone begins to gather all necessary information to begin their new lives. Oone problem is that they don’t know where anything is. The return of Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks) is well received as her reliability and efficiency is a much needed asset, and as it goes, Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Pryce is born.

Season 3 also has what is apparently the end of Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and Betty Draper (January Jones) where turnabout is fair play as Betty gets involved with an older Politian that promises to take care of her. Ice queen Betty Draper informs Don that she has made an appointment with a divorce attorney, where she suggests he do the same. Later in the episode Don Draper confesses to Rodger Sterling about the divorce, where at this time Don is shocked to find out that Betty has been with Henry Francis. After leaving the bar Don comes home to confront Betty that leads to a heated argument, as things settle Don decides not to stand in her way as he hopes she gets what she’s always wanted. The end of the episode has Betty Draper remaining expressionless as she flies off to Reno, Nevada.

Now without his job and without his family Don Draper is once again faced with a new beginning. Much is uncertain about how exactly things will turn out, but as always I look forward to the upcoming season. AMC has made it a habit of making excellent shows and is attempting it once again with Rubicon, which starts in August. Return here for weekly reviews.