Season 4

Complete listed story — includes the ending

S4E1 · Public Relations

Don's secretive demeanor results in an unfavorable interview by an Advertising Age reporter, and Horace fires the agency because Don did not mention him in his interview. Pete and Peggy work together to secure an increased budget from the Sugarberry Ham account, devising an ill-advised publicity stunt involving two women fighting over a baked ham. The plan goes awry when the fight turns real, and Peggy has to ask Don for bail and hush money. Roger attempts to find a girlfriend for Don, setting him up with Jane's friend Bethany. Betty and the kids spend Thanksgiving 1964 with Henry's family; Henry's mother disapproves of Betty, observing that her children are clearly scared of her. Betty gets into a fight with Don over her delay in moving out of the house. Don struggles with a bathing suit account, for which the client wants to project a wholesome image. When the representatives reject Don's pitch as overly risqué, an exasperated Don throws the men out of the room. He agrees to do an interview with The Wall Street Journal, telling the journalist about how he instigated the formation of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (SCDP) by having Lane fire them.

S4E2 · Christmas Comes But Once a Year

The office holds a meeting led by Dr. Faye Miller, a newly-hired psychiatrist and consultant who provides market research for the company. Faye confronts Don for leaving the meeting early, and declines his offer to go out for dinner. Don gets a Christmas letter from Sally expressing her desire for him to be present in their home on Christmas morning. Sally commiserates to Glen about Don's absence in her home; Glen later breaks into the Francis home and vandalizes it, but leaves Sally's room untouched. Peggy's boyfriend, Mark, urges her to have sex with him, but she puts him off. Now 18 months sober, Freddy Rumsen turns up at SCDP and provides the client Pond's Cold Cream in exchange for a job. After seeking advice from Freddy, Peggy decides to have sex with Mark, who believes that he has taken her virginity. Roger mistakenly invites Lee Garner, Jr. to the firm's Christmas party, forcing Lane to expand the party's budget beyond their means. Don has a drunken one-night stand with his secretary, Allison, but later hints that they are to pretend the encounter never happened, leaving her rejected and hurt.

S4E3 · The Good News

Joan is trying to start a family with Greg, but her work schedule and his impending Army commitments make the timing difficult. Lane brusquely refuses Joan's request for time off in early January, since Greg is on duty over Christmas. Later, Joan is highly provoked to receive roses from Lane; he assures her the note was intended for his wife, and suspects that his secretary mixed up the cards, leading Joan to fire Lane's secretary. Don takes a New Year's trip to California to see Anna and meets her niece Stephanie. Stephanie reveals to Don that Anna has cancer, but does not know it. Upon being confronted by Don, Anna's sister Patty discloses that they have already consulted experts who collectively agree the cancer is terminal and advanced. Patty also asks Don to leave before he inadvertently tells Anna about her diagnosis. Returning to New York, Don enters the office and encounters Lane, who reveals that his wife has left him. They spend a night on the town to get their minds off their troubles. The episode ends with a partners meeting to begin 1965.

S4E4 · The Rejected

In February 1965, the creative team continues to work on the Pond's Cold Cream account. As Clearasil is Pond's main competition, Roger orders Pete to tell his father-in-law that SCDP needs to drop the Clearasil account due to the conflict of interest. Pete arranges a meeting with his father-in-law to reveal the news, only to discover from him that Trudy is pregnant. Pete later convinces his father-in-law to give him the entire Vicks Chemical account, while transferring Clearasil to another agency. A focus group for Pond's leads to a confrontation between Don and Allison, the latter of whom decides to quit. Joan punishes Don for the affair by hiring Bert's former secretary Ida Blankenship, a much older and blunt woman, as Don's new secretary. Faye announces the results of the Pond's focus group to Don, who is skeptical about Faye's psychological approach and dismisses her role in the creative process as useless and intrusive. Peggy begins a friendship with Joyce, an employee of Life magazine who works in the building. Peggy meets Joyce's friends and takes a liking to Abe Drexler, an underground newspaper writer. Upon learning of the news of Pete's upcoming fatherhood, Peggy awkwardly congratulates him.

S4E5 · The Chrysanthemum and the Sword

Pete enters SCDP into a competition run by Honda, earning the ire of Roger who, due to his World War II experiences, refuses to do business with the Japanese. Upon learning that the other partners have secretly planned a meeting, Roger sabotages it by insulting the Honda representatives to their faces. Sally's erratic behavior, including cutting her own hair and masturbating, disturbs Betty and Henry, who seek a child psychiatrist over Don's objections. The psychiatrist, Dr. Edna, sets up sessions for Sally four days a week, and also encourages Betty to see a therapist of her own. Meanwhile, Ted Chaough, the creative director of Cutler, Gleason, and Chaough (CGC), attempts to position himself as Don's rival. Don conceives of a plan wherein SCDP will pretend to shoot a lavish Honda commercial, allowing details of the shoot to leak to Ted, who attempts to outdo SCDP's ad. Don then tells the Honda executives that he is withdrawing SCDP from consideration, because Honda had entertained a bid from CGC that broke the rules with a finished ad. The Honda representatives are impressed, and Pete and Lane inform Don that SCDP now has a shot at Honda's automobile account.

S4E6 · Waldorf Stories

After winning a Clio Award for the Glo-Coat ad, an inebriated Don attends a meeting with Quaker Oats executives and inadvertently pitches a slogan for Life cereal that came from Jane's dimwitted cousin Danny, who had applied for a job. After Peggy persuades him to make things right, Don attempts to buy the slogan from Danny, but he refuses the money and insists on having a job, forcing Don to hire him. Peggy secludes herself in a hotel room with the firm's new artistic director Stan Rizzo in order to complete a campaign. Pete is upset to learn that Lane has hired Ken to join SCDP. He ultimately agrees to accept Ken's hiring, on the condition that Ken pays due respect to Pete's rank at SCDP. Roger dictates his memoirs and recounts how he met Don as a fur salesman in 1953. In flashbacks, Don discovers that Roger works in advertising and hounds him for a job at Sterling Cooper. Despite trying to blow him off, Roger agrees to go out with him for drinks. The next day, Don arrives at the lobby and claims that Roger had hired him; a puzzled Roger has no memory of what really happened.

S4E7 · The Suitcase

Duck calls Peggy to offer her a job at the agency he intends to start, but she turns him down. Facing an impending deadline for the Samsonite account, Don forces Peggy to stay late to work on the campaign, causing her to miss a birthday dinner with Mark, who has invited her family as a surprise. When Peggy calls Mark to cancel a second time, an infuriated Mark breaks up with her over the phone. Peggy lambasts Don for being unappreciative of her work and leaves in tears. Don calls her back into his office and they reconcile. Over dinner and drinks, the two intimately discuss their lives. Returning to SCDP, Duck arrives and drunkenly accuses Peggy of being "just another whore"; Peggy gets rid of Duck and reveals their past affair to Don. Don falls asleep in Peggy's lap and experiences a vision of Anna smiling with a suitcase. The following morning, Don calls Stephanie and discovers that Anna has died, causing him to break down in front of Peggy. Later that morning, Don informs Peggy of his new idea for the campaign; she reassures him that it is good, and the two exchange meaningful looks before she leaves.

S4E8 · The Summer Man

Following Anna's death, Don attempts to regain control over his life through physical changes and journal writing, while Betty forbids him from attending Eugene's birthday party. After clashing with Joan in the office, freelance artist Joey Baird draws an obscene cartoon of Joan giving Lane fellatio and tapes it to her office window. Peggy is personally offended and informs Don, who tells her to fire Joey herself. When Joey refuses to apologize, Peggy fires him; Joan is upset with Peggy for firing Joey on her behalf, as it reinforces the stereotype that working women are frivolous and vindictive. Betty is flustered when she and Henry run into Don and Bethany on a date, infuriating Henry, who questions whether Betty is still in love with Don. The next morning, Betty apologizes, explaining that Don was the only other man she had ever been with. Despite Bethany's insistence on moving their relationship forward, Don ends up pursuing Faye, resulting in an impromptu dinner date during which the two bond. Don arrives at the Francis household to attend Eugene's birthday party, despite not being invited; Betty stops Henry from confronting Don, reasoning "we have everything".

S4E9 · The Beautiful Girls

At SCDP, the elderly Miss Blankenship dies at her desk while Don is meeting with Fillmore Auto Parts, leaving the grief-stricken employees to quietly remove her corpse without distracting the Fillmore clients. After learning that Greg is being shipped off to Vietnam, Roger and Joan go to a diner to commiserate with each other. While walking on Broadway, Roger and Joan are mugged at gunpoint; Roger calms Joan in an alleyway, and the two have sex. At a local bar, Peggy engages in conversation about race and feminism with Abe, but she angrily leaves when Abe reacts dismissively to her assertions that women have it as bad as African-Americans. The next day, Abe arrives at SCDP with an article he has written about corporate injustice towards women; Peggy is enraged, as the article could get her fired. Don and Faye's burgeoning relationship is tested when Sally runs away from home and turns up at the office. Don asks Faye to handle Sally when Betty refuses to pick her up; Faye lambasts Don for pushing her into a high-pressure situation with his daughter. When Betty finally arrives, Sally refuses to go home until she is comforted by Megan, Don's new secretary.

S4E10 · Hands and Knees

After SCDP lands a contract with North American Aviation, FBI agents visit the Francis home as part of the security clearance process. Betty lies to the agents to protect Don's secret, while Don panics over having signed the application form Megan filled out, unaware that it contained lies that could potentially compromise his identity. After consulting with a friend from the Department of Defense, Pete tells Don that ending the account with North American Aviation will end the investigation; Don orders Pete to kill the account, which Pete reluctantly does, even though it is worth $4 million. Joan finds out that she is pregnant with Roger's child; Roger helps her set up an abortion, but Joan insists that Roger not come since they should not be seen together. Lane's father is displeased when Lane expresses his feelings for a Playboy Bunny waitress, and demands his son return to London to reconcile with Rebecca. Lee Garner, Jr. tells Roger that Lucky Strike is planning to terminate its contract with SCDP, ending their 30-year history together; Roger begs Lee to give them 30 days before moving to get their affairs in order, and intends to hide the loss from the other partners.

S4E11 · Chinese Wall

When word leaks of Lucky Strike's defection to BBDO, Don charges the employees of SCDP to protect their existing businesses, as well as attempt to find new clients. Roger, who has been hiding the loss, fakes an angry phone call to Lee, and lies to the rest of the firm about going to Raleigh to try to win back the account. In the midst of the turmoil, Roger turns to Joan for comfort; she admonishes Roger that they cannot resume their affair. Stan kisses Peggy, who is nervous about her upcoming meeting with Playtex; Peggy tells Stan that Abe, whom she has had sex with, is her boyfriend. While waiting for Trudy to give birth to their daughter, Pete is wooed by Ted Chaough at CGC. Megan shows interest in both Don and the advertising business, and opens up to Don about her early life, revealing that she came to New York to be an actress. They proceed to have sex in Don's office. Roger returns to the office, claiming that Lucky Strike has defected as part of American Tobacco 's cost-saving consolidation of accounts. Although some clients jump ship, such as Glo-Coat, most clients ultimately decide to stay at SCDP.

S4E12 · Blowing Smoke

Layoffs begin in the wake of the agency's financial troubles, reducing the staff by about 50%. Pete worries about his future at the agency when he is asked to contribute $50,000 to keep the agency afloat, but Trudy blocks him from borrowing the money. After running into his old flame Midge, Don has dinner with Midge and her husband Harry, who implies that Midge had tracked Don down. Midge asks Don for money, confessing that she and her husband are heroin addicts; Don gives her $120 and leaves. Betty is angered to learn that Sally and Glen have been talking in private, and she suggests to Henry that they move to another town. After executives from Philip Morris cancel a meeting for potential business, Don has a full-page ad printed in the New York Times announcing the firm will no longer represent tobacco companies, incensing the other partners and causing Bert to resign in protest. SCDP receives a call from the American Cancer Society about launching an anti-cigarette campaign. Faye informs Don that she must resign from SCDP, because her boss wants to continue working with tobacco clients, but points out that she and Don can now date openly.

S4E13 · Tomorrowland

In October 1965, as Betty and Henry plan to move to the nearby town of Rye, Don arranges to take his kids with him on a business trip to California. The family maid, Carla, allows Glen to say goodbye to Sally; Betty is incensed and fires Carla, leading Don to ask Megan to accompany his children in California while he attends to business. Henry lambasts Betty for firing Carla, pointing out that she was important for the children's stability. Peggy and Ken sign an account with Topaz Pantyhose, bringing the agency back from the brink of collapse. Joan speaks with Greg over the phone about her pregnancy, revealing that she did not have an abortion. In California, Don takes the kids to visit Anna's home, and Stephanie gives Don the engagement ring that Anna had received from the real Don Draper. Impressed by Megan's relationship with the kids, Don proposes marriage; Megan accepts, and Don later calls Faye to end their relationship. Don has a meeting scheduled with a real estate agent at the old house in Ossining and Betty contrives to be there before the agent arrives so that she can see Don. She intimates that she regrets having married Henry, but Don tells her that he is engaged to Megan. Betty gives Don her key to the house.