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The speed run

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Nineteen of ninety-two, for someone who stalled somewhere in the middle and wants to reach the end. This is the plot spine - the identity, the agency, the marriage - and it is an honest trade rather than a free one: Mad Men's subject is the texture between these hours, and a run this fast keeps what happens while losing most of what the show is about. Bridges cover the gaps.

For a rewatcher, or someone catching up to the finale after giving up.

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Where the story lives

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in the path skipped other arcnumbers below are seasons · hover any mark for the episode

The path

Tick episodes off to track where you are. Turn on spoiler hiding below if you have not seen it yet.

Season 14 in the path
The pilot. An account man with a perfect life, a pitch that saves Lucky Strike, and a last shot that reveals he has a wife and children upstate.

At an advertising agency in 1960s Manhattan, the creative director has problems coming up with ideas for a tobacco account and crosses swords with the female head of a large department store that she wants to take in a new retail direction.

6 skipped
The first real look under the surface: who Don was before he was Don, told in flashback while he is at his least guarded.

Don's mysterious past comes back to haunt him; Peggy celebrates her new work success, but not all of her colleagues and co-workers are pleased or impressed; Salvatore's relationship with a client is questioned.

3 skipped
An election night, a rival with a file, and the whole of Don Draper's origin laid out - who he actually is, and how the name was taken.

The Sterling Cooper staff pulls an all-nighter watching Nixon-Kennedy election returns; an ambitious Pete directly challenges Don.

The Kodak carousel pitch. The best scene the show ever made, and the one that states its subject out loud.

Peggy's colleagues are irked when she's given a new job opportunity; Don's work responsibilities get in the way of his home life; Betty uncovers a surprising secret.

Season 21 in the path
12 skipped — what you missed
The second season is a year of drift: Don disappears to California, Betty finds out about Bobbie Barrett, and the marriage separates without either of them saying the word.
The Cuban missile crisis over a week when nobody is sure the world continues. Betty's news, Don's return, and the agency sold out from under everyone.

As the second season ends, things get bumpy at Sterling Cooper while Don is away; Betty receives some upsetting news.

Season 34 in the path
5 skipped — what you missed
Don is back in the house and the agency has British owners who do not rate it. Sal's story, Peggy's raise, and Betty's third pregnancy run underneath.
A visit from the new British owners, a promotion, and the single most notorious accident in the show's run. Everything at the agency reorganises after it.

A surprise visitor shows up at Sterling Cooper; Sally gets spooked by something (or someone); and Joan is the recipient of some surprising news.

4 skipped
Betty finds the drawer. The marriage's central secret is finally said out loud between the two people it belongs to.

Sterling Cooper welcomes back a prodigal client; Betty and the children take a trip; Joan and Greg make plans for their future.

The Kennedy assassination lands in the middle of a wedding weekend, and Betty says the thing she has been circling all season.

A candidate makes an impression on Don; Peggy's taste in men proves questionable; and Pete faces a major decision about his career.

A weekend heist of their own agency. Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is founded in a hotel room, and the show restarts itself.

In the third-season finale, Don has a pivotal meeting with Connie (Chelcie Ross); Betty is the beneficiary of some interesting advice; and Pete has a serious sit-down with some clients.

Season 43 in the path
6 skipped — what you missed
The new agency spends its first year nearly going under: Lucky Strike, a Christmas party nobody can afford, and Don drinking through a bad divorce.
Don and Peggy, one long night, one office. The series' finest hour and the clearest statement of what they are to each other.

A rapidly approaching deadline causes consternation and throws things into a tizzy at the agency.

2 skipped
The past arrives with a background check: the Army, the name, and the risk of the whole thing coming apart at once.

Betty is a bit unsettled when a surprise visitor stops at the Francis home.

2 skipped
California, a proposal nobody expects, and the end of the version of Don that the first four seasons were about.

In the Season 4 finale, a surprising opportunity rears its head for both Don and Peggy, leaving them with life-altering decisions to make.

Season 52 in the path
10 skipped — what you missed
A season away from the office: Don's second marriage, Megan's own ambitions, and Lane's quiet money trouble building in the background.
The Jaguar account, and what the partners are willing to trade for it. The episode the show's admirers and detractors both point to.

Don deals with a challenging pitch, while Peggy ponders taking a trip.

The consequence of a forged signature, played out over one of the show's few genuinely unbearable half hours.

Don receives an intriguing lead and follows up on it.

Season 61 in the path
13 skipped — what you missed
A year of doubling - a second office in California, a merger nobody wanted, and an affair conducted one floor from home.
The Hershey pitch: Don tells a client the truth about himself, in a room where truth is the one thing nobody wanted, and is put on leave for it.

In the series 6 finale, Don has a problem.

Season 74 in the path
6 skipped — what you missed
The last season opens with Don suspended from his own company and negotiating his way back in as an employee.
The moon landing, a death in the office, and Roger's manoeuvre that sells the agency and saves everyone. The show's happiest ending, one season early.

Don receives a troubling letter; Pete butts heads with Cutler; Roger gets an unexpected phone call; and a risky venture entails a new future for Peggy.

4 skipped
McCann absorbs them. The partners discover what they actually sold, and Don walks out of the room and keeps going.

Don receives a reward for his work; Joan butts heads with a coworker on an account; Roger dodges a big decision.

A motel, a con, and Betty's diagnosis. Pete gets an ending, Don gives away the car, and the series starts closing accounts.

Don has trouble sleeping; Pete is blindsided by a friend; Henry arranges a family reunion.

Person to Person. Phone calls to the three people who matter, a retreat on the coast, and a smile that has been argued about ever since.

The stories of Don Draper, his family and his coworkers come to an end in the series finale.

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