Don Draper (Jon Hamm), Joan Harris (Christina Hendricks) and Roger Sterling (John Slattery) wait to see if their agency won a Clio.

By the time this season of Mad Men ends, the fifth episode, where Don maneuvers his agency into an account with Honda with the ability of the first three seasons, will seem like the exception rather than the rule.

With the sixth episode under its belt, clearly this season is about the hard fall of Don Draper.

In fact, contrasting the fifth-episode Draper with this one is pretty startling. In the last episode, Don was back in master-of-the-universe mode. He faked out a competitor while putting aside the alcohol and understanding his firm’s Japanese suitor.
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Sally (Kiernan Shipka, left) shows her 'hair cut' to Betty (January Jones) as Don (Jon Hamm) looks on.

Last week, I joked if whether the elderly couple whose conversation closed Mad Men got their pears was a mystery unlikely to be solved.

This week, the detail-oriented superfans got a pair of mysteries — both of which seemed to be deceptions aimed squarely at them. First, there’s Don’s address — 104 Waverly Place, Apt. 3R, which New York magazine’s Vulture blog looked into and found doesn’t actually exist. (However, it turns out Don’s address is pretty impressive, considering that at the time, both Bob Dylan and Edward Hopper were on the same block.)

Then there’s the suddenly huge specter of Dr. Lyle Evans, a name Roger pulls out as he’s railing against Japan and Honda, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce’s prospective clients. Who? There’ve been a few speculations — many centering around someone who helped the growth of school libraries in Saskatchewan — but a lot of recaps are considering this to be a giant red herring concocted by series creator Matthew Weiner.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about the big points from last week.
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Allison and Peggy find their work troubles aren't related (or are they?): 'Your problem is not my problem!' (AMC)

The character of Peggy Olsen on AMC’s Mad Men has been the bellwether of the series at times.

It seems that the show somehow lags if Peggy (Elizabeth Moss) languishes in the background. OK, when she’s brought to the forefront, it doesn’t always work. This week, that wasn’t the case.

In fact, you could say this episode was pretty much from Peggy’s point of view. (Even when she’s peering over the walls to gain it.)

The entire episode fit within its title: “The Rejected”. As SFGate’s Tim Goodman points out, Peggy still feels ramifications from her coupling and subsequent rejection by Pete; Don gets hit by the consequences of his rejection of Allison, the secretary with whom he had a drunken dalliance; and there are even literal rejections of a photographer’s nudes by Peggy’s new friend Joyce, which turns into another set of rejections later on.
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Christina Hendricks as Joan and Jared Harris as Lane in 'Mad Men'. (AMC)

The character of Lane Pryce on AMC’s Mad Men has always been a little one-dimensional to me, though not quite a total cypher. When Lane, who’s played by the amazing Jared Harris, was first introduced, and really throughout the third season, he came off as almost a prototypical stuffy Brit who was too concerned with money.

Leave it to Don Draper to drag the rest of Lane’s character out of his shell.

Draper and Pryce’s night on the town takes what might’ve been one of the biggest downer episodes in a season full of them so far and salvages it through Harris’ fun performance.

The writers finally allow Harris to cut loose after playing clearly one of the most straight-laced characters in a career full of oddball performances.
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Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss) attend the SCDP Christmas Party. (AMC)

Last week, I mentioned how happy it made me that AMC’s Mad Men was back, and how hearing Roger Sterling’s pitch-perfect quips were like the first pitch of a baseball season.

This week, after seeing Roger (John Slattery) pretty much humiliated by a sadistic client at the office Christmas Party, I felt as if I was watching a fading star hack away at pitches he used to blast over the wall.

And that actually is where I see the entire episode — it’s not the best of times for anyone, not at all.
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Don Draper (Jon Hamm) has clearly got his swagger back in his second interview.

OK, I know I promised this on Wednesday, and it’s a little late to nitpick on all of the details about Mad Men‘s season premiere the way some people like to do on the Internet, so instead, to be a little different, how about some talking points between episodes:

• So far as I can guess this season, main plot points will include: Getting Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce off the ground, or more specifically, not depending so much on Lucky Strike; Peggy Olson’s continued progression into, if not Don Draper’s peer, at least someone formidable; how well Betty and the kids adapt into Henry Francis’ family and world; how well Don adapts into a world without Betty, and, as always, how much Don will really allow of himself to be revealed.

• Not surprisingly, John Slattery gets the best lines. You’ll never hear Chicken Kiev described more lasciviously as when Roger Sterling talks about it.
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Jared Harris, Robert Morse, Vincent Kartheiser, John Slattery and Jon Hamm of 'Mad Men'. (AMC)

To say I’m thrilled about Mad Men being back on AMC is an understatement: I feel about the season premiere almost the same way I feel about Opening Day for baseball season — like the reset button has been pressed and everything starts afresh.

And much like the first pitch makes everything better, so too does the first quip from Roger Sterling — the leering veteran ad man played by John Slattery.

I’m not about to get into specific details about Sunday’s season premiere, because there are many of you waiting with baited trigger fingers on your TiVos who didn’t stay up until 10.
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Christina Hendricks married Geoffrey Arend in New York on Sunday, People.com has confirmed.

The couple was introduced by Vincent Kartheiser, Christina’s ‘Mad Men’ costar and were engaged in January of this year. Read the full story

To no one’s surprise, AMC today announced it’s renewing Mad Men for a fourth season.

Not only has the show garnered much critical acclaim, it’s also getting more viewers as the positive word-of-mouth continues to spread. The show’s third season premiere on Aug. 16, for instance, was watched by a record 4.5 million viewers. That may not sound like a lot of eyeballs to the big boys at ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox, but for an itty, bitty cable network like AMC, well, 4.5 million might as well be 45 million. Mad Men has also earned 16 Emmy nominations — the most for any drama series — and put AMC on the basic cable map.

If you’re not mad about Mad Men, now’s the time to start.