Season 6 of “Mad Men” brought many of the characters to a new low. Blinded by ambition, unable to form healthy relationships and often inebriated, they get through the work day by the skin of their teeth.
Here’s where they left off as we head into Sunday’s Season 7 premiere on AMC:
Don Draper (Jon Hamm)
Cut his own throat when he took time during a pitch meeting with executives from Hershey’s to launch into a monologue about growing up in a whorehouse. The next morning when he came to work, the partners at the agency gave him some bad news: He was being given an open-ended leave of absence.
Megan Draper (Jessica Paré)
After spending a night in jail, Don suggested that he and Megan make a fresh start in California. Megan thought the old Don was back. She went for it and quit her job acting on a TV soap. Then Don changed his mind and said they weren’t going to California after all. Furious, Megan walked out on him.
Betty Francis (January Jones)
Betty called Don with some more bad news: Sally had been suspended from school following an episode of drinking. She acknowledged that she was at a loss on what to do and asked him to pick up the kids for Thanksgiving dinner.
Sally Draper (Kiernan Shipka)
Still reeling from discovering her father with his pants down around his ankles and making love to his downstairs neighbor Sylvia Rosen, Sally went back to her private school. And started acting out. After her suspension, Don picked up her and her brothers and drove them to a bad neighborhood and made them get out of the car. They faced a peeling Victorian rooming house. “This is where I grew up,” he said.
Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss)
Allowed married man and colleague Ted Chaough to seduce her. He then told her he was moving to California, saying it was the best decision for both of them. A livid Peggy shot back, “How nice for you to have decisions.”
Ted Chaough (Kevin Rahm)
After telling Peggy he wanted to leave his wife to be with her, Ted had a last-minute change of heart and decided he wanted to move to California with his family to manage SC&P’s Sunkist account. Don (who was supposed to relocate to LA) initially rejected Ted’s plea, but eventually gave up his spot for him so that Ted could distance himself from his feelings for Peggy.
Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser)
Pete discovered via telegram that his mother was lost at sea after presumably falling off a cruise ship (or being pushed, as Pete believes, by nanny-turned-husband Manolo). After losing the Chevy account when Bob proved Pete can’t drive a stick shift, he decided to move to California with Ted. Before leaving, he visited estranged wife Trudy, who told him he’s finally “free.”
Joan Harris and Roger Sterling (Christina Hendricks, John Slattery)
After the two partners and former lovers informed Don of his mandatory leave of absence, Joan invited Roger over for Thanksgiving dinner as a gesture of letting him into their son Kevin’s life — but not hers.