New York City, 1960s. In the ego-driven Golden Age of advertising, everyone is selling something and nothing is what it seems.

Don continues to conceal his complicated personal life, even in the face of Roger's invitation to open up.

Pete returns home from his honeymoon excited about his new marriage but conflicted about his past encounter with Peggy.

Pete Campbell oversteps the mark when he pitches an idea for ad campaign to the head of Bethlehem Steel without telling Don Draper. Draper wants him fired but learns a lesson in corporate politics. Pete's wife wants to buy a Manhattan apartment but he has to approach his cold and distant parents for a loan. Pete's in-laws, however, are more forthcoming.

Don Draper is shaken when his past life comes back to haunt him. After his picture appears in a local newspaper, Adam Whitman, a man who claims to be his younger brother, approaches him. Don, or Dick as his brother knows him, initially denies everything but in the end admits to having taken on a new name. He refuses however to have anything to do with him and tries to buy his silence. When one of the ad men gets a short story published, Pete Campbell is frustrated that his own stories have yet to see the light of day. When his wife approaches an old beau to see if he will publish the stories, he has an interesting proposition for her.

The Agency is looking to land an advertising contract to promote tourism to Israel. Don and his team try to come up with a theme but know so little about the country that they're stumped. So Don calls Rachel Menken to see if she has any ideas. Roger Sterling is getting tired of sneaking around with Joan Holloway and suggests she should get her own apartment but she knows better. Peggy comes up with an advertising concept during a testing session for a new line of lipsticks and she's subsequently asked to write copy.

When Don invites Roger home for dinner, too much alcohol fuels repercussions between Don and Betty and between Don and Roger. Joan puts Roger off for the weekend, spending time with her roommate Carol instead. Pete exchanges a wedding gift for a rifle, and then shares a hunting fantasy with Peggy. Bertram Cooper arranges for the Nixon campaign to meet with him, Roger, Don, and Pete.

Pete Campbell and Peggy Olson start an office romance. Peggy's copy for the lipstick account goes over well and the men in the firm congratulate her. A new telephone receptionist, Lois Saddler, takes a liking to Salvatore Romano but his own interests seem to lie elsewhere. Don Draper gets an unexpected bonus from Bert Cooper and wants to take Midge on a surprise trip to Paris. She seems too involved with her beatnik friends however. Don reflects on his unhappy childhood and in flashbacks he reveals some life lessons he learned early on when a hobo spent the day working on the family farm in exchange for a meal.

Don is courted by Jim Hobart, head of a larger ad firm who offers him more money and more creative resources to join them. Betty Draper rekindles her interest in modeling after Hobart suggests she should try it. She doesn't realize it's all part of the strategy to get Don on board. Peggy Olsen is fretting over her weight gain but doesn't appreciate Joan's advice about getting ahead in the office. The ad team tries to counter the advertising coming out of the Kennedy campaign. Pete Campbell comes up with an idea to keep Kennedy's image off TV in key States.

It's Labor Day weekend and most of the men are sending their wives away for a few days. Don Draper's wife Betty is dreading the thought, as her father and his new girlfriend, whom she detests, will be staying with them. With the election approaching, the team at Sterling Cooper is gloomy since the Nixon campaign has not been following their advice. Roger Sterling was hoping to spend Friday night with Joan Holloway but having just seen the movie Piso de soltero (1960), she is feeling a bit used. She plans a night on the town with her old college friend who has some surprising information for her. Don and Roger invite twin sisters from a casting call to join them for a drink but things go badly for Roger who suffers a serious heart attack. After the incident Don ends up spending the night with Rachel Menken where he reveals a lot of his inner self.

Peggy is given the opportunity to write copy for a new weight loss device that everyone knows is useless. She finds an interesting use for it, however. Afraid of losing the Lucky Strike cigarette account, Bert Cooper gets Roger Sterling to come in for a one-hour meeting but he has another attack. Don Draper becomes a partner and takes over for his friend Roger, but some of the ad men are sharpening their resumes nonetheless. Pete Campbell wants a promotion but Draper doesn't seem too interested. Pete sneaks into Don's office and takes home a parcel sent by Adam addressed to Don that the mail room boy comes to deliver.

Election night arrives and the staff of Sterling Cooper has a party while watching the returns. The election is close and it's obviously going to be a long night. Now a senior partner in the firm, Don Draper must hire a new head of account services, a post that Pete Campbell yearns for. Aware of Draper's secret past, he tries to strong-arm him into giving him the job. With his secret out, Don panics and he asks Rachel Menken to run away with him. Regaining his composure, Don calls Pete's bluff leading to a confrontation with Bert Cooper.

Don and Betty Draper have an argument when it becomes apparent that he doesn't want to spend Thanksgiving with her family and she plans on going only with the children. He also learns some information about his brother Adam. Pete Campbell confirms that he has landed an account from his father-in-law for a new skin care product called Clearasil. He objects however when Don gives the account to Peggy Olson, whom he has just promoted to junior copywriter. Peggy proves her mettle in auditions for the weight loss device but later is feeling unwell and goes to the hospital where she is given some shocking news. Don comes up with a brilliant presentation for Kodak on a new wheel-like storage device for a slide projector that he dubs The Carousel.

On Valentine's Day, the staff of the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency is hustling and checking out the newest office equipment. Don and Duck clash over an account, and Betty hears from an old friend.

A plane crash causes the firm to go after the account for the airline involved and drop the smaller airline they have an account with. Peggy pays a visit to her mother and sister, who are now guardians of a child.

Trouble rises on the set of a commercial while Don plays hooky from the office.

Freddy and Ken take a client out to lunch who stirs Roger Sterling's heart.

Joan finds Don the perfect secretary, and Don finds himself in the middle of issues between TV comedian Jimmy and his wife, Bobbie.

Don and Duck try to bury the hatchet, and Peggy attempts to join in on the execs' after-hours meetings. Also, Duck receives a family visit at the office.

To show that he has "arrived," Don buys a new car. Pete, Harry and Ken come up with a plan to attract new business, and Don's secretary makes a serious error, which could mean trouble for Joan. Cooper gets a new piece of office art that attracts the interest of the Sterling Cooper staff.

Betty becomes suspicious that Don is having an affair after her conversation with Jimmy Barrett, Joan helps out in the television department, and Peggy helps the church with a dance flyer.

Don checks in to a hotel after his separation from Betty. Back at the office, he is forced to get rid of Freddy against his will because of his drinking problem.

Don and Betty try to keep up appearances as they go to Betty's parents after her dad has a stroke. Peter has a long-dreaded meeting with his mother before he and Kinsey leave for a convention in Los Angeles.

Don blows off the convention in Los Angeles when he meets a beautiful, exotic woman. Back at Sterling Cooper, a member of the creative staff comes out of the closet, and Duck falls off the wagon and initiates his power play.

Don drops off the Sterling Cooper radar and visits the wife of the man whose identity he stole. Back at the office, Bert and Roger consider the merger offer, Peggy makes a play for a real office, and Peter loses his father-in-law's account.

Under the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Don returns to New York just as Betty finds out that she is pregnant. Meanwhile, everybody at Sterling Cooper contemplates their futures as news of the merger slowly leaks out.

Don accidentally learns a secret about Salvatore during a business trip to Baltimore. Back at the office, the firings continue, but the new management appoints Peter and Ken as new co-heads of accounts.

Don is brought in to save the day for a P.R. campaign involving the building of the new Madison Square Garden, only to have the rug pulled out from under him. At home, Betty argues with her brother over how to care for their sick father.

Roger Sterling throws an expensive party with his new wife, Joan throws a dinner party, Peggy and Paul get stoned while working on an ad campaign, and Don's daughter Sally steals money from her grandpa.

Don has reservations about a misguided potential client who wants to sell jai alai as the "new national pastime." Meanwhile, Sal produces the "Patio" television commercial, Peggy searches for a roommate, and Betty's father passes away.

Betty has hallucinations of her deceased father as she delivers her baby, Peter considers trying to sell the untapped "Negro market" to a reluctant client, and Peggy begins to question her future at Sterling Cooper.

The bosses come in from London to reorganize Sterling Cooper, but a key player's career is sidetracked by a freak accident. Meanwhile, as Joan prepares to leave her job, her husband gives her some bad news.

As Don secures an account with Conrad Hilton, Sterling and Cooper try to strong-arm Don into signing a contract. Meanwhile, Betty meets with her acquaintance from the governor's office, and Duck tries to get Peggy to leave Sterling Cooper.

Don and Betty renew their love affair while on a business trip to Rome, while Peter has a bout of infidelity with an au pair in his building while his wife is away.

Betty tries to meet with Henry Francis again, while Don steps up his pursuit of his daughter's former teacher. At the office, Don disappoints Conrad Hilton and is forced by a client to fire Salvatore over an unwelcome advance.

As Sterling Cooper prepares for its 40th anniversary party, the bosses in London drop a bombshell to Lane. Miss Farrell's troubled brother pays a visit to her and Don, and Betty stumbles onto her husband's secrets.

An old flame and potential client reenters Roger Sterling's life, Joan's husband searches for a new job, and Don finally comes clean to Betty about his true identity.

On the weekend of the John F. Kennedy assassination, Pete finds out that he lost the promotion to Cosgrove, Roger Sterling's daughter's wedding goes off as planned, and Betty musters up the courage to respond to Don's confessions.

With another sale on the horizon, Sterling, Cooper, and Draper convince Lane Pryce to fire them and then join them as they start up a new advertising firm. At home, Betty follows through with her plans to divorce Don.