Mad Men — Characters & Cast

At first, keeping his secret and holding onto the image of success. Later it becomes a desperate search for authenticity, connection and some version of home.

He begins as the untouchable creative genius with a perfect suburban family and a buried past. Through seasons of affairs, divorce, a second marriage, alcoholism and professional exile, his carefully built identity erodes. In the final season he drifts west, sheds his possessions and position, and reaches an uncertain moment of peace at a California retreat. Then the show hints that he turns this experience into his greatest ad.

First to prove herself in a man's world. Over time this becomes a desire for real creative authority, and eventually a life that holds both work and love.

She arrives as Don's naive new secretary in the pilot and becomes the agency's first female copywriter. She fights for credit, pay and respect, clashes with and learns from Don, and finally becomes an assured creative leader. She is the show's clearest picture of progress.

Status and recognition, and later a longing for the stable happiness he threw away.

He starts as a petulant, entitled young account man who resents Don. He grows into a capable but deeply unhappy partner who is always sure he deserves more. By the end he gains some self-awareness and a chance at a second start.

Security, beauty and control. Later comes a wish to be taken seriously as a person.

She moves from an idealized, childlike suburban wife to a woman confronting her husband's lies. She divorces and remarries, but stays trapped by the expectations of her class and era. Her late decision to go back to school, and the dignity of her last choices, give her story a quietly tragic weight.

Security and respect in a system built to deny women both, and eventually independence on her own terms.

She begins as the formidable office manager who knows every rule of the game. She endures humiliations and hard bargains, becomes a partner, and when the corporate world refuses to honor her worth, she leaves to start her own business.