Draper's Past Revealed on new Mad Men

Last week on Mad Men, Don Draper went to California for a business trip and did not come home to New York with his co-worker, Pete Campbell. Instead he stayed behind to meet up with someone from his past…Anna Draper.

We had known since the beginning of the series that Draper was not really who he claims to be. However, the details of his past were very clouded. This Sunday, the picture became much clearer. Don Draper's real name is Dick Whitman. Around ten years earlier, both he and the real Don Draper were soldiers in the Korean War. When Don was killed and Dick was injured in the same battle, Don was mistakenly identified as Dick and vice versa. Dick decided to use this opportunity to start a new life, and assumed the identity of Don Draper. When he came back to the states, he got a job as a used car salesman. When Anna Draper, Don's wife, found out that someone had used Don's social security number to get a driver's license in New York, she came to track him down. Anna found that it was not in fact her husband, but instead that Dick had assumed his identity. In order to keep Anna quiet and thank her for the new opportunities that Don's life had given him, he offered to help her financially and visit her regularly. When Don met Betty and prepared to ask her to marry him, he realized that Don Draper was still technically married to Anna. Therefore, he had to ask Anna for an official divorce. Don married Betty, they had two children, and he left his entire past behind him. That is until Betty recently found out that Don was cheating on her, and she kicked him out of the house. As a result, Don went to California to find Anna and ask her advice. Meanwhile, back at Sterling-Cooper, the principal partners are bartering a deal to sell controlling interest of the company to another advertising firm. Don owns 12%, but his shares would not be enough to overturn the decision, so they decide to go on with the transaction without his approval.

This was a lot of information to digest in one episode. Hopefully this clears things up a little bit if the episode left you with some confusion. Next week is the season two finale of Mad Men on AMC. A lot was revealed this week, and more questions will certainly be answered next week. Is Don going to try to win back Betty? Does Betty want anything to do with Don? What will become of Sterling-Cooper after the merger? Will Don reveal his true identity to anyone in his new life, or will he just go back to living the lie? I think that some questions will go unanswered, especially since it is the mysterious nature of the characters that has made Mad Men so intriguing.

AMC is currently in talks with Lionsgate for a new contract involving Mad Men. All signs point to it being picked up for a third season, but it seems to be contingent on Lionsgate making a deal to keep show creator Matthew Weiner at the helm for two more years. This would pretty much assure a third and fourth season of the Emmy-winning drama. Once again, the season finale of Mad Men can be seen Sunday October 26 at 10/9c on AMC, with encore presentations throughout the week.