A Tale of Two Cities

“I don’t know what happened. I usually feel better out there.” When Don goes to California, there is the expectation that we’re going to get a look at a looser, more relaxed Don. When he signed the wall “Dick + Anna ‘64” in Season Four’s “The Good News” it created the impression that California Don is actually Dick Whitman, the idea that this is how he behaves when the expectations of the Don Draper persona are left behind. But it’s 1968. Things are changing in this country. California is no longer an escape for Don, somewhere he can find solace, and as he awakes from his hash-fueled near-death experience, he is as lost as Pete Campbell when he descends onto the couch, taking a hit of Rizzo’s joint as the sounds of Big Brother & the Holding Company permeate the soundtrack.