Prep pack · temporal graph

Mad Men

About to watch S01E03 · Marriage of Figaro

Spoiler-free to End of S01E02 "Ladies Room"

100% spoiler-free up to the final frame of S01E02. Continuity pack (season knowledge + staged narrative + relationship web). Nothing from S01E03 or later.

Months since last watch

14m

Long gap (passport-weighted): foundational who/where listed first.

Standard

1960s Madison Avenue; Don Draper's stolen identity (Dick Whitman); SCDP and the American sell.

You are resuming mid-Season 1. Hard cutoff: S01E02 (Ladies Room). Nothing from S01E03 or later.

Season 1 - early path (through E1). Board is set; season-end outcomes are not assumed.

You are still early in Season 1. Prior seasons (if any) are fully in force; this season's finale geometry is not.

Don's Whitman secret seeds.

Peggy rises from secretarial pool.

Focus on who wants what, who is allied, and which institutions are pressuring the cast.

Season 1 path through S01E02: E1 "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" → E2 "Ladies Room".

Cutoff discipline: every fact above ends at S01E02. Do not import anything from S01E03 ("Marriage of Figaro") or later.

Key events (pre-cutoff)

01Season 1 through E1: early markers only.
02S1E01: Context beat: Don's Whitman secret seeds.
03S1E01: Context beat: Peggy rises from secretarial pool.
04S01E01: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
05S01E02: Ladies Room

Character status cards

Snapshots as of graph ordinal ≤ 2 (S01E02).

Don Draper

Dick Whitman

alive

Loc. Sterling Cooper

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Whitman secret; Betty marriage

Allies

Roger, Peggy rising

Threats

exposure, Betty

Peggy Olson

alive

Secretary to copy

Loc. SC

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Rises; pregnancy secret path

Allies

Don

Threats

sexism, Pete

Pete Campbell

alive

Ambitious

Loc. Accounts

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Blackmails Don early

Threats

Don

Betty Draper

alive

Wife

Loc. Ossining

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Beautiful cage

Allies

kids

Threats

Don's affairs

Roger Sterling

alive

Partner

Loc. SC

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Affairs and accounts

Allies

Don

Threats

heart, change

Joan Holloway

alive

Office manager

Loc. Office

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Power without title

Threats

men

Continuity web

Relationship map

Ink diagram of who is bound, opposed, or entangled as of the cutoff (End of S01E02 "Ladies Room"). Click a name to pin. Edge labels appear on focus.

6 figures8/8 ties shownhub: Don (5)

Hover or click any figure to open their tie dossier. Hostile and tense ties carry direction marks. Secret ties are dashed.

Open threads

Story continues from cutoff

high

All facts above end at S01E02. S01E03 is not included.

Who cares: you

Path to now

S1 through E1

Progress marker E1

Season 1 - early path (through E1). Board is set; season-end outcomes are not assumed.

S1 through E2

Current season path

Last episode watched: Ladies Room. Next: Marriage of Figaro.

World state

Status quo at season end is the baseline for the next stretch.
Treat later-season institutional collapses as unknown until you pass them.

Constrained desk chat

Temporal RAG over this pack only. No model calls. No post-cutoff index rows exist.

Desk · Cutoff desk open. I only know this show through End of S01E02 "Ladies Room". Ask about characters, threads, or events before that line. I will refuse anything later.

Spoiler-free to End of S01E02 "Ladies Room"

Close the binder

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