Honestly, if you want to start a fight in a room full of Mad Men fans, you don't bring up Don Draper’s drinking or Pete Campbell’s hairline. You bring up Megan Draper.
People have opinions. Some see her as a social-climbing opportunist who used Don to jump-start a mediocre acting career. Others see a young, vibrant woman who was basically fed to the wolves by a man who only likes "the beginnings of things." But if we’re being real, Megan Calvet (later Draper) wasn't just another name in Don’s Little Black Book. She was the person who finally broke the show’s 1950s fever dream and dragged it, kicking and screaming, into the technicolor chaos of the late sixties.
The "Zou Bisou Bisou" of It All
You can’t talk about Megan Draper without talking about that birthday party.
The year is 1966. Don turns forty. He’s miserable because, well, he’s Don. Megan, thinking she knows her husband, throws a surprise bash in their high-rise apartment. She performs a breathy, flirtatious rendition of the yé-yé song "Zou Bisou Bisou," originally by Gillian Hills.
It was a cultural reset for the show.
While the partners at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce watched with a mix of lust and Secondhand Embarrassment, Don looked like he wanted to crawl into the floorboards and die. It’s the ultimate generational gap moment. To Megan and her friends, it was a fun, artistic gift. To Don—and to the more conservative characters like Lane Pryce—it was "burlesque." It showed that while Megan was his wife, she didn't actually know him. Or maybe she knew him and just didn't care about his rigid "code" of privacy.
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From Receptionist to "Tomorrowland"
The way Megan became Mrs. Draper was kind of a whirlwind, right?
Don was dating Dr. Faye Miller, a woman who actually challenged him to be an adult. Then, he goes to California, takes his kids, and Megan—the secretary—comes along as the nanny. She’s patient. She’s kind to Sally. She doesn't judge Don when he’s a mess.
In a moment of classic Don impulsivity, he proposes. He chooses the "fantasy" over the reality of Faye. He wanted a fresh start, and Megan was the blank slate he could write his new life on. But here’s the thing: Megan wasn't a blank slate. She had her own ambitions, and they didn't involve being a 1950s housewife in a 1965 world.
Why the hate for Megan Draper is actually kinda complicated
A lot of the vitriol aimed at her stems from the fact that she "skipped the line."
- She went from receptionist to copywriter because of her husband.
- She quit advertising—a job she was actually brilliant at—to pursue acting.
- She used Don’s connections to land a role in a soap opera.
Peggy Olson, who clawed her way up from the secretarial pool through pure grit, was understandably miffed. When Megan realizes she hates advertising because she "doesn't want to be judged" for being the boss's wife, it feels a bit ungrateful to a lot of viewers. But honestly? It’s also very human. Who wants to be the "trophy" in the office when they have their own creative itch to scratch?
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The California Dream and the Bitter End
By the time we hit Season 7, the marriage is a ghost.
Megan moves to Los Angeles. She gets the Laurel Canyon lifestyle, the fringe vests, and the "struggling actress" vibe. But the struggle is funded by Don’s checks. This is where her character gets polarizing. She blames Don for ruining her life—specifically because he promised to move to LA with her, then backed out at the last second, leaving her stranded in a new city while he stayed in New York to save his job.
Was she right to be mad? Sorta. Don did sabotage her stability. But let's be real: she walked away with a $1 million check (roughly $10 million today). When she tells him "You ruined my life" while holding a check for a million bucks, it’s hard for some fans to sympathize.
The Style Evolution
One thing everyone agrees on? The fashion.
Costume designer Janie Bryant used Megan to show the shift from the structured, ladylike silhouettes of the early 60s (think Betty’s floral housecoats) to the avant-garde "Mod" look.
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- The Mini Dresses: Megan was the first character to consistently wear short hemlines, influencing everyone from the secretaries to Sally.
- The Hair: Big, voluminous, and often experimental.
- The Color Palette: Bright purples, psychadelic prints, and that iconic black dress with the bell sleeves from the "Zou Bisou" performance.
She looked like the future, while Don—who stayed in his gray flannel suits until the very end—looked like a relic.
What We Get Wrong About Her
People often call Megan "manipulative," but if you re-watch the show, she’s actually one of the most honest characters. She tells Don when he’s being a jerk. She doesn't hide her emotions. If anything, she was too naive. She thought she could "fix" a man who had decades of trauma and a secret identity.
Her mother, Marie Calvet, tried to warn her. Marie knew that being a "muse" for a man like Don is a temporary gig. Once the mystery is gone, the man gets bored.
Actionable Takeaways for the Mad Men Fan
If you're doing a re-watch or just diving into the lore, look closer at the Megan Draper era as a mirror for Don’s decline.
- Watch the "Heinz" Pitch: This is arguably Megan’s best moment in the agency. It shows she had the "natural" talent Don used to have before he became cynical.
- Observe the "Milkshake" Scene: In Season 4, when Megan cleans up the spilled milkshake without getting angry, it’s the exact moment Don decides to marry her. It’s a performance of "The Perfect Mother" that she eventually couldn't sustain.
- The Ending Context: Don’t just look at the $1 million check. Look at the fact that she was a young woman in her late 20s who had been cheated on, lied to, and moved across the country for a lie. The money was a settlement for a lot of wasted time.
Megan wasn't a villain, and she wasn't a saint. She was just a girl from Montreal who wanted to be a star and realized, a little too late, that being a "Draper" was a role she wasn't suited to play.
Next Steps for Your Rewatch:
Pay attention to the background characters in the SCDP office when Megan is promoted to copywriter. Their side-eyes and hushed conversations tell the real story of how her "shortcut" to success impacted the workplace culture. Check out the Season 5 premiere again specifically to see how the lighting changes when she enters a room versus when Betty is onscreen—it’s a masterclass in visual storytelling.