Big theme, right?  Maybe the biggest of them all, and always bubbling under the surface on our show.

DON

Daddy issues galore.  Archie, his real dad, was an all-time SOB and fond of moonshine and telling vaguely homo-erotic jokes.  But the father-figure issue is also huge (Bert Cooper, Connie Hilton, probably many others … Teddy?)

Mom died on his birthday.  Cut to:  Rachel Menken.  Could every woman in his life be a stand-in?

BETTY

Gene seemed like a man’s man.  His disapproval of Don made for great tension throughout their later years, filling in many blanks and creating as many new ones.

The mom – still a big mystery – I hope we’ll get more clues about Ruthie.  There’s a lot we don’t know about this relationship, and why Betty is so … Betty.

PETE

The scene with his parents in New Amsterdam is still an amazing 2 minutes.  The only glimse we get of Pete’s dad before he dies (in real life and in the show), and it’s mesmerizing.  It encapsulates not only Peter’s life and upbringing, but also the prevailing attitudes about advertising and marketing (i.e. everyone’s a pimp or a whore) – which the show basically goes on to illustrate.

Dot’s a whack-job with a hair-do to match.

TRUDY

Let’s just say financial parenting isn’t a new concept.  These two have it down.  Although Clearasil came on board to SCDP, so you never know.

These are the four that leap to mind first, but there are surely others …