The sixth season of the American television drama series Mad Men premiered on April 7, , with a two-hour episode and concluded on June 23, It consisted of thirteen episodes, each running for approximately 48 minutes. The sixth season of Mad Men received critical acclaim and appeared on several year-end lists, placing fourth for most overall mentions by critics. Stan tells Don he is offering to relocate to California to support Sunkist and build a west coast presence for the agency "one desk at a time.
After spending a night in jail—over a drunken fight with a preacher trying to force Don to heed him—Don tells Megan he knows he's lost too much control of his life and wants to move to California, suggests she could pursue her acting career there and they can start over as they once were.
Pete receives a telegram saying that his mother has fallen from a cruise ship and is lost at sea, and later finds out she married nanny Manolo; Pete thinks Manolo killed her and angrily lets Bob know he holds him responsible for what happened. Bob endures Pete's nasty barbs when they head to Detroit, but then comes up with a cunning way to get revenge on Pete: knowing Pete is barely able to drive, Bob tells the Chevy execs that Pete should demonstrate said lack of skills on a new floor model vehicle, where Pete ruins the car as well as any future he had on the Chevy account, which is then assigned to Bob.
Ted comes to Peggy's apartment and says that he wants to leave his wife and be with her; they sleep together.
Ted later reconsiders and decides he wants to move to California with his family, ostensibly to manage Sunkist but also to distance himself from his feelings for Peggy. Matthew Weiner and the rest of the writers began work on the sixth season in July Slattery had previously directed three episodes for the series, while Hamm made his directorial debut in season five with the episode " Tea Leaves ".
