Mad Men Creator Drops Season 6 Hints About Peggy and That Cliffhanger

It's been almost a week since Mad Men's season 5 finale, "The Phantom," which aired on Sunday, and fans are still asking questions. Sure, the episode wasn't as buzzworthy as previous episodes "The Other Woman" and "Commissions and Fees," but it did leave the series at an interesting crossroads, especially with regards to two main characters. 

There's the matter of Peggy, for instance. The character, played by Elisabeth Moss, left Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Pryce for a rival ad agency at the end of "The Other Woman," after years of feeling unappreciated by Don and the rest of the company. We didn't see her at all in "Commissions and Fees" (setting off the doomsayers), but she popped up once again in "The Phantom," where she and Don bumped into each other at a movie theater and reflected on Peggy's growth. We then saw her on a business trip, not quite happy with the shabby motel that might just reflect the shabby nature of the new job she's chosen. 

So what's next for Peggy? Will that be the last we see of her? Probably not, says executive producer and showrunner Matthew Weiner. "We knew that [Peggy] was going to leave - that she had to leave - and that we would see the beginning of a new relationship," he told TVGuide, comparing Peggy's role in the show to that of Don's ex-wife Betty. 

"Some people do leave the show, and I'm not guaranteeing that [Peggy] will be there or be in that world as much. But when Don divorced Betty, I had all these questions of like, 'I guess [January Jones is] off the show? [. . .] Peggy is a part of Don's life.'

So what about that cliffhanger at the end of "The Phantom?" Don was approached by a woman who asked him if he was alone (i.e. willing to hook up with her friend). Don turned to her, but we didn't get his response. 

"When you see the face of Don at the end of the last episode, you say, "Oh, that's where that guy's been," Weiner said. "I recognize him." 

He continued: "I can't tell you where we're going, but I definitely think when you hear that question, 'Are you alone?' it's not just, 'Are you going to start cheating on this woman?' We've seen how faithful he's been."

You can read the rest of the pretty informative interview with Weiner over at TVGuide. 

Mad Men season 6 will air sometime in 2013.