At least Don Draper's wife knows what she's up against.
When AMC's acclaimed advertising drama "Mad Men" returns for its sixth season tonight, Megan Draper will still be competing with her husband's black moods, whiskey habit and wandering eye - if she hasn't lost already. Jessica Pare, who plays Megan, is fine with that.
"One of the reasons the show is so popular is because people like Don's antihero thing," Pare said. "They want to see him being the bad boy we've grown to love. People don't want to see him hitched."
Pare, one of three "Mad Men" actresses who recently spoke with The Star by phone, said Megan's decision to abandon a promising career in advertising to pursue acting last season revealed a lot about her character's mettle. "Her ambition comes from a really deep desire to contribute this specific thing to the world."
That desire led Megan to exploit Don's position - and betray a friend - to land a commercial gig.
"She knows that he doesn't really take it that seriously, that he thinks it's a bit silly. She also probably would prefer not to get it this way," Pare said. "But it's gotten to the point where she really needs it, and he's in a position to help her, so she can't not ask. She knows she's overstepped some boundary."
Whatever the reason, the imagery of last season's finale placed a dark gulf between the Drapers, ending with Don eyeing other women at a bar.
"That made me really, really nervous and sad," Pare said, adding that she could never write for the show. "If it were up to me, Don and Megan would just be happy and nothing would ever happen."
Whether her character is content or not, Pare is still over the moon about her role on the show. She was recently approached on the streets of New York by a woman who asked her, "Are you Megan on 'Mad Men'?"
"I was way more excited than she was. I punched her in the arm and was like, 'Yes, I am!' "
Another "Mad Men" figure who put some distance between herself and Don Draper last season was Peggy Olson. Elisabeth Moss didn't know her character was leaving Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce until a few episodes before it happened. Series creator Matt Weiner had wanted to let a season's worth of slights build up.
"Don takes credit for everything," Moss told The Star. "He never even really says that she did a great job. He takes all of it."
The breaking point for Peggy, Moss said, was when Don threw money in her face during a meeting.
"It was so humiliating and horrible and physical," Moss said. "You have this aggressive physical gesture, and it was too far for her." But Moss said Peggy's resignation - "You know this is what you would do" - opened Don's eyes, even if it was too late.
"She's speaking to him like a professional, and he's looking at her like, this is what I've created, someone who can stand here and do this."
Peggy's new job, as copy chief for Don's nemesis Ted Chaough, means Moss can say even less than other "Mad Men" actors about her character's future. But as she looks back, the actress said, she is grateful that the show never put Don and Peggy on the office couch for a night of passion.
"The nature of their relationship is so much more unique than that, so much more complex, she said. "In another show, they might have slept together in the first or second season, and that's what makes our show different. They have a cooler relationship than that."
Like the rest of the cast, Christina Hendricks can't really say anything. She's eager for new shows to begin airing so that she can watch them herself.
"We're already on the 11th episode, and I haven't seen any of them yet," she said.
Last season, Joan Harris and her fur coat dominated the Monday morning after "The Other Woman," the episode in which she slept with a Jaguar sleazeball to get Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce a cherished car account - and herself a 5-percent stake in the company. But according to Hendricks, her character is still on an uphill climb.
"We see her standing there with all the guys and we see that she's a partner," Hendricks said. "But will she be respected for how she got there? That's definitely something we explore."
Respected or not, according to Hendricks, Joan isn't going to be marching for women's rights anytime soon.
"I think a lot of feminists would really disagree with Joan's behavior," Hendricks said. "But I think she knows what works for her."