Look alive, Mad Men fans. The premiere is still a month away, but Matthew Weiner and friends are giving us our first glimpse of what the new season will bring. AMC has just released the season four poster, and it’s clearly loaded with the kind of symbolism we’ve come to expect from the detail-oriented folks at Mad Men. Check out the image after the jump, follow along with our ten ideas about what it might mean, and add your own guesses in the comments.
1. The obvious: Don Draper is embarking on a new life, post-divorce and in his new, DIY firm.
2. Unsatisfied by the new firm, Don strikes out on his own.
3. Don is contemplating whether to jump out the window, Wall Street suicide-style.
4. The symbolic: Don is unable to furnish his new office because he’s so afraid of putting down roots.
5. Don sees something in the distance, is intrigued.
6. Don isn’t moving in; he’s moving out.
7. Feeling claustrophobic in his well-appointed but slightly old-fashioned office, Don has embraced airy, glass-and-steel, Richard Meier-style architecture.
8. People in glass office buildings…
9. Don has a lit cigarette but no ashtray. He is liable to burn down the whole damn place (literally or figuratively).
10. Don is waiting for a phone call that will change his life.