I don't know about you, but I'm excited. We're just a few hours away from the fourth season premiere of Mad Men, AMC's great television masterpiece. I only started watching Mad Men this summer, but I was able to finish all three seasons in just two months, preparing myself for my episode reviews which I will begin posting with tonight's episode, "Public Relations."

But before we get into what may or may not be going on with the Mad Men (AMC has been interestingly tight-lipped about what's going on), let's take a look at where season three's finale left us. In the best episode of the series, "Shut the Door, Have a Seat," we left our protagonist Don Draper in a very interesting position. After learning that Sterling-Cooper's controlling company Putnam, Powell, & Lowe, had been sold to a competitor, Draper and his fellow partners Bertram Cooper and Roger Sterling initiated a rather courageous plan to start their own agency. With the help of Lane Pryce (the always wonderful Jared Harris), PPL's representative who would be spurned by the merger, the three were fired and freed from their contracts. After taking a small pick of the best from their agency (including Pete Campbell, Peggy Olson, Joan Harris, and Harry Crane), the newly formed group stole the information and accounts they needed and set up in a hotel room. Draper, whose marriage with Betty (January Jones) had failed, was stuck in an ironic mix of happiness and sadness, and his sadly smiling expression was what ended the season.

So, now, where will we meet Draper in season four? Mad Men is known for its giant gaps between seasons, so where will we come in? The answer seems to be just a few months after season three, giving the newly formed Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Pryce agency enough time to really gets its legs (and out of a hotel room).

We'll also be following Betty in her new marriage with Henry, though I suspect that Betty will be all kinds of unhappy (speaking of which, is Betty ever happy? Like, ever?). There will also be the problem of Don's secret identity -- sure, Betty and Cooper know it, but they've been silent about it (though Cooper did use it to blackmail Don once). How will that end up for Don? Considering that Don now has perhaps even more to lose than he did before, I'd say it's a very good possibility that his dark secret will rear its ugly head once more.

And what about those who were left behind? Ken Cosgrove and Paul Kinsey were two solid characters who got left behind by the new agency, who instead chose Pete Campbell and Peggy Olson. Will we see them again? IMDb is reporting that Cosgrove will show back up, though Kinsey (unfortunately) might just be out of luck. The same goes for Salvatore Romano, one of the most interesting characters of the first three seasons, who was fired midway through season three, and didn't reappear since. Have we seen the last of him? My instincts say yes, but I would love to be proven wrong.

The reviews for Mad Men's premiere have been absolutely stellar, so I am pretty excited about which direction the show is going. Check back in later tonight for my opinion of the season four premiere, "Public Relations," which airs on AMC at 10/9c.