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In fact, I hope they make blunders. I hope they make devastating mistakes that threaten the already fragile foundation of SCDP. Because it wouldn’t be Mad Men if everything just sort of, you know, worked out.

The question is: How far into the future will season four be set? Knowing Weiner, he’ll deny us that vulnerable first week of business. And while we’re at it, he’ll refuse those first couple weeks, too.

Instead, I imagine Mad Men 2.0 will be set a few months – three? four? – from “Shut the Door. Have a Seat.” That way, we still see SCDP with its feet wet, but after they’ve grown accustomed to their new digs.

What’s going to happen to Sterling Cooper and our friends who didn’t make SCDP’s cut?

It seems hard to believe that we’ve parted ways with Sterling Cooper as we know it. Most every episode occurred within the confines of that building, be it between the ground floor lobby, the main floor space or inside one of its offices like Don Draper’s lair or the thinking room Peggy Olson smoked pot in.

Yet, maybe it’s a sign of maturity for us to accept that a majority of an episode’s runtime will no longer take place within that familiar space. The Sterling Cooper floor may be awesome and iconic, but the eight-person team behind SCDP will have moved on from that place by the time we get reacquainted, and so should we.

I wouldn’t expect Sterling Cooper, and those characters we left behind there, to be major players in season four, but I would like to see their faces again, possibly in a storyline that pits the office we used to play voyeur to with the so-new-it’s-embarrassing SCDP.

One rivalry in particular that never gets old is Pete v. Ken. In season three, the two were pitted against each other to become Sterling Cooper’s head of accounts. Even though Ken brings a lawnmower into the office that later digs into a dude's lower body, he would eventually be tapped as department leader. As much as I detest Pete, I’d love to see him enact retribution while at the helm of a younger company.

One casting decision I can’t compromise on would be that of Bryan Batt, who starred on Mad Men as closeted gay Sal Romano. Sal’s story arc seemed far from complete – he hasn’t even sexed a man! – and yet sources confirm he’ll be absent from season four. ‘Tis a pity, since his character deserves a more proper conclusion (or perhaps a fresh career with SCDP).

What’s Betty going to be up to?

When season three came to a close, Betty Draper was on her way to Reno with Henry to prepare for her divorce with Don. As hard as it is to believe that Betty and Don are no longer together, it’s important to remember that Judd Apatow doesn’t produce Mad Men and therefore the show features female characters who make respectable decisions.

I’m not gung ho about Henry, but I do like that Betty figured out that Don isn’t a good fit for her. He cheated on her, he stole another dude’s identity… you know, pretty major signals that he’s not the family man she thought he was.

I do wish Betty well, but I think she can do better than Nelson Rockefeller’s director of public relations and research. He’s a bit drab for my taste, and scenes between him and Betty drag some. Hopefully in the space between season three and four, Mad Men writers have given Henry more to work with.

And for screen time, I'd expect Betty and her new life to be just as important to the Mad Men universe as before. January Jones has been an integral part of the show since its inception. When Jones gets nominated for an award, it's for lead actress, not supporting. I'd expect to see just as much Betty as we usually do - only this time without Don by her side.

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