Who is she? Theories about the new mystery woman of ‘ Mad Men’

She’s a ghost

Diana’s otherworldly appearance — Don Draper swears he’s met her be - fore and yet he can’t put his finger on the details — has some viewers wondering if she’s even real. But if she’s Don’s ghost, why does Roger Sterling interact with her at the diner?

She’s a mother figure

Do mothern’s prostitutedied w while giving bir th to him — a scene he imagines in Season 2. His first dallia ance with Dian a, a waitress, also h as a transacti tional l qualitylit — was it in exchange for Roger ’s $ 100 tip?

She’s a female Don Draper/ Dick Whitman

Don Draper is an identity Dick Whitman stole from a fellow soldier who died in the Korean War. He worked as a used- car salesman before moving to NYC to start a new life. Like Don, Diana also moved

nm to the city to reinvent herself.

She’s an angel of death

There’s a sad aura about Diana — who’s introduced to viewers as “Di” by a fellow waitress. Then there’s that ominous red wine stain in Don’s bedroom that appears in two episodes. Could it be foreshadowing bloodshed?

She’s Mildred

Pierce

Roger refers to Diana as Mildred Pierce — the eponymous character in James M. Cain’s cynical novel played by Joan Crawford in the 1945 film. Like Mildred, Diana is a waitress with two daughters, and has hard luck with men and family.

She’s a red herring

Creator Matthew Weiner loves leaving breadcrumbs that lead nowhere. Could this just be a distraction, when in fact the end will revolve around one of the characters we’ve been following for the last eight years?