Before they even got together, Megan told Don the whole reason she moved to New York was to pursue acting.
Nope. The first conversation where he learned something about Megan went like this.
Talking about his glocoat ad--she came in to him,
after he told her to leave, and began praising his work and asked if he could show it to her.
"Why did you move here?"--Don.
"Well, first of all, it's New York. For an artist it's Mecca."--Megan.
"You're an artist?"--Don.
"I wouldn't say I'm an artist. I'm an artistic person. I majored in literature. I've dabbled in writing and painting
and a little bit of acting."
The rest of this scene is literally spent selling herself about how interested she is in Don's work and how she wants to do this for a living. She makes no mention of acting again until her friend brings it up in California--where she immediately torpedoes the conversation. She does not talk about acting again until she decides to leave SCDP and tells Peggy.
In fact, in this scene, Don tells her he can't sleep with her because he can't afford to make any mistakes right now. Megan is the one who convinces and seduces Don. (Megan then goes back to the business relationship and calls him Mr Draper--strong independence.)
(Seriously, watch this scene again, Season 4 Episode 11--she downplays the acting and uplays everything Don did. Even when Don writes that letter to Tobacco and the office hates him, she comes in and praises it.)
Now, obviously, she isn't completely innocent. It was shitty that she stole the role out from under her friend and shitty that she guilted Don and put him in the uncomfortable position of forcing the commercial director to hire her. That was some obvious insight into the ambitious part of her personality, but I think it's harsh to say she was being intentionally deceptive to Don.
The other points are fine, and you can't really look into someone's head to understand their motivations. However, these two points, combined with her 180 on children, and her attitude toward work (Don did not push her, remember the first time Don had work open in front of her, she requested to see it and told Don how much she wanted to do it--Don said nothing.)--leads me to believe there was a good amount of deception behind her motivations--but again, people are rarely one dimensional, for me it's easily believable that an amount of affection can exist simultaneously with a desire to use another person.
And this season culminated in that display, of the duality of "friends" and people in every character. Look at Roger abandoning Don when his situation deteriorated financially. Or look at Joan with Pete, despite the fact that she admits Pete's been the only straight person with her at the firm and promising her she'd be on the account. People wear their masks--it's what people do.
I also don't agree when it comes to the kids.
The kids were one element of it though. Breaking this down into subsets to say "Well here she wasn't being deceptive" is not going to work because people aren't built around one aspect of life. Is it possible Megan was just being a great nanny and didn't want kids? Sure. Is it ALSO possible Megan was super-interested in advertising, to the point that the first time they slept together she begged Don to see his notes, and then all the sudden becomes disinterested to the point where she gets annoyed when work calls? Sure. Is it ALSO possible that she is an incredibly independent woman who makes it a point to tell Don "Well, this is my money" (Or how she was sexually independent after the first time they slept together and told him it was a one off thing) when they were first married--and then goes onto be a woman who literally throws herself on the bed crying because Don won't help her (So strong, interdependent to child?)? Meh, I'm seeing a pattern.
People can change, sure. But when patterns emerge, it's silly not take notice of them. All of the above happened. Judging Megan by the sum of her parts is all we can do. For me the biggest thing wasn't the children, or her jump from advertising--it was actually going from being independent and making a big show of NOT using Don's power (There is a line where she says it's her money, and then she tells Don she doesn't want him to interfere in the office, and again, her rejecting his attempts to talk about their sexual liason)--to a woman who is bawling on the bed like a child for Don to fuck over her best friend and pull strings to get her a part.
It was a pretty stark 180, and jarring for me. I'd never, ever--ever--expect a strong, independent woman like Season 4 Megan to throw a tantrum and cry on a bed to get what she wants, ever. Would I expect her to ask Don for help? Of course. Who wouldn't exploit some sway if they had it. But to throw a fit like a little kid? Meh. I think we were shown a core of Megan's character there, and given all the other deep changes, I doubt it can all be written off has her "changing"--I think she was always that way, but she adapted to her environment, like all people do, when she was a secretary and getting to know Don.
But, at the same time, it's undebatable that things changed between the two of them, and neither of them is blameless in that. Megan used Don, and that caused Don to pull away and never let her in again like when they first met, despite all of Megan's attempts. And if you look at them as being representative of their two generations, this was how it was always going to end. It's no coincidence Megan walks out on Don just before '69.
Don is not blameless--he's half the problem for sure. His inability to accept his own difference between what he shows the world (Don) and what he is (Dick) is what makes him incapable of building relationships. All people do this, to a certain a degree. It's very rare that you get a Trudy or a Mrs Draper--it's not possible. Megan did sell herself as something she wasn't--but that doesn't make her bad (Though I'd say she isn't good, either.). If Don wasn't so broken, he could have grown with the other (Ambitious) facets of her personality and embraced her for who she was. Don can't do that, because he is broken himself.
