Mad Men fans learned on Sunday's episode, The Crash, exactly what happens when you add a weekend's heavy load of work with a mysterious serum injected into the buttocks -- it equals Don Draper passing out on his living room floor.

The Art Director Stan Rizzo, played by actor Jay R. Ferguson, believed his creativity fueled by the serum. He delighted in the 666 ideas he developed for the Chevy account, thought it did not end up being used due to a severe lack of sense among them. Stan also had a bad run-in with an X-Acto knife in the midst of the shenanigans, for which Ferguson praised the show's special effects department for getting it to land correctly.

"I don't remember what they told us [was in the serum]," Ferguson told the GQ GQ+A section. "Nobody thought that they were getting fucked up back in those days when they would administer these shots. They were strictly to help people concentrate and focus. It wasn't meant as a hallucinogenic or a psychedelic. They would tell you that they were vitamins.

"And while there might have been some B12 in there, it was mixed with whatever the ephedrine of the day was. So it's essentially speed, but, you know, with a little B12 in there for good measure."

Even after the whole office went crazy, there was a comedown, and in the moments of quiet lucid reflection came one of the scenes that was bound to have fans talking. In what Ferguson calls ""a sweet emotional scene," Stan shared a kiss with Peggy, spurred on in part the recent loss of a cousin in Vietnam. Ferguson said this kiss went much better than a previous attempt Stan made, which he described as "not even borderline creepy, [that one] was just yucky," recalling some murky circumstance surrounding the incident. The Crash, the kiss "seemed much more real, and not scary."

The actor appreciated the opportunity to show a different side of his character, since he believes that audiences have wondered what else Stan has to offer.

"They gave me a lot of fun things to do; [this was] a very challenging episode overall for me," said Ferguson.

"For so long now, people have started to wonder, is there even any other part of Stan than what we see? So that was fun and liberating, as the character, to be able to go there a little bit. And just to be able to do that with Lizzie [Elizabeth Moss, who plays Peggy], that was a very special gift that they gave me."

Perhaps the biggest transformation Ferguson made since his introduction in season 4 carried over into Ferguson's home life: that beard Ferguson grew out for this season, which soon became a source of humor amongst some of his co-stars. He's since gotten rid of it during the off-season, and that process was actually a family affair.

"I couldn't bring myself to do it. But then I just had to," said the actor. "So I got the kids, my three boys, and they all took turns with the beard trimmer and shaved it off. Two of my boys are very young, so I didn't want to come home and freak the s--t out of them right when I walked in by not having a beard."

"It was actually very liberating to get it off," he added. "I did have a couple of phantom beard strokes over the first week after not having it. I was so used to having it as a tool to contemplate life."

However, Stan's beard might just make a re-appearance for the show's final season next year: "We'll see if I have to grow it back."

Check out the preview for Sundays episode, The Better Half,

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Mad Men, Television