Well what about those come-uppences??? Had a feeling the Barrett was up to something when he called at the end of the show last week. And he dangled a very big carrot to get them both there at the same time so he could drop his bomb. That was a breathtaking confrontation.

Now Joan got hers by the little upstart 20 year old. And frankly, she deserved what she got in spades. Move over queen Joan, there is a new girl in town.

Yes, I knew the jig was up as soon as he called Betty at home. She is not a favorite of mine, but to see her riding home, sitting in that new car like an ice queen and then being violently ill all over it, well, that was painful. Betty seems to rarely have a good night out with Don.

I think Joan has met her match and had better watch her back. Although, I don't think Jane is really all that interested in having Mr. Sterling show up at her door in the Village. I found myself idly wondering if Jane will turn out to be a lesbian. Not that she should necessarily fall for any of those guys - they are not the most charming of individuals, no matter what they think of themselves.

I was struck by several things in this episode. One, the flashback to Don as a car salesman and being confronted by the mystery woman - can't wait to see where that might lead. Two, the lovely family picnic in the pristine outdoor setting, which very soon was not so pristine thanks to the littering Draper family. When Don just pitched his beer can away, I could not believe my eyes. He was sooo concerned about keeping his new car clean and not a thought for the environment. It was kind of satisfying, in retrospect, to see Betty upchuck all over the front seat. Finally, poor Sal, who is rapidly becoming a favorite character of mine, and his wife, Kitty. I feel for them both.

A good episode, from the initial funny business of sneaking into Cooper's office, right to the end when Jimmy Barrett threw acid all over Don and Betty.

What an episode! Joan Holloway and Don Draper both had their asses kicked. When Betty Draper said "You People are all so crude and ugly" to Jimmy Barret, was she making an anti-semitic remark or was she referring to Hollywood people? I'd like to hear an opinion. Barret must have know all along that his wife is a whore, so why so upset. Hmmm? Could have been alot of reasons, I suspect Betty's dick teasing probably has something to do with it. She know's what he want's but just dangles it.
And, yes I also suspect Jane might be a Lesbian. There is an under current of contempt in her voice when she is hit on by the guys in the office. Of course that wouldn't make her a Lesbian, just a decent girl. But, she is a strange bird, and I can't put my finger on it. She certainly likes working there, and is pretty good at her job. I hope she keeps kicking Joan's ass. Joan needs to be knocked down a few pegs.

So glad someone commented on the littering. I went to many picnics in the 60's and not once did we throw cans in the park or leave our paperware to fly away. We did have trash cans in those days. However, littering was a problem in some cases so that is why the Lady Bird Johnson made that her cause. Although, I can't imagine a family like the Drapers doing what they did..that is something you just did not do.

I am no fan of Betty's character, but I do not think she has been dangling anything in front of Jimmy Barrett. She is a woman of her times, fending off a man who has not been subtle about his attraction to her. I wonder, though, if Barrett was more interested in spilling Don's secret than in seducing her. Would he have said anything if she had shown herself willing to go to bed with him? Or would he have stuck to what he told Don and refused to bed another man's wife?

The Sal dinner was uncomfortable--Jimmy Barrett getting his revenge was great--Joan looked as if she was pushed without moving was also great, but the best was Betty throwing up in the new caddy. I don't know what to think about the woman in the dealership. Maybe the real Don Draper's wife who had to see for herself. good show not great but good.

I love the way Don just threw the beer can up in the air after the picnic. Then they just picked up the picnic blanket and shook off the trash, leaving it right there on the ground! Litterbugs!
Just goes to show the great writing on this show and the attention to details.

I also could appreciate the come-uppence of both characters mentioned, Joan and Don. I have to admit, while I am not a great fan of Betty's I did feel badly for her.

As far as the littering goes, I think that issue, along with other behaviors are just what many people did without thinking about they were doing. The daughter serving as bar maid and last season when the children were playing "astronaut" using plastic bags from the cleaners, are examples of certain dangers that people were just not paying much attention to. I think the writing of these items into the story make more of a statement of the times without beating people over the head.

I like the details too, DevilEyes but did you notice the modern lamp posts in the background when Don threw away his beer can? The lamp post near the car was a vintage prop but the two lamp posts in the background were bloopers. Love this show!!

I just watched this episode on demand and im hooked on this show now. I completely loved Jimmy's revenge - it was great! Maye I missed something but what's the deal with Sal and the "accounts" guy? What is his weird infatuation with him? Is it the writing or something more? It really made me wonder the way he held on to the lighter accounts guy left behind. LOVE the show!

Is it me or did this episode show Betty's disinterest in the children more? She always wants to put them to bed early and always tells her daughter to go play with her little brother. She was even in the middle of a checkers game with her daughter when she stopped to watch the clouds with Don. It seems like she is desperate for his attention. I think it's still subtle but apparent to see how the children are being affected by the bad marriage between Don and Betty.

RE: p59, Icintron and HollyGoLightly's comments:

Good question p59 (re "You people are all so crude and ugly...). I wondered also, and after my initial shock over the comment, I leaned toward thinking it was anti-semitic, not "comics" or show-biz people. It was left ambiguous by the fact that Jimmy Barrett didn't seem to particularly react to it visibly.

In hindsight, when I evaluate that scene with a new appreciation of Matt Weimer's integrity to the "era," I realize that this was before Political Correctness...(way before). As atrocious and distastful as it was, I guess it was very realistic that it would be said, but it did surprise me that BETTY said it, since she is usually so careful about what she says. Shows how upset she was, I guess ...really out of control. (Note that I did not say that I was surprised that Betty was capable of HAVING such an ugly thought--we've seen plenty of evidence of her "smallness").

Regarding the littering, that was another "pencil chewer" for me too! I was stuck on it like a puzzle I couldn't figure out. Even more than just that "littering" was not a consciousness-raised issue back then --(yes, Lady Bird helped!)--I was trying to figure out if maybe public parks used to employ a lot of those uniformed men with pointy sticks and large canvas bags who would appear to scoop up peoples' picnic trash as soon as they departed!? Don't know! Picking up your own trash was evidently not part of the "proper" code in this social subset (which Betty is the arbiter of for the family). Either that, or they're just self-absorbed pigs! (I defer to the writer above, who remembers that cleaning up your own picnic trash was "de rigeur").

Betty comes from a fair amount of wealth, and for her segment of society, behavior was about following sort of "nobless oblige," class-conscious "rules." Remember at the picnic when Sally asked her parents: "Are we rich?" Betty's response: "It's not polite to talk about money." And that ended the discussion. (I nearly fell off my chair because I thought I was the only one to hear that growing up--and in those exact words!)

So you can leave your trash around, but for heaven's sake don't talk about money!

Finally, regarding Betty's "blase'" attitude toward her kids, I think that was typically a more' of the times also. Maybe kids "fixed the drinks" and were tolerated for awhile (till bedtime -- if they were quiet) at the grown-ups' parties, but they were never the center of attention around their elders.

And what's more, they were not the "center" be-all, end-all, raison d'etre of the entire family unit, like they tend to be today. (Not criticising, mind you, just stating a reality--after all, whoever remembers Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford, Jane Powell, etc waxing on endlessly about the "miracle" of their children...not limited to females either, as the male stars of today do it too).

Our current child-worshiping era has been evolving, really, SINCE the "sixties."

(Remember in the Frontier Era" children's roles revolved around helping with the chores (and there were often large familes because a lot of help was needed). Then, in the Victorian Era, the role of the child was to "be seen, not heard"--not as much demanded of them, but still they were not (in general) particularly "catered to"--either by their parents or society).

We see Sally and Bobby in that mid-20th Century era, when children were just beginning to be in a position to partake of the hard-won economic success of their parents. Up to this point (except for the very upper class), the middle class had been too busy becoming middle class to have the leisure and time and thought to put into the way they raised their children. (That you have to actually put tremedous time, energy, dedication and thought into how your raise a child is actually fairly recent in terms of being the "norm").

In short, I don't think Betty is that unusual for her class and era in terms of seeming more self-absorbed than absorbed in her children. When you're fighting for your own identity, you're not focused on anyone else's, and since her identity has been that of "Don Draper's Wife," she's all at loose ends now.

(Which is ironic, because from what's he's said, one of the things Don has admired most about his wife seems to be that she's the Mother He Wished He Had Had).

I'm the biggest Mad Men fan ever! I've been watching since day one and Matthew Weiner is such a stickler to detail but did anybody notice in the opening sequence where everyone is getting ready to go to work, they had Peggy putting on pantyhose? They were invented in 1959 but stockings and garters were still the order of the day until miniskirts began to show up in 1965. I LOVE THIS SHOW!

RE:Jackie_Monroe.
Wow. You have very good points. I'm a child of the eighties and have never thought about how people raised their children in those times. Now I'm convinced it has to do more with the era than with Don and Betty themselves. You're right, we are obssed these days with our kids. My older sister has a 3 year old and he is the center of her universe. (not that your kids shouldn't be) However, she gives too much of herself. I 'm always facinated with how well Betty is put together. Back then there was more emphasis on trying to look good for your husband or yourself. Y/N?

...HollyGoLightly...
Like you said, Betty is more put together than any other woman on the show (but then she's got the money to dress better than the secretarial pool). But in addition she's got the good taste in clothes (probably her up-bringing, her Mother and her modeling experience helped here in that). And not to mention her beauty and figure....

But yes, always looking your best for your husband--whether you were going out or not--was one of those "virtues" espoused in women's magazines of the period.

...MerDur..
Regarding the pantyhose, I missed that! You may be right, and if so, that's one of the first "false notes" or slip-ups I've heard of on the show.

Peggy may have access to new products (pantyhose) due to her line of work.