I dont see Betty cheating. Her self esteem is too low by Don's constant put downs.

Remember, she's NORDIC!!
I don't know, if she does, she will find out what she's been missing like Goldie Hawn's classic line in "Private Benjamin"!! I have a feeling Don is all about HIM in bed with her, if you know what I mean?
What year was Cosmo first published? She has to do something when she starts reading that instead of Family Circle.

Well, I think that skuz Jimmy Barrett will probably proposition her (for her and Don to 'swap" with he and Bobbie)...yeck...Betty would get the worst end of that deal...eeeeeewwwww But, you're more likely right, crnacc, she doesn't have enough self esteem--- plus the guy is gross.

Hi scfan! Yes, Jimmy Gross Out may be the one. In the previews for next week's show I thought I saw him calling Betty and asking her and maybe Don to a club.
If she wears the bikini I swear he will suffer from PE!!

My fear is that Betty will jump out there again and get herself into a situation she can't control. She is risking more and more each time she tests her feminine wiles. She was able to innocently extricate herself from Roger's clutches without alienating him. The tow truck man situation went well, so she gained some confidence. She controlled the stable gigolo pretty well, but it shook her up pretty good at the end.

I agree, scfan...she may not be able to control Jimmy. He's not the type of guy to take no for an answer. Peggy made a giant mis-step (with Pete) as she tried to do (her interpretation) of what Joan told her (because her emotions got involved...I think she has a thing for ol' Petey). I think Betty will slip with the first person she has an emotional tie to.

After all, Don did leave his tshirt in the room when he walked out on Bobbi (did you notice?). If Jimmy found it, there may have a bit of revenge planned.

Hi greytone! The tee shirt! You are good at details! It sure isn't Jimmy's size. WOW! This will be interesting!

60schild...
I was trying to figure out where she was (hotel vs. summer house) before I said anything here. But, definitely the shirt is a different size than JB.

It's so hard sometimes to tell when time has passed. I have to watch the guys' ties and ladies dresses in the office to tell if it is a different day. The first time I saw this episode, I missed the fact that Chauncey and Duck's children actually visited for a number of days....not just one that the casual observer would think. These stories are not linear....then they add the flashbacks! The average viewer is frustrated by this....Maddicts just LOVE it!

Did Carmella Soprano cheat on Tony?

Betty is the 60s version of Carmella Soprano.

Carmella wanted to cheat with the painter.. but he ended up not moving forward with her...If Betty is Carmella, Don is definitely Tony Soprano... thought that especially when he was tying up what's her face....

@Mr_L, I believe Carmella did finally cheat on Tony with a guy that could get one of her kids into a good school, as I recall...anybody remember the details?

Weren't Don and Bobbi in a hotel? If so, how would Jimmy find the T-shirt?

Betty is a DHIT - Desperate Housewife in Training. She will either get involved with someone or perhaps get involved with drugs and/or booze. Something's got to give! And the irony of her having low self-esteem showcases that beauty isn't everything or insurance for a happy life.

As for Betty being the 60's version of Carmella? You all have to get over MW's connection to that series! She is so far from being Carmella on any level...Carmella, despite her place in her relationship, had a certain power with Tony; Betty has none. She is an appendage to Don as so many women were then.

You guys are so right that Don is Tony and Betty is Carmella.

I started to notice the Tony Soprano resemblance when Don molested Bobbie at the restaurant. Don is sooooo Tony; only a whole lot better looking and definitely sexier.

I remember some things in Season 1 that remind me of Tony Soprano; that whole thing accusing Betty with flirting with Roger; leaving the party & coming home with a dog.

He certainly shares the same sexual code as Tony. He cheats and it's okay but God forbid Betty should wear a bikini!

Betty . . . who knows where she'll end up? I'm betting at some point there will be an affair and that she'll go a lot further than Carmella with her priest, or the painter or Furio.

When your self-esteem is as low as Bets then you take chances to see if your worth anything at all. Don is constantly putting Betty down which will make her fall for someone at there smallest compliment.

It's because of Betty's low self-esteem that she will cheat. She's desperate for any type of attention.

I felt so sorry for her when she thought she looked pretty in the bikini (she did!) and then Don put her down like he did. The way she just stood there after he left in the hallway self-conciously pulling the cover up around her-- her stance was like a misbehaving little girl who'd been told to go stand in the corner. That hippocritical (sp?) Don!

As I see Betty, she is a bit of a (rhymes with nick) tease. She says "No," when what she REALLY means is "maybe." She was saying that (with her mannerisms and voice inflection) to the mechanic who fixed her car, the guy at the stable who is apparently still in the picture, and a couple of other male characters here and there. It's subtle, but it's there. We have all known at least one gal like Betty. They say no but their eyes and mannerisms should "Maybe!"

Can't type today. Make that last line They say "no" but their eyes and mannerisms SHOUT "maybe!"

....like some of the people on here, i feltr concern about Betty's various experiments bartering her sexuality for power and self-esteem....

the tow-truck driver scene raised a danger "red flag," and i keep wondering how long will it be before some situation goes awry, and betty finds herself past the point of no return, or worse.

i'm thinking "Belle du Jour," or "Mr. Goodbar...."

Rightasrain, is that from "The Matrix?"

I don't see it, really, as a conscious choice by Betty. I do see Jimmy Barrett making a stab at almost groping-raping her as a payback to the Don/Bobbie thing. Is that too wild?

BTW: In the previews for "The Gold Violin" next week, when they show Jimmy Barrett saying "I laugh at you.....", I think he's looking at himself in a mirror. Don't ask me why, but I think he's speaking to himself.

Betty is a DHIT - Desperate Housewife in Training. She will either get involved with someone or perhaps get involved with drugs and/or booze. Something's got to give! And the irony of her having low self-esteem showcases that beauty isn't everything or insurance for a happy life.

===================================
Betty is pre-Diary of A Mad Housewife (anybody remember that book?). She's been ripe for an affair for the longest time: I too predict Jimmy.

Betty is craving attention, and rightfully so. However, her misfortune is that she loves Don. I doubt very much that she will cheat because cheating is a greater "crime" for a woman than a man. Women have a hard time with the madonna/whore mindset of many men. It just doesn't make sense to females. I hope she can find a way to make him suffer, but I really think the best way to do it is to leave him. Take the kids and go. Leave him alone with his empty soul and see how he likes it. He makes a lot of money and they still paid alimony in those days.

@kac: you've got it - there's the key "Betty loves Don". Too big a hurdle for her to jump on someone else.

scfan: Re: Carmella cheating on Tony. Actually, she slept with a man who was either her son's teacher or guidance counselor, but she did this while she and Tony were separated. The guy insulted her by suggesting that she was sleeping with him JUST to get her kid into a good school.

As to Betty, I can neither see her cheating on Don or leaving him...not unless she's got a chaste relationship waiting in the wings. I'm just wondering if Bobbie will go as far as the "Fatal Attraction" thing which will ultimately involve Betty.
I see Betty standing by Don, even if she finds out about his past.

jamm54....
I watched the preview for the Gold Violin, too. I kept looking to see who he was speaking to. If you watch carefully, you'll notice the area where Jimmy is looking has been deliberately blurred to make sure nothing is given away until the night of the broadcast.

Most series shows will employ at least one person that leaks show details to the general public through message boards or forums. I am amazed that I can't dredge up any leaks for Mad Men....only endless inaccurate speculation. (I've read that someone on Twitter is pretty close to the action, though.) Was the Sopranos like this (I only watched through Season 2)?

My guess?...it's Betty....he wouldn't dare speak to Don like that and he is not fed up with Bobbi (yet). He's gonna make a move on Betty, and he seemed to have some animosity for Don professionally and personally.

I think he noticed that both Bobbi and Don were gone from the dinner table at the same time. (Betty would have been oblivious to that detail.) Someone like him would also notice when such a control-freak like Bobbi is suddenly away and too busy to control things for him (he seems pretty helpless to the level of speaking with her daily and needing her to backtrack and pick up his tuxedo). He's setting Don up for something....

I hope the violin is not crudely used. I played violin as a young girl in Nebraska and really love the instrument.

greytone and jamm54 et al,
I'm really curious who Jimmy is talking to. It would be most earth-shattering if it were Betty because of the implications -- presumably he's also telling her about Don. This would set up a plotline that could take up a lot of Season Two. I'm sure Visan would love five episodes of marriage counseling!

Given the misdirections often in the previews (I was pondering that 'he lied to my face' line from the preview a few weeks ago, and it was just about Lil' Bobby), I think it could be Don. I think Jimmy has known all along; the 'you're a cool cat, Don' line he said last week in Don's office was pretty knowing. "I know, and you know I know, but you're still sliming your way out of this." There's a picture of Don in a tux in the preview for Gold Violin, so I think he goes to the party with Betty -- I don't think Betty has the guts yet to sneak out without him like that.

I can take Jimmy saying that stuff to anybody except poor Mrs. Utz. That whole affair was pretty heartbreaking -- even when Cosgrove said he was mortified because 'my mother is heavy-set' was oddly touching. Just spare the poor Utzes any more suffering, and I'm good with where they take me.

@oldfashioned: Five episodes of that @sshole and Don in counseling? I'm sure Army Wives will be happy to have my viewership! The less SAB, the better!

Anyway, I find it most bogus that she doesn't have high self-esteem! She was a model, making doe from her looks and I'm sure men hit on her all the time! I disagree that SAB loves Don! SAB loves SAB!! She thinks the world should revolve around her and her crinolines!

Frankly, I'm more interested in Don's next extramarital conquest. Fingers crossed she's another brainy brunette!

Viva Don the 'Ho!

@Visan: you'd be surprised at the number of very beautiful women who have low self-esteem. Their beauty is both a blessing and a curse. Often, they are only "related to" because of their beauty, and no one's interested in who they are as a person. Can really screw them up pretty good.

Still think Jimmy is talking to himself in a mirror (I think because someone is moving across the screen behind him). Maybe he chickens out at his own party; I think he'd do something to hurt Betty - like tell her everything. Jimmy is a coward and weakling, that's why he's got Bobbie to do all the dirty work - he can't.

@jolie10: I don't think Bobbie will cook the bunny. First and foremost, she's a business "woman" (gag on that term for her) - Bobbie will screw Don in business.

When Bobbie tried to blackmail Don over Jimmy's contract, I don't think it was really about the contract as much as forcing Don to "service her". Bobbie wanted Don for sex from the get-go, the Don Draper "treatment". Now that Don has outright "rejected" her and is withholding, she's going to get him in business. Bobbie knows the sex is probably over, so it's back to "business", and she's going to blow Don out of the water and hit him where it hurts - Sterling Cooper.

And Visan, to make it clear, because of their beauty, they are more objectified than the average person. Yes, they can often use it to their advantage to get what they want, but I think it can also end up being to their disadvantage, because they don't develop other parts of themselve. Keep falling back on their beauty as a cure-all. Beauty does fade.

That title, "The Gold Violin" reminds me of this very interesting movie called "The Red Violin" with Samuel L. Jackson. Great story with a couple interesting surprise twists.

SAB is narcissistic! She thought it was OK to visit her issues on Glen from last season, whining to a child about her sadness. Many thought it was "poignant" when she risked getting that little boy in trouble for her own sake. I found it creepy as hell!! Then this season, she emasculates her little son, Robert, because...because...because she's an asshole! She picked on the boy and insisted that he was a liar, for drawing some picture! Again, a grown-ass woman visiting her issues on a child! It's all about her and her happiness. If other folks are hurt in the process, "Tough shit," is how she sees it!

I'll agree she is screwed up, but I don't think it's because of her looks per se. I don't know about being a narcissist. Sometimes Betty's able to be empathetic, but mostly her POB or emotions are that of a teen, not an adult. She is mean to her son, yes.

Jamm: I'm NOT a psychologist or anything. So I'm basing the narcissism theory on SAB's sense of entitlements. Think about her shitty attitude toward Carla the maid and the couple who saw her stranded on the road. And I'll NEVER forget how refused to answer back when Peggy told her "Nice meeting you!" in the "5G" episode. She always thinks others are jealous of her, like Helen Bishop and her ex-roomie, Juanita. Obviously, she's passive-aggressive. Loves to lie about her alleged "sophistication," especially to that asshat neighbor, Francine. And please remind me of when SAB ever empathized with someone....All those factors lead me to believe she has a Narcissistic Personality Disorder!

Using Wikipedia as a quick reference!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder

@Visan: I don't have to read the narcisstic personality disorder, I have a couple in the family who play out all the classic signs of true narcissists, and have been watching it for years! LOL

I think Betty showed empathy to Don when he spoke about his dad beating him - which surprised me. At first, Betty was somewhat sympathetic, empathetic towards Helen Bishop (Sally's birthday party), though her attitude changed later. When Betty's with Francine, she seems to be able to commiserate with Francine over their wifely troubles, rather than try and "top" Francine with "Let me tell you about me - I HAVE TROUBLES".

Let's leave it at we'll agree to disagree about Betty, because I think she wavers back and forth between narcissist behavior and normal frustrated housewife, and I know you don't agree with that. Hey, I love your SAB name for her anyway!

@Jamm: I just referenced Wikipedia to show I wasn't pulling "symptoms" out my "tailpipe!" Ha! Yeah, we'll simply agree to disagree about SAB! It's all good....

Glad you like the nickname for her! I like giving MM characters nutty nicknames!

Visan, is SAB an acronym? Maybe I missed it earlier, but the signficance does not jump out at me. Sexy Ass Betty? Smart Ass Betty?