I wondered if she was trying to "induce" a miscarriage. She certainly went riding an awful lot after her doctor told her not to....whatever the quality of that advice.

My take is that she had nothing to lose.

She knew she was already pregnant by her husband, so if that was a concern before, it wasn't that night.

She probably felt like her relationship with Don might have been over anyway.

Don already admitted to her what she did, so she felt vindicated and probably felt entitled to play for herself.

The world very well could have ended. What better chance than to have a jump-off with a very attractive man?

She is self-actualized now as a grown woman.

SueFH, I was always told that it's almost impossible to miscarry a healthy pregnancy. Certainly horseback riding or having sex couldn't do it. Doctors may have told pregnant women not to go horseback riding back in those days though.

I think she was just depressed about the state of her marriage and what was going on in the world. She also wanted to see what the attraction was to having an "affair" because she knows Don has had several. Remember, she told her psychiatrist about Don's affairs before she was told about him and Bobbie. When the bar room rendezvous was over, I think she realized that she felt nothing. That it was just sex.

Then, when she received the letter from Don saying "I know you won't be alone, you'll find someone. But without you I will be alone forever. I love you." She realized that Don really did love her. And of course the pregnancy. I'm glad she didn't opt for an abortion. In the end, when Don held her hand and she had tears in her eyes, amid the troubles in their marriage and the world falling apart around them, I think he was trying to tell her everything would be OK and they would get through it together. Great episode!!

I was just shocked that she did that and lost all respect for her. I know she was a conniving b**** but at least I had respect for her and her games. She could have just stopped it just before they were going to have sex and I still would have had respect for her but if I were Don and ever found out, I would leave in a heartbeat even with all the infidelities I've done.

....because she's a woman? Okay.

Tangfi, I agree with you! :)

I feel sympathy for her, but she did shock me (yes shock, not surprise) me by doing what she did.

Same here, The Real Deal. I didn't want her to have an affair, I loved how she was the only woman on the show --literally, the only woman--who didn't engage in any adulterous activities. Peggy, Joan, Jane, Midge, Rachel, Bobby--all of these women betrayed someone one way or another except Betty. And what's funny is they're praised at "embrasing their sexuality" because of it.

I really wanted the writers to stick to that characteristic of Bets, but they didn't. Still...to call her a whore? Too much.

This was a behavior more in line with the late 70's. It's too bad that the writing is not as authentic as it was during the first few episodes ... those were the things that drew me to this series.

Women with children did just about ANYTHING to save their marriages .. not go and act out their frustrations. Men divorced their wives and left them with nothing to raise children. Betty would have been overlooking Don's affairs and just happy he stayed with her.

I'm disappointed in these historical inaccuracies. The series was great when it was accurately depicting the 60's. A married woman overlooked her husband's transgressions. This is just one of the historical inaccuracies.

Peggy started out on the right track. But, it is completely unrealistic the way she made the easy move from secretary to ad exec. First, the other women (including the office manager) would have HATED her and done everything to make sure she didn't succeed. Second, Peggy would have been so unsure of herself she would have bent to every blowing wind.

It is so disappointing to see the way that womens' roles are so off the mark. I remember this time well. I broke the mold and worked so hard ... and suffered tremendously ... while doing so.

Betty's behavior was not entirely innacurate. My grandparents went through a very similar situation, except that they never got back together. People didn't air their dirty laundry back then. When people separated (and yes, it wasn't as often as today, but it did happen more than most people think), they came up with somewhat plausible excuses for their spouse's absence, and everyone pretended they didn't know any better. My grandparents lived apart for years, and my grandfather had a mistress, but they never divorced. When my grandmother died, grandpa married the mistress. That's just how it was done. So Betty kicking Don out was not inaccurate. As for her bar closet hook-up....people do incredibly out-of-character things when they think the world is coming to an end. 9/11 anyone?

My mom and grandmother have told me many stories about women cheating. The pure-hearted wife who put up with everything was a myth. If a married woman got pregnant she passed it off as her husbands. Mom told me about women friends who had flings with their brothers-in-law. Women DO have sex drives and women DO skirt the morals when they want and the opportunity occurs. Of course, Mom told me about these things when I was an adult and the friends were dead or moved away, but it sounds like people got it on back then same as they do now.

Don't know much about the morals or ideals of the time but i do know that several friends of mine over the course of my short life have ended up with unwanted pregnancies. It is very VERY difficult for a woman who feels that she really truely cannot have and keep the baby.

In just about all the situations where they have no been in relationships (either they ended before the pregnancy was discovered or they were never relationships to begin with) the women have gone through a self destruct phase where they acted very reckllessly. One friend of mine took off in the middle of the night, the other slept with older men that she picked up.

Behavior that would have otherwise been considered almost despicable done out of deperation, hopelessness, and self hatred.

In Betty's case, not only did she feel she could not have a baby without Don, but Don finally had confirmed to her that he had cheated. I think she is innocent is a some small way and she really really hoped that she was "just going crazy". She trusted her husband completely before, even when she felt like she shouldn't. Even when faced with proof, when Don lied to her she had to fight to not beleive him.

Should Betty confess her indescretion to Don? It was her vindication. When she got her proof, she had to do this for personal reasons and I think she will choose to keep them personal unless Don hurts her again.

I doubt Betty will ever tell him. Just a matter of mentally getting even with Don for his affairs. Interesting that she did it after Don had confirmed he'd had an affair.

PrinceNeil is obviously one of the "Betty-haters." I wasn't even disappointed that she had the affair. After all the affairs Don has had (the ones we've seen and the ones they've only talked about).

A wife knows when her husband is cheating; she may be in denial, but deep down she knows. Betty has known for years that Don's unfaithful to her and it has hurt her deeply. She told her psychiatrist just that. So I think Betty went through with the bar room rendezvous because she wanted to see what the attraction was - why Don seemed to want to do this all the time. When it was over, you could tell (by the scene back in her house when she gets the piece of chicken out and stands there alone and eats it) that she felt nothing. It was just sex.

When the letter came from Don, it was written beautifully and he was able to express his true feelings for Betty - he really loves her and wants her back (and remember Don is not good at expressing his feelings). So I think Betty realized that Don's affairs were also meaningless and nothing but sex also. It took her going out and doing the same thing to maker her realize this. This is the first and I think last time Betty will ever do this. Remember, she has never strayed before, even though she's had plenty of opportunity, which proves to me that she is really not that type of woman. She wants a loving marriage and family. She didn't have it before which led to her depression. But now I think there's a chance she and Don can have what it seems they both want.

Marriages are not perfect and spouses have to forgive mistakes sometimes if the marriage is worth keeping together. And marriages are worth keeping together if there is no serious abuse or addiction involved. Back in those days, couples were more likely to stay together and work through their problems which actually leads to a deeper love and respect for each other that I'm afraid couples of today will never know. Because today, the minute something goes wrong, somebody is filing for divorce.

Oh, and I believe that Betty should not tell Don about the affair at the bar. Things were different between her and Don when she did that - they were actually separated. After the affair, she got the letter from Don and was able to tell him about the pregnancy. Things are moving in the right direction and I think Betty is better off keeping the affair to herself now.

tangfl:

I bet at some point Betty will break down and tell him about the affair.

I think it's funny that everyone who said Don had to tell Betty about his affairs is saying Betty doesn't need to tell Don about her little romp.

Matt Weiner said in that interview (you all should read it, link on the open thread) that Betty is a hypocrit. Plain and simple. She says one thing, does another.

She's not a strong woman, she's a selfish one. She'll stay in the marriage because of what level of society it gets her, and she'll have the baby because Don won't let her get an abortion. He loves kids too much.

I think it's funny that everyone who said Don had to tell Betty about his affairs is saying Betty doesn't need to tell Don about her little romp.

Matt Weiner said in that interview (you all should read it, link on the open thread) that Betty is a hypocrite. Plain and simple. She says one thing, does another.

She's not a strong woman, she's a selfish one. She'll stay in the marriage because of what level of society it gets her, and she'll have the baby because Don won't let her get an abortion. He loves kids too much.

I was so glad to see her push him off his pedestal. She had casual sex because she wanted to have sex. She loved Don, but didn't want to have his baby. Can you blame her? He abandoned his family for three weeks without a word. She was indiscreet for maybe fifteen minutes! So glad that this poor, neglected woman satisfied her own needs. He looked so pathetic when she told him about her pregnancy. He understood exactly how he hurt her and that she decided to stay with him because she was knocked up. He is to blame for it all. His affairs, her depression, her affair. I still feel bad for her. She sunk to his level. She must really hate herself. Poor thing.

It seems like Betty and Don are going ot have one hell of a season three!!!

Msnikki:
Don didn't abandon his family for three weeks as he sees it. Betty had told him repeatedly not to come home. So he didn't. Period. She just didn't know where he was.

Abandonment is what he wanted to do in Season One with Rachel. Remember her? Seems like sooo looong ago...

In that scene, I almost thought Betty was going to tell Don that she'd slept with another man, but at the last second, revealed the pregnancy.

Did anyone else notice that the stranger Betty slept with at the bar was married, too? He had a wedding ring on his wedding finger (I've seen the episode 4x now). I think Betty did it with the stranger because she felt trapped by the pregnancy, so the marriage to Don had to go on (in her mind). I'm not really sure that Betty was ready to resume a marriage with Don. Two unexpected things affected her decision: pregnancy and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Two "emergencies" and especially the latter which REALLY freaked people out in those days (I remember as an 8 year old - I thought we were going to be blown up and the papers, television and adults were all freaking out at the time).

Now that Betty has infidelity under her belt, she may have a different perspective on it and how it can affect your own behavior (secrets), and also, as someone else mentioned - having meaningless sex that does not touch your emotions.

I think the reason Betty had that fling is to get even with Don and even the playing field before she got back together. She is enjoying being in the driver's seat, that was the smirk while having sex and how she chowed down the chicken leg-- just like a guy and not the lady she usually acts. this was an act of vendictiveness.

I have never understood anything the character of Betty does.

Betty was having revenge sex. I was shocked that she did have a hook up with a total stranger at a bar no less. I thought that if she ever did decide to cheat on Don,it would be with someone she might have known casually,but far removed from the world of Madison Avenue.I can't see her ever confessing to Don,but then again I was blindsided by this so who knows?

In past episodes it has been pointed out that Betty is a very intelligent and often manipulative person. I do not see her as fragile . She pretends to be fragile and sweet because that's what would be expected and she has more than mastered that game. Really Betty has nerves of steel and Don does not realize that he has met his match. They believe it is the end of the world and every one is making confessions, Don is frightened for the lives of his family and Betty is still focused enough to think about how she can get revenge for his bad behavior.

I see this as just a way for Betty to walk on the wild side. Everybody around her is having these affairs and now that she has real confirmation (as much as you'll get from Don) that he really did have an affair she doesn't feel bad about doing it too.

What she should do is assert herself with Don. I'm not from this era but in no way do I believe that all women just laid there and didn't enjoy sex. She needs to show Don that she could be both wife and mistress. I was so proud of her when she had on the yellow bathing suit at breakfast. I was thinking that she finally realized that she could be a desirable woman. And then Don just smacked her down with that awful comment about looking desperate. I think this is the perfect time for her to start asserting herself more since Don is feeling all remorseful, he might be willing to let her get on top (unlike that jerk Joan is with...but I digress).

I agree: revenge sex. It was spontaneous, with little, if any, regret. If the writers wanted us to sense that she felt remorse she would have taken a long shower when she returned home, but a chicken leg was what all she needed. She’s pregnant and she has accepted it.

I don't think that Betty knew she was going to take Don back - in fact I'm pretty sure she WASN'T going to take him back, until she got his letter. So the fling in the bar, to me, wasn't particularly shocking, at least to me.

I think she was still in a quandary about what exactly she was going to do about this baby situation - and at that point, for all she knew, a letter from Don might never have come. In which case, she would have ended up looking for a new husband anyway, so Mr. Goodbar there was really just a convenience, for a woman who hasn't eaten anything all day and who just gulped back a gimlet on the eve of a potential nuclear war.

I don't think Betty knew when she went into the bar that she was going to get picked up. She just went in for a drink, a handsome stranger hit on her, she was buoyed up by "Dutch courage," and boom . . she figured "what the hell. Don does this all the time, why shouldn't I know what it's all about?"

I believe it was more of a spur-of-the-moment act, rather than a calculated one. She knew she couldn't get pregnant and probably figured this was her last chance before going back to Don and having another baby. I think she always intended to get back with Don.

I too cannot figure Betty out. IMO, she will do no better than Don. He gives her the status she needs to look down on others. (Remember Helen Bishop?) Money is no problem for Betty and Don makes sure he brings it home. He loves his children and they really love him. The children have had to watch the antics of an unbalanced woman each day of their lives. Betty is a shallow thinker, always worried about her appearance. The episode where she slept in her dress and wore it for a couple of days showed her imbalance. I LOL when Carla asked if she should run Betty a bath. Betty needs more therapy.
.

I agree Gail Klein,
It was a pur of the moment act, she was there to clear her mind and think about what to say to Don and even maybe reconcile the marriage. I don't hate her whatsoever this is the first time she went out of her marriage. How many times did Don do this,, multiple times since season 1 so 1 time out versus her husband is nothing. She's a pretty yet stable woman and knows what she expects from her husband like most women. counseling isn't needed Don needs sexual counseling and among other things. Why do Betty need it for to help? Her husband need to realize he don't need to hide anything from the women he put his all into.

I am sorry, i think that betty is not as sexually inexperienced as we seem to think. She was a model for a while before marrying Don and I bet a dollar to a dime that she had at least one affair and probably a "sponsor" before she married Don.
Betty in season 1 had the emotional maturity of a 12 year old.this season she acts like about a sixteen year old.. if I were Don I'd be having affairs just to have adult female company.

I am sorry, i think that betty is not as sexually inexperienced as we seem to think. She was a model for a while before marrying Don and I bet a dollar to a dime that she had at least one affair and probably a "sponsor" before she married Don.
Betty in season 1 had the emotional maturity of a 12 year old.this season she acts like about a sixteen year old.. if I were Don I'd be having affairs just to have adult female company.

You gave me a good laugh, divayaya69, with your explanation of Don seeking "adult" female companionship through his affairs because Betty's an emotional 16 year old!! Good one! Probably not too far off the mark, when you consider Midge, Rachel or others that we don't know about from Don's sexual dalliances of the past. They certainly were adults with brains.

divayaya69:

In all due respect, please!

While Betty should not have engaged in an adulterous affair, Don has not been a pig because of Betty's supposed immaturity. She may be a fragile soul as I said earlier, but this has nothing to do with Don's infidelities.

Don is a horny, oversexed, self indulgent, ruthless asshole!!! Period!

Guys, I respectfully disagree with you. I am sure that Betty was a virgin when she met Don, and he has been her one and only lover, with the exception of this one-night stand.

Nor do I believe that Betty is as immature and childish as everyone else seems to think she is.
She was raised to be a good girl, and her expectations were of hearth and home. She never expected to have a husband like Don who would be relentlessly unfaithful and mysterious. With all the shit that's been thrown her way, she's doing the best she can to get through it. She is still a good and responsible mother, the model wife, and Don is damn lucky to have her.

There is no way that she was a "party girl" like her former roommate. She was too naive to realize what that girl was up to until Don pointed it out to her. If you recall, she told the roommate that she wanted to "have lots of babies with Don." Her dreams were all about being the perfect wife and mother, not being "the town pump."

Stop the Betty-bashing, please!

No, Don's cheating was not about anything Betty lacked, but what he lacked.

I agree w/ Gail about Betty. IF she had any sexual experience at all before meeting Don it was on a limited basis.She went to a women's college,upper middle class,worked briefly as a model and met Don on a modeling job.(he wooed her with buying her the fur coat she was modeling) It was shown she liked the lights off during lovemaking, asked Don "Tell me what to do" when he was having ED problems and she had no clue her former roomie was a call girl. All of this adds up to a woman who was pretty chaste and sexually inexperienced before she got married.
I see her as a woman who defined herself as being the perfect mother and wife and became disillusioned when those expectations were not met. Who wouldn't be unhappy to find out the man you love is cheating and motherhood isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

I was actually glad that Betty had her indescretion. If you ask me, the act was rooted in pure revenge and had to be with a complete stranger. Remember that Betty is obsessively concerned with keeping up appearances and doing her dirty deed too close to home would put her at risk for clucking tongues and ugly gossip. The last thing Betty wants is to be subject to anyone's disapproval. That's her job, lol... to judge and disapprove of everyone else. Except for the occasional scene when she's wearing rollers in her hair (and she even looks flawless then) she is rarely seen with a hair or petticoat out of place. Although she clearly feels imprisioned by the self-imposed pressure of appearing perfect all the time, she continues bearing the weight of perfection while scornfully regarding any other woman who falls short the way she secretly wants to. Case in point, Glenn's mother and the judgmental way Betty commented on her divorcee status, her job outside the home and criticized the fact that Glenn wasn't being parented properly. Let's also remember the way Glenn judged her girlfriend after she learned her friend had cheated with the guy at the stable, although Betty, herself, set the wheel in motion. It's almost as if Betty tries to be so perfect that she feels she deserves to be rewarded in some way for it, only to find that life has left her sorely dissappointed. She has a handsome and commanding husband, yes, but barely knows him or anything about his past and she can't escape the nagging feeling that even when he's holding her, she's still somehow at arms length away from him. She's also BORED out of her friggin' mind with being a housewife, hello! She misses the days when she had a life outside of the home as a college student (although, I can't fathom for the life of me why someone needs to go to college to become either a fashion model or a housewife, lol. I know in those days, women used to go to college to "find a husband" but go figure).
At the same time that Betty secretly want to kick off her heels, let her hair down and just be--without all the pressure to be perfect--she also relishes feeling superior to other women because her life appears to be so perfect. She's both an elitist snob and a person who wishes she could reveal her true self without fearing ridicule.
But on the subject of her infidelity--I was actually happy for her that she wrought her revenge. Hers is the type of a revenge on a "perfectionist" can appreciate. Don doesn't have to know what she did for the crime to be any less satisfying. It's almost like her act was her silent way of punishing Don for his falling short of perfection when she tries her ultimate to be perfect for him. Her cheating was far more about her rage towards Don and the feeling that her military precision discipline at being Don's perfect model housewife was rewarded with his flagrant cheating and his insulting her intelligence with his bold faced lies. She felt the only real way to stick it to him was to let someone else stick it to her, lol. No, two wrongs do not a right make, but I was glad he got a dose of his own medicine, even if he doesn't know it. Don has been unfaithful to her countless times and always seemed to treat his wife like one of the children who he thought would be none the wiser so long as he pats her on the head and shows her a modicum of his attention from time to time. At times, I've thought his treatment of his wife was very condescending. Good for you, Betty!
Of course, Betty's self-imposed pressure to be perfect will likely lead her to eventually confess to Don. But in the mean time, he's had this comin'.
Also, I thought sure she would have the abortion, just to reject him even more.

I've wondered if Betty was someone who would flourish if she was able to go from college to a potential career opportunity as difficult as it was in the early 1960's since opportunities for women were limited.
I think if she hadn't met Don and got married she might have been still modeling or working in some aspect of fashion,design,etc. She was probably 21 years old when she got married,she's 30 now and Sally is 8. She's had no time to develop herself and explore her options.
Peggy is on her way and it will be a slow crawl up the ladder,but at least she's stimulated and doing what she wants to do on a professional level.
I see Betty as a complex woman with a lot of "What If's" swirling around in her head. When she is laying around that empty house drinking her wine she must ponder what she gave up in order to be Mrs. Draper. There's a price to pay for being a beautiful bird in a gilded cage.

Is everyone SURE than Don is the father of Betty's child?

tigribb1: Yes, Matt Weiner confirmed in an interview on chicagotribune.com this week (Oct 26-31) that the baby Betty is carrying is Don's child. MW said Betty became pregnant when she slept with Don during the visit to her father's home after his stroke.

Check out the interview on www.chicagotribune.com. Matthew Weiner answers a lot of questions about the storylines for many of the characters.

Betty had been heading to that bar for a long time. Recall the vibrating washing machine scene. And her fantasy about the air conditioner salesmen as well as her semi interest in the guy at the riding academy. Horses, talk about a sexual reference. And recall when she surprised Don with her naughty outfit & he was impotent. Don had been having a problem revving up sexual feelings for his perfect suburban wife who he wants to keep "pure". Consider his beginnings & the idea that he is/may be the son of a prostitute. Betsy uses sex also as an outlet for tensions, recall her doing it with Don at her father's house when he had his stroke. At the bar she found the perfect opportunity for what Erica Jong referred to as the zipless F. Anonymous tryst with a stranger seems to be a traditional female fantasy as well. Being pregnant also helped ensure no consequences.

I love your comment, adhead! You're right, we've been given all the signs-- Betty has been on her way to that bar for a long time! Why we can't see that a woman is a sexual being who really wants, really loves, the physical act of sex, and maybe doesn't want to always care if it comes wrapped up in pink ribbons, and valentines, and lifetime commitments. Betty is getting honest, slowly, but surely. And she started the journey with her sexual self. Thanks for your insight.

I agree most with Ritt and tangfl so far. It's funny how each person brings their own personal desires to their favorite characters. Nothing really happens outside what is presented, we each fill in the blanks as far as motivations, etc. Sometimes they're confirmed by new episodes, sometimes refuted. I had to point out to a coworker who I got hooked on the series that Don wasn't just a cheating husband on a power trip. He's a divided soul, a man who has chosen to reinvent himself. He's realizing that his idea of an ideal life is full of holes, or at least not what he thought it would be. Remember the look on his face when he told Anna in the flashback that he wanted to marry Betty? How far had he come from that moment? Ask any man after years of marriage where that enthusiasm went. It just does. You can't fake the rush of love when it's just not there any more. You have to really be able to communicate and be a team. Betty is what to him besides the mother of his children? A trophy wife? He's looking for a female equal, which is why he was so fixated on Rachel.
Now, I must admit, I felt a rush of anger when Betty had the zipless fuck with the surrogate Don (don't say you didn't catch the resemblance). It was cold, calculating, almost strictly a kind of exertion/demonstration of her feminine potency. Of course, since no one but the stranger would know she did it, the act was all for her own sake, a secret she could have that would take some of the sting out of his infidelities. Regardless of what anyone thinks, it solves nothing, but it proves a number of things. What I want to know is if we'll ever find out if she was molested by her father as a child, or is that moot?
I could say more, but this is long enough for a first post...

I agree most with Ritt and tangfl so far. It's funny how each person brings their own desires to their favorite characters. Nothing really happens outside what is presented, we each fill in the blanks in terms of motivations, etc. Sometimes they're confirmed by new episodes, sometimes refuted. I had to point out to a coworker who I got hooked on the series that Don wasn't just a cheating husband on a power trip. He's a divided soul, a man who has chosen to reinvent himself. He's realizing that his idea of an ideal life is full of holes, or at least not what he thought it would be. Remember the look on his face when he told Anna in the flashback that he wanted to marry Betty? How far had he come from that moment? Ask any man after years of marriage where that enthusiasm went. It just does. You can't fake the rush of love when it's just not there any more. You have to really be able to communicate and be a team. What is Betty to him besides the mother of his children? A trophy wife? He's yearning for a female intellectual equal, which is why he was so fixated on Rachel.

Now, I must admit, I felt a rush of anger when Betty had the zipless fuck with the surrogate Don (don't say you didn't catch the resemblance). It was cold, calculating, almost strictly a kind of exertion/demonstration of her feminine potency. Of course, since no one but the stranger would know she did it, the act was all for her own sake, a secret she could have that would take some of the sting out of his infidelities. Regardless of what anyone thinks, it solves nothing, but it proves a number of things. What I want to know is if we'll ever find out if she was molested by her father as a child, or is that moot?

I could say more, but this is long enough for a first post...

Couldn't love the show more and am blown away by completely blind critiques by tools like the guy who wrote this for the London Review of Books:

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n20/grei01_.html

I wonder if he even watched the show or just the commercials.

madmanfan4ever: with all respect, why do you assume Don has a sexual dysfunction? haven't you ever heard the expression that no matter how beautiful a woman may be, there's a guy out there who's tired of sleeping with her? men and women are just not hardwired, especially in an urban scenario where choice and change are constants, to forget about the opposite sex because we entered into a social contract like marriage. we may deny it in the interest of conformity, but at root the desires remain.

Absolutely, Gleb Jolie, Don does not have a sexual dysfunction, he just wants to switch brands once in awhile. Now Betty has opened that door too.... An older friend told me once that's what neighborhood cocktail parties were for: to check out some new partners. It was the beginning of swinging.

Maybe she waited until she did so she could get a babysitter? Her kids were gone all night, no one would ask her where she was, it was the perfect opportunity to do whatever she wanted.

what I got from the kitchen scene between Don and Betty after the conversation between Pete and Peggy is that in contrast to Peggy, Betty is shaming Don into staying with her by telling him about the baby. She feels nothing for him anymore, and that's how she had the anonymous sex in the bar. Just like Peggy said, the love goes away gradually until eventually there's nothing left. after the sex, she was eating her candy or bon bons or whatever. They'll have a loveless marriage now, and the power has shifted maybe because she feels nothing and he realizes he doesn't want to lose her, maybe they'll end up divorced in the seventies.

dizliz70:

You could be right.

@Gleb Jolie,Lilyann. I did not state in my two pervious posts Don has a sexual dysfunction.If anything can be said about Don,it's that he has a pretty healthy sex drive.
I mentioned the scene in the first episode of Season 2.,Valentine's Day where Don and Betty are having a romantic evening at the hotel. He had a performance problem with Betty.This was right after the Doctor gave him medication for high blood pressure so that may have contributed to the problem. Betty asks Don "Tell me what to do". This was the ONLY time we had ever seen Don not being able to perform and I attributed that to the meds he was taking.Go watch the episode again,it's pretty explicit. Having a one time "malfunction" is in no way the same as having a "sexual dysfunction". Does that clarify it for you?

Again, madmanfan4ever, maybe you just tossed off the line without thinking, but the initials ED stand for erectile dysfunction. The phrase you used was: "when he was having ED problems." I'd call that a sexual dysfunction. I'm not denying that the medication or his condition might contribute to his performance problem, but don't tell me that it isn't also very believable that Betty's performance or lack of it makes for uninspiring interludes. I for one can attest that it can be a turn off when your partner needs to be directed in the act.

But that's the beauty of this show. It's open-ended enough for us to read into it without needing hard answers all the time to get what's going on. There's space for us to bring our own concerns to it and still be satisfied.

Lilyann, I'm glad you picked up on the swinging subtext. Reminds me a bit of The Ice Storm.

@Gleb Jolie. Well, maybe I should have said Don had a momentary case of "Limp Dick".
I believe it was the first time he's had that problem because he didn't seem to have that occur with any of his numerous conquests.If Don had that LD or ED problems all the time with every woman,then yes, he would be experiencing a sexual dysfunction.As I said it was a one time thing.
Oh yeah,thanks for scolding me and defining what ED stands for......Give me a break, the show has how many Via Viagara
commercials in a 47 minute period?! FYI, I think most people know what those initials stand for. It used to be called impotence,now it's referred to as erectile dysfunction. But hey thanks for clarifying that for me.

all right, no need to take it personally. you said one thing and then acted like we needed to be schooled when your point became debatable. i was just explaining why it stuck out among your other comments. don't get your bunchies in a pant. and besides, if Don had had a momentary case of it, you just made my original point. your logic and your language should work in tandem before you choose to get testy with strangers who start out by qualifying that the comment was made in all respect - unless you're looking for an argument. i had a feeling this might happen. besides, we're probably the last people even paying attention to this topic...

to change subjects to something more constructive, i'd like to suggest that there's a lot to be learned about Don's motivations by going back to his flashbacks in The Hobo Code (season 1, episode 8).

i found it really enhanced the understanding of how he could be at once unmoored and family bound at the same time.

have a good weekend.

Interesting spin to end the 2nd season.

This view into the post-WWII, cum-Civil Rights era opens a world only few knew about.

These engaging characters help us to understand a bit of the world of our parents and grandparents when they were trying to just make sense of their daily lives - just as we are in 2008.

The consequences for marital infidelity are the same, strained relationships, secrets, unbalanced children and ultimately a breakdown in societal mores.

Betty's actions and Don's catalyst help us to see that despite all the external trappings of even wealth and prominence, at its' core, men and women can do more damage to family life and society by transient sexual behavior than they ever could in other ways.

Next season I really want Betty to come into her own. Yes she made the transition from child bride in season 1 to Mature woman in season 2 and now in Season 3 I want her to be a total equal to Don. I too think that the affair with the guy in the bar was one time thing. Betty did it out of revenge to settle the score, and If you look at her face when she comes home and eats the chicken leg, its as if it never happened. That yes she accepted the affair, but to her, its her secret nobody has to know. But once she gets the letter from Don you see her cry and look frustrated, as if she regretted the whole thing. I think she took him back not only for the baby she is carrying but because overall she does love him, but is still hurt that he admited the truth which set her free, but then again the truth harmed her. I think she is going to have Don on a very short leash. She has the power in the Draper household now. And also I think Don has changed. I know alot of fans, especially the women, want Don to be back in his cheating ways, but in recent interviews Weiner has said that Don changed in California, and he wants to explore more on the changed man. I think its possible we wont be seeing Don having any affairs in season 3. And also Weiner said that "Don's affairs dont make the show, its the brutality of how everyone treats each other whether its good or bad." Also Weiner suggested that he wants to focus more on the other characters in season 3. He says Don and Betty will of course almost be in every episode, but he wants to explore more on Sal, Peggy, the office.

Polignac: That's good news. I'm one woman who would be very happy to see Don Draper, Family Man. The relentless womanizing gets to be boring and ultimately, distasteful. I want to see the growth of Don and Betty, as a couple, and as individuals. The show would become very stagnant if it was just more of the same, season after season.

Actually, I have to admitt I'd like to see an end to the affairs too. Either through divorce or Don becoming an adult. Tiresome. The last creepy lay with the young jet setter was gross. Poor Betty, if she stays. Yeah, Elizabeth, if she goes. Goodnight and good luck til season 3.

I agree with Adhead. Betty’s night out in NYC seems designed to provide her comfort to help cope with her personal crisis of Don’s infidelity, the separation, her pregnancy and the imminent nuclear disaster. She leaves the children with Don and goes shopping and has dinner. She carries two shopping bags into the bar – one from Schraffs (a very popular, comfortable restaurant chain) and the other from Henri Bendel (an exclusive NYC department store). At the bar, she likes the pleasures of a drink and cigarette, and of upper crusty people and surroundings. She has used sex before to ease pain when she used Don for sex during the visit to her father. Sex gives her pleasure and dulls the pain. Her reasons for the backroom encounter are probably numerous - personal (female) empowerment may also be among them. It fits with the show’s theme of the cultural changes taking place in 1963. The scene just before going into the bar, Betty is looking at mannequins behind glass – dressed as princesses but somewhat grotesque – and sees herself in the reflection of the glass. The image is broken by the lights of NYC and passersby. Maybe she identifies with the princess mannequins, doesn’t like that and wants to break out.

i dont understand why people would hate betty. Yes she is flawed, she is vain, sometimes unsympathetic, critical of her children (esp. about Sally's weight, something that still continues today b/w mothers and daughter and has destroyed more young women's body images then one could count). However, she is HUMAN, she's flawed, thats one of the many things that make this show so great. Betty grew up with a mother who was very critical of her,(but she was still a mother betty loved and sought approval from) that kind of thing, like genes, is passed down through generations. I think her romp at the bar is completely valid. After having a husband who screwed around on her SO much and then had the audacity to deny it, it was all about getting even. Plus its obvious she was still VERY much in love with Don. She had an opportunity with that blond dude but she rejected him. Its was interesting that the guy at the bar resembled don, and i think there's definately something to be said for that.

.....When I was checking out jamm's suggested link, I came across this interesting (if very long) article on how Matt creates an episode, among many other things...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/magazine/22madmen-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

I feel that we're missing the boat on what motivates Betty ..Raised as a porcelin princess, her whole value was based on her good looks and correct behavior..No wonder she obsesses about, it's all she's got and as a mother of an 8 and 6 year old, her days as a stunner are coming to a close .
Having been taught since early childhood to present herself as a perfectly painted portrait with no evidence of 'brush strokes', she has no sense of another path toward fulfillment. She is rote in all that she does.. She is vacant even in her efforts to be a dutiful mother. How often do we see a pull back shot of her sitting with that million mile stare accompanied by the always part empty glass of wine...
Betty's encounter at the well appiointed hotel bar was another rote experience. When she left for the ladies room, I doubt she had anything other than her bladder in mind. She did make an obvious overture to Mr Ritenow as she walked by but I saw her as mildly tipsy, evidenced by her inability to open the door... She leaned against the wall to steady herself and wait her turn( quite telling)..
The unexpected caress of a stranger opend the floodgate of pent up emotion .. She is desperate and frightened about the future tho it's not surprising that when Mr Ritenow mentioned it, she replied that she tries not to think about it...
Betty has spent a good part of her life trying not to think about it....With the closing of this episode, Don's reaching for her hand, she allows it but I do not get the feeling that they are reconciled in anything more than appearances.
Helen Bishop told Betty that the hard part is being in total charge and completely responsible...Betty hear's this and is trying to decide if she's up to that kind of challenge....Inviting Don back home tells me that she has tallied up and keeping the status quo is the option.

Nana Benz, I like your opinion about the ending, but Weiner said on the blog that the reaching of hands is to him a truce, a sort of meeting at the bridge. I do agree that their problems are not solved ,but I think they will try and work things out. Weiner has also said, that while Don and Betty are going to be in every episode in season 3 he wants to focus more on the other characters at sterling cooper. He said season 2 was about the women and how they grow up into their roles, and now with season 3 I bet Weiner will show us more about the ongoings in the office.

I love Betty, she is a hottie, and she knows what she wants, I especailly enjoyed the pulling of the tryst guy with her leg, she wanted more and she wanted it all! Not only men enjoy sex, and she showed us that aspect. Don seems to have trouble sexually when Betty takes the lead, so there is a primal difference in thier sexual satisfaction.

Season 3 begins with Don and Betty in California, both tanned and buff, getting ready to attend another swingers party held in Beverly Hills. Don likes dark haired ladies who like a stong dominant type and Betty goes for the young ones with staying power. Betty the cougar, and Don the Dom. Don has taken his buyout from SC and parlayed it into a successful volkswagon dealership ( no wait, that was TinMen) sorry.

I have to comment on just what I saw once in the final, my tape player messed up (DRAT!!). Hope it gets shown again soon (Hint, Matt!!!!).

The scene with Betty "breaking out" was my second favorite next to her Plugging those Pigeons (the first pigeons). She has been torn all through this season, remember she was starting to get the hots at the stables. Of course, she has had emotional pullings from the first season.

After all the years with Don, she is just starting to figure him out. At first it scares her, she starts fighting it, then at the bar she completely steps on his face with her high heels, figuretively. She didn't want the pregnancy but I think she will now use it to "use" Don, just the way she used it to get a little sex on the side.

She's a 90's woman trapped in the 60's.

Damn, it was just getting mushy and now we have to wait for the next season.

Hey, Matt, the tape player is all set up.

"PICK ME UP WRITTEN ON HER FOREHEAD"!

Although I love the show- concept, style, writing, attention to detail and compelling story lines- I would have included authenticity until the tryst in the bar scenes were aired.

After 30+ years in professional sales I can safely say that I have been in virtually every type of bar imaginable. The cocktail lounge where Betty took liberties with a stranger would be unique today- let alone in 1962.

The lounge looked like a classy place- definitely old man style with the dark wood, low lights and curvilinear shape.

The viewer is left to presume that the random Lothario spots an office door ajar and decides to step in for a quick roll in the hay. Not likely.
The notion that there would be an office perfectly suited for his pursuit of the fair Betty is a huge stretch. First, this was not a normal accounting style office located by the bar. It appeared to be an executive type office that was appropriately furnished for carnal action.

It is 1962, and based on the attire of the predator, it strikes me as odd that a perfectly normal businessman would risk being caught in a private office (which of course was conveniently unlocked!) with his trousers at his ankles and his Johnson hanging out of the fair Betty.

The first explanation is that the writers wanted to keep the scene short and simple. No hotel rooms, back seats, etc. One shot, no complications to clean up later.

The only contextual explanation is that the Casanova is connected with the lounge or perhaps the hotel and he had more than a little inside information concerning the open office with the "Love-seat".

Of course if this is true, it could set the stage for future excitement. If the guy enjoyed his brief taste of Betty maybe he succeeds in tracking her down for a future engagement?

This minor quibble aside, I find the authenticity generally extraordinary.Where did they find all of the rotary dial phones?

GO MAD!