I think, though, a more appropriate title should be…I SPILL YOUR MILKSHAKE. Because, really, that is what this episode was really about, wasn’t it? The milkshake scene. The one where the kids and Don all prepare themselves for Megan to have a Betty-like angry reaction. And, well, she just, didn’t. She was all “Dudes, there’s no use crying over spilled milkshake. And why are you all looking at my horse teeth?”
What on earth happens to Don Draper in California? Each time he has visited the west coast, we’ve seen a very different side of him. A very Dick Whitman-esque wide-eyed, goofy-grinned side of him. It’s somewhat..unsettling. Don Draper would never propose to a woman after seeing her sing in French and show off some cleavage. No. The Don we know would let her blow him in a cab and never talk to her again. See: Bethany Van Nuys. Oh, don’t remember her? Don’t worry, neither does Don. don Draper would never jump in the pool and actually, you know, PLAY with his children. He would never sit on a bed looking at Disneyland maps with them. He would NEVER tell Sally that DICK was him, albeit a nickname. But, who knows, maybe that’s Dick Whitman’s style.
So, that’s what we are supposed to be figuring out…Who is Don Draper? Does he WANT To be Dick Whitman? Does he like the idea of Megan because she knows that his is grappling with this “Who Am I?” question and she knows that he wants to be a better man. And also, that she’s the Anti-Betty.
Oh, Betty. Wow. This sure was a new low, even for her. Moving to Rye and firing Carla and not fooling anyone that this is all because she wants a fresh start. Carla. Oh my god, I can’t even believe what went down there. Carla, the person who RAISED Sally and Bobby. Gone. Just like that. Here’s your last paycheck…and be on your merry way, but not before I take a jab at your children. Betty is gross.
But you know what’s not gross…the Peggy/Joan relationship. Oh my god, I love their banter and fighting, but this week, I loved how they both just connected. “Whatever could be on your mind??” Both these underpaid, overworked, under appreciated cogs in a very male machine. Both surprised and not surprised that Don is hastily marrying his secretary (how stereotypical) and will probably make her a copywriter…and Joan gets promoted, but they probably celebrated with the champagne while she was pushing the mail cart. And Peggy does something GREAT for the company, and yet. No one seems to care because everyone is all aflutter with Don’s news.
Well, except for Roger, maybe, since he was all, “Who the hell is Megan?”
Us too, Roger, us too.
(ALSO, Joan is pregnant with Roger’s baby, which really only means one thing…guess who is going to die in the war?? Oh, doctor Greg, maybe you shouldn’t have raped Joan and I’d be sad to see you go.)
I suspect this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Faye. She knows too much.
Loved this – I thought all the same things about the episode. I totally called the pregnancy thing, and the dying in Vietnam thing too. Now, Faye still ‘knows’ who Don is – is she petty enough to blow the whistle and eff it all up for the new Mr. & Mrs. Draper? We’ll see.
This recap is perfection.