Don't Stand in the Doorway, Don't Block up the Hall: Mad Men Season 3, Episode 2: Love Among the Ruins

With episode two of this season, Mad Men is reminding us though so much had remained the same from the end of season 2 to the beginning of this one, it cannot remain so. "Love Among the Ruins" is an hour of television about change, and each of our characters is dealing with the vast changes in their lives and in their culture in different ways.

The most intriguing character of this episode to me was Peggy, almost cementing her place as a mini- Don, a liar, a seducer, someone who cannot find personal fulfillment despite her success and intelligence. Stuck in a place where being ahead of her time is more a curse than a blessing, Peggy cannot quite figure out how to be a desirable woman and a smart woman whose opinion actually matters at the same time. She is living in a world where those two ideas are still mutually exclusive to most men, so when she goes out looking for a little love in the night, she uses Joan's line, she pretends to be a secretary, she becomes someone else. Peggy has truly learned from the best when it comes to playing a role to make other people give you what you want, and now she is just honing those skills.

I did like that Peggy was disappointed in Don for being just as into the Ann-Margaret song as the other men, whom she considers lesser. Also you can't help but be proud of a girl who has the guts to go and disagree with Don Draper. Too bad for her she had the unfortunate luck of catching him after his meeting with Pryce about not taking the Madison Square Garden account!

Ahh, another person caught up in personal and professional change is my beloved Roger, who cannot seem to understand why everyone is just so darn mad at him for leaving Mona for Jane! His daughter his hurt and embarrassed, his ex had no desire to be understanding, Don is angry at him for using his words when he left Mona and for changing the game up. Don was perfectly happy to live in a world where men pretended to be happily married and women pretended not to cheat, and Roger is just a reminder to him and to everyone else of the tawdry reality under that fantasy. Roger's charm is falling flat on everyone these days, not just pissy, pregnant Betty, who could barely stand to look at him.

Betty was not in a good mood this episode, and you could see that Don was really trying to make her happy, which is a pretty huge change in their relationship. Not that he didn't relish the chance to one-up William and send him and his family packing (Poor Judy! She seems nice!), he still couldn't stand to see Betty wracked with the guilt of being a bad daughter, so he is letting a man he can't stand move into his house. Maybe it is because she is pregnant, but he even seemed to feel a bit bad about making her sit through that business dinner with the Pryces. Don and Betty don't seem to realize the huge change they have just embarked their family on by having her ill father move in with them, even after seeing him go back to Prohibition in his mind and pour all the booze down the drain. (What will Betty drink now when pregnancy gets her down! She needs something to go with those cigs!)

Though it was nice to see Don stand up for his whiny wife, Don is still Don and immediately drawn to any hot, independent brunette in his radius. I like that they had the teacher dressed up so she fit right with the origins of the maypole but also with the hippie future that is just on the horizon. Even as Don tries to be a good husband and father, the desire for something else, something different always seems to be eating him up inside. The teacher represents the kind of woman Don is always attracted to, and of course, poor Betty's polar opposite. 1963 was the end of America's innocence, and it change is on the horizon for the whole country, including Don Draper. Something tells me he might just be ready to embrace it.

Other thoughts-

-Goodbye Penn Station. For once, Paul is actually right about something! Maybe not the best venue to air his opinions though.

-Wedding on November 23, 1963? Oh dear.

-I loved Don's conversation with Pryce. It is always great to see Don break through his cool demeanor and come at someone with a little force. (Ditto the smackdown of William)

-So, is Don going to sleep with that teacher? I'm taking bets.

-The sweet wistful look between Roger and Joan really got me. She's still the only one that understands him.

-Ugh when Joan said that her husband told her to "watch out" after he got promoted to chief resident it made me ill. So sad that she married that rapist. Looks like we'll get a little window into that relationship next week. DON'T have a baby with him Joan!!

-Man, pregnancy is really getting to Betty! Or something. She was nastier than usual tonight.

Next week: Joan her rapist husband! Roger and Don have a fight! Talking! Quick Cuts!

Just Somebody That I Used To Know: Mad Men, Season Three, Episode One "Out of Town"

Starting with the scandalous squalor of his birth and moving us into the seeming domestic bliss of his current life, Mad Men's third season begins with the same question that has always been at the heart of this show. Who is Don Draper? And more importantly, who does he want to be?

The opening scene where Don imagines his birth to a prostitute his father made pregnant shows us why he is so determined to hold on to "Don Draper" and get as far away from Dick Whitman as possible. He is constantly terrified of his life slipping away from him, yet he cannot stop himself from pushing it away. I'll admit, after his letter to Betty in "Meditations in An Emergency" I would have liked to see Don resist the wiles of the (very Betty-like) stewardess, but I had no illusions that it would actually happen. And for all her sweetness and glowing smiles I have a feeling that Betty doesn't cling to that hope much herself. She and Don have settled into something different, but in many ways, it is where they began. Just as Don says to the Shelley, "I always end up somewhere I've already been." Indeed you do Don.

It seems that Don and Betty have come to a warm truce, trying to be close to each other while still being the same people who were torn apart. Betty saves her softness for her husband and unborn child while still reserving that strict coolness for the children they already have, ("Sally has something to tell you. I pried it out of her.") never quite living up to that goddess mother role that Don chose her fulfil. And Don is still tomcatting around, convincing himself that it's okay to sleep with Shelley, because it's his birthday, because he is damaged in ways no one can see, because it's just one time, because he's a man.

Don and Betty's back and forth is always fascinating to watch, and Jon Hamm's genius cannot be denied when you see him in scenes like the final one of the episode, trying to tell Sally the story of her birth and stumbling, thinking about his birth, the ways he has failed his family, and the ways he has made a better life for them than he ever had. All of that is written on Hamm's face as January Jones takes over the tale and Betty tells it from the perspective of the husband that she worships and loves and hates all at once, all the time. "He didn't want to get back in the car, but he did..."

Other developments in this episode include:

- Entirely not enough Roger. I love you John Slattery!

- Our dear Sal, finally giving in to his feelings and letting a man kiss him, and willing to do so much more, (great gaydar by the way bellhop!), foiled by a fire and caught by Don! Lucky for him if there is one thing that Don Draper can be counted on for, it's discretion. Sal is such a great character, and Bryan Batt did an amazing job showing us how much he wanted this and yet how horribly guilty (That "Oh God" he let out was sexy and heartbreaking all at once.) he feels about betraying Kitty, who he does seem to truly love. Sal is torn between who he knows he is and who he knows he needs to be. Here's hoping he won't follow Don's example and continue living an elaborate lie. Maybe this experience will have a more lasting impression on him.

-Six months in, and the Brits are still trimming the fat at Sterling-Cooper. (Roger's face falling while grousing, "Oh, it's that meeting." after walking in on Bert Peterson's firing was so perfect. Vintage silver fox Roger Sterling there!) Pitting Pete against Ken to see who would come out on top reminded us of both Pete's robot human self (That conversation with Mr. Pryce about hospitality! Man, Pete is so awkward!) and his whiny whiny baby self ("Why does it always have to be this way? Why can't good things happen all at once?!" Ugh, poor Trudy. ). It also reminded us that Ken Cosgrove is a pretty good guy, all things considered. I love how he just walked away from Pete while he was still whining.

-Bert Cooper is a weird old man. Erotic Japanese paintings, ant farms, no shoes in the office... weird guy.

-I think Jared Harris (most recently of Fringe) is going to be a great addition to the cast as Mr. Pryce. And I loved the way he took down Moneypenny without even knowing it! I will not be calling that guy Mr. Hooker. Sorry buddy!

-Not a lot of Peggy, but intriguing hints that things are going well for her at Sterling-Cooper even under British rule.

- I know I said this before, but Pete really is such a baby.

-I really enjoyed the scene where Don was spinning his tales of he and Sal working for Jimmy Hoffa to the stews and the pilot. He just lights up rediscovering the power of a story, that old glory of a lie. He knows that he has that voice, that face, and that no one can look away. He's addicted to it.

-Roger Sterling quote of the night, re: Pete vs. Ken. "I told him it was a stupid idea, but they don't always get our inflection." Jane Sterling, you are one lucky woman.

Next week on Mad Men: I don't really know, as Mad Men previews are usually just the characters saying totally out of context sentences inter cut with completely unconnected shots of other characters looking upset/happy/satisfied/afraid. So I think some sentences will be said, some emotions will be silently felt, and it will be completely awesome. Just a guess though.