Mad Men - The Color Blue, S03E10

Thank God this episode was not nearly as depressing as last week. Of course, that would have been very difficult, but I was getting to the point that I didn't want to put myself through the depression anymore. I'm glad the season is almost done so I have until next August to recover and start looking forward to my favourite parts of the series...like Joan, and Sal, and Peggy and Pete (before he became a complete write off). At least we still have Bert Cooper.

While office politics were a key part of this episode, and cannot be ignored in this posting, Don (Jon Hamm)'s personal life was far more interesting. But we'll start with the politics, after a mention of the funniest moment of the episode, or possibly the season.

Roger (John Slattery) is in the car with Jane (Peyton List) and his mother. His mother asks Jane something, calling her Margaret - Roger's daughter. Roger corrects her, saying Jane is his wife. His mother asks if Mona knows. It was hilarious.

Now for politics:

Sterling Cooper's 40th anniversary party is coming up, and neither Roger nor Cooper (Robert Morse) wish to attend. Too bad that they are still the heads of the company, even with the British, and their lack of presence would be bad form. Lane (Jared Harris) easily convinces Cooper of this, though for a while there he was adamant he would not attend. Lane is also working for the benefit of the Brits, who are planning on selling Sterling Cooper off again. Will there be even more downsizing next season?

Paul (Michael Gladis) and Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) also got a lovely side plot where they worked on advertising (who'd have thought). Paul hasn't been giving a lot of great ideas lately, and he's furious when his idea is too long for Don, and Peggy spontaneously shortens the concept and is praised for it. He is jealous of her success. Then, thinking hard all night about a pitch for Western Union, he has a brilliant idea. Drunk as anything, he's forgotten it and cannot find it in the morning. Lois helps him look for any papers, but there are none. Oh, yes, Lois didn't get fired for lopping off Guy's leg.

In the office, Peggy convinces Paul to admit what happened to Don, who commiserates, having lost many ideas of his own that way. Then Peggy, inspired by a Chinese quote Paul said to her, comes up with a great pitch. Paul is awed this time, rather than annoyed.

But let's get back to Don's personal life. He continues to have his affair with school teacher Miss Farrell (Abigail Spencer), and it just seems like such a bad idea. She insists on him meeting her brother (who pegs him as arrogant in the first 5 minutes), and stalks him on his train to work to confirm that he still wants to be with her. As long as he wants her, things should be okay, but if he decides to end it and she doesn't want too...boy will there be trouble.

Betty (January Jones), on the other hand, continues to try to steer away from Henry Francis, though she hasn't stopped thinking about him. Then she finds a key to Don's desk. Naturally curious, she goes to look. The stacks of money sitting in the drawer don't interest her, but a shoe box does. She pulls it out to find pictures of Dick Whitman and his brother Andy, as well as dog tags, a deed to a property in California, and a divorce certificate. Regardless of all the mention of Dick, Betty is most concerned by Don Draper's divorce. She waits up all night with the box for Don to come home so she can confront him, but he spends the night with Miss Farrell. She puts the box away before he gets home and accepts his excuse that he was with Hilton.

Then, she gets dolled up and goes to the 40th anniversary party to be shown off on the arm of a man she's finally understanding she knows nothing about.

With only 3 more episodes this season, something is going to break. The only question is what.