Mad Men Season 6 Episode 9 The Better Half

I think they meant The Better Half ironically as the title of tonight's episode. Do any of these couples have a better half? They're all pretty badly behaved.

 Let's get right to the meat of tonight. Don and Betty- As soon as I saw her in the gas station my heart started to pound. We finally got to see Don and Betty back together and in a whole new dynamic. Betty's new look seems to have come with a sharpening of her manipulative nature. Which is probably what drew Don to her in the  first place. With Don's upbringing he can only be drawn to women who are pushing him away, or are even being mean to him. He may not realize but Betty has just set him up. I bet he'll be chasing her around for the rest of the season. Betty definitely has got his number maybe it was the therapy but her saying " That poor girl (Megan) she doesn't know that loving you is the worse way to get to you." Says it all.

Chaugh and Don are still fighting it out and it looks like Peggy is their battlefield and or prize. Peggy tells Don that Chaugh cares about the idea and Don only cares about his idea. Don says "Don't let him fool you" and "he doesn't know you". Then Chaugh plays his I'm in love with you card and then draws it back when Abe and Peggy break up. All Chaugh's kind deeds and acts may be just his way of manipulating people. Either way Chaugh's halo is seriously dented after tonight's episode.

Roger is flailing around trying to find some identity. Grandpa didn't really work out, though I must say Planet of The Apes isn't that bad of a movie for a four year old by 60s-70s standards. After his daughter calls to tell him he will no longer be trusted alone with his grandson, he runs over to Joan's to see if he can get the father position open there. No Dice. Roger has spent his life running around acting like a child and now he wants to be an adult and no one will trust him.

Peggy and Abe are done. Abe kind of reminds me of my father he went into the 60s a liberal in a suit and came out completely radicalized with an afro and a huge mustache. Peggy and him have been on different tracks from the beginning, remember the article he wrote about her (Nuremberg on Madison Avenue)?  It's insane that she actually had to stab him to bring the whole relationship crashing down.

Henry and Betty seem to have developed a kinky little pattern. She gets him all torked up with jealousy and then they have sex. She probably learned this from her relations with Don, make sure your man never knows whether you love him or are about to leave him. This is going to get exhausting for all involved.

This and That

Every time we see Don and Megan in their apartment sirens are sounding in the streets below.

Pete and Harry calling the new firm the 27 Yankees. Basically saying their bench is loaded with heavy hitters.

Duck is back as a head hunter. The should have called this character cat, he seems to have 9 lives.

Bobby playing a major part in two episodes in one season, and getting his parents back together. This must be fantasy camp.

Who took Roger to see The Golem  as a boy??? Youtube link to movie The Golem

Butter is fresh and Margarine is indestructible. Guess which is Don and which is Chaugh?

Mad Men Episode 9 Season 4

The Beautiful Girls, Mad Men's episode 9 of season 4 was full of things we've been waiting to see. Ms. Blankenship's demise not withstanding.
Roger and Joan together again, if only for a stolen moment was a glimpse of hope. Even if everything in their world has gotten old and seedy. Now when they go out to their old places, the clientele is geriatric and they get mugged walking home.
Don and Dr. Fay seem to be heading toward those wedding bells. Their budding relationship seems more modern than any yet depicted on the show. If for no other reason than Fay telling Don that she loves children but doesn't want any. She nothing if not clear about her boundries.
It was great to see Sally so much this episode. The whole scene with the french toast was hysterical. Of course Don likes french toast with rum instead of syrup. She is so ready to grow up, she can't wait.
I know a lot of people were hoping we'd see Abe again. I think he will be the one that pulls Peggy into feminism, whether he realizes it or not. I loved what Peggy said about not being able to do the things "negroes" couldn't as a women. How oblivious Abe was to the statement.
The whole episode was really very female centric. Like Joyce, Peggy's friend, says women are the pot that hold the vegatable soup/men. Women warm them, hold them, and contain them, or something along those lines.
The final scene with Peggy, Joan, and Fay in the elevator was a great shot. These three very different women all taking care of men in their own way to their own degree. Where would these men be without them? Whose supporting these women?

One odd visual tonight was the 666 address you could see, on another building, through the reception window, when Sally is brought to the office by the train lady. In fact there were a few references to satan tonight. Perhaps the address is geographically accurate, but still interesting. I have no theory what it could mean, except maybe all the Mad Men True Blood cast exchange has reached a new level.