Episode 504 “Mystery Date” was a resounding clap of thunder that I’m sure, quickly silenced all the haters who have said that there hasn’t been much going on in the show of late. Murders, violence, meeting the many women of your new husband’s philandering past, deadbeat rapist husbands, racism, terrifying step-mothers, its got it all.

For Don, his past has come back to haunt him. The very first scene of the episode is of Megan and a cold-ridden Don stepping into an elevator, where Andrea a former fling, soon steps in and starts openly flirting with Don until he introduces Andrea to his less than pleased wife. As Andrea steps off the elevator, Megan exasperatingly says “How many times is this going to happen?” During an aspirin raid in the kitchen, Don tries to talk to Megan about the incident. Don explains that  “It was a long time ago and I was unhappy.” Megan cynically retorts “Because you were married”, and follows up with “You’re married to me now…and that kind of careless appetite, you can’t blame that on Betty.” She calls him on his bull, stating that regardless of the state of his marriage, Don still sexed up the majority of women found in Midtown. After a meeting with a client, where Don sits back and lets the newest rising star in the office, the newly hired Michael Ginsberg of the last episode, make a pitch. Afterwards, he calls Megan where she tells him to go home and rest.

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Yup, this addition of Recap & Review is super belated, but better late than never right?

The third episode of the season was Betty-ful. I think it was rather smart of the Mad Men team to not have Betty and the goings of the Francis Household in the season premiere as Betty is such a downer. I sympathized with Betty when she was with Don as she seemed but one story of the thousands of women who had similar upbringings and situations during the 50s and 60s. However, when the situation remained unchanged even after she became Mrs. Francis, you can’t help to realize that she’s nothing more than a horrible mother with a frigid and childish personality.

There are many Betty haters out there, but I have to admit, this episode made her an iota more likable.

The beginning of the episode had a great visual parallel. Sally and Bobby  (poor Bobby he’s been replaced so many times) are seen struggling with zipping up the back of Betty’s dress. Failing, Betty crawls into bed and blows off Henry and his important Junior League of America meeting for the fourth time in a row. In the very next immediate scene, we see Don quickly and easily zipping up the back of Megan’s dress. Betty’s life post-Don is still full of baggage while Don’s life (so far as we’ve seen) has turned a complete 180 and has no snags nor bumps.

Betty has turned into a fat ice queen. She’s now overweight and throughout the episode is shown eating. When she was Mrs. Draper, she was rarely shown partaking in any sort of meal. After fixing dinner for her family or for parties, she would chain-smoke endlessly and guzzle down red wine. Betty’s an incredibly vain individual who was bred to be a beauty queen and a trophy wife. There’s nothing attractive about her other than her physical beauty. Henry’s mother summed it up best last season. “I know what you see in her. You could’ve gotten it for free you know.”

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