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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