As Tom and Lorenzo note, '68 is the year that everything blew up and changed. So I think this is just groundwork for having everything blow up in Don's face, so they have to spend some time showing how he's not changed.

He never really had to deal with his infidelity with Betty. She kicked him out because she found out he was Dick Whitman. But Megan's going to find out. And so is the doctor that Don admires.

Joan got off the best line of the night with her cutting insult to the Jaguar dealer, but even better was her taking refuge in Don's office and pouring herself a drink. Just a bit of tiny unspoken understanding between them.

T&L also pointed out in their Mad Style rundown that Betty's makeover makes her look like her MIL.

That kid they've got playing young Don in the flashback was freaky looking! Not "a good looking kid."

I did kind of love the scene where Don sabotaged the Jaguar dealer's stupid plan and the smirk on Roger's face when he realized what was happening.

And, of course, Trudy kicked ass. But we always like seeing Pete humiliated, even though he'll still wind up doing something genuinely broken periodically.

The episode ended with Don and a doorway - a recurring theme in the show. I wonder if the show will end with a door shutting in Don's face? Then again, I always thought The Sopranos would end with Tony getting whacked when he went out to get his paper.

The only healthy and rewarding relationships on this show are the work friendships. All the romances are rotten.

I'm confused about Don's flashback and where it fits in to what we know about his upbringing. Was that his stepmother he was with?

Was that his stepmother he was with?

Yes, and she's pregnant with his half-brother Adam (the one who committed suicide).

Yes, and she's pregnant with his half-brother Adam (the one who committed suicide).

That's what I thought, but why were they there?

That's what I thought, but why were they there?

Because she's a prostitute. Like Don's birth-mother.

Because she's a prostitute. Like Don's birth-mother.

I didn't think she was. I guess I'm forgetting a few things.

I didn't think she was.

I didn't either. But we know Don's mom was a prostitute that his father saw, and that she died in childbirth. And we know from last season that Don grew up in a brothel. So it couldn't have been because of his birth mother.

And we know from last season that Don grew up in a brothel.

Ok, that is the part that I was forgetting. So this is taking place after Don's father died, probably? The only thing I really remember about the stepmother was that she resented having to raise a prostitutes son, so I had a disconnect with her being a prostitute as well.

Does anyone think Megan was lying about the miscarriage?

sj,

I think Don's stepmother fell into really hard times after his father died and went to a brothel. That's how I read that situation.

no, I don't think megan was lying. she seemed really upset in front of Don and in front of her neighbor friend. No reason to put on a face with both if she was making it up. No net benefit for her to make it up because she knew (at least last season) that Don wanted more kids presumably. But he seems ambivalent about it now.