I think it's interesting that Bob (is that his name? Ted' guy) referred to Don as their collective ex-wife, and he's much more willing to bow to their wishes to stay together than he is with Megan.

sj,

sure, but one could argue that he is changing a bit: his relationship with his daughter is pretty good (for now) and he has been as honest with her as he could be.

I was surprised that he and Megan were still married when the season started. She said some terrible shit to him at the end of last season that I thought would be unforgivable. Don was an ass of course, but that was just bad business.

le nubian: He still lied to his daughter before he realized she was on to him and only then did he tell her the truth about his job. And I don't think he ever told Megan about his affair. I feel that everything with Don is still about appearances and keeping up the persona he created for himself. Eventually that persona is unsustainable.

I was surprised that he and Megan were still married when the season started.

Me too.

Is Mad Men straight-up trolling us with the very existence of Bobby Draper? I mean really.

Could you expand on this? I thought that whole sub-plot was supposed to tell us something about Betty, though I'm not sure what the something is. Other than that, try as she might, she's a terrible mother.

I thought that whole sub-plot was supposed to tell us something about Betty, though I'm not sure what the something is. Other than that, try as she might, she's a terrible mother.

That was what I got out of the scene too, but shouldn't Bobby be older after nine years? And for that matter, shouldn't Gene be older too?

Could you expand on this? I thought that whole sub-plot was supposed to tell us something about Betty, though I'm not sure what the something is. Other than that, try as she might, she's a terrible mother.

Eventually it did get to that point but mostly it was just Bobby saying incredibly useless, obvious, boring shit, which is like his whole thing as a character. He is like the anti-Sally.

Like on a show with such rich, complex characterization and layered dialogue...you also have Bobby fucking Draper.

it was just Bobby saying incredibly useless, obvious, boring shit

Not obvious to Betty, apparently. See, I took it as *charmingly* boring and showing us repeatedly how much Bobby loved his Mom. Which made her freakout over the sandwich, and her comments to Henry all the more inexplicably clueless.

I think Bobby is being used only as a prop for Betty's character. In contrast to Sally, who is interesting in her own right. I don't have a problem with a few characters being used that way, but I can see how others might.

Me neither. We really got to see how Betty was blind to the fact that her son loved and admired her. Bobby is not tortured like a lot of Mad men characters, he is just a really sweet-natured little guy. Remember when he was at the movies with his dad last season? He reminds me of my nephew, so I like him.

Still it was really heartbreaking to see how surprised Bobby was that Betty was willing to go with him on the field trip.