I was so convinced that the episode would end with the revelation of Megan dismembered and scattered in a drainage ditch that I gasped out loud with relief when Don was stopped short by the inside chain on the door.

But, damn, I need to stop reading the comments anywhere but here and maybe the AV Club; this, from the very first comment on TLo's post on the episode, is so freaking painfully typical:

I thought his chasing her around the apartment wasn't violent, but because she refused to face him - it seemed more like a parent chasing a child. And I don't think she stands up to Don -- she is VERY passive-aggressive with him. Whereas Betty would have manipulated Don to get what she wanted, Megan makes a statement like "it's ok for you to be obsessed with work but I can't" and then goes back to eating her meal. And when he couldn't believe she didn't like orange sherbet, she acted like a 13 year old and began gulping it down. And then, "the most scathing and hurtful riposte possible: “Why don’t you call your mother?” That was a gasp-worthy line" (and I did, in fact, gasp) -- was said specifically to hurt Don -- but with a clearly unforeseen reaction by Don. Megan did not expect him to storm off the way he did -- she expected him to back down and begin the conversation (argument) about work that she was too immature to begin on her own.

What the fuck? Is this person aware that words mean things? Betty would have manipulated Don to get what she wanted and that's peachy, but Megan telling him outright that she was upset and this was why is passive-aggressive?

Lots of people jumped in to argue fiercely with this poster (including TLo themselves), but a creepy lot also jumped in to agree. And I've seen it in a bunch of other non-Buffista places as well -- this bizarre visceral dislike of Megan that, when they try to explain and defend it, seems so completely alien to anything the writers or actors intend, or to the way earth-type humans actually behave, it's hard to even know where to begin the counterargument.

I did think telling an orphan to call his mother was a bit...gratuitous. But she probably doesn't even know that. The sherbet thing was a little dumb, but seriously? The commenters just jump in and get right to their deeper issues? I think not. I think everyone has done something like that once. And Don must be maddening to argue with because he's consistently so unruffled.

Oh, Megan knows about Don's family. But I don't think she realized what she'd said until it was out of her mouth, and by then she was too angry to apologize.

I did think we were being set up for another round of kinky angry sex (based on the Peggy and Roger storylines) but apparently this time Megan was just plain angry.

I thought it was a great episode. I've complained that they're a little too on the nose with some of their thematic links and parallel stories this season, but I thought this was structured perfectly.

I love how Mad Men creates characters that I've never seen on TV before, and creates stories that I haven't seen either.

I've never seen anyone quite like Pete Campbell. It's like somebody took Frank from M*A*S*H and treated him like a complex human being instead of a caricature.

Certainly there have been some dark and complex leads in HBOs dramas, but nobody quite like Don Draper. No career women like Peggy, no sexy secretaries like Joan. They're very fully realized.

And I've never seen an acid trip portrayed that way and leading to the dissolution of the marriage in a calm, sad, reflective, freeing way.

The last two episodes have both been really, really strong.

I wonder if Don is a Virgo. Most of the Virgos that are known to me are maddeningly sure that they are always right, no matter what the discussion or argument is about.

But that really is My Issue!

But that really is My Issue!

I don't know what it says about Mad Men but people do seem to bring Their Issues to their response to it more than most shows.

At least that's how I read most of the antipathy towards Megan, and, previously, Betty. (Not that I haven't had issues with Betty myself, but I think my point holds.)

I agree that the last 2 eps have been really strong.

I thought Megan's comment about Don's mother was REALLY beyond the pale. I mean holy shit. I GASPED when she said it. I knew nothing good would follow.

That is just about the most hurtful you could be to Don, period.

Him chasing her around was really unsettling. At first, it didn't bother me because I thought it was one of their "plays", but then it was obvious Megan was alarmed.

quester,

leave me alone. I'm a Virgo. That trait you describe is really a Capricorn or Taurus trait, but whatever. :-)

::quester gets her Capricorn all up in le nubian's grill::

I don't know what it says about Mad Men but people do seem to bring Their Issues to their response to it more than most shows.

See, there it is. I was laughing as I posted that last because I recognized as I was writing it that I was doing exactly what David was talking about.

I find myself feeling much more sympathy towards Megan than I ever have towards Betty. It may be that living with Don is impossible, but I think Megan is made of stronger stuff than Betty is.

I really haven't missed Betty at all...her setting seem pretty stuck on "querulous" and it's tiring.(Initially, she seemed more like a full character...now, she stamps her feet and begs for compliments...I kind of wish January Jones had to stay pregnant for two years, like an elephant. Megan's okay...I *preferred* Dr. Faye, but not enough for a shipper war or anything.