So much for Don and Betty’s romantic rekindling, pretty much as soon as the episode started he was criticising her for eating too much (I blame the unflattering 1960’s maternity wear which made her look like a balloon), followed by much simmering tension between them. This was definitely not helped by the arrival of Betty’s beloved John McCain-lookalike father Gene and her odious brother William. It’s hard not to feel sorry for her sister-in-law Judy, having to put up with a useless husband, the tyrannical and near senile Gene and Betty’s inexplicable yet constant suspicion. In the face of all this Don reverted to his usual solutions – bribery to get William, Judy and their rowdy kids out of his house, and infidelity, although he hasn’t acted on it yet it’s not hard to work out what was going through his mind when watching Sally’s teacher dancing.

Otherwise this episode presented us with more chaotic goings on at Sterling-Cooper, now adorned with ridiculous trappings of wealth as a result of the British merger. Silver-fox Roger Sterling’s Greek antiquities seemed incredibly garish (and sparked yet more disapproved bemusement from his ex-wife Mona), but were nothing in the ridiculous stakes compared to the full suit of armour in the corner of Lane Pryce’s office, which managed to make Bertram Cooper’s octopus erotica in the last episode seem almost classy. We’re now starting to see the negative effects of the British deal in having Sterling-Cooper’s staff being forced to bend over backwards in order to win the Madison Square Garden account, and then ‘head office’ over in London deciding that they didn’t want the account after all. It did, however, give us the opportunity to see more of Don’s cryptically brilliant philosophical approach to advertising – I wonder if the maker’s of the series have considered releasing a self-help book full of his Confucius-like wisdom? 

Although Roger Sterling was very much his usual sardonic self, it was interesting to see his more vulnerable side being revealed in his daughter’s rejection of his young fiancée, and his subsequent seeking of advice, or perhaps even approval for his lifestyle from Peggy, who didn’t have much of a clue as to what was going on. I would argue that this storyline was somewhat flawed in the attention paid to the date of Margaret’s wedding – Mad Men in its weakest moments tends to rely on its period setting for dramatic effect, either in using social values of the time to shock or amuse or, as in this case, using our knowledge of significant historical events of the time to create dramatic irony (I won’t say why the date is important for those of you who don’t already know, but needless to say Margaret’s wedding won’t be going ahead as planned).

But the real story, in admittedly a rather subdued episode, was Peggy’s continuing unusual behaviour.  From her spat with Ken Cosgrove and Harry Crane over their usual sexist comments (as a side note, was Diet Pepsi ever actually called Patio? What was the reasoning behind that – as Don later pointed out who wants to drink something that sounds like a floor?), to letting her new-found professional steeliness slip in acting out the opening of Bye-Bye Birdie in front of her mirror at home (thankfully, she didn’t manage to hit Ann Margaret’s shrill high-notes, I don’t think my ears could have taken that twice during the episode). The strangest part of her behaviour however, was getting particularly offended by Don’s assertion that all women want to go out and land a man, and then proceeding to go out to a bar and pick up one at random. There’s definitely something going on between Peggy and Don but it’s not clear what at the moment – perhaps Peggy has ended up with a crush on Don (which would hardly be surprising as every other woman in the show has, as have many viewers thanks to Jon Hamm’s simply stunning good looks) and wants him to notice her that way, or perhaps she views him more as a father-like figure considering her own father’s death and Don’s assistance both in getting her promoted and in dealing with her unwanted baby, and she is seeking his approval. Once again the episode finished in a bizarrely abrupt manner, perhaps implying that Peggy and Don weren’t discussing the Pampers account at all, and that it was code for something else – such as the aforementioned baby? Perhaps more will be revealed in later episodes, although judging by previous experience, there’s a good chance that none of this will be mentioned again.