'Mad Men' -- Signs of Strain in Betty's New Marriage?

*Warning, spoilers ahead from the recently aired episode of Mad Men.*

While Don Draper stewed in what used to be his living room, sitting on what used to be his sofa, waiting in the dark for the woman who used to be his wife to return home with her new husband – she was late, intentionally, it appears – after he’d put his and her children to bed, Don informed his ex that she and her new spouse had to vacate the house immediately, per their divorce agreement.

When the new hubby, Henry Francis said that their living in the house was temporarily, Don responded, “Believe me Henry, everyone thinks this is temporary.”

The bloom appears to be off the rose when it comes to “newlyweds” Betty and Henry Francis. During the season four premiere, "Public Relations," Henry was seen grimacing as Betty reprimanded Sally and shoved sweet potato into her mouth during Thanksgiving dinner at Henry's mother's house. Later that night, he gently rebuffed Betty’s physical advances in bed, then they heard Sally fumbling in the hallway as she was trying to call Don on the phone.

The one time we saw glimmers of the season three Henry -- the white knight who was going to rescue Betty, take care of her, not take anything from Don, not owe him a thing -- was right after Don had picked up Bobby and Sally. Henry, who’s now the man of that house having “bested” the handsome Don, made the moves on Betty in the front seat of the car while it was parked in the garage, as, some commentators have noted, he did when he was courting her the previous year.

Throw in the fact that Henry seems cowed by his mother, who loathes Betty and disapproves of the marriage (asking him how he can “live in that man’s dirt?”), and I’m surprised by how fast things appear to have gone from promising to not so great. They haven’t even been married a year yet.

Meanwhile, Don's blind date with a younger version of his ex-wife -- whose name even sounded similar to Betty’s (Bethany) -- makes one wonder if Don would ever attempt to woo Betty back, or whether he’s just floundering around trying to figure out how to get back to where he was, a success at work and a success at home. I just hope that he seeks out a partner who's intelligent and insightful and not just young, blond, arm candy.

By the way, was it just me, or did Betty seem to dress -- hair and clothing-wise -- much older than she's seemed in previous seasons? She looked almost matronly to me, which was quite a stark contrast to her get-up in the "Souvenir" episode last season in Italy.

Image credit: Michael Yarish/AMC.

'Mad Men:' Public Relations (Season Premiere)

*Warning: Spoilers ahead from the recent episode of Mad Men.*

Who is Don Draper? Someone who was almost unrecognizable during the season four premiere of Mad Men.

His confidence in everything appeared to have been shaken: Don screwed up an interview with a reporter from Advertising Age, that was meant to promote Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, by refusing to say much of anything at all. He appeared to be flailing around in the sleek, glass-walled confines of SCDP as the face of an underdog firm with money issues and no conference table. He hasn’t been eating, according to his housekeeper. He was being set up on dates by, of all people, Jane Sterling and even got shot down (as far as walking her up to her apartment) by her young friend in a cab at the end of their date. And, most shocking, Don has been hiring a woman to have sex with him and repeatedly slap him in the face, because, apparently, he’s been a very bad boy and deserves to be punished.

Don Draper is now into being dominated? (Don, the child of a prostitute who was nicknamed “the whore child,” wanted to be slapped around by a call girl? Freud would have a field day.)

It seems as though his postcard-perfect (on the outside) family, with wife, kids and the house in the ‘burbs, really was important to him after all – though he realized it too late – and he now knows, deep in his core, that his deceitful and duplicitous ways are responsible for that. No more trying to shift blame onto Betty. When the episode began, Don was still allowing Betty and Henry to live in the Ossining house for which he was paying the mortgage (so much for Henry saying he didn’t want Betty to owe Don anything) even though the divorce agreement says they were supposed to have moved out a month ago.

I literally was dumb-founded watching this version of Don Draper walk around, lonely and disconnected. He was almost like a foreign character who I didn’t recognize, save for Jon Hamm’s face. Even in the first three seasons of Mad Men, when Don had tremendous difficulty allowing people to capture a glimpse of his true feelings (Midge, Rachel, even, to some extent, Miss Farrell got to see them), he wasn’t THIS inaccessible, just going through the motions of life. Observing a depressed Don Draper was disorienting. It made everything, from SCDP to his dark apartment, feel unstable, different.

Was this dour episode – where the fit he threw over Jantzen’s two-piece bathing suit campaign that his clients rejected – the catalyst for Don to finally say, “Enough of the self-flagellation?” For him to evolve? The Wall Street Journal interview, where he promoted himself with vigor, seemed like a turning point.

Meanwhile, I loved – LOVED! – what a year has done to bolster Peggy’s confidence so much so that not only would she pull a caper like hiring two actresses to stage a faux fight (which evolved into a real one that necessitated bail) over ham so that they wouldn’t lose their account without consulting Don, but Peggy was willing to talk back to Don as good as she got. When Don was feeling extremely down, he tried, as he has in the past, to direct some of his ugly hurt onto Peggy, but this time, Peggy was having none of it. It was a glorious site to behold.

By the way . . . Joan in her own office, a vision.

As for Betty and Henry, all I can say is . . . ick. The two of them, together, have zero chemistry, and are extremely unsettling to watch, particularly under the attentive eyes of Henry’s calloused mother who later referred to Betty as a “silly woman” and chastised Henry for “living in that man’s dirt.” (“Silly,” maybe so, that sweet potato/pinching incident was embarrassing. But “dirt?” No.)

What did you think of the season premiere? Of sad Don? Of Betty and Henry?