The ladies of Mad Men sure have put up with a lot over the seasons, and last night's episode, "The Beautiful Girls," definitely gave most of them their time to shine.
I say "most" because the episode focused on the important women in Don Draper's (Jon Hamm) life asserting their independence, and Betty (January Jones) was basically missing in action (woo!). We saw Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) defend her career choice to a rabble-rousing suitor, Sally (Kiernan Shipka) seek out her father's comfort, Faye (Carla Buono) tell Don off for using her "babysitting" services, and Joan (Christina Hendricks) indulge in a little post-muggin' mackin'! More on that last one in a bit, but the whole episode was liberating without being preachy or cliche. And I credit Sally and Faye with bringing out the softer side of Don Draper—they're forcing him to listen to and respect their opinions, but he's actually doing it.
Now, onto the main event: I'm just as stoked as you probably were when you saw Joan and Roger (John Slattery) get down and dirty in that dirty alley. Their re-hook-up was definitely a long time coming, and the foreshadowing has been weighing heavy on everyone's minds for at least two seasons. But I couldn't help thinking that it was a little too satisfying; is Matt Weiner going to do what I think he's going to do? Will Joan's husband Greg get killed off in Vietnam? Will Roger's wife Jane wither away mysteriously? These two characters are meant to be, sure, but if the story takes this obvious turn, I think I'll actually be a little disappointed.
Speaking of disappointed, did anyone else notice just how down-in-the-dumps Cooper (Robert Morse) was after Miss Blankenship passed away? Were they... involved? Or am I reading too much into that? Maybe I just want Cooper to have a personality outside of the whole shoe-removal thing.
What did you think of "The Beautiful Girls"?
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Alastes is correct; it was also implied that Ida was the only woman Bertram ever loved.
Didn't we already find out about the relationship between Cooper and Blankenship? The tapes found by Don and Peggy, didn't they reveal a relationship?
It was referenced earlier in the series that Cooper had a relationship with Blankenship, so yes, he was sad.
(spoiler alert) As sad as I was to see Miss Blankenship leave she went out with a bang (on the desk!). She has had some of the funniest moments on TV and this was a fitting end. I was in tears of laughter last week when the reflection of Don's head in silhouette was caught just-so in her goggle-glasses that it looked like she had cartoon eyes.