Speaking of the desk drawer, wasn’t it ironic that always careful Don left the key in his bathrobe because he was distracted by the cry of baby Gene?

It’s debatable whether he just rushed upstairs because he didn’t want Betty to suspect he was sneaking around in the wee hours or maybe because he felt guilty and wanted her to sleep, but maybe it’s not so debatable that Grampa Gene working thru his little namesake gets the last laugh on “that joker”. Ha,Ha!

Always nice spending a Sunday afternoon in here, had a great time chatting. I have laundry to do before The Gypsy and the Hobo. It’s all mine; I expect no major surprises.

I guess we are like Mad Men, we would rather hang out at the office with all the fast moving antics rather than deal with routine matters at home raising the kids.

A team of therapist working 24/7 could not figure out Don Draper/Dick Whitman and Betty Draper. That's why we're hooked in. We can't figure them out – it's like having one root canal treatment after the other.

I like pondering those questions. Betty's been sort of forced to be patient, fighting her natural (?) impulse to let him have it.

I'm kind of leaning toward her interpreting this as a license to try out some type of affair, (maybe not with Henry though?). She may want to try to create her own secret of some sort, level the playing field. Howver I don't know what else it could be. But she will figure out, if she already hasn't, that this is her ticket to some other very different existence.

Next episode is "The Grown-Ups"?
I personally would only use that term sarcastically. Hard to believe, I know.
Sadly I interpret that to mean the young Drapers get to witness Mom and Dad fight each other's "inner child". Will be interesting, won't be pretty.

At least we've got forward momentum with Betty and the desk drawer. That has to go somewhere, doesn't it? You don't suppose Betty could just stick her head back in the sand and go on like nothing happened, do you?

I'm not so sure Don has actually changed or learned anything from his affairs, despite his California baptism. He certainly hasn't grown emotionally, or learned to care about the emotional fallout to his family. And I disagree that he "felt obligated" to return. He had a free and clear break from his family when he abandoned them without one word for nearly a month. At this point I haven't a clue, WHY he wanted to return to Ossining? Betty certainly wasn't forcing the issue. She didn't even reveal her pregnancy to him until he'd already returned home, so no obligation from that. The fact that he had kids, and as little time as he spends home anyway, doesn't seem to make him feel any obligation. The letter he wrote asking to come home was obviously no more than one of his Don Draper ad pitches. And he's cheating with a stewardess a mere 6 months after his return. Other than going thru the motions, I haven't seen either Don or Betty really attempt to salvage this marriage. And the baby seems such an unnecessary albatross to hang around the neck of these two people.

Were we to analyze the agonizing end of a marriage, I would have rather it have been Joan's.

I could have watched a separated/divorced Betty getting involved in civic matters meeting Henry (or whomever), dealing with the Ossining crowd and Don navigating single Dad, and business, his paramours, etc…

Roger told Mona that Don convinced him he should get a divorce and marry Jane. Remember when Mona confronted Don in the office about it?

Don also (rightly) blames Roger for the sale of SC to PPL, which he encouraged to finance his increased overhead (ex-wife, new wife, etc etc). Which subsequently lead to PPL/SC forcing his hand to sign the contract, at least indirectly.

Plus, I think he lost whatever respect he had for Roger when Roger left Mona for a secretary.

Maybe there's more, but that's what comes to mind for me.