PU PU: Congratulations, Betty Draper: you're raising a daughter who can be as spiteful as you, but what happens when she directs her cutting questions back at mom? Once again, Sally Draper learns more about the adult world, and once more she finds out it kinda sucks.
No, "Dark Shadows" wasn't the greatest hour of the show, though I like the idea of Roger and Bert (and Don) trying to act again like the busy bees they once were. But this episode is a perfect demonstration of Matt's ratio of Mad Men success: this little Joan and Peggy (and Dawn), and that much Betty, usually leads to bad things, even if mitigated by the prospect of throwing a snowball at Hitler. I do wonder if the "Ugly Betty" plot is prompted by the actress' pregnancy rather than dramatic needs, because as a dramatic arc ... not doing it for me.
The smog is coming, so watch out.
added: MZS: "Do you feel, as I do, that a lot of the fat Betty stuff this season feels like narrative piling-on, despite the thematic sharpness of aspects like the Weight Watchers meeting scenes? Don't the weight gain, the pills, the crushing loneliness, and that Henry Jamesian mansion of doom feel a bit like karmic payback for sins that are, in the greater scheme, a lot less grave than Don's? How do you solve a problem like Betty Draper?"
Also: Is Season 5 using the tracks of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as a template?
