As Mad Men nears the midpoint of its fourth season, SCDP  considers its first Japanese client and Betty gets meaner than ever.

Zoe

If you were to poll the viewers of Mad Men, I think most of them would pick Betty to be a monster greater than the Japanese businessmen we saw today. And while I don’t disagree that Betty has many, many flaws, I appreciate the way this episode let both Henry Francis (and later Don himself) talk about Don’s flaws as a parent. Sure, he loves his kids, and sure, he’s less inclined to hit them than Betty, but he’s just as inattentive as she can be. He sees them a few days a month, and yet chooses to go on a date (to Benihana, which I was mildly amused to find out existed back then). He simply doesn’t know what to do with his kids when there’s not someone else to help them. Which us unfortunate, as Bobby and Sally both clearly need a lot more positive attention in their lives, and Sally especially desperately wants that from her father. Betty is a bad, childish mother, but Don is bad and childish in his own ways and, as always, we need to remember that.

Speaking of memory: on the one hand, Roger’s outburst was cruel and rude and detrimental. On the other hand it was funny and, well, understandable. I have to wonder if he would be as opposed to the firm working with a German company–if some of his vehement disagreement just comes from the fact that the Japanese are not white–but it also makes sense for a Pacific veteran to hate the idea of working with the people he spent years trying to kill. It has been twenty years, as many people rightfully point out, but serving was, in a lot of ways, the best, most honorable, most important thing Roger has done. It also something that he made for himself, unlike the companies he has worked at since the war. Roger is a fun-loving, tipsy, trust fund kid. But he’s also one that fought and dealt with the realities of war. Maybe it’s time for him to let that go (especially considering how important Honda cars will end up being to the company) but, given how little he’s accomplished since the war, I can see why it remains the focal point of his identity.

Scott

A show like Mad Men is so richly textured and complex that people watch it for completely different reasons. Clearly, we here at Angry Fellas love material about Sally, but I know some people who could care less about her and just want the whole show to be Don. Others find Pete an annoying rich kid, while I think he’s a clearly flawed but ultimately sympathetic young man trying to make his own way in the world. I find it hard to believe, though, that anyone watching the show at this point cares about Don’s romantic life. It’s sort of excruciating watching him go on dates with prim and proper Bethany, invite Nurse Phoebe into his very brown home and flirt with psychiatrist Mrs. Fay Miss Fay like this is some sort of LBJ-era Grey’s Anatomy. TV is very driven by soap opera-esque notions of who’s going to end up with who; it’s hard to think of a single series without some kind of romantic tension (intentional or imagined), even on shows like 30 Rock where — despite Tina Fey’s claims to the contrary — half of the people who watch it are sure that Liz and Jack will get married someday. But Mad Men is better than that, and Don’s slow march toward self-discovery is so much more interesting than his casual flings with underwritten characters.

Otherwise, I really enjoyed watching this episode even though in retrospect it was a mixed bag. Roger’s WWII-spawned racism was handled with the perfect blend of shock (his raging boardroom invasion) and nuance (his sincere devotion to the men he served with). The elaborate con game to drive Ted Shaw’s agency into bankruptcy using his own arrogance was fun and pretty ingenious even by Don’s standards, though I would love it if Don had some actual competition instead of a weaselly nerd who is vanquished in a single episode (Shaw felt a lot like the hapless, departed Duck). And poor Sally. Despite the writers laying it on too thick with Betty, who basically turned into Cruella de Vil this week what with the slapping and her venomous delivery of the word “masturbation”, Sally’s shame-filled introduction to the birds and the bees was as sad and agonizing as anything I’ve ever seen. The anxious final shot of the young Miss Draper waiting outside the psychiatrist’s office with Carla, the only real mother she’s ever known, was heartbreaking.

Dennis

Well, we saw another familiar face this week. It was uh, that guy who wasn’t Kurt. (Speaking of which, where is Kurt? No Sal, no Kurt. If it weren’t for Peggy’s new lesbian friend I’d wonder if Weiner had de-gayed the whole show). But more importantly, Sally Draper’s back, and the kid is probably not all right. She’s taken to impromptu haircuts and (gasp) sleepover masturbation. What are we going to do with you, Sally? Answer: send her to therapy, though as always, it’s child-trapped-in-an-adult’s-body Betty that needs it more.

Between the increased dosage of Sally (now with stylish new haircut), Don’s always delightful elderly secretary, some solid Roger moments, and a new rival for Don (as played by Desperate Housewives‘ Kevin Rahm), I was more pleased with this episode than last. Still, I’m already getting bored with Don’s myriad of love interests. Will he choose his nurse neighbor, with her weirdly intermittent Southern accent? Or the Betty doppleganger Bethany? Or how about his hard-to-get coworker Faye? (Because, let’s face it, as Miss Farrell can attest, no one stays impervious to Don’s charms for long). Someone earlier in the season told Don he’d be married again within the year. Can’t happen soon enough, I say. I’m starting to get dizzy on Don’s lady merry-go-round.