TVSquad

(S02E04) "That was beautiful. Are you going to say Grace now?" - Peggy's mom, to the priest

This episode brought a big smile to my face for one reason: Pete was wining and dining the Gorton's people! I grew up a few blocks away from the Gorton's headquarters, so it was great to see them as the latest client of Sterling Cooper. Hopefully we'll see them in the future too as we've repeatedly seen Belle Jolie, Utz, and Mohawk Airlines.

The rest of the episode shows how intricate this show is. It sort of worries me in a way. How can people who didn't see the first season get into this show, the characters, the rhythms, the seven different stories that each character is carrying around with them? How does the show grow in viewership? I don't know. I just know I love it and other dedicated fans do too, and I hope that's enough for many years to come.

So this episode of Mad Men is all about how everyone spends their Sundays. The first season was all about Don's family and the goings on at Sterling Cooper, so it's great to see the stories of the other characters expanding. I like seeing the gang in casual clothes (well, Harry still wears a bow tie on Sundays). I don't think this is exactly casual Fridays, but it's interesting. Over at the Olsens, I got that strange feeling that not only did all of the Olsen women want to get to know Father Handsome (Colin Hanks) they wanted to get to know him. If this show goes that route - Peggy and the Priest - it will out-wow the scene with Don and Bobbie last week (not that I think it's going there). And speaking of Bobbie, I truly don't like her. Assertive and greedy is one thing, but here's a woman who gets that done to her by a man and then still comes back later and throws her jacket on Don's office floor so she doesn't, um, get her knees all dirty.

Some other observations:

- I'm confused by the timeline of this episode. It opens on Sunday, April 8, 1962. Then when Pete and Roger are talking to the head of Gorton's and his "wife," the date on the board is April 16, eight days later. But later in the episode Father Handsome is giving his Sunday sermon, which he told Peggy was in "one week." How could that be? And then later it's April 22, which is Easter?

- So on Sunday, we have Peggy's family hosting Father Handsome for dinner, Don and the gang working hard on the American Airlines campaign, and Roger...in a hotel room with a prostitute. Everyone has a different idea of the perfect Sunday I guess.

- Was Peggy's sister's confession a calculated move?

- On weekends, Pete is apparently Rod Laver.

- Roger's daugther, the one getting married: is that the same teen who was all snarky in an episode last season?

- Roger's look at Ken after he offered the woman's number: no one gives a look like John Slattery.

- I want Sally to make all of my drinks for me. 9% tomato juice, 91% booze. (But she's drinking too already?) And speaking of Sally, her "Is that your maid?" line literally made we wince.

- Book club alert: Betty is reading F. Scott Fitzgerald (as suggested by horny horse guy). Not sure which book it is the title is kinda blurred. But I'm sure everyone will be rushing to Amazon to buy something by Fitzgerald too, which would be a great thing.

- Bobbie's idea sounds like something FOX would do today. I truly love Don's line about the show: "It's derivative, with a twist, which is what they're looking for." Don Draper predicted the way 2008 television executives think.

- Don's handling of the broken record player was perfect, just telling Bobby he believed his mom that he did it and knowing that he was going to take any of the kid's BS. (Side note: odd that we have two people with the same name, Bobby and Bobbie. Shows don't usually do that.)

- Is it just me or are Joan's boobs Holloway-bigger than usual in this episode?

If there's one thing I haven't liked about this season is that we haven't seen Midge or Rachel. Don mailed the Frank O'Hara book to someone in the season opener, so hopefully we're going to see at least one of them later this season. That will be a nice surprise.

I was thinking that Joan wouldn't be able to find a replacement secretary for Don, and that would lead to all sorts of intrigue with her finding out his secrets, and maybe Don being tempted by Joan, which would cause him to clash with Roger. But next week's sneak peek showed another secretary outside of Don's door ...