Mad Men 3.8: "You Don't Kiss Boys; Boys Kiss You"

Aaaaaaaaand we're back with a vengeance to 3 razor blades out of 5 for this Sunday's "Mad Men" episode. In previous weeks we'd dropped to an inconceivable 1 razor blade, but those days are over. THEY ARE OVER.

I need to take a moment to do something I don't normally do in these reviews, which is to point out something other than how depressing the show is: the direction and scene cuts were jarring and a bit off (which doesn't take into account the truly odd-and-getting-odder ad break placement). I literally don't know what happened in the creepy Pete subplot. He took advantage of a poor French Au Pair, but how much advantage he took is difficult for me to say. Of course Pete can't just be nice to anyone -- although for a flicker of a second I saw him in a new light, foolish me -- which was a large factor in this episode's rating.

Anyway, Betty has probably warped Sally's little mind regarding male/female dynamics for the millionth time by telling her she must be passive with boys, and also that the first kiss in any relationship is the only exciting one; all subsequent ones are a mere shadow of it (!!)

Despite her bizarre claim about kissing, Betty's trip to Italy with Don was pretty hot. They were acting like a couple of newlyweds, which was refreshing to see. Upon their return, however, Betty declared that she hates their life, their house, their friends, etc. So, you know, they were happy together for approximately 40 hours, minus the flight and time change.

Last but not least, Joan has been reduced to working in the women's dress department of some fancy Manhattan store (we know it's fancy because the brand Hermes can be seen in many of the shots). This is utterly humiliating for her, especially when Pete struts in, but I was also struck by the fact that Joan is always the best person ever at whatever job she's doing. She was an uber secretary and soap opera reader (remember that one episode last year?) and has already risen to the position of manager at this new place. Both at Sterling Cooper and the department store, she anticipates and fixes every problem expertly.

She should probably be ruling the world.