Anticipating a meeting with politician Harry Francis – a handsome man only getting better with age – Betty takes great care in preparing for the committee meeting in which the Junior League of Tarrytown fights against the building of the reservoir. Sharing the mirror with Sally, she spends a significant amount of time on her lips and makes sure not an eyelash is out of place. She pays no attention to Sally and perhaps this is a catalyst for Sally’s temper later in the episode.
Harry Francis works his paper-pushing magic and manages to delay the reservoir construction and while walking out of the meeting, he is charming towards Betty and slowly, meticulously, and unthreateningly moves in for a kiss. She does not deliver any kind of response and drives off stealing a look at him in the rear view mirror.
Joan's Customer Service
The most surprising aspect of this particular episode was the reappearance of Joan as a department store manager. Her facial expressions, at first, were devastating. Like a servant, she could barely look Pete Campbell in the eye. It takes her a beat to gather herself and put on the expressions necessitated by her job.
Joan handles herself as well as she can, but Pete will no doubt bring this information back to the office (perhaps to big smiles from Roger Sterling and Peggy). Joan is very pitiable at the moment, but it would come as no surprise to see her rise to high positions very quickly.
Roleplaying in Rome
Conrad Hilton wants Don to meet him in Rome to talk business. Betty decides it could be fun to tag along. Of course its fun when you’re comfortable speaking Italian! (Raise your hand if you had Betty speaking Italian in your office pool!). Don and Betty’s interaction is interesting and new to say the least. Her appearance change has her looking more and more like her true self: the ice queen. Don plays the part of a naïve tourist looking for a night of carnal fun. And in a love scene of Hitchcockian amplitude (hear those car horns and sirens?), Betty delivers.
There are two big points from this short tryst in Rome. The first is that by accompanying Don on this business trip she fully inserts herself into Don’s stoutly guarded work life. On a business trip, work and family can be one in the same and Betty is sure to blend the two.
Secondly, when and where did Betty pick up Italian? This is the first moment of the series when Betty is intriguing. Mad Men shows plenty of Don’s past, but will there come a time when Betty’s past catches up with her? How much do we really know about her? Perhaps her history is just as dirty as the seemingly unflappable Don Draper.
Pete Campbell's Own Foreign Affair
Free of Trudy’s screeching and lockdown social agenda, Pete goes exploring in his own apartment building. Always looking for anything he can take advantage of, Pete offers his services in helping a German nanny with a spoiled dress.
When he returns with a brand new dress, Pete expects his good deed to be reciprocated and he forces the issue. It is clear that Campbell is not a gracious lover, and while Don and Betty’s liaison appears sensual and passionate, his is only aggressive and without consideration.
Delaying What?
The biggest line of the week was Harry Francis’ “When you have no power, delay.” Of course this will have repercussions, but where? How long will Betty and Trudy delay addressing the putrid state of their marriages? How long before Peggy’s night with Duck becomes public? How long before Joan dumps her dope of a husband? How long before Harry Francis becomes a major player?
