Betty Draper Throws Her Husband to the Curb (okay, to the Roosevelt)
Here's the moment where the balance of power changes. Right there in the picture above. Betty's done. Really done. Because Don no longer has the power over her. She has divested in the relationship.
She just wears that fab polka dot dress for way too long and we realize how done Betty really is, and that was the shocking part for me.
Wine in the morning (?!?) while she goes through his suits looking, smelling, searching for anything that would give away Don's indiscretions? This is not the Betty Draper from even a couple days before that went to the market and fell for the Don-engineered marketing ploy that included Rumaki, cheeses of the world and a Dutch Heineken.
(And a nice little prod placement for Heineken, huh? Asserting it's upper middle class cred and reminding people it's not a German beer.)
That was proud wife Betty, partner Betty, homemaker Betty. That was the Betty that wouldn't consider going to sleep in her party dress with her makeup still on.
This new Betty is Bitter Betty. And she has every reason to be bitter, I think. Don's not just a pig, he's not just an adulterer, he's a manipulative prick. Which of course makes him a great ad man and is only one of many things that comprise his fatal flaws as a human being.
The dress? A reminder in each scene afterward that this marriage is killing her.
See?
Finally, something juicy for January Jones to play. The only thing I had ever seen her in before this was the movie American Wedding, so I didn't really know what to expect from an actress who was outperformed by Alyson Hannigan. She was pretty remarkable in these last two episodes.
I'm once again up to date on my Mad Men viewing, which means I can post the preview clip for this week's show, which is after the jump.
