Tonight marked Don's big return to the office, and boy was it awkward. We'll start out on the Don front tonight, as he tries to have other Dawn catch him up to speed over the phone on what's been happening, only to find her swamped in her new position and unable to attend to him. This annoys him but he quickly receives a call from Megan's agent, begging him to tend to his wife, because she's growing desperate in her auditions and apparently accosted a director in public. So Don flies out to surprise her and she's at first happy to see him, but things go south very quickly when she finds out he only came to check on her, and she starts immediately calling him out about his probable cheating while he's in New York. To calm her down, Don finally admits to her he lost his job, but this only angers Megan more, as she realizes this means he hasn't even wanted to be with her for months. She tells him it's over between them and Don goes home, but to his credit he does seem regretful about their relationship and calls her later to tell her he's trying to fix his job situation. Megan says the only way to fix things is for him to move out there and get a job, but Don doesn't sound willing to do it. So it appears things are over for Don and Megan, but I still took this whole thing as being somewhat ambiguous- I wonder if Don will eventually, by the end of the season (and I mean the whole season, not this half season) end up moving to California after all, leaving the door open with Megan for the future, since he does tell her again that he still loves her.
The apparent break-up with Megan does prompt Don to get back to SC&P somehow, so he finally goes to Roger's apartment and has it out with him. The two argue over what he did and the fact that Don didn't answer Roger's Christmas card (lol), but Roger is really pretty easy to sway and quickly agrees to let Don come back to work because he misses him (awww!). I love Don and Roger's friendship. So Don, with some trepidation, heads back into the office the next day and things get awkward really fast. Roger isn't there yet and hasn't told a single other person in the office, leaving Don to enjoy some very weird and tension-filled reunions with Joan, Cutler, Peggy (who, still pissed about Ted, snarks to him that he hasn't been missed) and a run-in with Lou Avery, who immediately cries to Cutler, telling him he's got a two-year contract and they can't fire him. When Roger finally saunters in, Don yells at him for not getting everything straightened out, but Roger at last gets to assert his own authority, claiming it's his name on the door and he can do whatever he wants. At the partner's meeting sans Don, he finds out that basically every other person was under the impression that Don's "leave of absence" meant he was fired, but he shoots down every argument for not letting him come back and states the reasons they need him- the creative department is dying (because obviously Lou sucks) and most importantly, firing him would mean buying him out, which they can't afford to do. Go Roger! This is certainly his best episode in a long time. Cutler is adamantly against it (turns out Lou's his guy), but outvoted in the end. The partners welcome Don back but under the conditions that he not be alone with the clients, no drinking in the office (ha- can he pull that off?), and finally, he must report to Lou (ouch, that one's gonna hurt). After a beat, Don agrees, and that's that (to the sounds of Jimi Hendrix over the end credits).
Elsewhere in the Mad Men universe, this episode also marks the return of Betty, who I personally have never missed. But she's back, and just as nasty and haughty as ever. She has a fabulously passive-aggressive conversation with her old neighbor Francine, who's now working part time as a travel agent, and completely disses her desire to do something with her life besides being a mother. And then she goes on a field trip to a farm with Bobby's class as a chaperone, where she seems to be getting along with a child of hers for once, even bonding with another mother over mocking the teacher's braless status, until Bobby commits the unforgiveable sin of trading his mother's sandwich away for some gumdrops. And yes, he will pay dearly for this for the rest of his life. Betty forces him to eat all the candy and hours later, the kid is still suffering when Henry comes home to the all the nastiness still floating around in the air. Betty blames Bobby again and storms out of the kitchen, while Henry sits down to dinner with the kid, shooting him an understanding glance. When he goes to see Betty watching TV with a sleeping Gene in her arms, she says Bobby destroyed a perfect day for her (oh for fuck's sake), and wonders why her children don't love her. Wow. The long suffering Henry simply shakes his head and continues to ask himself why he married such a horrible woman (or at least that's what he's thinking).
Other tidbits:
-We also saw Harry Crane's first appearance of the season tonight, continuing to complain about SC&P totally ignoring their media department, a fact that finally seems to win him a supporter in Jim Cutler when a client wonders why they don't have a computer like other agencies. Harry of course lies smoothly that they do, but Jim finds out he's a born liar ("the most dishonest person he's ever met"), and that Harry is so fed up with the way he's treated that he's basically checked out of his duties. Nice to see you again, Harry. You haven't changed one bit.
-There was a very strange moment tonight where Don is approached and propositioned by a young blonde who claims they know each other, in front of two rival ad agency guys who were interested in hiring him. He thinks it's a joke at first but they assure him they know nothing about it and Don looks after her, pensive. I had NO idea what this scene was about, and it was never referred back to again. I feel like I missed something, so if anybody caught that, please, I'd love your interpretations.
-Peggy is in a perpetual bad mood this season, first because Ginsberg is winning a Clio and she wasn't even submitted, and then because Don's coming back, and she smugly insults him like I mentioned earlier. I really hope Peggy's success isn't concurrent with her becoming more and more unlikeable. There are more than enough of those characters around already, and if Betty's back I can only take one irrationally evil person at a time.
