Mad Men: Episode 3.3 "My Old Kentucky Home"

A week behind. Whoops. Anyway, Episode 3:

Mad Men, The Musical. Three musical numbers and a dance sequence too! It was a Mad Men talent show episode!

Things we learned:

• Grandpa Gene is awesome: He was kinda scary and crazy at first, but by the end of the episode I loved him. He cares about Sally. He actually takes the time to teach her and encourage her. He spends time with her (which is more than we can say for "Go watch TV" Betty). I loved how he didn't say anything about the five bucks after Sally "found" it on the kitchen floor. He knows she took it and she knows she did wrong and Awesome Grandpa Gene just lets it slide because he knows the lesson has been taught and he doesn't have to yell or get mad to make it stick. I love Grandpa Gene.
• Joan is awesome: She's a kick-butt hostess, she's beautiful, she's warm and demure and easy-going -- AND SHE PLAYS THE FREAKING ACCORDION!!!!!! She plays AND sings! She's way too good for old ShakyHandsMcDoctorRapist and she knows it. And he knows it. And everybody at their dinner party knows it. Poor Joan.
• Pete and Trudy are awesome: Their Charleston dance was the greatest thing I've ever seen on this show or any show ever. It was hilarious and awesome. I loved that it was a total homage to the Charleston dance scene from "It's a Wonderful Life." I can just see Dorkaliscious Pete and Trudy bonding over their mutual "It's a Wonderful Life" love and learning the dance from the movie. I bet they both had to take dancing lessons as kids (for all those frou-frou blue blood parties they probably went to) and I can just see them applying their dancing skillz to something as nerdy as learning the George Bailey/Mary Charleston. I love them!
• Don is awesome.... at making drinks: I couldn't even focus on that Connie guy's dialogue during this scene because I was mesmerized at Don's skill with the liquor. He was crushing the ice, he was mixing the rye with whatever he was mixing it with, he was plopping a cherry and something else into the finished drinks -- He was masterful! Don is the king of the Old Fashioned!
• Smith (or is he called Smitty? I can never figure it out...) is awesome: The dude's down-to-earth, funny, non-pretentious, and he went to the University of Michigan!!! Woo hoo, Wolverine shout-out!!! I know it wasn't intended as such, but I'm taking the Michigan thing as a shout-out. GO BLUE!

Finally, my opinion on that final make-out session between Don and Betty is this:

Don had just had his conversation with Roger about happiness in the previous scene and now Don sees Roger dancing with Jane, and perhaps he thinks that Roger is trying desperately to prove his happiness, to convince himself that he IS happy, and this in turn leads Don to try and find Betty, to kiss her with romantic abandon in the moonlight, to try and convince himself that he too is happy with his life. I have a feeling Betty is trying to do the same. It's not that the kiss didn't mean anything, or that it was passionate only because the two of them were thinking about kissing other people (I reject Matthew Weiner's interpretation of the scene. Heh.). But they're both at a point in their relationship where they're TRYING to make it work and sometimes trying doesn't actually equal a renewal of passion and love. So they're trying to reignite the spark, trying to fall back into that first burst of romance -- they're going through all the motions of passion hoping to get their emotions going as well.

Will it work? At this point, it's hard to tell. I hope Don and Betty can reignite the passion because basically, they are sooooo beautiful together. I want the pretty, dang it! Jane was right about that at least.