Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A- | 762 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT The Cat is Out of the Bag…
By Couch Baron | Season 3 | Episode 11 | Aired on 2009.10.25
Don unsteadily heads into his own kitchen and splashes some water on his no-doubt-heated face, and as he leans over to try to collect himself, Betty appears and snidely asks if he's thinking of heading for the exits. Sounding a little steadier, he tells her he's not going anywhere, but when he tries to get a cigarette out, his hands shake so much that he drops it. Surprised by how affected he is, she orders him to sit down while she gets him the drink, and he complies. Once they're both seated at the table, she crosses her arms disapprovingly over her chest and accuses him of buying Anna a house. Not wanting to get into that just yet but sensibly letting her dictate what happens, he asks her where she wants him to start, and the questioning begins: What's his name? Donald Draper, but it used to be Dick Whitman. What's the deal with Anna? It wasn't a romantic relationship; he "ended up" married to her because he ran away to join the Army. While enlisted, there was an accident and the real Don Draper was killed and he, Dick, was injured. He goes on that the Army "made a mistake" (obviously not the whole story, but this is just about the only half-truth he tells, so I'll let it go) that enabled him to take Don Draper's identity. This clearly not being what she expected, Betty's determination falters a bit as she asks if that wasn't against the law, and he admits that it was, but says it was easier to take his name than to start over, "but it turned out he was married to that woman, so I took care of her. And then I divorced her the minute I met you." Betty, however, corrects him -- he actually divorced her only three months before they got married, and why couldn't he ever tell her any of this? Reasonably enough, Don asks when exactly would have been an appropriate time to bring this up, but when he pushes on and asks why she needed to know, she snaps that he doesn't get to ask any questions. She grabs the box again and says he has a family, and she ignores his denial, saying all this time she thought he was "some football hero who hated his father," and she always knew he was poor, and ashamed of it. "I see how you are with money -- you don't understand it." Interesting comment -- I think she means he doesn't understand what it can really do for you in terms of social stature, nor does he understand how to go about being rich, and he seems to agree: "I was very poor." She asks if he saw Anna when he was in California, and he admits that too, but adds, "She reminded me that I loved you." Still sounding steely, she straight-up asks what he would do in her position: "Would you love you?" His answer takes you by surprise and yet makes perfect sense: "I was surprised that you ever loved me." You can't trust a man with no people. My daughter's a princess, you know that? She asks if she's supposed to feel sorry for him, and speculates that he must have wanted her to find all this out, otherwise why keep all the evidence in her house? All he can offer is that he didn't think he had a choice, and says that it's their house, their children. She tells him she can't trust him, and doesn't know who he is, but he earnestly replies, "Yes you do." At this point, we hear the baby cry from the other room, which is not a sound I'm normally thrilled to hear but my God, I think we could all use a respite here. Betty leaves the room, but not before informing Don in no uncertain terms that they're not done. When she's gone, Don gets up, picks up the box, and starts to shuffle out of the room himself. I know it's a bad time to leave the house, but shouldn't he at least bring Suzanne a banana or something?