You know what’s awkward? Laying in bed, watching Mad Men with the partner when Betty calls Don to seek comforting for a cancer scare. The partner is a spectacular spouse, loving beyond measure, surprising in her ability to restore a cynic’s faith in the world. The partner could also not be more different than the first wife.

After Don hung up the phone, the partner said that the threat of pre-existing intimacy with a previous spouse is something that is always in the back of the mind of a second wife. And there was much in Don’s reaction that echoed in my brain. What if she got cancer, and the partner and I had to raise the boys full time? What if, even more disturbing to me and to perhaps the partner, the first wife reached out to me for comfort despite the fact that she seems happily remarried?

The partner predicted Megan would not handle it well. I predicted the opposite. For a 20-year-old, hell, for anyone, Megan has been a charming force on the show, and she rose to the occasion when Don gave her the news. But why wouldn’t she? Being young does not disqualify her from being a good match for Don, and despite the idiotic way in which they formed their marriage, they seem to be making it work, the discussion about the white carpet in the first episode of season 5 being a good example. Bless her heart, Megan seemed to accept that Don’s supportive reaction could exist concurrent with his happy marriage to her. Life is always more complicated than we’d like, but if we try sometime, we just might find…  You get the idea.

Romney is a clown, Pete’s still a tool, and Stiles is right. Betty’s benign, fat, and boring. Not even her fat suit can hide her lack of chops. 

-Jason