Watching (Mad) Men: S6 E4 Recap

Spoiler Alert: This blog is published after Mad Men airs on Showcase in Australia, Monday at 4.30pm EST. Do not read on unless you have watched this week's episode which is also available for download Tuesday mornings on iTunes.

This Week On Mad Men: The swingin' '60s reveal Dishonest Don is way square. He keep things French with Lindsay Weir's wig/Catholic-guilt, but the “man who plays many roles” bristles when Meta-Soap-Operatic Megan (“my storyline is getting more developed!”) pretends to kiss on TV for her swinger bosses. Whilst Joan and old pal Kate french boys to Bonnie & Clyde, the male-privileged men of Madison Avenue get pissy: Don the possessive, faux-moralist husband; stoned Stan flipping the bird at careerist Peggy; Harry throwing a tanty at Joan's seniority, even if her co-partners still “treat [her] like a secretary.” Dawn, an actual secretary, makes do as Independent Woman pt.2 only in the absence of husband. Everyone wants what others have, resentfully; this the parry/thrust of office politics in a place where “everybody's crying.”

Teyonah Parris (Dawn) looks on in disbelief to bump into another African American on the Mad Men set

How Big Is Thy Weiner: After the TV-as-high-art rush of the return, this was plot-driven, lacking the formalist flourish of the show's most Weinerish moments.

Arcane & Able: Broadway Joe Does Broadway! Starring Joe Namath! With Special Guest Stars Joey Heatherton! Julie Andrews! And “The Duke,” John Wayne!

Pete Campbell's Punchable-Weasel-Face Watch: Smirkin' PC winkily pimpin' his bach pad to Don: “it's available to you, if you ever need to spend a night in the city…”

Screening every Monday night, 5.20pm and 8.30pm, on Showcase