Mad Men, series two, episode nine: Six Months' Leave

Spoiler warning: Don't read on if you haven't seen any of the first series of Mad Men, or the first eight episodes of series two. Watch Six Months' Leave on iPlayer.

Last week left us with Betty telling Don to remove himself from the Draper family home, Joan being gazumped by Harry's ignorance and Peggy still keeping it all in. The strife in Ossining continued this week as Betty tinkered with other people's emotions instead of properly confronting her own.

"Some people just hide in plain sight"

It's August in Manhattan and Marilyn Monroe is dead. Thank goodness those Playtex ads never made it through the net. Apart from Peggy, most of the office girls are in tears – even cool Joan had to take a lie down.

Peggy's comments in the lift to Don and Hollis are obviously pertinent – all of Mad Men's leads hide in plain sight after all – but, as well as this, Monroe, whose perfect exterior hid inner turmoil, is a canny reference point for the outwardly immaculate Don and Betty. More on them later.

The main issue in the office was Freddy Rumsen – who'd drunk himself into a state, wet his pants and flaked on a meeting with Samsonite before squelching off home. Pete, who's happy to blame Fred, then take the credit for Peggy dealing with it, tells Duck who tells Roger who fires the long-serving, but pretty useless Freddy.

This being Sterling Cooper, Roger's idea of sending Fred off to dry out involves taking him out for drinks. And more drinks in a speakeasy-style underground casino for the rich and famous, before sending him off into the abyss. "If I don't go into that office every day, who am I?" asks Freddy before he gets into the cab – obviously he's not the only one wondering.

Fred's leaving drinks culminated in Don meeting Jimmy Barrett in the speakeasy and sucker punching the cuckolded comedian for ruining his marriage. Which, if anything, is a little bit unfair on Jimmy. But, as Roger said, it's probably not the first time he's been punched. Was Jimmy's "look, it's The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" a metatextual reference to the book/movie Mad Men is so often compared to, or just an acknowledgement that even the characters in the Mad Men narrative world realise Draper's similarity to Tom Rath?

"Two coronaries... You have to move forward"

Roger's affair with Jane took me completely by surprise. There were hints in the Rothko episode and various references to Roger's disillusionment with his marriage throughout both series – but Roger's philandered before and never left Mona. It seems surprising that he would have such a seemingly intense affair with Joan but never leave his wife and then trot off with Jane after what, a few weeks? Also, was it not a bit odd that Roger told Mona what Don said at the bar and used that as justification for his actions. Did he think Don thought they were talking about Jane when Don was talking about Bobbie? Regardless, the Joanification of Jane continues.

"I got my diagnosis the other day. I'm bored"

Back upstate, Betty was still trying to figure it all out. She defrosted the freezer and lined the drawers to regain some normality but, before long, the wine glass was back out and she was trying to break into Don's drawers. Is there a chance she'll find something about Dick Whitman rather than Bobbie?

In the end, after talking to Sara Beth – who's under the impression that Don is still "perfect" – she entertained her own desires vicariously by setting up Arthur and Sara Beth on a lunch date, cannily taking the phone off the hook to avoid the consequences. She's not quite got the guts to have an affair yet – why not watch how Sara Beth copes?

It's creepy, teenage behaviour. And, as if that wasn't clear, the next scene had Don castigating Ken, Kinsey and Harry for laughing at Freddy with the line: "Don't you have anything better to do than dine on the drama of other people's lives like a bunch of teenage girls?"

Although a lot happened plot-wise tonight, this felt like a real pincer episode between the development of the first portion of the series and the conclusions soon to be drawn. What did you think about the honourable way Peggy took her promotion? That glass ceiling's getting weaker and weaker. And there was precious little Joan after last week's professional defeat – though the exchange between her and Roger was telling – maybe it was that which convinced Roger not to let another one go.

Notes:
Peggy was right about Playtex. Looks like she's even copying Don's luck.

Ken's reaction to the blood drive: "If this was an athletics competition, accounts would win. Flat out."

Don's secretary is becoming the Newcastle United manager of jobs at Sterling Cooper.

Roger's story about an ex-alcoholic colleague: "He only drinks beer now."

The shirts Jane buys Don are from Menken's.

"There's a line, Freddy – and you wet it."

Is Don keen on keeping the likes of Fred because it makes him look better?

The boxer in the bar is Floyd Patterson.

Freddy on Duck: "He's as dry as a bone – he doesn't understand this business."

Culture Watch:
Betty is reading Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter – a 1962 bestseller that satirised the origins of Nazism and painted a bleak picture of the human condition. I've not read it, so any input is welcome. Is there a message there? Or is Bets just a sucker for a bestseller?

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