An excellent episode, all about East vs. West, medicine, men and their use of meat, it opens in a doctor's office, with Joan talking babies with her smoking Ob/gyn. She admits to having had two "procedures" (abortions? with Roger's babies?) but is given the all clear, fertility- and conception-wise. The purpose of the visit surprised me, since I thought that by then, her marriage, and hubby with the rapey tendencies, had disappeared into the ether.

It's Christmas in August, and things are upside down. At least that's what it seems like when suddenly Freddy Rumsen is the dry, stand-up guy in the office while Don is the pathetic, falling down drunk. Yikes, talk about Donny Darko!

To be honest, I found the opening painful and slow, and some of the dialogue seemed way too transparent as exposition. For example, Don yells at the newly steady Pete, "Y&R has the fire power to throw six floors worth of talent on it!" This seemed unworthy of "Mad Men" banter. But maybe that was Weiner's intent: to make the opening verbally awkward and visually claustrophobic, so that we could sense the tension in the new, too -small office, and see just how out-of-sorts Don is, now that he's achieved a professional dream.

Hell's bells, Mad peeps! We're back! I know we're all madly anticipating Sunday night's season 4 premiere. But try to relax. Have your kid pour you a drink. Dab some tuna on your saltines. Then take your shoes off and pull up an ottoman: we have a lot of deliciousness to discuss!