'Mad Men' Season 5, Episode 3 Recap - 'Tea Leaves'

Don't let the mystic-sounding title fool you; this episode was all about the very real questions of mortality that we may face, especially if we're around Don Draper's age.

We went through the entire premiere without a single second of screen time for Betty, but she came back big time in this episode. When we finally see the former Mrs. Draper again, she has put on a few pounds... she can be found absent-mindedly munching on Bugles or finishing the rest of Sally's ice cream sundae.

To some, this would just be a minor inconvenience, or a side effect of getting older. But this is Betty we're talking about, so it's a much bigger deal. Plus, it's a chance for the show to give us the fantastic and meaningful juxtaposition of Betty trying to cram into her dress and failing, cutting straight to Megan slipping effortlessly into hers.

Those juxtapositions pervail throughout the episode: later, we see Don and Harry attempting to get backstage at a Rolling Stones concert in an attempt to get them to do a Heinz commercial and talking to girls who couldn't be more than 16 years old. The culture clash is deafening.

Don even seems ancient next to his own wife, who is vibrant, energetic, and optomistic while Don is worn down and morose. The cause of Don's mood is Betty's health: when she goes to the doctor for diet pills (at her mother in law's recommendation), the doctor finds a nodule on her thyroid. That sends both her and Don into a funk as the consider their own mortality, with Betty worrying about the kids and Don worrying about... well, whatever it is that Don worries about. Mostly himself, it seems.

After all, everything is changing around him: it turns out they did hire a new receptionist, Dawn, out of the group of black applicants from last episode, and the newest young copywriter Michael Ginsburg, reluctantly hired by Peggy, is not only clearly from a new generation, but is also Jewish. Roger says that he makes the office seem more "modern," and also manages to fit in his Roger Sterling Racist Joke of the Week by referring to the receptionist as "always darkest before the Dawn over there."

As interesting as the Fat Betty storyline was to watch, the makeup and body double use involved made it a bit laughable. Further, the tea leaves incident that lent the episode its title felt forced and awkward, though it accomplished what it needed to.

Even Roger is letting age get to him: when Pete reveals that Mohawk Airlines is now a client, he takes any and all credit away from Roger, in front of the whole company. "I used to love the kid," says Roger. Now he's... well, he's Pete.

In all of this, what did we get? Firstly, a continuation of the theme that the world is passing our protagonists by... at least, most of them. Secondly, Betty was made just a little more sympathetic. Thirdly, we have a new challenge for Peggy: just when it was starting to look like she could establish herself in her role as a copywriter, in steps Michael, who might prove to "be her boss soon," as warned.

Oh, and we learned that Harry loves White Castle.