
The storm clouds swirled on this week's exciting season finale of
Mad Men. As the terror of the Cuban missile crisis thrums below the surface, everyone copes with the prospect of the end of the world in his or her own way. The entire episode has a nihilistic vibe to it, with characters weighing each moment against the idea that it could be their last.

A lot went down in this week's episode of
Mad Men, which makes sense as next week will mark the conclusion of season two (boo!). However, despite some character story lines progressing along, this episode doesn't offer many clues as to how Betty and Don will resolve their marital issues.
We do learn a bunch of stuff about other characters, though, including the fact that Pete is violently opposed to adoption and poor Joan is caught up in a terrible relationship with a wretched man.

This week's
Mad Men episode has got to be the most bizarre yet. I was looking forward to Don and Pete's trip to L.A. (especially for the fashion and sets!) but did not see Don's little sojourn into an eerie little "family" coming.

As is often the case with
Mad Men, the title of the episode is perfect. This week's installment has little Sterling-Cooper stuff and tons of richly layered, sad, prickly family issues dealing with difficult moms, sick dads, unknown heirs and lonely little boys. We don't see too much of our main man, Don Draper, this week, and I longed for more Joan, Roger and Peggy, but this episode is just as sad, disturbing and well-written as any of them.

Any
Mad Men episode with a lot of Roger Sterling in it is going to be among my favorites and that's a big reason why this first new episode after the show's big
Emmy wins did not disappoint. There's a moment at a gambling club when a young woman approaches Roger and Don and asks if they're winners. His response is classic Roger: "Uh, losers tonight but winners in general."

Last night's episode of
Mad Men shall henceforth be known as "that time Betty totally melted down," despite its official title. I've been hoping for a while now that she would finally let some of the air out of the repressed tension by confronting Don about his lies and this week I was granted this wish. More on that after the jump.

Last night's
Mad Men ended on a totally shocking and gross note that rendered me unable to finish a piece of pizza. Just
last week I was wondering when any of these men were going to get called out on their cheating ways (especially Don), and finally it kind-of, sort-of happened! I've also been wondering when we'd get back to some of the peripheral characters, like Ken Cosgrove (remember, he's a published writer of fiction?) and art director Salvatore Romano (remember, he's tormented by his sexual orientation?), and was happy to see the show pick up with those folks where we left off.

Last night's episode of
Mad Men was a lot of things: illuminating, kinky, awkward, frustrating, and heartbreaking. I guess same old, same old for this show — but something about last night was a bit more intense, a touch more raw than the previous episodes this season. Maybe we're just at a place in the story arc of all the characters where, as Bobbie put it, "the gloves come off."

Whoa — big episode of
Mad Men this week with all of my favorite characters getting a good amount of screen time. One of my favorite characters from last season makes a return and we learn a whole lot about what happened to Peggy a while ago, including how she managed to keep her job after going through her secret ordeal.
I don't know about you, but there were some heart-stopping, high drama moments for me in this week's episode.

After
last week's episode of
Mad Men, there has been lots of discussion about that scene in the restaurant between Don and Bobbie (you know, That Scene) and what it means for Don's character. My feeling was that this was the beginning of Don becoming dangerously unhinged, and after this week's episode I'm even more convinced. I would not be shocked if he became increasingly violent as this season progresses.