AMC's 'Mad Men' Season 7 Episode 3 Review

Last week was a touchy time for Peggy and this week Don is in the hot seat.

Don receives a call from Alan, Megan's agent in California, about Megan's bizarre antics. After she has a reading for a role, she decides that she could have done better and returns to the casting. Megan then gets the director's number from another actor and she shows up to his lunch with another actor. At the lunch she demands to get another reading while bursting into tears. Alan tells Don that he can't do much about Megan's behavior and that Don should come out to help her start thinking straight again.

Don flies to California and his presence relieves Megan's stress temporarily. She gets into another fit after she confesses to Don that she thinks he's having an affair because he has been so hard to reach. Don then confesses the situation at SC&P, but Megan asks him to leave while essentially asking that they stop seeing each other.

Don returns to New York with a push to get his life back together and meets with another agency who offers him a position with a hefty salary. He takes the numbers to Roger and demands Roger give him the push out the door or the pull back in. Roger tells Don that he misses him and that he should return to the office on Monday.

When Don arrives, the office is up in arms because no one was informed that Don was making his return... especially Lou. Lou demands to see Jim immediately, which is understandable because Lou IS Don's replacement. It turns out Lou has a two-year contract with the company and was not expecting to be out of a job any time soon.

To show his muscle, Lou wrangles the creative team members away from Don and into his office (Don's former office). This leaves Don to have to busy himself by catching up on what the company has been up to in his absence.

A once familiar face to Don, Peggy stops by just to tell Don that no one missed him and then goes back to work.

Meanwhile, Betty meets with her old neighborhood friend who has been having success as a travel agent. She tells Betty that she couldn't be happier and that it's great being busy since her kids have essentially grown up which left her with not much to do. Betty takes these realizations to heart and she makes an effort to be more of a mother-figure for Bobby and Gene. Sally has made it all too obvious that she loathes Betty, so that ship has sailed.

Betty decides to take on being a chaperon for Bobby's field trip to a farm and even volunteers to be the first to try out the fresh cow milk. All of Bobby's peers are impressed and Bobby insists that he has lunch exclusively with his mother when another student tries to sit on their blanket. Unfortunately, the day is ruined when Bobby trades Betty's sandwich from some gum drops. Which makes me wonder why Bobby didn't think Betty would be eating, but then I wonder when does Betty ever eat? Is this how she lost all the weight?

Betty wonders where the disconnect with her children began, but Henry insists that she's doing a fine job. He says this now but it wasn't too long ago when his mother scolded him for being with Betty because Betty's children were terrified of her... The key to the couple's happiness is denial, which Betty is an expert at... much like Don! Maybe the two of them will reignite what they started at Bobby's summer camp some time soon.

Back at the office, the partners meet without consulting the California team members about Don's return. Jim and Joan want Don out because of his antics, but Roger comes in swinging for Don's defense. Roger's two vital points are that Don being fired would release him from his contract and non-compete clause AND the company would have to buy back Don's shares in the company in order for them to remove him from his partner title.

Bert plays the role of the judge in the debate and everyone agrees to Don's returning terms. The partners finally call Don into the conference room and the anticipation while Don walks to the meeting makes me think: Dead man walking.

When the suspense is just about to kill, the tension settles down to a simmer while the partners welcome Don into the room and give him their demands: 1. Don must not drink in the office; 2. Don must stick strictly to an agreed upon script with clients; 3. Don will not be left alone with clients; 4. Don must report to Lou; and 5. Don will have Lane's old office... the office Lane hung himself in. Any violation to these terms will result in Don's termination and Don's shares being liquidated back into the company.
The real shocker: Don agrees without hesitation.

Why do you think Don agreed to the terms? Isn't it outrageous that Don is put in Lane's old office and reports to Lou? Talk about a death sentence...

Let us know what you think in the comments below!