I’m late getting to the write-up this week because, you know, life happens. Fortunately Mad Men waits for me. It’s not as demanding as a crying baby or an “eccentric” hotel baron or a lascivious cigarette salesman.

The opening scene of “Belle Chose” was one of the strangest and most disturbing thing I’ve seen on TV in quite awhile. This was a very promising episode after last week’s disaster.

I don’t know how I feel about these short-season series. They come and go like traveling salesmen in the night, tempting you with their exotic wares, only to abandon you before you’ve even turned the clocks back to standard time. I’m nursing a cold.

For about ten minutes in the middle of “Instinct”, I was hooked. And then it sort of turned to crap.

The metaphor-rich seventh episode of the season begins with three striking images of Peggy, Betty, and Don as they travel through four days in July.

The good news is that “Vows” is superior to the season one premiere. Actually, the good news is that Dollhouse is back at all.

This was the episode where the masterplot of the season really started to take shape. This is going to be a season about expectations: dreaming big, counting your chickens, taking chances, the grass is always greener, and be careful what you wish for.

This week’s descent into narrative madness was one of the worst episodes of Mad Men yet produced.