Mad Men Roundtable – “The Good News”

And why has he lost his mojo?  Obviously, the failure of his marriage hit him in way that I don’t think he anticipated.  The thing is, I legitimately don’t know whether Don really loves (or loved) Betty.  There’s an affection and an attraction, but I think a big part of her appeal was that she’s childlike enough that she would accept what Don told her about his past unquestioningly.  Don got all the benefits of marriage without any of that gross emotional honesty.  Imagine if Don married someone more like Joan.  She’d have uncovered his box of secrets and called him out on his mystery past inside of two days.  Peggy would have asked one thousand questions about any inconsistency until he tripped up on a lie.  Rachel Mencken, Bobbie Barrett – they wouldn’t have accepted his Cliffs Notes past.  Anna Draper tracked him down and demanded answers.  But Betty, well, he can tell her what he’s willing to and demand that she accept it, and for years, she did.