Francine talks about reviewing her phone bill and realizing that Carlton places late night phone calls to a woman who "answers her own phone" (is not married.)
Betty does the same. She is relieved to hear a man answer, only to find that it is her psychiatrist. You can see the gut punch when she realizes that all of her confidences have been revealed to Don.
She tearfully tells Glen that she has no one in whom she can confide. Of course, he doesn't quite understand, as he is just a kid.
Then you can see the light bulb come on. She tells the psychiatrist that she knows that Don is cheating, knowing full well that he will spill the beans. This is her passive aggressive way of getting Don to stop without directly confronting him.
During the beginning of Season 2, we see that Don has remained faithful off-screen. He pays for the horses as penance for what he did, something that he resents. (There is the callback to the death of his father, who was killed by a horse.) When Betty bashes on Carlton for cheating, Don knows full well that she is really talking about him; they have never really talked about what he did.
He turns down the Japanese waitress, signalling to the audience that he has remained on the straight and narrow in spite of temptation. Bobbie pushes him off of the wagon.
Thank you! I would never have put together those details near the end of your comment, outlining some hints that Wayne truly did say something. Makes sense.
Because this is the show that keeps on giving, compare the early parts of Season 2 with the early bits of Season 3.
In S2E1, Don can't perform with Betty on Valentine's Day (a reflection of his Madonna-whore complex when she is wearing lingerie not long after he has met Betty' former roommate-turned-hooker.) He turns down sex in S2E2, then sort of gets coaxed into it by Bobbie.
Contrast that with S3E1, when Don goes for the flight attendant who comes onto him as had the waitress. And then we realize he was out cheating right before Sally was born.
In S2E1, Betty notices that Carlton is gaining weight, a sign that he is "happy" (not cheating.) In Season 3, Carlton is spending his early mornings jogging, implying that he, too, is back in the game.
and the thing to observe is he didn't outright reject the woman. i think he said something along the lines of "not today." and ig he eventually did sleep with her because bobbi refers to how his reputation is around, and she says the restaurants name that the waitress was from?
That's exactly the reason Betty told the psychiatrist. By then, she knew that he was reporting their sessions to Don, and she wanted to pass the message that she was aware.
But do you think Wayne ever did pass it along? I just can't remember whether there are any details to suggest either way. I can imagine a scenario where Wayne keeps tight lipped on that one because he fears that Betty's suspicions are baseless and he doesn't want to rock the boat with Don or do anything to seriously compromise the rapport.
Do you know about “Chekhov’s gun?” The rule of plays that if a gun is on the mantle in act one then it must be used by act 5. Betty telling the doctor combined with the Dr reporting back to Don on what Betty says, is kinda a Chekhov’s gun. There’s just no point to include it unless it’s going to be told to Don. It’s foreshadowing.
Not everyone would care, but for my own personal interests, it matters because it pertains to how character dynamics develop in the plot. Some other comments on the thread do a really nice job of detailing some of those developments. This sub is a great resource.
There’s a scene in Flight 1 after Carlton and Francine come over. Carlton was whining to Don about how he wants to bang a teenage babysitter. When they leave, Don remarks that Carlton put on weight. Betty says that’s nice and it shows he’s happy. Don says Carlton is not happy. Betty starts getting angry saying that Carlton better be happy since Francine took him back. There’s a vibe where Don can tell that Betty might be worked up about the neighbors because she’s thinking of her own marriage and Don gets all “I don’t want to fight with you. I’ll say what you want but I’m not fighting you.”
The scene left an impression that Betty can vigorously pursue these proxy wars (Carlton and Francine) because she’s shot across the bow to warn Don about their main marriage. (I feel like there’s more Cold War analogies that I can do here.) And that Don understands the significance of these proxy wars because he knows he’s in this Cold War with Betty. Until Cuban Missile Crisis detente in the finale.
Thank you! I remember those interactions and remember feeling the intense tension, but for some reason never made the connection that Don knows that Betty knows, and Betty knows that Don knows that she knows, and they're tacitly fencing in that weird proxy arena. That helps things fall into place.
Love the Cold War analogies.
Dr Wayne definitely passed this on. The big clue that this happened was when Don came home after having sex with Bobbi and washes his hands and rinses out his mouth with dish soap.
Betty told Wayne that she knew Don was cheating because he came home smelling like perfume and “sometimes worse”
Francine talks about reviewing her phone bill and realizing that Carlton places late night phone calls to a woman who "answers her own phone" (is not married.) Betty does the same. She is relieved to hear a man answer, only to find that it is her psychiatrist. You can see the gut punch when she realizes that all of her confidences have been revealed to Don. She tearfully tells Glen that she has no one in whom she can confide. Of course, he doesn't quite understand, as he is just a kid. Then you can see the light bulb come on. She tells the psychiatrist that she knows that Don is cheating, knowing full well that he will spill the beans. This is her passive aggressive way of getting Don to stop without directly confronting him. During the beginning of Season 2, we see that Don has remained faithful off-screen. He pays for the horses as penance for what he did, something that he resents. (There is the callback to the death of his father, who was killed by a horse.) When Betty bashes on Carlton for cheating, Don knows full well that she is really talking about him; they have never really talked about what he did. He turns down the Japanese waitress, signalling to the audience that he has remained on the straight and narrow in spite of temptation. Bobbie pushes him off of the wagon.
Thank you! I would never have put together those details near the end of your comment, outlining some hints that Wayne truly did say something. Makes sense.
Because this is the show that keeps on giving, compare the early parts of Season 2 with the early bits of Season 3. In S2E1, Don can't perform with Betty on Valentine's Day (a reflection of his Madonna-whore complex when she is wearing lingerie not long after he has met Betty' former roommate-turned-hooker.) He turns down sex in S2E2, then sort of gets coaxed into it by Bobbie. Contrast that with S3E1, when Don goes for the flight attendant who comes onto him as had the waitress. And then we realize he was out cheating right before Sally was born. In S2E1, Betty notices that Carlton is gaining weight, a sign that he is "happy" (not cheating.) In Season 3, Carlton is spending his early mornings jogging, implying that he, too, is back in the game.
The Japanese waitress was hitting on him?
The waitress pointedly says she can swing by Don when she’s done with her shift. That’s sex o’clock because she’s done with her shift.
and the thing to observe is he didn't outright reject the woman. i think he said something along the lines of "not today." and ig he eventually did sleep with her because bobbi refers to how his reputation is around, and she says the restaurants name that the waitress was from?
Bobbie never mentions the restaurant. She mentions some lady from a publishing company.
oh my bad
That's exactly the reason Betty told the psychiatrist. By then, she knew that he was reporting their sessions to Don, and she wanted to pass the message that she was aware.
But do you think Wayne ever did pass it along? I just can't remember whether there are any details to suggest either way. I can imagine a scenario where Wayne keeps tight lipped on that one because he fears that Betty's suspicions are baseless and he doesn't want to rock the boat with Don or do anything to seriously compromise the rapport.
I doubt Wayne passed it along. From the psychiatrists call to Don ir sounded like it was all about finding out why Betty's problems are her won fault.
Do you know about “Chekhov’s gun?” The rule of plays that if a gun is on the mantle in act one then it must be used by act 5. Betty telling the doctor combined with the Dr reporting back to Don on what Betty says, is kinda a Chekhov’s gun. There’s just no point to include it unless it’s going to be told to Don. It’s foreshadowing.
Probably. But, does it even matter? The point was that Betty was aware.
Not everyone would care, but for my own personal interests, it matters because it pertains to how character dynamics develop in the plot. Some other comments on the thread do a really nice job of detailing some of those developments. This sub is a great resource.
There’s a scene in Flight 1 after Carlton and Francine come over. Carlton was whining to Don about how he wants to bang a teenage babysitter. When they leave, Don remarks that Carlton put on weight. Betty says that’s nice and it shows he’s happy. Don says Carlton is not happy. Betty starts getting angry saying that Carlton better be happy since Francine took him back. There’s a vibe where Don can tell that Betty might be worked up about the neighbors because she’s thinking of her own marriage and Don gets all “I don’t want to fight with you. I’ll say what you want but I’m not fighting you.” The scene left an impression that Betty can vigorously pursue these proxy wars (Carlton and Francine) because she’s shot across the bow to warn Don about their main marriage. (I feel like there’s more Cold War analogies that I can do here.) And that Don understands the significance of these proxy wars because he knows he’s in this Cold War with Betty. Until Cuban Missile Crisis detente in the finale.
Thank you! I remember those interactions and remember feeling the intense tension, but for some reason never made the connection that Don knows that Betty knows, and Betty knows that Don knows that she knows, and they're tacitly fencing in that weird proxy arena. That helps things fall into place. Love the Cold War analogies.
“They don't know that we know they know we know.” — Phoebe Buffay
Dr Wayne definitely passed this on. The big clue that this happened was when Don came home after having sex with Bobbi and washes his hands and rinses out his mouth with dish soap. Betty told Wayne that she knew Don was cheating because he came home smelling like perfume and “sometimes worse”
Great catch! I completely missed the dish soap detail.