[KENNETH DILLON] (40s) An athletic, handsome, and authoritative lawyer. 1-DAY GUEST STAR.

[FARMER 1] (50s) A stocky farmer struggling to get by. CO-STAR.

[FARMER 2] (30s) A skinny and temperamental farmer. CO-STAR.

There were two main storylines in this episode. We’ll start with Peggy.

The eagerly, exceedingly confident young copy writer is part of a campaign for Patio, some strange diet soda that is affiliated with Pepsi. The company wants its advertisements to be based on Ann Margaret’s solo song in Bye, Bye Birdie.

This sits very well for all the men, even Don seems to approve. But Peggy doesn’t get it: isn’t diet soda aimed at women? Therefore, shouldn’t the campaign also be aimed at women? Don says an ad that features a beautiful female does give women the message that they wanna look like that (i.e. drink diet soda).

This seems to affect Peggy, who is aware that she isn’t exactly a looker. The camera catches her trying to sing and be sexy at home one evening, following by another evening in which she goes home and picks up a guy!

She doesn’t sleep with him, though, because he doesn’t have a condom (Peggy has learned!), but they do everything else. She then leaves awkwardly in the middle of the night.

Meanwhile, Don has his own problems at home: Betty is unhappy with the situation involving her father. His girlfriend left him and he doesn’t seem right mentally. She has her brother and sister-in-law bring him over for a visit.

After going back forth with her brother about their dad’s future (he wants to place him in an old folks’ home), Don lays down the law; he tells William, in no uncertain terms, that Gene will be living with the Drapers.

That may be settled, but Don’s professional life is not. He must deal with Roger, who is distraught over his daughter - who is getting married - showing great displeasure over Roger’s new, young wife Jane.

He must also deal with a mess: the Brits had asked Don to land a new, big account: Madison Square Garden. He did so. But then word came down from above that the British firm in charge of Sterling Cooper did not think the deal was financially viable after all.

When Don asks Price, the CFO in charge of the NYC office, why they even bought Sterling Cooper, he replies: I don’t know.

Download “Love Among the Ruins” Episode

Jane vs. Joan
The new Mrs. Sterling (as referred to by the ladies) and his former flame have a very delicious exchange at the Sterling Cooper office. The confrontation is nothing short of genius. Of course the heavy blows are thrown in couched and controlled dialogue, but their disdain for each other is more than palpable.

Pot in the Office
Despite the fact that most of Sterling Cooper is attending the garden party, Smitty, Paul Kinsey, and Peggy Olson find themselves working the weekend away on a Bacardi campaign, but with a little inspiration and assistance from an enlightening substance.

Jane and Roger’s Garden Party
The couple celebrate Derby Day in style, with recognizable guests including Mr. Cooper, Don and Betty Draper, and Harry and Jennifer Crane. The real belles of the ball, however, are the Campbells, with Pete and Trudy performing a show-stopping number on the dance floor.

Download “My Old Kentucky Home” Episode

As Salvatore, one might say Bryan Batt had his coming out party on the season premiere of Mad Men.

Literally!

The character experienced his first gay sexual encounter, although the action was stopped by a hotel fire alarm. Asked about the scene by TV Guide, Batt replied:

“I was blown away…when I first read the script, my jaw dropped. He was inebriated, so he was kind of hot and bothered to begin with and he lets down his guard. He was so totally caught off guard, but one thing that’s clear is that this is his first time. It’s the first time he’s ever had those kind of relations, and when you think about it, he really doesn’t get that far. It’s a kiss and a handshake, and then the [fire alarm] goes off.”

Batt added the way it all went down was realistic.

“It’s building for years in him, and this is where it is finally able to happen. Anybody’s first time with anything sexual — is it ever like you planned it or is it ever perfect? No.”

He certainly has that right.

It’s the most anticipated season premiere of the summer.

Mad Men returns to AMC on Sunday night with an episode titled “Out of Town.”

A few days prior to this premiere, star Jon Hamm spoke to TV critic Alan Sepinwall on a number of topics. Chief among them, the inner workings of Don Draper.

Here’s how Hamm analyzed his character:

My take on Don being a complicated guy is that his whole life is essentially based on a foundation of untruth. This is a guy who is outwardly supposed to be the most confident, handsome, greatest guy on the planet, and yet inwardly, he knows he’s a fraud. That is the number one thing that informs our guy. He’s waiting for the other shoe to drop - always. That kind of stress, or that kind of anxiety, you can’t keep at bay forever.

In many ways, I think we saw that facade start to crack last season. It is very much a facade. This is why his main relationship is broken. He is not emotionally honest with himself or with his wife. And what a terrible place to be in.

A major secret is about to get exposed on
Mad Men.

While we know very little about the third season of this Emmy-winning series - because its producers and writers want it that way - E! News has at least discovered the following nugget about the August 16 premiere:

Viewers will learn a secret about Don Draper’s past, back when he was Dick Whitman. This will explain a lot about why Draper feels so disconnected from his roots.

During the Television Critics Association tour, PBS’ executive vice president announced that “Sesame Street” will pick on “Mad Men“. On the panel held Saturday, August 1, Miranda Barry announced that “Sesame” will parody the AMC drama for the muppet show’s 40th anniversary.

“You may have seen our parody called ‘Desperate Houseplants’,” Barry explained on how they would translate the drug, sex and booze-filled show to a program for children. “It was about a houseplant not getting its needs met by the gardener. So it always works on two levels.”

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, the senior vice president of the education research, chimed in, ” ‘Sesame Street’ has always been written on two levels. And the children don’t understand these parodies, but the adult does. …Think about the title ‘Mad Men’ and think about the emotional curriculum that might be linked to that.”

The 40th anniversary episode is scheduled to be aired on November 10, featuring a new host Murray Muppet. The curriculum this year will highlight on science and nature along with other important issues.