The creepiest thing about Betty Draper giving birth was not knowing that she was birthing what will inevitably become another messed up human, but that the whole ordeal looked like an alien abduction. Oh, and there was racism too!

Unlike more recent episodes, last night featured several divergent plot treads not intertwining to become a greater whole, but each reverberating on it's own, like the strings of the cello all echoing together to make the saddest note you've ever heard. Of course, the biggest event was Betty giving birth and her subsequent drug-induced hallucination, as well as Don's short-lived relationship with the prison guard in the waiting room.

As events of the day start seeping into Sterling Cooper, the specter of the civil rights and women's liberation movements start to haunt the reactionary offices before they can scare them into modernity. Pete tries to start integration in the means of capitalism and Peggy tries to fight for a fair wage while the company is hemorrhaging money. Racism, sexism, and economic uncertainty—looks like some things never change.

Betty's Special Delivery:
After the death of her father and Sally acting out in school, Mrs. Draper was not in the best of mental spaces, even for her, which is reflected in her surreal experience at the hospital. Even before she gets the happy drugs, she's seeing her father's face on the janitor in the eerily glowing hallways. Her steward through this psychedelic hell isn't even a doctor, but a nurse who is equal parts doting and authoritarian. Even though the pens don't work and her regular doctor is out for the night, Betty finally relents, thanks to the drugs.

In her first vision, we see her walking down her manicured block in a fierce yellow and purple dress (the prettiest thing in the episode) while a caterpillar falls into her hand. Her face fills with awe, surprise, and something close to the malice of the female Disney villain variety as she closes her hand around the tiny creature. She's not protecting it; she's capturing it.

Next, we see Betty from the outside, where it looks like she's being tortured. She has a moment of clarity and starts asking for Don before saying, "He's never where you want him to be." Oh, that is so true. After a little struggle she whimpers, "I don't want to be here." Of course you don't, Betty, but this is the life you are stuck with.

That little girl mentality returns as we see her walking down the hospital hallway before ending up in her own kitchen where she is faced with her father as janitor, but instead of cleaning up a mess, he's spreading one on the floor. "Am I dying?" she asks. No, but like any Greek hero, she must confront her parents in her personal hell. Her mother is standing over the figure of murdered civil rights pioneer Medgar Evers (killed June 12, 1963) who was brought up earlier in the day by Sally's teacher. "This is what you get for speaking your mind," her mother schools her. Her father tells her that she will be alright, "You're a house cat, you're an important person, and you have little to do."

That is both Betty's fantasy and her curse. While she yearns for the conformist dream of being a perfectly-coiffed wife and mother, she also feels like it's a torture. The ghost of her mother tells her not to rebel, but to accept her station or else something bad will happen to her, just like Evers. In the end she relents. In all of Betty's fantasies, she is a woman on the move, but in the episode's final scene, when she gets up to answer the baby's cries and we hear once more the music that has accompanied her delusions, instead of walking she is standing still, with her head bowed low. In reality, she is frozen and trapped, propelled only by the duty to her family.

The Negro Market:
Pete realizes the only way to save Admiral televisions is to start marketing them to the "negro market," which is the only demographic where sales of the sets are rising. WASPy Pete probably isn't a huge proponent of the civil rights movement, but he sees a chance to make some money and save his ass in his war against Ken for the King of Accounts throne, so he makes a play. The honchos from Admiral know that black folks prefer their sets, but refuses to spend less money advertising in publications geared towards the market and cash in by the increase in sales. When Pete suggests integrating their ads, it's enough to make their heads explode.

He's called in by Roger and company for the inevitable coal raking, and says he doesn't understand why they don't take the opportunity to make more money. In America, the fastest way to equality is through capitalism, and the ever money conscious Lane realizes that "something is happening." It's time for Sterling Cooper to wise up and make some cash or be left behind by the changing times.

Equal Pay:
Former head of accounts Duck returns (with the literal wall decorations) to invite Peggy and Pete out to lunch. Not only does he call them out on their secret relationship, but also invites them to join his team at his new agency. Pete patently refuses, but Peggy is wooed by his kind words.

Back at the SC offices, Peggy faces another indignity: no one tells her that they're all going in on a gift for Don's baby, so she has to buy one of her own. It's a good excuse to deliver it and ask Don for a raise, since she's not making as much as her male coworkers. Don tells her it's impossible due to monetary constraints at the company, with the subtext being "and you're a girl."

Her head filled with all Ducks kind words, Peggy lashes out and lets Don know that she means business. "What if this is my time?" turns out to be as much a declaration of her new station as last week's, "I am one of those girls." At the risk of sounding like a half-rate comedian, we say "You go, girl!" It has been a long time coming and now Peggy is finally fighting for her own. To bad it's going to be a hard struggle. No one at the agency takes Peggy seriously or truly listens to her ideas, and if they aren't going to goose her salary, she may be off with the Duck in no time.

In the same episode where you have Betty being trapped by society into her role of wife and mother, we also have Peggy trapped in a corporate culture that needs her talent and imput as a woman, but refuses to reward her for the work she does. It was not a good time to be a woman, but finally things are starting to change.

Miss Moneypenny:
The reason why Don't can't give Peggy her due is that Sterling Cooper is having financial difficulty, and Lane is nickle and diming everyone to death. He checks over their expense accounts, tells them they're using too many pencils, and generally wants to constrain the louche atmosphere of the office. You mean long lunches, cocktails in the afternoon, and enough cigarettes to make a Parisian discotheque blush isn't good for productivity?

With everything in a capitalistic society, and it's microcosm at Sterling Cooper, money is what drives the enterprise. The economics of the firm are going to start having an impact on the people their and it's social policies. If Peggy can't get a raise, she'll leave. If they can't make money off of white markets, they're going to have to start trading in the Negro market. And just wait until everyone has to deal without Hollis the elevator operator to push their buttons for them. While the world may be changing and influencing everyone's decisions, money is still the ultimate engine driving their actions.

Hot for Teacher: In an episode that included prolonged dream sequences, the strangest scene was still this phone call from Sally's teacher. While we thought she was being a little flirty with Don when she called him and Betty in for a conference, here she's a drunk slutty mess, manufacturing a reason to call and hit on Don. She is obviously someone with daddy issues, and seeing a total DILF like Don is bringing them out and letting her bra straps show.

The Drapers were called into school in the first place because Sally is turning into a bit of a bruiser and let another girl have it at the drinking fountain. Way to go, Sally! Of course, she's acting out after Grampa Gene died last episode. She also has been asking lots of questions about Medgar Evers. Her drunk slut teacher also attributes that to her facing death at home, but we all know it's because Sally is going to be one seriously hardcore hippy, and the transformation is already starting.

Sally, like her teacher, also needs some fathering from Don. When in the kitchen, Don finally gives Sally the solace that she needs and lets her know that everything is going to be OK, even with Grampa Gene leaving and the baby coming. Don certainly has a way with the ladies, and some smooth words for his daughter works just as well as a little sweet talk with her teacher.