One of the best aspects of Mad Men are the very subtle but shocking cultural moments that get sprinkled into the series. Matthew Weiner, the creator of show, has talked about his obsession with this. Every detail has to be accounted for, all the way down the smaller, pre-engineered apples on the kitchen table. Last season, for example, there was the brazen littering after a Draper family picnic.
And in this week's new episode, Love Among the Ruins, Betty and Don are driving home after a business dinner and Betty, who is very pregnant, lights up a cigarette. Of course there wasn't any acknowledgment of this in the dialogue. It just happens as a matter of cultural accuracy.
The only commentary about the smoking -- by the producers more than the characters -- came at the end of the scene when Betty remarks that the baby is kicking like crazy. Obviously the subtext being that the nicotine is making the kid wig out, and Betty doesn't necessarily connect the smoking with the kicking.
Reacting to the culture of Mad Men is part of the allure of the show. And I don't know what it says about me, but in addition to the littering scene, I can't recall another scene from the show when I actually gasped at something happening between the lines.
Adding... Did anyone notice the date on Roger's daughter's wedding invitation?