It’s been a while since our last Mad Men Style Recap–blame New York, London, and Milan Fashion Week–so this week we’re combining the last two episodes into one. Look for the Episode 10 recap tomorrow afternoon.

Starting with episode eight, The Summer Man, Mad Men took a turn away from debauchery towards mild mannered manliness. The episode opens with Don diving into a swimming pool in creme trunks, a literal fresh start for Mad Men’s tragic hero. Cut to Don sitting in his Waverly Place apartment in a brown plaid shirt and khaki pants writing in his diary about how he’s going to get his life back on track. Mad Men has been cheesy before (I’m thinking of the flashbacks that always ended with a stern, troubled, vaguely wistful look on Don’s face.), but seeing Don write in a diary was almost too much to believe. But it happened, leaving Don’s voiceover to continue throughout the episode.

Adding to this episode’s cringeworthy moments was the scene of Don leaving the sports club looking more dapper than ever while the Rolling Stone’s “Satisfaction” played. Cinematic it was, but it felt more like a scene from a 1960s parody movie than a scene from a serious, detail-oriented drama set in 1965. But there’s a lesson to be learned in every scene of Mad Men, this one being if Mick Jagger and Keith Richards can’t get no satisfaction on the amount of drugs and alcohol they’re using, there’s no hope for the rest of us. Don straightens out in slim gray suit pants, and skinny black tie, and gold framed sunglasses, while all types of people pass him by, from sailor to new mother.

The rest of Don’s plot line, however, is incredibly well done. From his date with Bethany, where he runs into Betty looking like a cross between the neighborhood wives in Edward Scissorhands and Dior Resort 2011 with Oscar SS11 hair in a seafoam green mini dress with accent beading, to his later date with Faye who looks stunning in a bright green patterned dress, Don handles himself calmly and like a proper gentleman. His date with Bethany is a formal affair: Don wears a black suit and Bethany dons a blue-toned, full-skirted floral dress, and crystal earrings and bracelet, until they take a cab home and it gets frisky fast.

Whereas Bethany is a society bred, sexually daring version of Betty, Faye is the mob connected, brainy Betty that Don truly desires. Their date develops quickly into meaningful conversation and is instantly more relaxed form the start. Don gives Faye his creme plaid jacket, the same jacket he gave to Stephanie in a previous episode. Faye doesn’t get (give?) the same happy ending that Bethany does, because Don is working on his upstanding gentleman image. It turns out just fine for Faye in the next episode, I now know, but less great for that lamp….

It may be 1965 on Mad Men, but Don, Sally, Betty, and Roger’s problems are summed up best by Bowie in 1971: “Time may change me, but I can’t trace time.” Betty, Roger, and Sally cannot get over their issues and move on, but the world is changing around them rapidly. Betty will forever loathe Don, Roger will loathe the Japanese, and Sally is acting out over her parents’ neglect and harsh techniques.

Even though Betty’s anger is spiraling out of control, I’m happy to have her back after a two episode absence, mostly for the dramatic return of her amazing wardrobe. Her 1950s housewife look of seasons one, two, and three has given way to her ice queen wardrobe of 1965. Gone are her full skirts and flouncy blonde locks, replaced by super slim, stoic pieces and the worst helmet hair I have ever seen.

Her first look is a blue turtleneck that’s knit so tight it needs a zipper down the back to allow the wearer to put it on. Worn with slim black and gray horizontal striped pants, something only an ex-model could pull off, this look is cut so close to the body that any excruciating movement and it would rip at the seams, much like Betty herself. She later wears an ivory cardigan with red floral trim over a blue dress, a white nightie with a pink ruffly cover-up, and finally, a sky blue dress with white piping and pearls to meet with Dr. Edna. Every look is neurotically perfect, from the tailoring to the accessories, I’m guessing from the lack of wire hangers in her closet–if you get my drift.