Last week in this superior new drama series, about the dawn of the advertising industry, we were introduced to a testosterone-soaked office, full of martini-drinking men with power (a horrid combination). The women - we saw the office through the eyes of new PA Peggy - were merely subsidiary and they knew it. Pneumatic head girl Joan, a woman with all the curves and sass you could wish to see, even knew it. She was happy to play the game.

But what of hotshot Don Draper's wife? The beautiful Betty was at home, raising two children in a lovely home in a picture-perfect street while her husband was being the most renowned ad man in New York (as well as enjoying a passionate affair with a volatile fashion designer). As this episode panned out, it was clear that there was trouble in paradise and, while Don and his team were trying to figure out how to market a new deodorant called Right Guard, one question kept coming up, over and over again. What do women want?

The first scene saw Don and Betty having dinner in a swanky dining club with Don's boss and his wife. They were chatting about childhood and nannies, and when asked whether he had had a nanny when he was young, Don shrugged his shoulders and said it wasn't important. It was clear that Don didn't like talking about himself, and Betty didn't know too much about her husband's early life.

Betty and the boss's wife went to powder their noses and, while unfurling her lipstick, Betty's hands seem to claw up and she was having trouble. She explained to the boss's wife that her mother had died very recently, and it was clear that she was anxious.

On the drive home, she was feeling sick but once home, and after she and Don had had a shag, she whispered to her sleeping husband: "Who's in there?" She hadn't got a clue who her husband was.

Back in the bustling offices of Sterling Cooper, Peggy was into her second week. Joan, once again, took her under her wing, and showed her how to get a free lunch from the constantly-baying male ad men. They were constantly leching, and it was beginning to get to Peggy. She couldn't move anywhere without a guy asking her out, asking for a kiss or even for a quickie in an empty office.

Back at the Draper's and Betty (while Don was off enjoying himself with his mistress) was finding things tough. She was having coffee with a pregnant friend (they were both smoking, natch), and the friend was explaining that a recently divorced woman had moved in down the street with two kids. Betty became misty-eyed and it was clear that this scenario had struck a chord. Was she anxious about being lonely? About losing everything?

Later, when Betty was driving her hands clammed up again, and she lost control of the car. When Don came home later that night, she explained that the doctors had told her that there was nothing physically wrong with her and they had recommended she see a psychiatrist.

Don was angry, and didn't trust them. He knew all about knew trends and how to manipulate people, and he believed that psychiatry - a new, hip phenomenon - was money for old rope. At work, Don was mega-agitated and was snapping at everyone in meetings (an interesting side-story arc is developing - Don has been asked to put together a dossier on Richard Nixon's bid for presidency) and he asked his boss about psychiatry and what he thought. Not much, as it happens, but it was clear Don was worried about Betty and his role as provider. Could he do anything more? Why is she unhappy? She has everything, everything anybody could want.

Later in the evening Betty broke down at the dinner table and started to ramble about scarred children and an uncertain future ("Don.. what is happening to me?"), and it was clear that she really was in a bit of trouble. Despite his cynicism, Don ad Betty thought going to see a shrink was indeed a good idea.

While Betty was on the couch, Don was enjoying another day-time tryst with his mistress (she had to leave early because she was going to a do where Jack Kerouac was supposed to be turning up... oh, the glamour!). Later that evening, Don treated Betty to an evening meal in the city, which she really enjoyed. When they got back home, he sneaked into the living room and telephone the her psychiatrist... fade to black.

Another very, very good episode. This is just great, slow-moving, intense drama. Drama you can luxuriate in like a hot bath. Characters are great and I'm loving how they're being sketched out. If last week's opener was all macho postering, this episode was down to earth with a bump and tempered the opener with a huge dose of how male behaviour during this time was affecting women. Peggy felt under pressure because of all the (what would be called today) sexual harassment at work, and Betty - poor Betty - was really feeling the strain in her picture-perfect lifestyle. The veneer of money and a lovely home wasn't making her happy. The sight of Betty smiling and enjoying her husband's company over dinner should have told Don a great deal.

So Don. What do women want? He was no closer to finding out.

Episode one review here.