No! Not “like that”… *wink*

This almost piggybacks on the Don/Joan relationship… but I am always intrigued by the dynamic between Joan and Betty.

They don’t have a lot of interaction on the show, but when they do, it’s comfortable… almost friendly (at least, from my perspective).

The picture above is from Season 3/Ep. 2, when Betty is pregnant and pays Don a visit at the office (Roger: “Oh look, Princess Grace swallowed a basketball!”) before their dinner date.  The women walk up to Don’s secretary as if they had been sharing a laugh, Joan has a secretary fetch Betty some water, they stand in close proximity, shoulder-to-shoulder… and I always wonder about their past.

Since Joan has been around so long, have they gotten to know each other?  But Joan doesn’t seem to have the same dynamic with Mona in previous seasons (well, duh, age difference PLUS sleeping with Roger prrrrobably prevent that).

As gorgeous women, do they have a mutual respect for one another?  Are they both secure enough to know that they, as women, shouldn’t fight one another; and that they have the power to control the men?

Since Betty isn’t a regular ol’ wife, is she not threatened by Joan?

Did they know each other before Don’s Sterling Cooper days?

Is it a ‘Mean Girls’ situation, in which they know they’re the Cady Heron & Regina George of the land?

I’ve wondered this for awhile: Season 1, Episode 6 when Don and Joan come up to Mona and Roger - “Well, don’t you two make a handsome couple…” and they give each other a *look* before Joan makes a quip; seeing how Joan deals with Betty differently throughout the limited scenes they’ve had - lack of sass; Don and Joan in the hospital waiting room (ugh, just kiss already)… Hopefully, with the revelation of Don and Joan’s prior history, all this will be answered!  In the meantime, though, the speculation is fun!

Matt Weiner is notoriously uber-involved in every detail of the show; he has “tone meetings” so everyone understands what he wants each show to be like, for goodness sake.  Knowing that makes me feel like every detail, every nuance, every-little-thing could have meaning… with that much creative control, I doubt things happen by accident.