Where You Lead, I Will Follow
Trudy Campbell doesn't appear in this episode, but it's hard not to feel sorry for her as her husband plummets further into the abyss of adultery and depression. One night, as Pete arrives home at the local train station, he's approached by Beth Dawes (Alexis Bledel, kissing Rory Gilmore bye-bye), the wife of his fellow commuter, Howard Dawes. Beth was waiting to pick up her husband but locked her keys in the car. Unbeknownst to Beth (but known to Pete), Howard is entertaining his girlfriend back in the city. So Pete, now a licensed driver but still woefully inept on the road, gives Beth a ride home, doing little to convince her that her husband's late-night Manhattan activities are on the honorable side. Following in the footsteps of many a frustrated housewife, Beth initiates sex between the two of them that Pete initially rebuffs. Soon enough, however, he's reveling in post-coital bliss – so much so that he's showing off an oddly uncharacteristic grin. But Beth remains detached and insists it can never happen again.
I've mentioned before that Pete is slowly turning into Don, but with several major differences. One is that Don never got attached to any of his extramarital trysts. Pete, on the other hand, is now trying to arrange clandestine rendezvous in Manhattan with Beth, who admits that she'll always fantasize about what happened between them but consistently declines his invitations. Yet Pete is consumed by his infatuation and baffled by how women are the ones with the real power in the relationship: "Why do they get to decide what's going to happen?" he moans to Harry, who knows a thing or two about being in an unhappy marriage.
After Beth stands Pete up at a hotel, leaving him alone with a bottle of champagne and two empty glasses – one of which he throws against the wall in aggravation – he heads home, dejected. Over the "Tomorrow Never Knows" montage, Pete angrily watches Howard and Beth leave the train station. But Beth catches his eye and draws a heart on the foggy car window, quickly rolling it down before her husband sees it. This is going to get messy, but I've never seen Pete so head-over-heels before. And I want to see more of it.
Wrap-Up: The biggest unanswered question of the episode was the blink-and-you'll-miss-it line from Harry regarding Megan's leaving SCDP: "The good news is, we don't have to look over our shoulders anymore wondering when she's going to tell [Don]." Tell him what, exactly? That Harry made fun of her "Zou Bisou Bisou" rendition? Doubtful. And the secrets continue...
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