This week, "Mad Men's" title may be intended literally

There's a scene in Sunday night's episode of "Mad Men" that made me gasp, and I pretty much never gasp at TV shows. But first, AMC's sanitized-for-your-protection synopsis of the episode.

"Peggy's family hosts lunch for a new priest in their church. Don and Betty enjoy a family weekend together. Freddy and Ken take a client out to lunch who stirs Roger Sterling's heart. Sterling Cooper staffers work double time to prepare for a last minute pitch meeting."

("I don't know, Don - I think I may actually look a little spiffier in this scene.")

Actually, there's something that's a little misleading in that synopsis - it's not the client who stirs Roger's (John Slattery) heart (also, it's not exactly his heart). And "enjoy" may be too strong a word for Don (Jon Hamm) and Betty's (January Jones) weekend - their son begins exhibiting behavior that would be diagnosed as ADD these days, which cuts into their enjoyment.

But the main stories are Sterling Cooper's heroic efforts to land that American Airlines account that was first introduced two weeks ago and Peggy's (Elisabeth Moss) burgeoning relationship with that young priest (Colin Hanks), which promises to be a little on the tricky side, thanks to Peggy's busybody sister.

Still, the question: How do you sell America on an airline that has just suffered the worst (at that point) air disaster in history? For all the build-up - Don has another one of his visionary moments - the denouement is actually something of a cheat, but in an unexpected, clever kind of way that tweaks viewers. Perhaps they're cooking up an extra for the next DVD set.

But that comic disappointment leads to a moment in which a character's action is so shocking and seemingly out of character (though this dark turn was recently hinted at) that it inspired that aforementioned gasp.

It's hard to believe, but season two of "Mad Men" is at least as good as its inspired first year, and it may be shaping up to be even better. Certainly, as we've come to know the characters, creator Matthew Weiner has taken the opportunity to give us richer, deeper looks at their interior lives. It's rare to become so involved in TV characters that when they let us down, we don't just accept it as an inspired narrative turn, we practically feel betrayed - and itch to see just what'll happen next.

And, herewith, a new "Mad Men" feature:

Roger's Alcoholic-Themed One-Liner of the Week: Roger's daughter tells him that her fiancé "has other interests besides drinking."

Roger: "That'll change."

- "Mad Men:" 10 p.m. Sunday, AMC.