It makes perfect sense that Don Draper -- the ultimate example of a man who keeps his head while others are losing theirs -- would be irritated and a little mystified at how badly everyone else handled the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

This is the moment Mad Men fans have been waiting for since the show debuted; the moment when everything changed for the children of the '50s and the '60s truly began. But last night's episode, "The Grown Ups," was curiously anticlimactic -- as if all the excitement had been used up in these characters' lives through the events leading to this moment.

As you might expect, Draper is the one guy standing in the office, wondering why people aren't working as the news of Kennedy's death in Dallas unfolds on TV. In another sign of the cluelessness which got  accounts manager Pete Campbell demoted, he rails about how Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson will be more of the same, while the young murdered president promised a breath of fresh air.

Indeed, Campbell's journey has always been an odd one. Though he has taken the gutsy step of trying a career his rich family doesn't understand or approve of, he carries around the little rich boy's sense of entitlement like a ratty, warm shawl -- snapping at his secretary for bringing him instant hot chocolate and failing to understand why the sunny, convivial Ken Cosgrove might win a promotion over him.

Speaking of bratty rich kids, Roger Sterling's daughter Margaret was unlucky enough to schedule a massive, controversial wedding on the day after Kennedy's assassination, and dumb enough to go ahead with the event, even after the president died. The result is a grudging sort of party that feels more like a wake for Kennedy than the celebrated start of a new marriage. (My fave lines: A visitor says "I heard the church was packed." And Roger's daughter replies, "Those weren't our guests.")

Given that she nearly canceled the wedding before Kennedy was shot, I'm not taking odds on this union lasting long.

The most masterful moment in this episode came when the man Betty Draper yearns for appeared at the wedding reception, and as she walked toward Don to leave for the night she was facing both of them -- yearning for one but leaving with the other. The story of her life these days, and a delicious bit of cinematography.

The second masterful moment came at the episode's end, when Don went into the office only to find his female doppleganger/protege Peggy Olson the only other person at a desk. He turns down her offer to watch the news coverage together, as if he's uneasily aware that something has changed, but not quite sure what.

The final scenes are becoming the best parts of Mad Men. But you have to eat the full episode meal to truly savor the dessert at the end.

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