25 of the most toxic relationships on TV
By Sundi Rose
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Photo: AMC
Betty and Don Draper
You have to consider the era in which these two were married… I guess. Midcentury marriages often looked very different from the outside, than they were on the inside. From a distance, Betty and Don were the perfect couple, living the American dream one fancy appliance at a time.
However, from the inside, both of these folks were deeply unhappy, troubled people, and exacted their demons on each other at every turn. They made each other miserable every chance they got, but most of their destructive and caustic behavior was a product of their origin stories.
Although this doesn’t excuse how awful they are to each other, it often explains. While Don is a womanizing alcoholic, with little social tolerance or patience for well, anybody whose not him. Betty is childish, manipulative, and extremely poisonous, and together they explode into a nasty cloud of anger, blame and dry martinis.
It’s funny – and a little telling – that audiences always found Don much more sympathetic. I guess being dashing and charming cancels out any sort of debauchery and abuse, while Betty just isn’t pretty or demure enough for folks to forgive her awfulness.