'Mad Men' season three review - andreikirilenkotattoo on TV

In today's column, I review (with a minimum of what you might consider spoilers) the start of "Mad Men" season three:

Early in the third season of "Mad Men," '60s ad man Don Draper (Jon Hamm) finds himself bonding with a stranger about the difficulty of fitting into high society.

"It's different on the inside," the man tells him.

That difference -- between how things look from afar and how they feel close up -- is one of the fundamental topics of "Mad Men," which remains the best show on television.

I know that some other media outlets talked about the period when season three is set, but I'm going to abide by Matt Weiner's request, and I'll ask you to do the same in the comments. If you've read it elsewhere, don't talk about it here. Period.

More "Mad Men" content coming later in the week, including a Jon Hamm profile on Friday and both a blog review of the premiere and a premiere post-mortem interview with Weiner coming up on Sunday night.