Pop Candy’s Whitney Matheson just posted an interesting interview with Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner. While it’s worth reading in its entirety if you’re caught up with the series, we found a few non-spoilery things he had to say about three of the show’s leading ladies — Joan, Sally, and Betty — extremely interesting. In fact, we’re surprised that Christina Hendricks looks so cozy with him in the picture to the right.

Matthew Weiner on Joan:
“Who says she’s coming back? What’s the point of the universe if there are no stakes?… I love that people love her, and I love that they care about what happens to her, but it’s phony to say that this woman would not have left that job when she married that surgeon. It’s a lie. I chose to do it because I felt it was true to the story.”

Our follow-up question: Why do you hate Joan?

Matthew Weiner on Sally:
“When we did Episode 4 when Grandpa Gene died, she’s a stand-in for me in a lot of the things. It seems strange because it’s so constructed and it’s filtered through so many things, but so much of the show is very personal. It was weird to see her yelling at (her parents) after Grandpa Gene died, just sitting there and saying, ‘I don’t know who to side with anymore.’ That’s me.”

Our follow-up question: Does anyone else find it weird that you’re Sally, not Bobby?

Matthew Weiner on Betty:
“It’s very hard to be a person, and Don is in a crisis. And I think there’s very little that Betty does … everyone has a reason for what they’re doing. It all comes from a human place. I’m maybe more forgiving than the audience is, because they love the feeling of saying sometimes, ‘Oh, this is so disgusting, so disgusting. … (But if) he’d knock my door right now I’d f— him for an hour.’”

Our follow-up question: Have you ever considered letting Betty “do” more?