Alexis Bledel
During Season 5 of "Mad Men," Alexis Bledel guest-starred as Beth Dawes. AMC

Spoilers ahead! You have been warned.

Actress Alexis Bledel has stayed relatively out of the spotlight in recent years, but Sunday night's appearance on Mad Men makes one thing quite clear: She's long past her days as the saccharine Rory on Gilmore Girls.

Bledel was the surprise guest on Sunday night's episode of the popular period show. The saucy cameo has been the subject of many a tweet since the episode aired, with more than one fan making a Gilmore Girls reference.

The blue-eyed Bledel played Beth, the wife of Pete Campbell's fellow commuter. Beth's husband is cheating on her, so what's the harm in engaging in some philandering of her own? She and Pete have a one-time hookup (or is it?), after which she tells him to skedaddle.

Believe it or not, Bledel's Gilmore Girls character had a similar situation, as innocent as she was. Rory lost her virginity to her hunky ex-boyfriend, Dean -- who was married at the time. (But not for long: His wife divorced him after learning about the affair). In all fairness, you'd probably do the same as Rory if he looked anything like Jared Padalecki.

Will scripted history repeat itself?

That remains to be seen, but it's clear that Bledel is quite grown-up and long past her days as the somewhat socially awkward bookworm from Stars Hollow.

Curiously, in Mad Men, Bledel looks as if she could easily play a younger version of her Gilmore Girls grandmother. That character, played by the delightful Kelly Bishop, was always a coiffed vision of the upper crust.

That being said, there seems to have been a makeup, hair and wardrobe snafu of epic proportions. The Mad Men makeup and costume folks, who have rarely let us down, achieved the impossible: making the stunning Bledel look dowdy. Her wardrobe did nothing to compliment her lithe figure, and her hairstyles were possibly worse than Peggy Olsen's.

But she redeemed herself by putting Pete Campbell in his place -- the second would-be mistress to reject him this season.

Now there's a question of whether Bledel will stick around for more Mad Men. With the new Mrs. Draper off to pursue an acting career, and Bledel's Beth possibly getting away from her philandering husband, it might be time for a fresh face at Sterling Cooper Draper Price.