[Just as a warning, this and all future rewinds, Mad Men or not, will contain spoilers throughout for not only this episode, but others as well.
Any italics seen for the remainder of this post are comments added by Roger.]
Well almost three months have past since we’ve last seen these lovely faces! Not much has changed it seems, unless you’re Peggy of course. I’m sure there are tons of ladies out there just wondering how Peggy got all that baby weight off so quickly! I bet the bout of depression that came with the bundle of joy helped a bit there…
But let’s not even think about it, because no one on this lovely Valentine’s Day is, not even Peggy herself.
All of Sterling Coop’s finest are gussying themselves up nice for work, while Don get a lock put on his door. It’s to keep all those pesky Peter Campbell’s out of his office I bet. While the working folks get to working, Don and Betty don’t. But separately.
Betty is being yelled at while riding a horse but does a jump successfully so it was worth it. While chattering about their daughter’s weights, Betty and friend encounter a young man taking lessons as well. As he leaves, they talk of his life. Strange he’s starting to learn to ride now, so late in life at 25 (sigh), and that he is engaged. Both women would love to know more, but Betty plays him off as trivial.
Don is at the doctor, getting an insurance physical. The nurse calls him a big boy and then leaves a bewildered Don with the doc. He basically does nothing but give Don prescriptions for anxiety and high blood pressure and tells him to take it easy. Those Manhattan executives need to relax!
At Sterling Cooper Joan is faced with a perplexing decision. Where to place the new copy machine. Lois begs to not have it in the break room and Kinsey all bit forbids her from putting it in an office, they’re already doubling up. Later on, when we come back to it the machine is in the hallway but Joan is still uneasy about it. Lois agrees it shouldn’t stay, it looks nice now, but it will become messy.
All the SC all stars are in the conference room, waiting for Don to arrive for a meeting. Ken cannot wait to eat lunch and Freddy practically has the DTs waiting to drink. As if Peggy is still just one of the girls, she is sent to see if Don is even coming in. Peggy asks Lois and gets a smart remark that she does not like. She asks Lois one more time and makes it clear that you do not speak ill of your boss at any time.
While Don should be at the office, he eating in a bar. The man next to him is reading Meditations in an Emergency and Don asks about it. Just from the few words and aura of Don, this stranger tells Don that he wouldn’t like it.
In the office of Roger Sterling the lovely Joanie stops in and makes sure to leave that door ajar just a bit. Roger acts like a child, asking about her evening’s plans and makes fun of her boyfriend, none of this Joan finds amusing. Luckily for her, Duck comes by to discuss some business. Martinson’s coffee would like to pick at SC’s brains and creative, but is convinced that young people are where the good ideas are at. Duck tells Roger that they need someone or a team to come in and that he has to talk to Don about it. Roger says no but then…he winds up doing it anyway.
Don finally gets in and Lois reminds him of the meeting before he steps foot in his office. He’s greeted by a passive aggressive, starving Kinsey, a sleeping Dale and probably drunk Freddy. No one really produces much for Mohawk Airlines that Don likes, but Peggy and Dale seems to be on the right track. Don threw out some words that were supposed to mean something to them, but they don’t and then he leaves. No one in that room understands what they’re doing there.
Roger comes into Don’s office under the pretense of a drink but really for the “we need to hire young people” talk. Roger had gotten Kinsey to form a list of prospectives from different agencies, not realizing he was signing his own death warrant at the same time. Don is staunchly against it, saying they have nothing to offer and young campaigns don’t have to come from young people. Roger tells him to look at it as a way to prove Burt and Duck wrong. He takes the challenge.
On to the evening, Don is waiting for Betty at the Savoy and watching a couple. Betty arrives looking perfect as always and immediately sees her old roommate, one half of the couple Don was staring at before. They talk for a bit and then she leaves after getting a number to keep in touch. Betty naively says she didn’t expect her to end up with a man like that, but Don explains to her that she is a party girl and that man is nothing more than money on her arm.
At the same time, Trudy and Pete enjoy their evening at home. Or enjoy what they can of it. Trudy had gotten a call from Jennifer, Harry’s wife and she’s pregnant! Trudy also saw some pregnant woman on the street and is becoming a real Debbie Downer on the subject. Pete makes her feel better while eating her chocolate.
Back at the Savoy, Don is having…technical issues but Betty is all it’s okay, we’re wasted. Don flips through the TV as Betty orders some room service. They watch Jackie Kennedy give a tour of the White House, and they aren’t the only ones. Sal and Kitty watch as well as Joan while her boyfriend tries to make out with her. Pete isn’t watching, he’s eating all of Trudy’s candy and watching what sounds like cartoons. Normal.
The next day at work Kinsey has all the boys meet at the table by the front of the office to watch the door. Once a pair from the list he created walk in he knew he shouldn’t have done it. They discuss how the office is buzzing at the prospects of new, young people being hired and how it seems as though Duck is running the show. Ken assures them all this isn’t the case. Don got Duck hired and Don is the one calling the shots.
Don meets with what Duck calls “one of those duos”, the copy and art guy together and goes through their book. They definitely act differently than everyone at SC and Don doesn’t seem too bothered. But then again, Don hides well. Duck comes to introduce himself as they are leaving and Don hits him with a “I did what you asked, now leave it alone” and Duck shoots right back at him, that there are other ways to think of things that the way Don Draper thinks of things. Debatable, Duck. Debatable.
Kinsey is still up in arms about his list, interrupting a meeting in Pete’s office about Clearasil to let off some steam. Ken comes by and clears out the office with the offerings of drinks to celebrate Harry’s new fatherhood. Pete still thinking about Trudy, asks Peggy if she ever wants children. She says one day. Awkward!
Before leaving for the day though, Sal and Peggy have to go see Don about the Mohawk campaign. Dale isn’t there but Peggy insists they still have to. They get to Don’s office and he asks where Dale is. Peggy is obviously trying to overachieve here. They show Don everything he hinted at when he rambled on the day before and he doesn’t like it. He admits his head just isn’t into this but at the end of the meeting they find direction, thanks to Peggy’s thinking out loud and Don’s ability to riff off of her. Professionally only, of course.
When Peggy leaves the meeting she gets back to her office to find that the copy machine has found its way in there. Unfortunately for Peggy her run-in with Lois has made it back to Joan and since Joan is the best at passive-aggressive, this is what Peggy gets for throwing a little authority around.
Don leaves for the day and shares an elevator with two men grossly describing a woman they work with. They continue this conversation rudely even after a woman enters the elevator and one of the men doesn’t even remove his hat. Fed up with the way young people treat others, Don rips his hat off his head for him and shoves it in his chest. He leaves these men bewildered on the elevator as he walks off.
Don gets home to find just Bobby and Carla, Betty has gone to pick up Sally from ballet. Unbeknownst to him, Betty has broken down and called for a tow. The way offers to fix the car but Betty doesn’t have enough money. Betty tries to charm her way into a free fan belt and it works. Have to get your thrills somewhere. Betty lies when Sally absentmindedly says she was late, all is well in the Draper household.
We end with Don reciting a passage from Meditations in an Emergency, he did read it despite what the man in the bar suggested. It definitely pertains to his life, about how at some point he can be himself again. He writes inside “Made me think of you -D”, and mails it off to an anonymous person.
A few notes and quotes:
- Betty’s friend asked her, “are you scandalized?”. I want to use this line at some point in my life.
- “I wasn’t doing anything, I don’t think.” “Oh, I believe that.” Having a baby has only sharpened Peggy’s mind and wit!
- “Air travel is too expensive to waste on your wife.” It’s a good thing spouses were regarded so highly back then. Freddy Rumsen, a wealth of knowledge.
- “Young people don’t know anything, especially that they’re young.” I try and try to pull this apart since I’m old for back then, but young for now and just keep getting confused. So I’m going with: this statement still stands today!
- Peggysays she’s only 22 so she doesn’t understand why she doesn’t count as a young person in the office. Because you can’t be more than one thing. A skirt or young. They chose skirt.
- New Bobby! And he even had a line! I bet he thought this would be his big break. Spoiler Alert little boy: it’s not.
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