[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.]
This season is so bonkers crazy. Nuts. Every episode has a whaat?! moment that just kills me or makes me squeal or recoil in my seat. I nearly died during this one…
A look into the past! Don is heating up some milk, stove-style and a flashback begins. There’s a lot of components in this but basically it boils down to how Dick Whitman came into the qorld. His father’s wife had a stillborn, second time. Dick’s father Archibald is pissed that he has no children and sees a prostitute. He convinces her to have sex without condoms, since those things cost money! She warns him that if anything bad comes from this, she’s going to cut off his dick and boil it in pig fat. Well, she’s pregnant and has her unnamed little boy and gets very sick after. She dies and the baby is brought to Archibald’s wife in the middle of the night. He is to be named Dick, after a wish that his mother never got to see filled.
He heads upstairs with his milk to give to an uncomfortable Betty. They chit chat about stuff, mainly his business trip to Baltimore. Seems like everything is back to normal in the Draper household. ::content sigh::
Next morning, Peggy is paging her secretary, Lola for something that secretaries do and Lola is not responding. Peggy walks out to see why, and a British man is wooing her.Lola seems to be unimpressed by him, but when Peggy shooes him away, Lola then seems enamored. What?
Burt got a new painting (that I will discuss later) and him with him is some British man we will all learn to love in a peculiar way, Lane Pryce. He’s the liaison that Duck was supposed to be so it is safe to assume he did not make the cut. Don shows up, Roger is late so their guest of honor, Burt Peterson shows up before him. Apparently they made some big cuts earlier and they held back on Burt because his wife was sick. They’re all sorry this had to happen, and Burt seems okay. Til he gets back into the office. He yells and tantrums his way around, making the boys nervous of more cuts. Pete gets a call to meet Lane, he is practically shitting his pants at this point.
The unlucky fellow that has to see Burt out is Hooker, the man that was trying to woo Lola. Joan passive-aggressively tells Hooker he could’ve totally avoided this if he had warned Burt’s girl beforehand. Hooker gets mad that the switchboard girls call him by his first name, he is not one of them, he is Mr. Pryce’s right arm! Joan agrees just to appease him, but you can tell she doesn’t care what he thinks he is, he is a secretary–just with a funny accent.
Pete goes to Lane’s office and enters carefully. He apologizes for not being more welcoming and Lane is all “who cares” and asks him to sit. Pete refuses, he doesn’t want to have to sit to be fired. Lane realizes what this looks like and apologizes, only good news right now, Mr. Campbell. He is being made the head of accounts! But keep this to yourself, buddy.
Pete goes back to his office, does a spazzy, white man from the 60s dance and calls Trudy to tell her the good news. All is right in this world with everyone!
Little does Pete know, Lane has the same exact meeting with Ken. When they run into each other at the elevator at the end of the day, they try and compliment each other and in a round about way tell each other that things shouldn’t change between them based on work.
So Don and Sal are off to glamorous Baltimore. On the plane the stewardess is hitting on Don and sees his brother-in-law’s name on his suitcase. Don plays along, gives Sal a fake name and they head out to dinner with two attendants and the pilot at a fancy schmancey restaurant. The pilot is wearing a lobster bib! Classing it up!
They leave the restaurant and are in the elevator a while, drunk. A bellhop comes on, eyes Sal and he remarks how he feels out of place not in a uniform. Sal bids Don and one of the girls, Shelly, goodnight and they head up to Don’s room. They make out in the hall a bit and Shelly admits she’s engaged. Don basically tells her that that doesn’t stop him and that it is his birthday. So she has got to stay for the night.
Sal flops on to his bed, wastey-faced and realizes its hot. He tries to move the thermostat and breaks it so he calls down. The guy that comes to his room happens to be the guy from the elevator. As Sal fumbles for a tip the guy gets real close and makes a move. Sal doesn’t protest, (his pen even exploded) and it seems like he has been waiting all too long for this. Just as things get hot and heavy, a fire alarm goes off.
Don and Shelly scurry out of their room by way of the fire escape and while waiting for Shelly behind him, Don takes a peek in a window a few floors down. Turns out it is Sal’s room and he knocks to get Sal to get moving. Sal looks shocked and then, whammy, the bellhops appears to get his shirt. Don is surprised and keeps moving. Once they’re outside, Sal doesn’t his best to keep his distance and then avoid eye contact with a confused Don.
Back in Sterling Cooper the next day, Peggy greets Joan as they wait for the elevator. Peggy starting gossiping about Lola and Hooker and Joan doesn’t want to really hear it, she isn’t at work yet. Peggy is practically asking her to remove Lola from her desk and Joan is just glad she is leaving soon to become a housewife.
Pete comes in to work and Hilde immediately gives him a message that the Heads of Accounts are to meet in the conference room. Pete is confused by the plural and is steaming in the meeting. The accounts are divided between Ken and Pete and that’s that. Ken is basically happy to be alive while Pete doesn’t understand why he isn’t as mad as he is. Ken explains that they want them to hate each other so one can outshine the other and become the sole Head. Pete doesn’t want to just roll over and play nice. It is not his style.
Don is at London Fog, Sal is running late since he forgot his plane ticket back at the hotel. London Fog is looking to expand their business since, if everyone already has a rain coat, who is going to buy another? Don reassures them that it will always rain, they have nothing to worry about.
On the plane ride back, it is painfully silent between the two. Don turns to Sal and ask him to be honest about something. Sal summons up the courage to say okay, even if it is about the night before. Thankfully, Don pitches an advertising idea, that could possibly be a hidden tid bit of advice to Sal: limit your exposure. He agrees it is a good idea and relief is all over his face.
Hooker is chatting up some office bunnies when Joan fetches him to show him a surprise. She had Burt Peterson’s office turns into a visiting client office and thinks that since he is more than a secretary, he should be able to occupy it when no one else is. She even offered up his choice of a girl to cover his desk.
Trudy comes in to visit Pete and finds a very upset husband. He shoves away her advice but she is persistent, and right. When Pete goes to Don to discuss this, he finds Roger there as well so doesn’t go ahead with his angry speech but rather thanks them both for the opportunity. Roger tells him to grab a drink and then an exasperated Burt Cooper waltzes in. He came in to drop news of some new Penn Station campaign that could be of interest and even asks for a drink. Maybe life under British rule is a bit more stressful than they had originally thought.
Speaking of, Lane is in Hooker’s office having tea, discussing things British people discuss and Lane inquires as to why he has this office. He understands the use for it but doesn’t think he should be using it since they did just fire the man that used to work in it. Hooker is to use the desk outside this office. Like a secretary. I bet Joan laughed so much at this.
Don comes home that night and Betty has Sally apologize for breaking the lock on his suitcase before he left. She explains that she did it because she didn’t want him to leave again and not come back. He reassures him that he will always come back. Sally asks for Don to tell the story of the day she was born (after finding Shelly’s wings in his suitcase) and he begins but trails off. Betty finishes off the story as Don’s mind drifts off into his own mysterious land.
A few notes and quotes:
- “She’s taken to your tools like a little lesbian.” Let the racist/sexist/derogatory quotes begin!
- Burt Coop’s new painting? Quite famous actually. Theres nothing I can say about it that Wikipedia can’t.
- “Shelly, it’s been swelly!” Roger isn’t the only one that can bring the laffs to Mad Men.
- Peggy refers to Hooker as Moneypenny while waiting with Joan. Who is Moneypenny? James Bond’s British boss’s secretary that there was always some sexual tension with.
- The ant farm isn’t terribly important but worth noting since it is mentioned later on.
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