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ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:
thank you for putting that in spoilers. as soon as I saw that I knew someone was going to quote and comment on it. That being said, it was a pretty famous campaign
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Jul 30, 2022 15:02
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Jerusalem posted:Thanks for the patience, everybody. I had Covid last week (which loving sucks, breaking news I know) and was in no state to write up the episode. hope you're feeling better j  now that we're in the home stretch I'm savoring every write up
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Jul 30, 2022 15:04
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kalel posted:thank you for putting that in spoilers. as soon as I saw that I knew someone was going to quote and comment on it. That being said, it was a pretty famous campaign Im honestly shocked that Jerusalem didn't inadvertently see all the comments on that video thanking Don Draper for this ad
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Jul 30, 2022 15:08
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ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:
Jerusalem don't read this. He's going to ruin the surprise of the ending by sniffing out the desk girl in the outfit 100 percent lol. This man is too good.
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Jul 30, 2022 15:51
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idk i dont think its hard to make the guess. the whole show cramsa ton of coke imagery at you the whole way through, and it REALLY ramps up in this last stretch. when the show was originally airing i first had the idea that hed undergo some kind of epiphany or have some sort of idea about coke and make the ad when he was repairing the coke machine in the hotel before going to the legion with the war vets
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Jul 30, 2022 20:22
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There was a pretty long conversation about the Don/Mathis exchange in this episode several months back, so when you start reading spoilers Jerusalem, you can see what everyone said about it.
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Jul 31, 2022 04:58
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I think he earlier said the first thing he was going to do was reread the whole thread to see all the spoiler conversations.
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Jul 31, 2022 09:12
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Yeah I am, I'm gonna read the thread again... for the first time! 
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Jul 31, 2022 10:19
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In that one-on-one moment, Mathis fell victim to the Don Draper Charm and absorbed none of what Don was trying to explain to him; his lesson was "Do exactly what Don Draper does." So of course he blames Don for it. I really like Joan and Richard's courtship in this episode. Their push-and-pull feels like a realistic dynamic of two very strong-willed, successful people testing the boundaries of a mutual attraction. ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:
I'm guessing Jerusalem pieces it together when Jim Hobart coos "Coca-colaaaaa" at Don.
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Jul 31, 2022 17:18
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just shouting out sally's clapback in this episode, "this conversation is late and so am i" is an all-time banger
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Jul 31, 2022 17:57
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I like that Mathis has heard Roger telling the story, and knows outright that it's not as good a line as Don thinks, rather it depended entirely on the specific people involved; and then he just says it verbatim anyway. What an idiot. The soap line was actually really good and probably would have worked! Or just apologizing. Instead he tries to copy Don Draper.
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Jul 31, 2022 18:11
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God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title
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mathis voted nixon, he was always a dipshit
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Jul 31, 2022 18:24
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I always loved the way Sally says ooooooze when telling off Don at the end.
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Jul 31, 2022 19:33
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Paper Lion posted:mathis voted nixon, he was always a dipshit
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Jul 31, 2022 19:55
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also j-ru when the watch through finally wraps up in a month or so you should do an addendum post rounding up previously spoilered conversations that you agree with or disagree with or want to add to. there have been quite a few meaningful exchanges in the past of the thread
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Jul 31, 2022 20:20
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misguided rage posted:The soap line was actually really good and probably would have worked! Or just apologizing. Instead he tries to copy Don Draper. Don hands him a gift wrapped perfect way to handle it. It really is amazing how badly he handles it. The soap thing is hilarious and I'd have totally gone with it as an apology if I was the client.
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Jul 31, 2022 22:50
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Lady Radia posted:just shouting out sally's clapback in this episode, "this conversation is late and so am i" is an all-time banger KellHound posted:I always loved the way Sally says ooooooze when telling off Don at the end. it's a good episode for shipka. the one-shot phone call scene is killer
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Jul 31, 2022 22:58
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misguided rage posted:I like that Mathis has heard Roger telling the story, and knows outright that it's not as good a line as Don thinks, rather it depended entirely on the specific people involved; and then he just says it verbatim anyway. What an idiot. Something I love is that you can see even when he's saying it just how desperately awkward he feels and how inappropriate he knows what he is saying is, but he just pushes on through anyway. Anyway, yes good point that he voted for Nixon and therefore is trash, though sadly that makes a depressingly huge percentage of America in 1972 trash as well 
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Aug 1, 2022 01:56
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Jerusalem posted:...he voted for Nixon and therefore is trash, though sadly that makes a depressingly huge percentage of America in 1972 trash as well 2016 and 2020 happened, so yeah, I have no reason to contest that assessment. I definitely have no sympathy for Mathis, an alleged copywriter employed for his creativity. How did he ever write useable copy for a client if he's so tone-deaf at understanding how the client thinks? Don even gave him a pretty solid gimmick - the soap thing - so it's even more confounding that he blew his own foot off so spectacularly.
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Aug 2, 2022 22:46
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I like that this episode quietly showcases positive growth for some previously turbulent relationships. Sally is able to joke with her mother and Betty goes along with it easily. Don and Ted have a friendly rapport, with each of them feeling comfortable enough with the other to be professionally vulnerable (Don goes to Ted for help with the assignment, Ted concedes that Don is more gifted). Sally and Glen are just friends and happy that way—neither of them act weirdly with the other regarding Paula. (It's worth acknowledging that we also see relationships that seemed mended in the first half of the season take a downward turn here, like Don and Sally, or Don and Peggy. Both of the women here have a more evolved, holistic understanding of Don as a person now, rather than some kind of monolithic figure in their lives, and it shows.)
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Aug 5, 2022 01:53
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Also, the show has a nice sprinkle of character actor cameos and guest stars throughout its run, but season 7 feels pretty stacked. Elizabeth Reaser, Mimi Rogers, and now Bruce Greenwood!
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Aug 5, 2022 02:03
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I'm not sure exactly how the dates work out but I think Sally might be of voting age in time for the 72 election, and if she voted for Nixon it would just kill me 
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Aug 5, 2022 02:38
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She was apparently born in April 1954. So, yeah, she'd have just turned 18 by November 1972.
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Aug 5, 2022 02:50
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Nobody voted for McGovern. He was a horrible mistake for a nominee and the democratic party was a goddamn mess at the time. If Nixon hadn't been so insecure the country probably wouldn't have had another democrat elected until the nineties.
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Aug 5, 2022 03:00
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i mean, they only got the one for 4 years and carter didnt really get to do a whole lot with his tenure. clinton was a right wing candidate in the global political sense, and obama's policy was further right than reagan.
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Aug 5, 2022 03:42
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Paper Lion posted:i mean, they only got the one for 4 years and carter didnt really get to do a whole lot with his tenure. clinton was a right wing candidate in the global political sense, and obama's policy was further right than reagan. you're gonna have to explain that last one to me
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Aug 5, 2022 04:41
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its pretty self explanatory, obamas domestic and financial policy served the rich more material wealth than the policy under reagan did. not to mention his foreign policy military debacles such as continuing the wars the us was in, guantanamo bay, the drone strike expansion. from a true political view and not just the overton window shifted one of the usa, the dems are currently further right than the gop were in 1980 and have been since their 04 platform under kerry that never got off the ground
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Aug 5, 2022 06:17
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Respectfully you have no idea what you're talking about
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Aug 5, 2022 06:18
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Gaius Marius posted:Nobody voted for McGovern. He was a horrible mistake for a nominee and the democratic party was a goddamn mess at the time. If Nixon hadn't been so insecure the country probably wouldn't have had another democrat elected until the nineties. True. Also, Ford probably would have been reelected if he hadn't pardoned Nixon.
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Aug 5, 2022 12:58
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Cat Army
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Or in Ford's case elected at all.
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Aug 5, 2022 15:04
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Sash! posted:Or in Ford's case elected at all. Good point.
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Aug 8, 2022 12:25
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Season 7, Episode 11 - Time & Life Written by Erin Levy & Matthew Weiner, Directed by Jared Harris Peggy Olson posted:You're not supposed to know, or you can't go on with your life. Hey! This was directed by Jared Harris! Yay! Ken Cosgrove is in heaven. Is it because of the fine restaurant he is dining in? Or the luxurious taste of the Chateau Margaux '53 he has just been poured? Perhaps both of those things play a part, but more than anything else it is probably because Pete Campbell has to sit there and watch him do it all, and pay for it to boot. Sure, they both know that expense will ultimately work its way back around through their billing of Dow, but the fact this is all somebody else's money is irrelevant: Pete has to play Ken's game, at Ken's pace, all with a forced smile on his face as he kowtows to a man he once considered (and bizarrely enough perhaps still does consider) a friend, albeit one he had no problem humiliating himself when the shoe was on the other foot. Pete tries to turn talk back to business in spite of their third dinner guest - Don Draper - not having arrived yet, pretending like it was Ken who bought up the possibility they might be in the running for Ziploc. Ken, an old hand at this game himself, points out he did NOT say they were in the running, only that he hadn't decided. When Pete pretends good cheer as he lists all the Dow products they've over-performed on advertising, not to mention helping clean their corporate image, Ken seems unimpressed, pointing out their "Germ killer" idea for bathroom cleaner inevitably makes people think of poo poo. Unable to help himself despite his normal instinct being to kiss the client's rear end, Pete points out that Ken never expressed disapproval of the idea. Ken admits that is true.... he simply expressed ambivalence, and it was Pete who then chose to go the "wrong" way. Before they can continue though, Don finally arrives, shaking Ken's hand and insisting he not get up before he even has a chance to start, apologizing for being late with a simple explanation that he couldn't get a cab. Offering the bad news he just got himself, Pete suggests Don try some of Ken's excellent wine, since he just found out Ken wants to go with the bright and shiny idea for bathroom cleaner rather than the one that makes people think of "poop". Don though, taking a moment to raise his eyebrows in approval to Ken over the choice of Chateau Margaux '53, simply smirks and tells Ken not to second guess his original approval, HE went with the right strategy. "Okay," agrees Ken simply, apparently completely unfazed, as always putting great stock in Don's ideas despite making Pete dangle over a hot fire only moments ago. Grumpily, Pete summons the waiter as the others prepare to order, seething over the humiliation of having to dance to the beat of Ken's drum.   Returning home later that evening in a pleasant, half-drunken mood, you'd be forgiven for assuming Don would be bewildered if Pete ever told him how much he hated having Ken as a client... after all, as far as Don is concerned, he's probably a dream client! A former colleague and friend (more-so to Pete than Don obviously) who has a deep-seated respect for the Creative Work the Agency does and never second-guesses Don himself? Perfection! He's still in his (still) empty apartment despite the sale, as the details get worked out for the new owners to take possession and of course for Don himself to find somewhere new to live. Sitting on the stairs leading into the sunken lounge, he calls his message service and is told he had three calls: Tricia Reynolds at 7, and two more at 9 and 9:30.... from Diana Baur. This immediately gets his attention and he eagerly (and worriedly) asks what the messages were, only to get silence from the operator. He asks again, and apologetically she explains that reading further she sees Diana requested the second AND first message she left be discarded. The operator herself is irritated, whoever it was who took the original messages should have thrown them out rather than leave them with an addendum that the caller changed their mind and pulled back the message. As a result, she cannot give the messages to Don, but is aware that she's upset him by making him aware they existed at all. Don, doing his best to be diplomatic, assures her he isn't angry with her or even the service, but if he can't have the messages did Diana at least leave a number he could call her back at? She did not, and with another apology she says goodbye, Don asking her to pass on to the other operators that he'll take his own calls for the rest of the evening. He's hoping that Diana will call a third time, and this time he can speak to her directly before she changes her mind and tries to pretend she never called at all. The next morning at SC&P, Roger is going through his mail when he encounters a letter that outrages him. He demands Caroline get into his office immediately, angrily asking if she actually reads the mail she opens for him, furious that he might have known the contents of the letter earlier than this. Caroline quickly explains that it was Shirley who opened the mail today and offers to go get her, but Roger is already moving on to a new target, demanding she get him whoever it is whose job is to pay their lease. That would be Dawn Chambers, and Caroline rushes off to get her, Roger bellowing loud and then louder to Joan to get in there. Joan arrives, patiently warning him not to "summon" her in this way, but he doesn't have time for politeness, growling that SHE will have to fire Dawn Chambers.... she didn't pay the lease! Confused, Joan takes his proffered letter, reading through the contents, perplexed because of course she knows Dawn - a very competent office manager, the only one in the office who could be relied onj to do Joan's old job - would NEVER make a mistake like this, it's too big a thing for anybody to just "forget". Firmly, she proclaims that she will fix this, and leaves with the letter. Don rides up in the elevator, which is full of mothers and young children. As one fusses over getting her son's hair right, Don watches with a smile, perhaps remembering Betty doing the same to Bobby... or just feeling nostalgic for an experience he likely never had himself growing up with Abigail. They arrive at the 37th Floor, Don holding the door open for them and then following them into reception, which presumably means they're here for a casting call for a commercial. Pete receives a surprise call from Trudy, immediately figuring it is something HE has done wrong when she lets him know she isn't having a good day. Looking flustered with her hair still in curlers, standing in the kitchen of her home in Cos Cobb, Trudy explains the problem is actually with Tammy: she was on the wait list at Greenwich Country Day and was promised admission... but the school hasn't kept their word, she didn't get in. Outraged, Pete demands to know why she was even on a wait list in the first place, pointing out angrily that his father's entire family went to that school, and Tammy should have gotten immediate entry based on that alone! When Tammy quietly points out that the problem may be that the school knows who they both are but ALSO knows that they're.... divorced.... he angrily blurts out that Greenwich, Connecticut is BUILT on divorced money! Grumpily insisting he not yell at her about this, she explains she has made arrangements to meet with the Headmaster, and she'd like him to be there too, so they can see that in spite of the divorce they are a unified couple on Tammy's education, if nothing else. Forcing him to calm down, Pete agrees, but gets grumpy again when she explains the meeting she arranged is for tomorrow, complaining that for once he'd like some notice. As Pete sullenly finishes up his phone call, Roger is yucking it up on one of his own, apparently past his immediate anger over the failure to pay the lease once Joan promised to take care of it, giving him one less thing to do (any other season, he'd have nothing to actually do, but being an ACTUAL President has made him actually work hard for once in his life!). Joan lets herself into his office, followed by a miserable looking Caroline, Dawn and Shirley, and Roger happily ends the call, looks the three of them in the eye and flatly announces,"You're all fired." Joan quickly puts a stop to that though, telling him to hold on and letting him know what has actually happened... and it's worse news than an overworked Officer Manager letting something slip: it was somebody at McCann-Erickson's fault that the lease wasn't paid, they gave notice on the lease in writing without anybody at SC&P - especially not Dawn - being in the loop. That's... not good. Roger's face falls, his mask of cheerful indifference gone as his mind races through the possibilities before quickly shoring his expression back up and managing to get out a semblance of calm as he agrees that there must have been a mistake somewhere. Forgetting that he just attempted to fire all of them, he asks them to get Jim Hobart on the phone, then changes his mind about going straight to the top and asks them to get Ferg Donnelly instead. Joan is thinking more than one step ahead though, stopping the ladies before they leave to quietly remind them that this is how rumors get started, so she doesn't want a word of this spreading until she and Roger have gotten to the bottom of whatever has just happened. They leave, none of them looking any more reassured about what just happened, Caroline promising to get Ferg on the phone while Joan remains behind and she and Roger share a look, both clearly thinking the same thing: what the hell are McCann-Erickson up to?   Blissfully unaware that there are machinations going on that may cost them their floors in the Time Life Building, Peggy Olson is leading a team of herself, Stan and a woman taking notes in watching kids play with toys... except none of them are playing with the toys, staring confused at the three adults watching them while insisting they act naturally. In fact the only one doing anything remotely like playing is the little girl who has found the musical organ and is enthusiastically jamming away at the keys until an irritated Peggy goes over and switches it off.... she wants them to play naturally, just not with that! Pushing them to play, she tells them to just grab a toy and have at it.... so each kid timidly picks up a toy and holds it in their hands, looking to Peggy to see what they should do next. Horrified, she moves back to Stan and asks what is wrong with them, and he reminds her that she wanted "real" kids and not actors... and real kids are shy, plus you have to talk to them like real people! Looking back, she notices they all selected a different toy and complains they provided too many, they should have just put ONE toy in there to get their enthusiasm up! When Stan chuckles and asks if she wanted a battle royale with the last kid standing getting the toy, she grumps that would have worked! Amused, commenting that Peggy clearly hates kids, he stands up and walks over to the children, noting one of them has a ball and asking him to show off how far he can throw it. The boy reacts immediately, hurling the ball away.... right at Peggy, who flinches aside to avoid it, delighting Stan who laughs at the boy not to be TOO enthusiastic, getting all the other kids giggling too and finally breaking some of the tension in the room... for everybody but Peggy. At McCann-Erickson, Ferg Donnelly takes Roger's call, seemingly happy to hear from him, explaining he was about to leave for lunch but asking what it is he can do for him. Trying to pretend it's all an amusing distraction and not pants-shittingly terrifying, Roger - Joan seated close beside him on the couch to listen in on the call - explains that somebody over at McCann accidentally sent in notice on SC&P's lease, so he needs him to fix it. Ferg freezes, forgetting all about going out to lunch, taking a seat as he processes what he's just been told. Clearly not pleased at what he's just been told, Ferg is quick to take action, as he tells Roger immediately how this is going to be handled. "You really need to talk to Jim about it." gently caress. The terror deepens for Roger and Joan, Roger demanding to know WHAT there is to talk about, what the hell is going on? Ferg, putting on the voice he probably normally reserves for clients, summons up a big smile and tells Roger to calm down, assuring him that he'll soon see it's good news. Roger's heart sinks. "Go ahead," he says at last, already knowing that he's going to hear a hosed-up version of a pitch where the "client" has absolutely no say in the matter. Ferg, doing his best to try and sell this like wonderful news, explains that McCann came to realize that paying for all the people working at SC&P was fine, but why pay for two floors in the Time Life building on top of that when McCann has plenty of space in their own offices? Already knowing the answer, glumly reciting lines in a script he wasn't shown but could probably recite blindfolded, Roger demands to know if they're only losing the office or if they're losing the Agency itself? Are McCann dissolving SC&P? Was this McCann's intention all along in spite of the promise SC&P could remain independent? Ferg's non-answers just further cement what Roger already knows by now, as he insists that Roger is looking at it the wrong way, that they're bringing them "home". His only apology is that the lease being canceled was supposed to be the LAST thing that happened, not the first, but insisting that a meeting with Jim Hobart tomorrow will set his mind at ease. Roger simply hangs up, ignoring Ferg calling out his name, no longer wanting to listen to his patter, which might even be sincere but which both of them know is no comfort to Roger. Joan, who caught enough of the conversation to also know what is happening, simply lays her head on Roger's chest, as he sits staring at nothing. All his grand planning to outmaneuver Jim Cutler, to prove Cooper wrong, to retake control of his Agency.... all of it was for nothing. He had a few months of bliss (and unexpected hard work) to bask in the glow of his victory, his increased (already obscene) wealth, and being back on top along with his drinking buddy Don to enjoy... and now it's over. All the man who wanted to be a leader can do now in this moment is ask a question neither he nor Joan have an answer for.  What he does is.... drink! Striding into Don's office as Don is typing away, he goes straight to the drinks cabinet and grabs some booze, complaining that "they" really pulled one over on them. "Who?" asks Don, not grasping the gravity of the situation until Joan, Ted and Pete also come into the office. Roger didn't lead them here, he's as surprised as Don, asking what they're doing there, and Joan grumpily reminds him he can't JUST tell Don, the other Partners need to know too! Meredith steps in, asking if they need ice, and Joan quickly steps to the door and announces they're not to be disturbed, even Meredith quickly getting the message and leaving before Joan closes the door. Roger gestures to Joan and tells her to go ahead, but she refuses, this is a job for the President, and he has to be the one to tell them. So he does: McCann-Erickson is moving them out of the Time Life Building and folding them into McCann itself, just like they were assured would NOT happen. At first Pete doesn't quite get it, he knows something is wrong but whether out of denial or desperation makes the assumption that they just going to move them to another location and nothing else. Ted though immediately gets it, as does Don who smirks to hide his own devastation, while Joan declares defiantly that they 30 days to figure something out to save them. Pete continues to try and deny reality though, they can't fold SC&P into McCann... they have conflicts! That's the whole reason they were able to sell McCann on the purchase in the first place, it let them keep hold of clients they couldn't have before while negating the threat SC&P was starting to represent. But Roger is fatalistic, snapping at Pete that in the end it came down to a simple matter: their rent was too high. Aghast, Pete can't believe it when Don Draper of all people shrugs and walks over to the drinks cabinet, asking the others if they want a drink too. When Joan and Ted both agree, he's further disgusted.... THIS IS IT!?! This is their reaction? TO DRINK!?! When Ted offers sweetly that he actually likes it over at McCann, Pete is revolted, growling that this is because he's a sheep. Roger, still technically the leader of this little group, warns him to knock it off, and when Pete defiantly declares that he will NOT go, Joan points out that none of them have any choice: they all signed 4-year-contracts and non-competes, if they quit now they won't get the rest of the money being eked out to them over that time to cover the purchase of SC&P. Pete is right in one sense when he complains that THIS was not the deal he agreed to, but Don is right when he points out it actually is. Because of course they're dealing with a giant corporation, and whether the corporation lives up to the spirit of the agreement is irrelevant... the only person who gets hosed over for breaking the agreement is the individual. If Pete was promised 3 million over 4 years, it doesn't matter if McCann ignores or changes their mind over the agreement to leave SC&P independent, but Pete can't walk out without also giving up the rest of that 3 million he hasn't gotten yet AND still being bound by the rest of the contract and unable to work anywhere else in advertising for at least 3 more years. Anybody else ever notice that capitalism loving sucks? Roger laments that Jim Cutler got the last laugh after all: he got (or is getting) all the money that McCann promised, but because he wasn't wanted or integral to stay, he also isn't leashed by them to be moved about like one of those toys Peggy stacked up for the kids. "I hate that guy," sighs Roger, explaining that they have a meeting with Jim Hobart tomorrow to flesh out the details, and he wants them all to meet their deaths with whatever dignity that can muster. Pete, never one for dignity, storms out of the office, leaving the other four behind. "I'm sorry," offers Roger sadly, and entirely genuinely. This was HIS play, his effort to keep SC&P the type of Agency he wanted to be part of, and though he succeeded, it was only for the briefest of times before it all got yanked away. Only now does he grasp that THIS was why McCann wanted his "Gettysburg Address" in the previous episode, seeing what SC&P's plans were and how they might work once everybody was in the same McCann fold. Though Roger doesn't mention it, it may also explain beyond the surface level explanation given why Don and Pete were asked to play golf with McCann clients to help them out... a test run to see how Pete and Don worked in a client-facing capacity for McCann. So they all take a toast, a final drink to mark the end of a dream they all shared in together and thought had come true, Don admitting that McCann left them alone long enough he had really started to believe that the independent status was going to remain in place and he'd have all the security of McCann without the soul-destroying/creatively un-stimulating environment he had so successfully evaded up until this point.  Angrily on his way back to his office, Pete notices a startled Peggy being enthusiastically hugged by a little girl called Betsy Wheeler when she reads her name from a clipboard. Betsy's mother and the secretaries nearby all beam happily at this "spontaneous" gesture that was probably very carefully dictated to the little girl by her mother. It has an effect on Pete too though, as he watches Peggy and a young child and for once his thoughts drift to somebody other than himself... or more cynically, somebody other than him but still very closely linked to him. He asks to speak with her, and Peggy - awkwardly trying to deal with the hug - suggests later, but he stresses it is important. Extricating herself from Betsy, Peggy joins Pete in his office and he closes the door behind her, then slumps against it. She asks him what is wrong and he staggers over to take a seat on the couch, Peggy sitting beside him. In some ways it is a distorted mirror of an early season one interaction, where a younger and far more naive Peggy listened enraptured to Pete musing on his fantasy of being a woodsman attended to by a loving wife in the forest. This is no fantasy though, and when Pete tells her that he is going to share a secret she deserves to know, it is curious to wonder why he feels she deserves that. Is it because he has - despite some personality clashes - come to value her talent and ability as Copy Chief? Or did the sight of her and Betsy remind him of the child they share but have never known - she not since the child was born, him never even knowing the child existed until it was eternally out of his reach? In any case, he tells her: they're being absorbed by McCann. She winces, taking it like a blow she'd long expected but had started to believe would never come. But then she steels herself, approaching the problem with the forthrightness that has helped her (and sometimes hindered her) throughout her career: are they letting HER go? No, Pete insists, confident that they will need her... at least for a little while, and having a leg up on the "rats who fly off this ship" is going to help her, he can give her at least that, the same courtesy he would want in her position. Hearing Pete actually consider somebody else ahead of (or at least very soon after) himself makes her want to reciprocate, and she asks if he will have to go. Despite his earlier defiance, he admits sadly that he has no choice, and then notes one of the key factors that made his reaction so aggressive compared to anybody else's.... he has never worked anywhere BUT at SC&P/SCDP/Sterling Cooper. This place has been his entire working career, every change of the company he has been there with it, first as an Account Man and then as a Partner, even when he was in California it was as part of SC&P. Now it is going, and he will have to figure out how to work somewhere else. Peggy places a hand on his shoulder and assures him he'll be great, but now that he's passed on his warning, he wants to mope in quiet, another reminder of the early days of the show when he'd often be found brooding in the dark of his office. She leaves quietly, agreeing when he needlessly reminds her that this information was for her ears only, still slightly in shock at the news and not really sure how to react just yet. Unlike Pete, she has worked elsewhere, but that doesn't necessarily mean she wants to work for McCann no matter how big it is, especially after the debacle that was her and Joan's visit there on behalf of Topaz. Joan herself is reaching out to somebody in pursuit of some kind of comfort, though the romantic link of hers is in the present sense: Richard Burghoff. He's delighted to hear from her and she admits that she just wanted to hear his voice, which at first he takes as a flirty come-on until he hears her stifling tears as she explains she got some bad news at work. She doesn't want to burden him with the details though, so he explains she can do that to him in person tomorrow when he's in New York. Still fighting tears, Joan admits she didn't know he was in town, and Richard - sitting at his desk in what seems to be the California sun - calls out to "Lisa" to get him on a red-eye to New York - despite being retired, it seems Richard still works with a secretary in an office, presumably he is the type of retired that still works on things related to his business, just not in any truly official capacity. "Now you know," he smiles, and she gently dabs away her tears with a handkerchief, relieved and pleased that he is coming even if nothing can truly console her in this moment. Don, of course, has nobody to talk to. No Betty. No Megan. Not even Diana. So he lies quietly on the couch, too numb to be miserable but also far from happy, all the fight gone out of him over the knowledge that McCann finally got their hooks into him after all this time. Meredith knocks on the door and steps in, letting him know that Melanie the Real Estate Agent called to let him know she has booked two apartments for him to view tonight, and he has the Mohawk status meeting in 5 minutes. Uninterested in doing any work, especially knowing it's for a client that'll likely be gone within a month, unable to work up any enthusiasm for apartment hunting either, Don tells her to cancel everything. Spotting his blue mood, Meredith asks what is wrong but he simply mumbles that it is "personal", trying to wave her away. But the phone rings, and dutifully she answers it, telling the person on the other that she'll check Don's availability. Putting him on hold, she lets him know who it is, and this cuts through Don's numb status for the moment. It's Lou Avery. Sitting up, he mutters that he'd better take it, remembering the California Office only now and immediately grasping that somebody is going to need to tell Lou it soon won't exist: after all, if McCann won't pay for two floors of the Time Life Building filled with dozens of employees, they're sure as hell not going to pay for offices in California housing only two. Having Meredith (slowly!) leave the office, Don takes the call, Lou declaring they need to have a conversation. Don is quick to reassure him they only just found out, but of course Lou - who seems to be in a GREAT mood - isn't talking about McCann, noting that he told Dee not to tell anybody but he guesses it is good Don knows. Now Don is confused, especially when Lou explains he'll be moving next week, when was he told? Things get even more confusing when Lou says he found out two weeks ago... and it only took him 10 seconds to agree, even if it is in Tokyo, after all it's his lifelong dream! Oh my God is Lou going to become an anime. "They have an office in Tokyo?" asks an utterly perplexed Don, still having no clue that they're talking about entirely different things, at least until an also confused Lou Avery points out they ONLY have an office in Tokyo. Because he's talking, of course, about Tatsunoko Productions, the company behind Speed Racer, who want to make a cartoon out of Scout's Honor! Oh my God, Lou IS going to become an anime! Crowing about his $15,000 advance, Lou cackles that he wishes he could see Don's face, he bets he isn't laughing now! Don, exhausted and more confused than anything by Lou's bizarre development, agrees that he isn't laughing. Still cackling, Lou offers him a "Sayonara" and tells him to enjoy the rest of his miserable life before hanging up. Sitting in California, feeling like the hero of his own story, Lou Avery puts his feet up and basks in the victory over the guys he didn't even like anyway who kept paying him to work far away from them. In New York, Don hangs up the phone too, and lays back on his couch again. He doesn't particularly care about Lou, even when he was forced to swallow his pride and work beneath him he never seemed to hold any active malice towards the man who quite honestly didn't do anything personally against him beyond making him stay late at work one night... while Lou himself detested Don and rankled at his presence, battling a war that Don largely wasn't aware of beyond Lou being on the periphery of Don's own war against Jim Cutler. Still, the line about his miserable life still stung, because it's true. Ironically, if Lou knew Don was being made officially a part of McCann, he'd probably think Don had "won" and be miserable about it himself, since who wouldn't want to be actively headhunted by perhaps the largest ad agency in the world? But for Don, the surrender and the capitulation will make him miserable, and he knows it but also knows when the battle is lost. There is no wriggle room this time. No last second revelation of no contract that saved him from Putnam, Powell & Lowe and Duck Phillips. No heist to escape Sterling Cooper and rebuild it as SCDP to escape McCann. No shock merger with CGC to make them a powerful force to be reckoned with in the advertising world that could go up against the big boys like McCann... and win. No trip to California to start anew while retaining all the benefits of being part of SC&P. No forced vote to keep from being kicked out of his own Agency by Jim Cutler. So Don lies there, Lou Avery's final words circles around the surface of his mind... and suddenly inspiration strikes. Suddenly Don has an idea, sitting up straight, realizing there might be something after all, one more Hail Mary he can pull out, another chance to beat off the wolves at the door and retain some semblance of his independent spirit. Is... is Don going to become an anime too?   Soon he has the other Partners in the Conference Room, though when he starts to close the curtains Joan points out this makes it look like they're hiding something. So he reopens them, then lets them know what he's found out.... Lou's moving to Tokyo! The other four just stare, another bewildering line in a day of bewildering statements. Don says he isn't even going to try and explain why and how that is happening, admitting he wouldn't want to give Lou the satisfaction of any of them spending any more time or thought on him... but it means something else too. Sterling Cooper West is empty. Pete doesn't get why this is exciting news, SCW is "the first drop out of the teapot", meaning it's a tiny little part of their overall business, and thus of little relevance to McCann who will presumably just end that lease too and move on. But Don stresses again, with Lou gone, the place is EMPTY.... that means they can run a business out of it. Now it is Roger who is confused, what use if a location to run a business out of if they have no business? But Don has taken inspiration from Pete's earlier protest: conflicts were the entire reason they existed, and absorbing SC&P into McCann means a lot of business is going to be lost... but it doesn't have to be. The lease in California is peanuts compared to the Time Life Building, and every business that would be lost in the absorption could instead be moved to Sterling Cooper West! Sunkist: 10 million in billings and growing, all to be lost due to Coca-Cola owning Minute Maid. Burger Chef: 4 million in billings, and they dumped McCann to be with SC&P, so how keen will they be to go back to them? Pete is intrigued now, remembering that Burger Chef was convinced their future was going to be in the West. McCann may be International, but their American presence is based out of New York, so Sterling Cooper West being in California would be a major bonus. Don asks what the square footage of the California office is, and everybody is surprised when Pete immediately has the answer: 1485! He reminds them his ex-girlfriend was a real estate agent, and Don points out again that it is an available location, and it wouldn't matter if they were working out of a bassinet... all they have to do is convince McCann that they can save them money they would otherwise have to throw away. Ted though has noticed a distinct flaw in the plan: he hates California! But even that plays into Don's vision, a reverse on their previous agreement for Ted to flee to California in a doomed effort to save his marriage, because this time Ted can stay in New York, giving McCann the trophy of taking one of SC&P's founders into the mix and maintaining the connection between the Agencies. Joan, wary of Don's schemes which have backfired on her just as much as they've benefited her, asks if this is really the game they plan to play... but now Roger is starting to see the potential too, remembering his own part in firing Ken Cosgrove at McCann's insistence. Now this could actually be their saving grace, because Ken's high position in Dow means he has the power to refuse McCann and take one of the biggest companies in the world to another Agency... but they could convince him to stay with Sterling Cooper West, and thus technically still be under the McCann umbrella, even if it is "only" for 7 million in billings. When Pete notes that Ken doesn't much like them either, he can't help but nod in agreement when Roger points out what Ken DOES love is feeling Pete's nose in the seat of his pants, for once the humiliation actually serving to benefit them all. The enthusiasm is infectious, Joan asking how Avon might play into this? That unfortunately is not on the conflict list, but it does offer them another opportunity. If they can't keep Avon, which Joan clearly dearly wants to do, then she must do everything in her power to convince Avon to go to McCann, because that kind of coup would earn her (and Sterling Cooper West) enormous credit with McCann. The same goes for all of them, in fact. It won't be enough for them to offer McCann the ability to keep the conflicts an absorption would create, they have to also make sure all the clients that McCann CAN keep.... they keep! That means all of them have to get to work now, they can't break the meeting with Jim Hobart, which means they have less than 24 hours to secure enough accounts both for SCW and for McCann to present an offer that is too good to refuse. "We've done it before," Don reminds them when they ask if it is possible, though Ted of course was not part of that package when they pulled off the Sterling Cooper heist and escaped McCann for the first time. With that they all march with purpose out of the Conference Room (Roger sure to snatch the bottle of vodka off the table as he goes!) and straight to their offices to get to work. Meredith watches it all unfold, and though she's often been the butt of plenty of jokes for seemingly being an airhead, she's fully aware that something is going on, just not what. That evening, as the Agency's Partners race to secure their future, Peggy Olson is doing the same in her apartment. It's not Duck Phillips (that would be very weird given their baffling past relationship), but she has brought in somebody to help her find work, a smartly dressed man who reviews her work history with great interest... after all, it is a very impressive work history: secretary to copywriter to Copy Chief at one of the biggest Ad Agencies in America in only a decade. She brings him drinks, apologizing for the heat, though he acknowledges there was no choice but to meet in her apartment since she can't risk letting anybody see her meeting with a consultant who specializes in finding people work in other places. He acknowledges the limitations that would normally be in place for somebody in her position: she lacks any kind of degree and most Agencies recruit out of the Ivy League... and then points out that despite this her future looks promising. Thrilled, she asks where - in his expert opinion - she should be looking. That's an easy one for him, as he points out he could list a series of initials of various Agencies where she could probably find work, a compliment that she drinks up greedily, but there is ONE place in particular he thinks she should be aiming for, ONE place ideally suited to her. Delighted, she asks where it is, and he tells her without hesitation. McCann-Erickson. Confused and more than a little irritated, she reminds him that called him because she DOESN'T want to go to McCann. He knows, he didn't forget or mix her up with another client. But the fact is, McCann-Erickson is absolutely the best place for her to go, and he's telling her that knowing it means losing a commission, since she is already set to go there. His reasoning makes sense, not least of all because he points out he's doing it for his own benefit too. The way he operates is building client loyalty to develop their careers. He doesn't just find people a job, he helps them find multiple jobs over many years, and he does that by giving them the best advice on when to go somewhere and when to leave it. He admits he could set up meetings with her for various Agencies, and though they'd pay less money and be less prestigious, he will do it... but he thinks McCann is the right move. A little sick, she does listen as he lays out his reasons, feeling all the sicker because she can absolutely see the sense in what he is saying. Despite her lack of a degree or the right family connections/history, she has built up an impressive resume, and spending 3 years at a massive Agency like McCann will put her into an enormously advantageous position for her NEXT job. She could quadruple her salary, ignite bidding wars, be a real catch that every Agency worth its salt will fight over to land... or she could go somewhere else, do okay, and be in largely the same position she is now when it is time to move on. His last piece of advice comes from a cynical place too, but probably a realistic one. He wants her to really consider McCann before she asks him to start setting meetings, because the fact is that word ALWAYS gets out when somebody is looking to switch Agencies, and given that she's currently technically employed by McCann and about to be absorbed in to work directly for them.... McCann is going to consider this a betrayal... and they are VERY vindictive. She knows that is true, hell just look at what happened to Ken Cosgrove... and she doesn't have a rich father-in-law who just created an opening at one of the biggest companies in the world for her to slot herself into. As she escorts him to the door, she agrees to think about it, and she means it. But after she closes and locks the door behind him, she takes a moment to let her disappointment wash over her. Because of course everything he said is true, but it all fails to take into account one factor that he probably wouldn't understand if she explained it to him, but which Don Draper (and yes Roger and Pete and Joan) would instantly understand. She doesn't WANT to work for McCann. It's.... not what she wants advertising to be. There is no doubting that McCann is enormously successful, that they are a place that thousands of people in advertising dream of making it to. But they are not an Agency built primarily on Creative like SC&P, they are a business. So is SC&P, of course, but apart from that brief and miserable time under the leadership of Jim Cutler and Lou Avery, it was a business that made its money from embracing creativity, art, narrative and themes. McCann is.... not that. It's not necessarily bad, it's not wrong, but it isn't what Peggy takes joy from in Advertising. 3 years to help her build her career prospects probably seems entirely reasonable to her consultant, but to Peggy it probably feels like a jail sentence she is being asked to willingly submit herself to.   The work continues through the night, as Roger and Pete welcome Ken to a hotel room they booked for this secret meeting. They've laid it on thick, Pete presenting a table full of caviar, and yes of course a bottle of Chateau Margaux '53! Ken takes a seat and happily agrees to take a "snort", while Roger settles down across from him and lays it on the line: McCann is absorbing SC&P. Ken is unsurprised, simply observing that they "finally" got them. Pete, trying to present this as them looking out for Ken, acknowledge how hard it was for them to keep him around as Head of Accounts when the McCann purchase first happened, he dislikes the place so much... so it must really rankle him that now Dow is going to be with them. Unfazed, because of course Ken is largely the master of his own destiny now, he simply shrugs and offers,"Yeah, I'm not going,", making it clear he'll have no issue with simply moving Dow to another Agency, not needing to remind them that multiple Agencies will be tripping over themselves to land such a prestigious Account. Roger though offers the alternative: they are going to maintain their independence by working out of the California office with a few select clients who have "insisted" on it. Curious, Ken asks who they have so far, and Pete admits just Burger Chef and Sunkist at the moment, stressing the move will be purely for conflicts, and of course..... conflicts, giving Ken a meaningful nod. He's unconvinced though, noting that while he has made a game out of taunting them with his power, he really is still the new kid on the block at Dow, with most still thinking of him as Ed's son-in-law as opposed to there on his own merits. He can't go to his bosses at Dow and tell them he's allowing the Agency responsible for a number of their products operating out of a small office on the other side of the country. They try to gently goad him, noting with surprise that he seems to think moving everything to an entirely new Agency wouldn't also be a dangerously bold move? He doesn't rise to the bait though, noting that actually Dow would be more than happy if ALL their Accounts were just being run through McManus, John & Adams. This also makes it clear that Dow's continued work with SC&P is mostly a result of his influence, in spite of his implied threats to go elsewhere in their earlier meetings. In other words, they can't really panic him into going along with whatever wild move they're aiming for. So they bring out the big guns: he knows they over-perform on the products they have, and more than anything else they have Don Draper, and they all know his respect and admiration of Don is the primary reason he's kept Dow with them. He admits it too, and when Roger warmly reminds him they've done this kind of big move before and it worked (until it didn't! And they didn't take Ken with them!) he comes to a decision. Admitting that he'd fantasized often about having Roger in this exact position, with Pete present as a "not-so-innocent bystander", it's clear that his dream was to see Roger have to squirm as a form of vengeance... but now that the moment has come, he'd decided he's not going to make them suffer any longer. They listen eagerly, soft-hearted Ken who longed to be a big deal in advertising but hated the reality, who gave up on his dreams to be a writer, who has been with them for so long and has shown a deep capacity for forgiveness and understanding despite many injustices he has faced, ready to hear him save the day by announcing that OF COURSE he will back them and help them keep the Sterling Cooper dream ali-  Oh. Just like that it is over. "Sorry about that," he says with a smile, stands up and simply walks out the door. He doesn't look back, he doesn't hesitate, he doesn't justify his actions. He's simply... done. He enjoyed toying with them to take a spiteful revenge for the way they carelessly tossed him aside in a moment despite everything he had done and given (including an eye!), but now it's... over. He had his fun, it's time to move on with his life. Dow's products will all go to McManus, John & Adams, he'll continue to make a lot of money running advertising for a massive powerhouse of a company, and maybe one day he'll have the time to write again, hopefully not so late that he regrets it like his wife warned. As for Sterling Cooper, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, SC&P and Sterling Cooper West? He's done with them. That part of his life is over, and he walked away on his own terms, a smile on his face, his revenge complete and now utterly irrelevant to his future life. Let them deal with the fallout, after all, as Pete was at pains to remind him when he first came back, it's THEIR Agency, not his. Or at least it was. Unaware of Roger and Pete's failure, Don works with Ted in the Conference Room as craft both copy and art, unable to rely on any of their underlings as part of their bid to keep everything close to the chest. Don ponders how to describe California in a way that sells the benefits while also NOT making them jealous that they don't get to be there too, and chuckles when Ted grunts that he should tell them his ex-wife lives there! "Mine too, so what?" he quips, ignoring the fact of course that after ruining his marriage to stay in New York pursuing SC&P, now he's ready to race to California at last to save the Agency when he wasn't willing to do it to save his marriage. Ted though points out that he's always seen that California holds some kind of meaning to Don, but the fact is it means nothing to him. Don, who resisted having the life HE wanted in California when it was on offer, agrees that California does mean something to him, speaking of course of Anna rather than Megan. But this raises an issue that has clearly been bothering Ted, and one the time seems right to finally broach: he's sorry that Don choosing to stay in New York so Ted himself could go to California resulted in his near-ousting from the Agency and all the ensuing problems with Cutler (Ted's friend!), Cooper & Joan. Don, long past that thanks in part to the fact that he survived it and ultimately won (temporarily it now turns out) the war, reminds Ted that he was VERY convincing when he begged Don to let him go instead, and Ted admits sadly that he was misguided. There is no mention of Peggy, of course, but Don is still surprised when Ted admits almost shyly that he's met somebody: a beautiful woman who is not too young and also "a little bit deep". Intrigued, Don asked where he found such a perfect woman, and Ted seems thrilled to explain he met her way back when he was in College. They broke up, moved on with their lives, and then one day he just happened to bump into her on Third Avenue. They talked, and both realized they couldn't remember WHY the relationship didn't work.... but with both now divorced (him with kids, her without) they decided... why not try again? Don is genuinely pleased to hear it, showing no indication of envy over the fact Ted has apparently managed to find the thing that continues to elude Don himself. He's been where Ted was at his lowest, of course, and his effort to help Ted avoid the mistakes Don made might not have worked out in terms of saving his marriage, but if Ted has found happiness, then good for him. It is a far cry from the antagonistic and (initially one-sided) competitive relationship they began with, and rather sweet... though bad news quickly follows. Joan arrives, letting them know that Roger called and Dow is a no. Don is immediately ready to spring into action, saying he'll call Ken and talk him around, but she lets him know Roger already told her that this wouldn't work: it was a VERY empathic no. Sighing, Don says they'll have to cobble together a couple of million from some of the smaller accounts that will be conflict, and wearily Joan turns around to go and collect their files, a long night about to get even longer.
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Aug 8, 2022 17:10
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The next morning, Pete is hoping his next meeting won't end in the disaster that the one with Ken did. This has nothing to do with the Agency though, as he and Trudy wait in the headmaster's office at Greenwich Country Day to try and convince him to let Tammy attend the school. It's a tense wait between them, sitting tensed largely in silence, ready to put on a show for the headmaster but not comfortable with the other, especially with Pete's entire future riding on the outcome of the meeting with Jim Hobart later in the day. The headmaster arrives, and immediately they're all cheers and smile, Pete introducing himself to the Headmaster who simply smiles and takes his seat, gesturing to them to do the same. Pete assumes that Mr. MacDonald knows why they're here, pointing out that it is a Campbell family tradition to be educated at Greenwich Country Day... and is thrown off-kilter by MacDonald noting that Pete himself didn't attend. Well... no he didn't, but a Campbell has been in attendance since it was a barn! Presumably Pete's terrible parents sent Bud there but just chucked Pete any old where. MacDonald, despite taking the meeting, is clear on the school's position however, the decision is final and Tammy will NOT be attending. Taking Trudy's hand, putting on his best loving father look, Pete notes that Trudy said the decision was a matter of space, but he can guarantee Tammy won't take up any extra at all. Again though, MacDonald is clear, it wasn't a matter of space, it's that Tammy scored very low on the "draw-a-man" test. Confused, Pete insists this is news to them, and isn't pleased - and Trudy squirming - as MacDonald points out he already told "your ex-wife" this. Children are required to draw a man, and the volume of details - eyes, nose, 10 fingers and toes etc - are used to demonstrate how capable they are. What the gently caress is this bullshit? Tammy's man, unfortunately, was ONLY a head with a mustache.... and a necktie! Somehow that little detail about the mustache immediately stands out to Pete, with Trudy quick to insist they move on, either because she has - or fears Pete will believe she has - had a man with a mustache around Tammy, perhaps in the house, which of course would outrage Pete what with her... not being his wife? But when Trudy points out that SHE has been told anything beyond a stick figure is considered advanced, Pete quickly gets back on script, noting that Albert Einstein didn't speak until he was 4-years-old! But now MacDonald confuses them by suddenly changing his tune on the Draw-A-Man test and stating that actually the issue isn't Tammy at all... it's Trudy! He notes that she failed to submit applications to any of the other schools, relying entirely on the assumption Tammy would get into Greenwich Country Day, which was careless and arrogant. Pete is shocked and appalled, demanding him to repeat what he just said. MacDonald stands and declares the meeting over, motioning to Pete to leave, but while Pete stands it is to insist that the headmaster apologize to Trudy. Mortified, she quietly tries to get him to leave, but when MacDonald suddenly laughs and derisively notes,"Einstein..." in regards to Tammy, he's had more than he can take, asking MacDonald if he'd like to "step outside". Suddenly MacDonald is in his face too, sneering at him and asking if he wouldn't rather wait till he's sleeping before attacking him.... like a REAL Campbell? I.... uhhh... what? Trudy is bewildered, but Pete suddenly seems to understand what is going on, and when MacDonald suddenly snarls that no MacDonald will EVER mix with a Campbell, Pete snaps angrily back that it was a stupid story from 300 years ago! Wheeling on Trudy, MacDonald growls that she should know Pete's clan took advantage of the gift of hospitality and murdered his ancestors while they slept! "THE KING ORDERED IT!" bellows Pete. Oh my loving God. These assholes are fighting over some bullshit in Scotland 3 centuries ago!?! MacDonald ignores him to focus on Trudy, saying she at least can be grateful that she can remarry and get rid of that hated Campbell name, and when Trudy gasps in horror, that's finally more than Pete can stand. Balling up his fist, he looks MacDonald right in the face and then socks him one, staggering the larger man back against his desk. Straightening his jacket, Pete summons his dignity and tells Trudy they're leaving, and they walk out, Pete glaring back as MacDonald - who is taking out on some ancient bullshit grudge on a little girl - complains about another sucker punch from the Campbells and calls Pete a coward!   At SC&P, work continues as normal, the vast majority of the employees utterly unaware of the massive changes coming their way whether the Partners are successful or not. One person who does know what is coming is Peggy Olson, but of course she continues to work away despite the distraction, moving with Stan through the Account Floor on their way back down to the Creative Floor. As they go, Stan notices a little girl sitting on the couch and lets her know the auditions are over now, and she replies that she already auditioned, she's just waiting for her mom. Confused, Peggy asks where her mother is and the girl explains that she went to pick up her brother, who is at another audition. Understandably troubled by an unaccompanied minor just sitting around by herself in a completely strange place, Peggy calls over to Shirley outside Roger's office to ask if she can watch the girl, but Shirley shakes her head and points to the phone she is talking on, entirely too busy to be a babysitter. Behind them, Harry starts screaming down the phone about being an important media buyer while the other person on the line is apparently "acting like an rear end in a top hat". Cringing at the bad language in front of a little girl, Peggy suggests she come downstairs with them, hoping her secretary Marsha is back from lunch and asking if the girl at least knows her number. Taking entirely the wrong message, the girl skips over happily and asks if she got the part, causing them both to wince and Stan to offer as gently as possible that they're still deciding. In Cos Cobb, Trudy returns home calling for Verna, but sees her purse is gone and assumes she has taken Tammy to the park. Pete, in the doorway behind her, declines her offer to get ice for his hand after checking his watch, admitting it was a mistake to come here since he has such an important meeting coming up. Trudy though disagrees, it was a wonderful idea he had to come home with her to surprise Tammy, and clearly she is feeling far more happy with his presence than usual after he punched a man for upsetting her. But while Pete was glad to do it and would probably do it again, now that the immediate outrage has passed he has to admit curiosity, asking as gently as possibly WHY Trudy didn't have any back-up schools in place? Reluctantly, she admits she did have one back-up, but it had to be discarded as an option... because the Head of Admissions got fresh with her. Immediately he demands to know WHAT school, and she quickly reminds him he can't go around punching EVERYONE! With a sigh, she admits that maybe he was right and she should have never left the city, but he surprises her by admitting that his beloved New York City has become a "toilet". But things aren't much better here, she softly notes that she has few friends, which he finds difficult to believe, until he discovers the reason why. Every function, every social gathering, every event that she goes to, the husbands of her friends make moves on her. Pete mumbles that he doesn't want to hear this, but she sadly notes that the only thing worse is the reminder that in 10 years, NOBODY will be making any moves on her, and that is bad in its own way too. Immediately Pete leaps to her defense again, a rather genuine declaration that she is "ageless" which she can't help but be pleased by. Really having no choice but to go now, he tells her to give his love to Tammy and gets ready to leave, but when she warmly notes that he never takes no for an answer, it sparks a sudden idea in his head. Rather than leaving, he asks if he can use the phone, and when she agrees he races towards it, ready to put a last second plan of his own into motion. At SC&P's reception, Roger, Ted and Joan are waiting impatiently. Don finally arrives, asking where Pete is, and Joan says he may be meeting them there. They all march towards the elevators, only to find a breathless Pete stepping through, pleased he didn't miss them. He has good news, his spark of inspiration struck gold... of a sort: he just convinced Secor Laxatives to come with them. Roger and Don share a gleeful look, Roger giving Don the go-ahead to make the obvious joke. "Were they difficult to move?" he grins, and Pete is happy to enjoy the joke in good humor thanks to his success, simply noting that all he had to do to get their business was NOT make that joke. Feeling brightened by this success, they all march out together, Secor a long running joke for all of them but also a long standng and loyal client whose money has helped keep them going in tough times and may prove their salvation today. The little girl - Susie - is cheerfully playing in Peggy's office, seated at her desk and picking up the phone to announce they've reached "Susie's office". Peggy and Stan meanwhile are sitting on the couch reviewing their shortlist of boys and girls for the ad, Peggy rejecting one girl for having a lisp while Stan insists lisps are cute... but critically noting her eyebrows and saying they'll need to pluck them! Suddenly Peggy has had enough, the incredibly minor disagreement making her grasp that none of this matters, they have no idea if this client will even be a client in the next couple of days. So she throws up her arms and says she doesn't care, a statement that of course Stan doesn't remotely believe, because Peggy always cares about EVERYTHING when it comes to work. Considering for a moment, mindful of Pete talking to her in confidence, Peggy decides she owes Stan the same courtesy, and quietly tells him what she has to say is in strictest confidence, he can't even tell Elaine. He sighs that won't be a problem and she's momentarily sidetracked, interested in if and why they've broken up, and he has to pull her back on track, asking what the big secret is? "McCann's taking over the Agency," she confesses,"We're moving over there." "Jesus to MCCANN!?!" yells Stan, disgusted, and she tries to shush him... and Susie screams. Leaping to their feet, forgetting McCann for a second, they rush over and discover the little girl has managed to staple her own thumb, and is terrified by the blood she has drawn. Stan quickly pulls out a handkerchief, promising her it happens all the time and everything will be fine. But when Peggy tells him to get ice and he tells her to do it while he pulls out the staple, Susie freaks out, scared and panicked by the pain and thought of more pain to come. This, of course, is when her mother shows up. Susie forgets the pain in that moment, not because she's happy to see her mother but because she's worried she's going to get told off for screwing around. She immediately declares it was an accident, and her horrified mother calls her over, outraged at what has been done to her daughter, almost accusatory as she snarls that she's taking her to the emergency room. Peggy makes the mistake of commenting that it isn't THAT bad an injury, and the mother immediately whirls back around, furious at Peggy, yelling that she shouldn't let a little girl play with something so dangerous (a stapler!). "YOU shouldn't have abandoned her in a midtown office building!" Peggy immediately hits back with, justifiably offended that this woman is making HER out to be the irresponsible one. Stan tries his best to play peacemaker, but now the mother is offended, angrily pointing out she HAD to pick up her son because THEIR audition ran two hours late. "SO YOU JUST LEFT AN EIGHT YEAR OLD AT A JOB INTERVIEW!?!" yells Peggy back, far past the point of being willing to put up with bullshit after the events of the last 24 hours. Outraged, the mother insists that acting is Susie's favorite thing in the world to do, a point that Peggy never disputed, her complaint being that she left her alone in a building with strangers. But Peggy's also past logic now, just looking to lash out, so she sneers that she bets what the mother loves doing is cashing her daughter's paychecks. "Peggy!" gasps Stan, horrified she'd say that (even if it is true!), while the furious mother yells that Peggy can raise her kids how she wants, and she'll raise her own kids her way. She hauls her daughter away, who has completely forgotten the staple now, her brother following probably wishing he was anywhere else right now. "How did that turn into THAT!?!" laughs Stan in disbelief once they are gone, but Peggy - who was left stunned by that children line - just returns to the couch, and snaps,"gently caress her!" Stan tries to talk it through with her, starting to point out that she may have other things on her mind but that doesn't mean... but she cuts him off, grunting that they need to get back to work. Setting the drama aside, forgetting all about McCann for the moment, Stan sighs and does so, willing to go through the motions since Peggy is clearly has no desire to talk more about anything right now.   But at McCann, it is the moment of truth at last. The SC&P Partners wait in the conference room, one of many perhaps, smoking and chatting, seemingly at ease if only because they've done all they can do and now it simply comes down to doing what they do best: convincing people to buy what they're selling. Ferg Donnelly and Jim Hobart arrive, Hobart apologizing for keeping them waiting but noting with some surprise that they arrived 20 minutes early. When they explain they wanted to be prepared, he notes the stand and art-boards set up in the corner and is confused.... prepared for what? Rather than answering, Don asks them to take a seat, treating them like clients, Hobart amused enough to play along, pleased to see Roger pulling out Joan's chair for her and noting to Ferg that they could use manners like that around McCann. Don chuckles at the comment, the dutiful laugh of an ad man trying to win over a potential client. He explains they've come here today to show them what THEY can offer McCann Erickson, a comment that furthers confuses the McCann men given THEY are the ones who set this meeting so THEY could explain how things are going to be to SC&P. This is NOT the script they had in mind, and they have no idea what Don is up to... but they want to see. Pretending like the absorption is still a matter under consideration by BOTH parties, as if SC&P actually have any power to stop it, Don explains that they've been considering the union (not absorption, union, a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts) of the two Agencies and how they compliment each other so well... but they were dismayed at how much business BOTH Agencies would lose as a result of conflicts. Hobart, who of course is losing nothing but some incidental cash from McCann's ownership share of SC&P, agrees there will be some casualties, but Don goes ahead and lists them: Sunkist, Burger Chef, Secor Laxatives & Tinkerbell Cookies will be lost in the union, and that represents 18 million in billings. All gone. But it doesn't have to be. Because what if those clients could still be serviced? They'd do so from the modest (not two floors of Time Life!) offices of Sterling Cooper West, and of course the best thing is that McCann would lose nothing, because part of the branding - as he turns around the first of the art boards, representing the results of Ted's painstaking typography - is that Sterling Cooper West is a division of McCann-Erickson. Beneath that board are charts showing profits, growth, low expenditure, high income. Don's warm, soothing voice lays it all out, weaving his usual magic spell, selling the benefits, downplaying or dismissing the negatives or showcasing how to turn them into positives. Here is the future, here is the latest of Sterling Cooper's many forms, here is a solution that works for everyone, that makes everyone happy, that achieves everything! Or it would, if Hobart hadn't immediately told Don to just stop. Faltering, having barely started to speak, Don stares in surprise at Hobart who is beaming happily, even proudly... but also has clearly stated that Don's time to talk is over. Roger, stunned at his ultimate weapon failing when needed most, asks Jim to at least let Don finish, but Don can tell looking at Hobart's serene smile that the man's mind is made up. Turning to Ferg, Hobart asks him to leave and Ferg CLEARLY knows his place, immediately agreeing, only pausing to ask if he wants the thin folder he brought with him. Hobart doesn't, and so Ferg leaves, and Don - desperate - jumps to the crudest but most sincere argument he can think might penetrate Hobart's shields: it's 275k of profit a year guaranteed for McCann without them having to do ANYTHING, how can he possibly turn that down? But he doesn't have to, because Hobart doesn't have to listen to their arguments, he doesn't have to consider their opinions, he doesn't have to assess the merits of their argument. He just has to tell them what to do, and they have to listen. So he tells Don to sit, and in a daze Don does so, his spell uncast, his speech undelivered, his latest last gasp gamble for once completely failing to pay off. Once he is seated, Hobart offers an apology of sorts, admitting that he feels sick about how this whole thing came about, reinforcing Ferg's comment from the day before that the lease being canceled was supposed to be the LAST thing that happened, not the first. Don manages to get out that he must understand how attached they are to their clients, Roger chiming in that they're attached to their name too. But Hobart offers back that they simply don't understand what is happening here, and especially not the fact that it is already done. It's over. They passed the test. None of them any idea what to say, nor indeed any idea what he is talking about. So he elaborates, part of this due to the reverse nature of how this whole thing was supposed to happen, but another part a disconnect that comes from Jim Hobart running a VERY different type of Advertising Agency to their own, something he has seemingly never understood. The "test", one none of them know they were sitting, was to see how they handled themselves in the rarefied air of the biggest advertising agency in the world.... and they nailed it. The result? Each of them have "died and gone to advertising heaven", they are being given five of the biggest and most coveted advertising gigs in the world. Baffled at their lack of excitement to his cryptic comments, Hobart laughs that he shouldn't have to be selling THEM on this, and finally lays out exactly what he is talking about. "Buick," he declares, looking at Roger. "Ortho Pharmaceutical," he adds, looking to Ted, who can't help but smile, this was the secret goal he shared with Don in the previous episode. "Nabisco," he tells Pete after a pregnant pause to let him anticipate what was coming. Now he turns his gaze to Don Draper, the crown jewel he has pursued for seven seasons but never been able to get his hands on. He finally has him, and now we - and Don - learn what he always intended to use him for, the company he thought was the perfect match for Don's creative vision. "Coca-Cola." In spite of himself, Don's head raises, there is a tug on the corner of his lips, his eyes widen ever so slightly. It is the biggest and most influential advertiser in the world, a product that has been marketed so successfully that they literally created the globally recognized look of Santa Claus. It is the holy grail of advertising, locked in an iron grip by McCann, it's only real rival Pepsi-Cola, other agencies only hopes of ever getting a shot being by doing well enough with other soft drinks in the hopes of getting headhunted by McCann and put on coke. And that is just what has happened here, Don Draper has just given the one thing that every single person in advertising dreams of having.... and all it cost him was everything else he desperately wanted to keep. Joan leans forward slightly, waiting for her dream assignment, the fifth of the Partners waiting for the fifth coveted advertising gig that others can only dream of.... and Hobart says nothing. Instead he just beams happily at them, obviously expecting all their objections to have now been washed away. "Stop struggling," he offers kindly,"You've won." Standing, he cheerfully tells them they can take the rest of the day off and pop some champagne. With that, he walks out, light on his feet, feeling happy and contented having made all their dreams come true, utterly convinced that the meeting has been a massive and happy success that has put the unpleasantness of that unexpected lease cancellation behind them. Left sitting in the conference room are five Ad (Wo)Men who should be the happiest people alive.  The saddest thing? Hobart is genuine. He means what he says, he truly believes he has just delivered Manna from heaven. His bewilderment over Don's attempted pitch came about because even when he thought they were upset about the sudden lease cancellation and the uncertainty on whether SC&P as an Agency was being dissolved, he assumed they'd all be happy to be working within McCann, and thus they'd be over-the-moon to learn he was actually assigning them such plum roles. Ever since season 1, Hobart hasn't minded playing dirty to get what he wants, from setting up a bullshit advertising photo-shoot for Betty just to entice Don over to bribing him with golf clubs and a New York Athletic Club membership. But he has also always clearly believed that once Don was working there, he'd just love the place... after all, what's not to love, they have enormous prestige and are paid extraordinarily well: he wasn't bullshitting when he told Don to come join "the millionaires" at McCann. For somebody like Hobart, the idea that anybody - such as Peggy Olson - wouldn't be thrilled at the thought of working at McCann never occurs to him. We've also seen the flip side of that, particularly through Ferg who is likely Hobart's chosen assassin so he can stay the happy good guy, the vindictiveness for those who betray or denigrate McCann. But there was nothing vindictive in this, he just killed SC&P with kindness. And yet.... what was the alternative? Don and the others walked in with a wild plan to hold on to some independence by moving the Agency out to Sterling Cooper West. Don even joked they could run it out of a bassinet if need be... but who was "The Agency" in his mind? Ted was going to stay, the other four were going to go (Joan presumably would see the benefits of being near Richard and saving him moving out to New York).... but what about everybody else at the Agency? Were they about to do to the bulk of SC&P what they did to the bulk of Sterling Cooper? Abandon them to uncertain fates with McCann at best and unemployment at worst? Who would they be taking with them? Their secretaries? A few Account Men? A copywriter or two (presumably Peggy was considered a lock)? And did they ever think to ASK any of these people if they were willing to upend their lives to move to the West Coast out of nowhere? If they thought about them at all. No, Don and the others walked into that conference room thinking they could pull it off again: another last minute save, another gambit that would pay off and allow them to keep running THEIR Agency they way they wanted... but it was an entirely selfish idea, and they were clearly thinking about themselves first over anybody else. Now in the wake of Hobart's reveals, what does that mean for the rest of SC&P? If they are to be Account Men/Creatives on these prestigious Accounts, what about everybody else? Are they just going to be absorbed into McCann in general? Secretaries added to the secretarial pool? Copywriters and Artists jammed into various departments already packed with others doing the same job? Who will be considered redundant? Will Account Men on those conflicting Accounts find themselves without an Account AND without a job? Those questions don't seem to occur to the 5 Partners though, who in a daze transition from sitting at that conference table to sitting in a bar, drinking and trying to wrap their heads around what just happened. Only Ted seems genuinely pleased with how things turned out, because of course he was always going to be staying in New York anyway, and had already told them he liked how things ran at McCann... now he's got all of that AND Ortho Pharmaceutical! Roger mutters that he feels he should make a toast, and when Joan points out he has already made many, he notes they haven't drunk to Cooper yet. They all consider that then raise their glasses, and Joan offers a sad but rather accurate assessment of how Cooper might have felt about this,"Glad he missed it." Collecting her purse, Joan says she has to go, and Roger moans that Kevin can wait, they should at least get dinner. She comments that she has plans, offering them no more than that because they don't need anymore. When Roger insists she rejoin them afterwards she just offers him a look, giving Ted a hug and preparing to give Pete one before he notes he can drop her off, he wants to call Trudy given she also had "quite a day". Perhaps he's thinking about the way she looked at him after he "defended her"? Her excitement to have him surprise Tammy? Her opening up to him about her own vulnerability? Just hopefully whatever he says in his drunken state doesn't undo any gains he made in her eyes today. Hugging Don, Joan notes that at least they went down swinging, and though Don smiles and nods, for a moment he looks on the verge of tears before he regathers himself. Giving Roger a hug as well, she warns him not to "be a baby" and that she expects to see him at work tomorrow, then leaves with Pete. As Roger heads to the bar to fetch another round, Ted warns this will be his last, letting Don know he has a date, presumably with the old college friend. Don, drunk enough to have already moved on from nearly crying, just nods his approval. Ted looks him over and contemplates something that perhaps never occurred to him: Don has never worked at a place the size of McCann Erickson, has he? Betraying some of his own surprising inexperience, Don insists that Ted never saw the old Sterling Cooper, which was "mammoth". "Not like this," is all Ted offers with a smile, understanding that Don's vision of a large Agency being the mid-sized at best Sterling Cooper is going to quickly be eclipsed. Don notes that Ted is happy and lets him know that this is okay and he doesn't have to hide it, but Ted corrects him: he's relieved. It's nice that somebody else will be in the driver's seat now. Roger returns with the drinks and, running out of people to toast, suggest they raise their glasses to Lou Avery of all people. "The Japs are going to eat him alive," he grins, and they are all more than happy to drink to that. Thankfully, Pete's offer of "dropping off" Joan wasn't to drive her anywhere, considering he's a bad enough driver when sober, but simply to share a cab. As they ride, Joan yawns and then quietly offers that the day was a disaster. Pete tuts at that, saying he needs her to be voice of optimism on this, but she's not interested in "looking on the bright side" in the wake of the meeting, reminding Pete that Hobart listed accounts for everybody BUT her. Confused, Pete insists that she was put on Ortho Pharmaceutical, probably presuming that it would make sense given they produce birth control. But Joan promises him Hobart did not... and that she doesn't think they can give any credence to anything he told them today, remembering better than he what he complained about only yesterday: the agreement was supposed to be that SC&P remained an independent subsidiary. "We both know they're never going to take me seriously over there," Joan sighs, remembering her and Peggy's humiliating Topaz meeting. But when Pete grins and notes that they have no idea what they're dealing with, she can't help but grin at the genuine compliment. They continue the ride quietly, Pete now resigned (or at least soothed by the bribe) to the fact that things are out of his control, while Joan ponders not for the first time in her life how to deal with getting everything she ever wanted - and worked so hard for! - only to have it taken away from her unfairly.   At SC&P, Peggy and Stan are both still working for an Agency they know is soon going to cease to exist. Peggy looks over at Stan drawing, throws down her pen and complains she can't do any work. Shrugging, Stan assures her that he's had to look for a new job before, assuming that it what is bothering her. He notes that even if it turns out he doesn't have to he at least appreciates she gave him a heads up, but she explains that actually isn't what is bothering her... she's still pissed off at the mother for yelling at her! Stan promises her aggression would have been because she felt guilty about her kid getting hurt, but Peggy grunts that she's fully aware what the woman was thinking and the whole "psychological situation".... but the mother still shouldn't have yelled at her like that! "She shouldn't have kids," suggests Stan, and suddenly finds himself on the other side of the battlefield, as Peggy snaps angrily at him that this isn't for him to say! "Jesus, I can't even agree with you!" he complains, throwing down his own pen. Peggy complains that she doesn't hate kids, thinking he is trying to say things to make her feel better based on that misunderstanding, but just gets more irritated when Stan attempts to be understanding in a different way, telling her it is okay that she didn't have kids! "Don't do that!" she snaps at him, but of course he doubles down in his effort to make her feel "better", promising that if she'd had a kid she would have never been able to do all the things she's done with her life. Getting angrier, she points out HE doesn't have kids either, and when he chuckles,"Not that I know of!" she demands to know what he thinks is so funny about getting a woman pregnant and then just walking away? Offended himself, he insists he would NEVER do a thing like that, and she points out he just made a joke out of saying he might have kids out there he doesn't know about. THAT is the privilege he has that woman don't, because if they get pregnant they don't have that choice to just walk away. Casting about for something to cling on to rather than let her run rings around him like this, he settles on an apology, agreeing that he shouldn't have cast judgement on that woman.... but that just gets Peggy further fired up about how he's right that he doesn't understand women. Trying to defend himself, he points out he had a mother and he's pretty sure she didn't want him, so he knows something about that at least. But that isn't Peggy's point, she's talking about the MOTHER'S point of view, not his, and he doesn't know what his mother's situation was, what might have happened to her, what might have caused her to be the way she was. He tries to reply but she keeps going, offering that maybe his mother was very young, and followed her heart and got in trouble.... and NOBODY should have to make a mistake just like a man does and NOT be able to move on! She should be able to live the rest of her life just like a man does! Comprehension dawns solely for Stan, but it dawns. This all started when he said she never had children. She got upset. She was angry about him making judgement about a mother. She pointed out he didn't know his own mother's reasons for acting the way she did towards him. She's near tears as she talks with unsettling certainty about the things that might have happened to a mother, and about how that mother shouldn't have to feel guilty or lesser-than because she did exactly what every man is able to do every day. In short, he finally figures out that she's talking about herself. "You're right," he finally offers quietly, no longer trying to win an argument or make himself look better. "I know," she replies just as quietly, realizing now how much of herself she just put out there, but taking the opportunity to exorcise some long tamped down feelings. "Maybe you do what you thought was the best thing," she adds quietly, and Stan takes a long moment before taking a gamble and just asking her outright without obfuscation: what did SHE do? "I'm.... I'm here," she says at last, which essentially says it all. She takes a moment, then adds that "he" is with a family "somewhere", but she doesn't know not because she doesn't care, but because she CAN'T know. Quietly she explains that you're not supposed to know, because if you do, you simply can't go on with your life. It's the most she has talked (that we have seen) in years about the son she barely even saw, and the first time since Pete - the unknowing father - that she told somebody who didn't find out by other means (Don, Father John). Outside of when he was first born right at the end of season one, Peggy's child has never been seen again, rarely mentioned, seemingly forgotten. But he never has been. Pete may go long stretches without actively remembering, even forgetting at times perhaps the extremely short and ill-advised affair he and Peggy had in the first place. Peggy herself may also go lengths of time without actively remembering, but she has never truly forgotten. It was a massive moment in her life, if only because she'd managed to convince herself not to notice she was pregnant in the first place until she went into labor. The relentless pressure of the guilt of her Catholic upbringing, the frequent reminders of what she might have had but couldn't (Trudy getting pregnant, her own sister's youngest being roughly the same age as her own given up son), the loss of Abe as a long term partner she thought she would have a family with.... reminders keep coming at the most unexpected times, and every time they do she has to remember it all again, live with the choice all again... but like she said, why should she have NOT had that choice? Pete got to, other men get to, why is it that SHE has to be the one who feels guilty or is told she is less than because she chose to pursue the opportunities that had opened up for her? She stands, saying she has more work to do. Stan stands as well, apologizing and offering that he didn't know. She agrees, offering back that there are LOTS of things he doesn't know, and she leaves with her legal pad, getting the last word, feeling somewhat back to normal. Stan watches her go, sad not because she gave up a baby a decade earlier, but because his friend is sad, and he feels bad for her.   Ted is gone but Don and Roger remain at the bar, extremely drunk and disheveled, more in mourning than any kind of celebration. Roger pulls out a pack of cigarettes and admits he promised God he would give up smoking if they managed to pull off the Sterling Cooper West gambit. "Message received," he tells God, and lights up. Pondering mortality after Don assures him he's a young man with a bright future ahead of him, Roger admits it's not just the end of Sterling Cooper but the end of the Sterlings too: Margaret is the only daughter of an only son of an only son. All that is left now is the mausoleum at Greenwood, and it will be the Hargroves that go forward. "What's in a name?" chuckles Don, and Roger sighs that every copywriter thinks they're Shakespeare, which Don admits is at least something to aspire to. They must be REALLY drunk, because they start opening up about their admiration for each other, Roger admitting that he always respected Don was reaching for something, while Don admits he always respected that Roger didn't have to. "In another lifetime, I'd have been your chauffeur," he admits, and Roger notes this means he would have been screwing his grandmother, which Don finds delightful. But to his astonishment, Roger tosses some money on the bar to cover the tab, and he realizes the man who will happily drink all day and all night is... wrapping things up? When Roger admits he has someplace to be, Don grins sloppily and insists he get her to join them, and becomes more intrigued when Roger notes she wouldn't like that neither would Don... now he HAS to meet her! But that's the problem, he already has, it's Marie Calvet. For a second Don is stunned, almost sobered up even, is he being serious? He is, and with a shake of his head Don tells him to give him a heads up before Marie finds out so Don can flee the country. He's stunned again when he finds out Megan already knows, asking Roger why he didn't tell HIM if that was the case, perhaps a little saddened to realize that Megan didn't bother to tell him either. Roger, with rare candor, admits that he wanted to make sure it "wasn't going away" first, but it seems it is not. "You know she's crazy?" Don asks, and happily Roger reminds him that when he married his secretary, Don gave him a hard time... and then went ahead and married his own! Visions of ancient mother-in-laws in his mind, Don can't help but laugh and throws his hands away, declaring that for the second time today he surrenders, and he's simply just happy for his friend being happy. "You're okay," Roger admits, grabbing Don by the side of the head, then actually giving him a little kiss on the side of the face before sauntering away to find Marie, who is likely to be unimpressed by the state he is in. Don watches him go with a smile, then turns back to the bar... and the smile fades. Not because he was lying or faking to Roger, but because in the silence that follows his absence, Don is faced with what is becoming a more frequent and unwelcome reminder. He's once again all alone. A short time later, he makes a drunken journey he had not had the courage to make sober. Returning to Diana's deliberately basic apartment, he knocks on the door, thinking about the calls she made and rescinded, hoping to find her, to reconcile, to reconnect, to have SOMEBODY in his life even if it isn't good for either of them, to try and make something good come out of this miserable day which even the Coca-Cola Account failed to brighten. But it isn't Diana who opens the door, it's a man, and when he apologizes and says he has the wrong apartment, the man frowns and steps aside to reveal another man sitting by the bed in a silk gown and drinking, grumpily demanding Kenneth explain if he knows this guy, Kenneth insisting he has never seen him before. Shaking his head, amused to discover a homosexual couple in place of his ex-girlfriend (how much things have changed in the last decade, remember his contempt for Sal?), he explains he was looking for Diana Baur who used to live there... do they have any idea where she went? The older man's demeanor immediately changes now that he knows this was a genuine misunderstanding, explaining that they only just moved in. They have no forwarding address, Diana's furniture was still here when they arrived and the building manager told them to sell it, indicating he also has no idea where she went. With a shake of his head, Don apologizes to bother them, and Kenneth can't resist asking the very tall and handsome man if he'd like another drink. Glaring at his man, the older man closes the door, and Don makes his exit. The next day at Sterling Cooper, Dawn quietly approaches Shirley in the break room and asks if she has heard anything. Making sure nobody is around, Shirley lets her know that "they" are making lists, which means not everybody is going to survive the move to McCann. Dawn is despondent, she doesn't think they're going to have much call for an Office Manager there, while Shirley notes that being Roger's SECOND secretary doesn't give her much hope either.... hell, Caroline will probably elbow her out the window! "What are you talking about?" asks Meredith, who managed to approach unseen carrying papers for copying despite Shirley's earlier check, overhearing enough of their conversation to get the gist of it: there's some kind of move happening, and not everybody is guaranteed a spot. Rather than answering though, they glare at her, Shirley commenting that maybe they should put a bell on her, hoping to intimidate her into leaving.   Don arrives to work, heading straight into his office but surprised to see Meredith has stormed in after him and is demanding to know what is going on. Confused, he tries to calm her down, but when he calls her sweetheart she shocks him by snapping at him not to call her sweetheart, pointing out that rumors are flying "like bats" around at the office at the moment. Alarmed, he asks what she has heard, completely missing the point, and she of all people has to spell it out for him: she's heard nothing FROM HIM. She points out that in a month he won't have an office, he won't have an apartment, does he want to lose HER too? Both touched and a little taken aback by her apparently still believing they share some intimate connection, and definitely more troubled by the fact she knows they're being moved to McCann, he offers that he intended to tell her all about it today, and to let her know that if she wanted to remain his secretary, he would be happy to have her join him at McCann. Taking a moment to be relieved for herself, Meredith has another surprise for Don when he assumes everything is back to normal now and asks for an Alka-Seltzer. "NO!" she snaps, the shocking voice of reason and the first person to actually speak up on behalf of everybody else in the office: today is NOT a normal day, everybody is worried or unsure or confused, and the implication is clear: this is still HIS Agency so what is HE going to do about it? Admitting again that she is right, he asks her to get him Mr. Sterling on the phone, suffering through his hangover without benefit of Alka-Seltzer, because there is work that needs to be done. Pleased that he is doing something at last, Meredith finally relents and leaves him alone. Peggy is working in her office, the phone ringing but going unanswered. She calls for Marsha but gets no response, so takes the call herself, surprised to hear Stan, asking where he is. He admits gleefully that he's locked himself in his office and is drinking bourbon with his breakfast, idly sketching as he lies on the couch. He called to see not what she is doing but what she is planning to do, and is surprised when she admits that she has taken her consultant's advice: she's going to McCann... and he can too, if he wants. Uncertain, he asks if she thinks he should, his own imposter syndrome bad enough at SC&P but sure to be overwhelming at a place like McCann. But Peggy, perhaps to convince herself, assures him that everything is going to be fine. "I'm dumb enough to believe you," he sighs, but when she asks him to stay on the phone so they can work "together" in quiet, he's happy to do so, recapturing somewhat the dynamic they managed to share when she worked at CGC but he remained at SCDP. Everybody else gathers on the Account Floor, summoned by the Partners, milling about confused and babbling to each other as they try to figure out what is going on: is this good news? Bad news? The ones who don't know about McCann yet maybe wondering if it's another loving computer. Don gets their attention, and with uncharacteristic brevity announces how proud he is to let them know that they'll be moving to McCann Erickson. He quickly passes it over to Roger to speak as President, and Roger steps forward putting on as calm and happy a face as he can. Admitting the news may have come as a surprise, he promises them that McCann are going to make the transition as smooth as possible... and then something absolutely unprecedented happens. Roger Sterling gets ignored. The gathered employees, absorbing Don's announcement, hear Roger say that McCann promise everything will be smooth and immediate discount it as obvious bullshit... and move on to discussing what that means for themselves with each other. Multiple conversations light up, Account Men and Copywriters and Secretaries asking what this means for their jobs, their work, their Accounts, their positions, their pay, none of them paying any attention to Roger offering meaningless platitudes. He tries to explain that room has already been set aside for them all, but that offers none of them any comfort, and Roger himself clearly finds his own words less than convincing. Perhaps the greatest indictment is that Harry Crane immediately bellows out,"THIS IS GOOD NEWS!", because of course Harry will say whatever he thinks people in authority above him want him to say, and has zero qualms about his craven nature: his vaunted loyalty is purely to whoever he thinks is his Boss. "WE DIDN'T DO THIS!" Roger calls out, desperate not to be the bad guy here, the statement about the worst thing he could possibly say since if they're "proud" to be moving and the transition is supposed to be so smooth, why is he distancing himself from it? Not that it matters, nobody is listening, and Roger simply gives up, turning away in humiliation as his own employees talk louder, ignoring him, looking for answers to questions they clearly feel he won't or can't answer. So Don makes one final attempt. Striding forward, he begins another one of his powerful pitches, declaring that this is the beginning of something... and everybody ignores him too. People are gathered in their own clusters now, or heading back to their offices, the space in front of the Partners quickly emptying out as people either retreat to safety to despair over an uncertain future, or more likely start throwing together resumes in anticipation of having to look for a new job. The Partners can only stand and watch, even Don's normally comforting authority utterly ineffectual. This time there is no impassioned speech that can be given, no weaving a magic spell with words. The Partners aren't happy about the move either but THEY are going to be taken care of on top of the millions they're already being paid out for the sale in the first place. They (well, all but Joan) are guaranteed prestigious spots and continued employment. For everybody else outside of Harry - whose enthusiasm is of the desperate, currying-favor sort - the future is suddenly an uncertain and worrying place, job losses a very real possibility, and employment if it continues tossing them likely at the bottom of a very different work environment. So it's no surprise they have no patience to hear from Roger or Don. Right now their lives are falling apart, and in this moment the Partners aren't their leaders, their captains, their generals, and CERTAINLY not their messiahs. No, for as miserable as any of the Partners might be about giving up their dreams of something of their own, it doesn't change one undeniable fact for everybody else in this moment... They're just five rich assholes getting richer.  Episode Index Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 08:04 on Aug 9, 2022 |
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Aug 8, 2022 17:10
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Imagining a Gen Xer circa 1997 going to his first office job, an early dot-com bubble coding gig where he makes $80k a year and has a generous stock option plan. He is wearing a faux-distressed "Scout's Honor" ringer T that cost $29.99 at Gap. There it is. The way the scene develops and lets the viewer sit in Trudy's place, slowly piecing together that Pete knows exactly what this man is talking about - and that, of course, Pete has a rationalization for something uncouth his family did centuries ago at the ready - is so well done.The late 60's were wide-open and full of promise  Now the claustrophobic, ugly reality of the 70's is setting in. quote:JethroMcB fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Aug 8, 2022 |
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Aug 8, 2022 18:29
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there was a correct quote for this episode, Jerusalem, and you failed great quote though, I will admit
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Aug 8, 2022 18:36
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Probably not intentional but it's where my mind went first  : Also not sure if this was intentional either but it's interesting that there's those four empty seats in front of them in that shot, like symbolic ghosts of the four other partners they "lost" over time (Lane, Gleason, Cooper and Cutler)
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Aug 8, 2022 18:49
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Blood Nightmaster posted:Probably not intentional but it's where my mind went first I think it very much was intentional. There are a lot of associations throughout the series of McCann with death and stagnation, and by contrast, of Sterling Cooper with life and progression (time and life? eh?), but they become very explicit in this episode, especially through H. Richard Greene's performance. Jim Hobart is Death himself, come to ferry the Partners to their afterlife. It's not just Greene's bassy tones and slippery delivery, or the Last Supper framing: he literally says, "You are dying and going to advertising heaven." "Stop struggling. You've won." The funny thing is, it's different for each person: it's heaven for Ted, hell for Joan, purgatory for Roger and Don (I guess that makes Pete... Dante?) In any case, I wouldn't put it past the crew to deliberately evoke the most famous depiction of impending death in their work; we've seen plenty of clever camera tricks in the past. hell, that shot even dissolves to a shot of them actually eating and drinking together! kalel fucked around with this message at 19:51 on Aug 8, 2022 |
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Aug 8, 2022 19:43
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This episode is so very very good. Roger is so sweet in the bar scene. This and the next one are the best ones of the last batch I think although the finale is very good too.
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Aug 8, 2022 23:09
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Ted looks like such a yutz here.
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Aug 8, 2022 23:10
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Bismack Billabongo posted:Ted looks like such a yutz here. the whole pic looks so insanely 70s
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Aug 8, 2022 23:33
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