This week, we opened with Roger in his office, and in walks Joan all aglow. Yes, she's glowing. She's got a certain, how do you say, "je ne sais quoi" about her. Turns out she's late. I know, I too thought, "Oh that's silly, she can't be late, she's standing in Roger's office--it looks like she made it to work just in time." No, no, she's late. She's laaaaate. Well, it was bound to happen with these two, wasn't it? A part of me was thinking that Matthew Weiner would never go there. They'd have their late night, post-mugging quickie up against a wall and that'd refuel their romance. But he went there--to babytown--and now we have a bit of a situation on our hands. But Joanie, being the forward-thinking woman she is (remember in Season 1 when she referred Peggy to her doctor for birth control pills?) knew exactly how she was going to handle this situation: abortion. But seeing as this is the 1960's and Roe v. Wade has yet to happen, she'd have to go to a specialist and pay the guy $400 for taking care of it. Oh, to be in a world where terminating your pregnancy was a no-no, how suspenseful and exciting it'd be! But never fear, apparently all went as it should have. Joan went to the doctor. She calmly sat in the waiting room with a magazine. She calmly consoled a woman who's seventeen-year-old daughter was getting the procedure. She calmly lied and basically said the was waiting for her daughter too. She calmly assured Roger that everything was taken care of. Do you believe her? I'd like to think that she went to the doctor, and did what she went there to do. But I wouldn't be surprised if the issue arised again....in baby-form!
And what's going on with the other employees of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce? Well, the Draper's getting back into the good graces of his daughter, Sally, after last week's incident. And just how is he doing that? With Beatles tickets of course. YES. We've entered the age of The Beatles. Nothing will ever be the same. And I think the best actress of the night was Kiernan Shipka. Her reaction to hearing the news was spot on. That moment was probably the happiest moment of the episode. Even Betty cracked a smile and was genuinely excited for her. What could possibly ruin this? Later hearing that Don hasn't officially gotten the tickets was a bit of a sting. This only made me worry that the plan would fall through, and all would be lost for his relationship with Sally.
Don wasn't the only one trying to mend his relationship with his child. Lane, toting a plush Mickey Mouse (giving off just a slight hint of desperation) rushed to reception upon hearing that he had a visitor, assuming it was his son, Nigel. Oh dear; tis not Nigel. In fact, it is Lane's father, with what I'm sure is great news from London. He's basically come to get him and take him back to the UK. This reminds me of the movie Cool Runnings, when Junior's father flies out to Canada to bring his son home to Jamaica--but if we all remember correctly, Junior assertively refused, and then later proved to his father that that he made the right decision in staying in Canada, and in turn, made his father proud. I wish I could say the same for Lane and his father, but unfortunately, their story took a slightly different route. Junior proved he made the right choice by finishing the bobsled race at the Olympics. Lane proved he made the right choice by taking his father out (dragging Don along) to a Playboy club. Yeaaaah, not the same result. Lane, looking like he was already a bit drunk, called one of the bunnies over and handled her a little closer than the usual patron. Turns out, the bunny is Toni, a girl Lane is seeing. I'm not sure how long they've been together, or even how they met. But I'd assume that one day he went to the club, feeling sad and depressed, and Toni felt sorry for him, and she happened to be on her break, so they sat and talked, and when she got off of work, they sat and talked some more, and BOOM--they're dating. I really think it could have happened that way. Well that's aside from the point, according to Lane's father. It seems he wants nothing to do with meeting Toni, and as Lane pointed out, is it because she's black or because she's not his wife? We don't know what exactly Lane's father is thinking but he lets Lane know that he can't have both London and New York. My opinion is that he's a traditional man, who thinks his son should be on the same continent as his family, so of course, he won't open himself up to anything else. And this makes me feel sorry for Lane. Maybe Toni's his rebound girl, maybe not, but it seems like he's moved on (or is at least trying) and it has to be tough for him to see that his father flew all the way to NY not because he's interested in what his son's been doing, but because he's interested in bringing his son back to his previous life. Ugh, Drama City.
As I mentioned earlier, our guy Don seems to be tasting the fuzzy side of the lollipop in this episode. Once again, his past comes back to haunt him, and this time, it could be bad. It all started with Pete Campbell's hard-earned client, North American Aviation. They're worth about 4 million dollars, so of course, SCDP would like to work for them. We go from a hunky-dory client meeting to special agents from the U.S. Government visiting Mrs. Betty Francis, at the Draper home--sorry, I meant the Francis home. Betty, acting as normal as she can, basically sits through 45 minutes of answering personal questions about her ex-husband, and we all know about the elephant in the room. That elephant is named Dick Whitman. After she's in the clear, Betty of course rings Don at work, gives him the gist of the situation, and passes over the panic to him. And boy, when Don panics, he panics. Understandably so, though, since if the government found out that he changed his name, especially about how he changed it, Don Draper's life would literally be over. So he panics. He yells at Meghan (for filling out the government form for the background check that was needed to work with N. American Aviation). He vomits (as gross as his mouth must be, that close up shot of him post-vomit was quite nice). He sets up a trust fund for his kids (just in case anything should happen to him and his perfect life). He tells Dr. Faye all about what happened that night in Korea. He rides Pete hard to get him to talk to his buddy in the Defense Department (the one he mentioned when he tried to blackmail Don in Season 1). And finally, he makes Pete come up with an excuse to get rid of North American Aviation as a client, just to save himself from getting caught. Now, I know Pete has secrets and trust issues of his own (ahem, affair with Peggy; ahem, child with Peggy given up for adoption) but I felt bad for him. He worked really hard to get this client and at this point, SCDP, needs every client it can get. So I think Don really owes him for this one. The client meeting was so uncomfortable to witness. Pete was basically chewed out by Roger for losing the client (when really, I'm sure Roger was mostly venting from losing their biggest client, Lucky Strike. Thanks a lot, Jerk of the Year, Lee Garner Jr.). Talk about dishonesty--can't wait until that bomb explodes.
In the end, Don Draper is still Don Draper. He's still a partner at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. He's still taking his daughter, Sally, to see The Beatles. And he's still running from his past as Dick Whitman. He may have dodged this bullet, but he's still changed his identity, and that's something that he can't just bury. It's bound to come up again. But for now, he'll go on living his life--the one he's made for himself.
Question: What was Don's look to Meghan all about?? I know she's a striking woman, but geez, Don, has this past season taught you nothing?? Can't wait to see what happens here, Matthew Weiner wouldn't leave us with that last shot for nothing.
Smidge of Comic Relief: Trudy Campbell. Oh, you. Thanks so much for wearing that little pink baby doll while as pregnant as you are. You were like a giant, pink cottonball. A pompom. An orb of innocence (and sexuality, did you SEE how short the baby doll was?). Bless you, Trudy Campbell, bless you.
Suicide Watch: There are a lot of theories out there about this show concerning a possible suicide from one of the characters. Well, if I were to run with those theories, and base it on this episode alone, I'd think that Lane is the one to end it all. That could change. But right now, I'd say he's in first place in the Suicide Race. What do you think?
Complaint: I love this show. I love that in its timeslot, it can get away with so much, writing-wise, that other shows can't. Until now. In Roger's rant against Pete, the f-word was used. It was used, and it was bleeped. And that took me out of the reality of the show. I complain to Matthew Weiner for putting that in there, knowing the small chances of it actually being heard. And I complain to the censors, for not allowing it to squeak by this one time. According to my colleague on this blog, the f-word was put there so that it may be heard when the DVD comes out. Nevertheless, if it was going to be bleeped, it shouldn't have been there in the first place, in my opinion.
What will happen next week? Will Don go after Meghan? Will Stan go after Peggy? Will Roger go after Joan? Will Glenn (yes, scary neighborhood Glenn) go after Sally? Will anything at all make me laugh? We shall see.
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