Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A | 485 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT Bertram is Evil. Evil!
By Couch Baron | Season 3 | Episode 7 | Aired on 2009.09.27
We start the episode with a series of seemingly disconnected images. Peggy is lying asleep in bed in what looks like a hotel room or some other place that doesn't belong to her, an unknown man next to her facing away from the camera. Betty lies languidly on a large chaise longue. In a motel room in morning, the remnants of a small party in evidence, the camera pans over to show Don lying face down on the floor. He comes to and sits up against one of the beds, and we see dried blood all over his nose and upper lip. And while that looks unpleasant, it's hard to be too sympathetic in the wake of the foot-ectomy we witnessed last week. At least Don will still be able to golf again. He massages his throat, and the close-up of his neck area...
...gives way to one from sometime earlier, it seems reasonable to conclude, as he's getting ready for work, no marks of unsavory origin visible on his face. When he gets downstairs, Betty calls his name from offscreen, and we see her in the living room, accompanied by an older woman who warns Betty that he may take a moment to accustom himself. "I told you, men don't like change." Embroider that on a throw pillow so we don't forget it later in the episode. Don makes a pointed comment about the price possibly affecting his opinion, but the woman ignores that in order to show off her handiwork, which includes some chinoiserie, "a Dunbar Japanese-influenced sofa, and a classic Drexel end table." I can see why she didn't want to mention the price. Betty notes an open space in front of the fireplace, and the decorator tells her it's the hearth, the soul of her home. "People gather around a fire even if there isn't one." Hmm. That sounds like the makings of a koan to me. Betty presses Don to give an opinion, so he takes a look and counsels her to move the end table and lamp to the other end of the couch. He then gives her a kiss and heads out, and when he's gone, the decorator's like, "I think he's right." I knew that was coming and it was still the funniest moment of the episode. Hee.
Don's already on the elevator at SC when Roger joins him, and wow, I don't know if he's trying to show solidarity with Bronzo, but he's working one hell of a fake tan at the moment. Has he looked this way since he got back from Greece and I just didn't notice? Probably, given this show's attention to detail. Anyway, speaking of Bronzo, Roger tells Don that he too got the galleys for Ogilvy's book, as they want a quote from him. Given the lines he regularly delivers on this show, I can see why. He sighs, "Advertising's already up there with lawyers as the most reviled. This is not going to help." Don opines that it'll help Ogilvy...