Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B+ | 10 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Where Have You Gone, Dick Whitman?
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 6 | Aired on 2007.08.23
Back at the office, Joan calls an end to The Lipstick Review. Most of the girls file out, and Frederick says they have to count the shades the girls tried. He asks Peggy to bring him the wastebasket full of tissues, and she complies while calling it a "basket of kisses." He compliments the turn of phrase, which isn't lost on Joan, and asks where she heard it, but she tells him she thought of it herself. Intrigued, he asks which shade of lipstick she liked, but she tells him someone took the one she fancied, and she didn't pick another one because she's "very particular." I'll assume she's referring solely to her taste in lipstick, because hooking up with a besotten Pete days before his wedding doesn't exactly scream "choosy" in my book. Joan is getting more and more irritated (although the annoyance could easily be partially directed at Freddy for, in her view, looking to bag Peggy) as Peggy goes on that she doesn't think anyone wants to be "one of a hundred colors in a box," but Joan cuts in, saying that that's "enough complaining" from Peggy. Peggy leaves, and Frederick watches her go, prompting Joan to sneer, "Bet you wish you could pour that in a glass and drink it." Damn, girl. I'd ask if you kiss your mother with that mouth, except I'm starting to think you might have been spawned by something else.
Back in his office, Don gets Peggy on the intercom and asks her to clear his afternoon. She reminds him of an appointment he has, but he tells her to have a box of cigars sent over to the client with his apologies. He gets up to go, but Frederick and Salvatore enter at that moment, with Frederick heading straight for the bar. So much booze gets consumed in this office that even Jack London would be impressed. Frederick tells Don that Peggy is full of surprises, and calls her "pretty Peggy Sue." Don: "I try to avoid eye contact to avoid being blinded by the earnestness." I suppose it's just as well the lights were off for Betty's little speech earlier, then. Frederick rehashes the things Peggy said, and Don seems intrigued. They then look out at Peggy's back as Frederick remarks that hearing her brainstorm was like "watching a dog play the piano." I believe that's a play on an old saying, the idea being that while the dog plays the piano badly, it's amazing that he can do it at all. Not that it's not mean, but it's mean with a purpose, and I probably don't have to tell you that we kind of go for that around here. We get an exterior shot of Peggy smilingly accepting some files with the boys watching her, and then Don chuckles to himself at the turn of events. It won't be so funny when you're fetching her coffee, bub.