Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B- | 373 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT It's a Gi…Boy!
By Couch Baron | Season 3 | Episode 5 | Aired on 2009.09.13
Lord, spare me Paul talking about the genius of Karl Marx. Pete is similarly unentertained, as he's preoccupied with his conclusion that Ken got all the good accounts at SC. So...Pete really got no leverage out of his coup with Bronzo last week? If this were all in his head, a symptom of the idea that, like Trudy said, he's never satisfied, it would make sense, but the way Roger and Bertram act toward him later suggests that's not the case, so I'm finding this one of many examples of the seams surrounding the plot points in this episode showing. Anyway, Pete's specific complaint is about "Admiral Television," as the sales are flat. He does, however, then notice that there's growth in some areas -- namely, those with large African-American populations. Well, he actually asks, "Is it possible that these Admirals are being bought by Negroes?" I think it's not only possible, it's eminently likely. You cracker. Harry then enters and reports the news that Lois caught her scarf in the copy machine, and Paul sighs that perhaps when Joan leaves he'll be able to be rid of her. Hmm, did Joan assign Lois to Paul because she got wind of the prank they pulled on Peggy last week? Seems a bit of a leap, yet given that it's Joan I'm willing to take it. Pete shares the papers he was reading with Harry and asks for his opinion, but Harry doesn't say much to validate Pete's conclusion. Ken then comes in, guffawing about Lois, and gets appreciative noises from Paul and Harry while Pete sits and stews like the runner-up in a Junior Miss pageant. Again, the ep feels off -- two weeks ago, he and Ken seemed chummy in presenting a united front to the boys, last week he scored this huge victory, and now suddenly he's back to acting like Ken's the new Heather Number One? I think I know where they're going with this, but it still doesn't fly for me...
...but soon enough, we're in Don's office, wherein he's dictating some correspondence to his girl when Pryce opens the door. The secretary leaves, and Pryce and Don exchange barbs about the creative process and waste and honestly, it's boring, so let's move on to where Don pours them both a drink and suggests that if Pryce wants to save money, he should "get [his] nails dirty with Bert Cooper and Harry Crane. Clients love to pay for media, and Creative needs pencils." Pryce seems to see the wisdom in this, and when Don tells him to think of his men's morale, not just his own, Pryce sardonically notes, "You've obviously seen Bridge On The River Kwai." As should everyone. Don replies that he's seen everything, as Pryce knows from his ticket stubs, and I'd think that an oddly tone-deaf wink-wink on Don's part if I weren't preoccupied with eagerly pointing out that the man who claims to have seen everything never saw Bye Bye Birdie until it was forced on him.