Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Where Have You Gone, Dick Whitman?
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 6 | Aired on 08.22.2007
We hear Roger wondering How You Solve A Problem Like Margaret; he's lying in bed in dress shirt and boxers. He talks about how "we" raised her, so we're meant to think it's Mona in the bathroom, but it's actually Joan, who's getting dressed; she comes out and remarks that she thinks Margaret reminds Roger of himself. "You're both spoiled." They're both pretty masculine, too, but hopefully the haircut helped Margaret in that department. Joan tries to get Roger to zip her up; he in turn tries to get her to go another round, but she points out that while he doesn't have to go back to work, she does. He talks about the pearl necklace he gave her and the spread he ordered, but Joan distastefully says she doesn't like eating in the hotel room. "Food that close to the bed reminds me of a hospital." Roger suggest things would be easier if Joan had her own place; she counters that she thought he liked things the way they are, but while he agrees that "this year" has been the best of his life, he's getting tired of all the sneaking around. Yes, what a burden it must be for you, not being able to bang Joan on the living room couch while your wife merrily cooks dinner for the both of you. Joan gives us some truth, saying that the sneaking around is his favorite part; she goes on that while she likes what they do, she has an enjoyable social life that includes many men, and in fact, she and Carol, her roommate she's known since college, have something of a rotation in that department. You know, Joan may be, to use the language of the period, one opportunistic, brazen hussy, but you kind of have to admire a woman who knows exactly how hard she can get away with squeezing a man's balls. Roger calls Carol a "disaster," but Joan says she's a good friend, and without her, she'd only have half the fun she does. Roger suggests that Joan get a bird instead, and then he pulls her down and lies on top of her as she asks if they can't just enjoy what they're doing; in fact, as they both know she'll eventually get married and he'll "find a newer model," it seems illogical to do anything else. Roger seems to accept the wisdom as he gears up for Round Two, but I have a feeling that might be a coincidence.
In Don's office, he, Pete, Salvatore, and Paul are having a brainstorming session about the Israel campaign and the problems the violence endemic to the region present. Pete suggests pushing the danger as an "adventure in travel" angle, and I get what he's saying but I think most people would opt for a safari instead. I mean, at least you're the one holding the gun, right? Salvatore suggests a parting of the Red Sea yielding a resort idea, and if I didn't reject that on taste principles alone, I'd certainly kibosh it on the grounds that most people don't go on vacation to wander the desert for forty years. There's discussion of kibbutzes and Communism and the creation of the Israeli state that doesn't really go anywhere, and then Salvatore suggests that Israel's biggest asset is that the people are hot. The meeting breaks up without any resolution, and I know attitudes were different back then, but if I have to sit through two minutes of blatant racism, I at least want a pithy ad slogan for my trouble. We switch to an exterior shot as the boys file out, and Don asks Peggy for a private line and closes his office door. Back inside, he dials...