Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B- | 425 USERS: B- YOU GRADE IT Beyond The Veil
By Couch Baron | Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 2013.04.07
Anyway, to get back to it, Don defensively tells the younger guy that A Star Is Born, which garnered (sorry, again) nominations for Best Actor and Actress for Garner and Judy Garland, must just be a "personal association" for him, but the older client brings up another issue, more mundane but equally valid: Where is their hotel in all this? Finally reading the room, at least a little, Don says they could adjust the angle of the shot to feature the hotel, which is a step in the right direction. However, when the team suggests they see the man, Don balks, so the older guy has to explicitly explain again that people might think the guy died if they can't see him, and apart from everything else wrong with this scene, it feels like it started the last time I was in Hawaii. Don is like, maybe the guy did die and go to Heaven, and OH MY GOD is this uncomfortable, so I thank the older guy for making it as plain as plain can be: "We don't want that in the ad."
With some optimistic words that frankly are not supported by what we just were forced to witness, the Sheraton guys leave, shepherded by Pete, whereupon Roger injects some much needed fresh air: "What's the matter, you didn't get all your vomiting done at my mother's funeral?" HA! Don apologizes for the incident of the day before, but he hides behind saying he had a bug, so, much like with Benson earlier, it loses any import. Regardless, Roger deflates and tells Don he didn't miss anything, whereupon Don turns to Stan and asks him if the ad makes him think of suicide. Stan, his mouth wonderfully stuffed: "Of course! That's what's so great about it!" If Stan isn't already in my top five favorite characters on this show, I predict he will be by season's end. He exits, leaving Roger, as usual, to put things in a way Don can understand: "We sold actual death for twenty-five years with Lucky Strike. You know how we did it? We ignored it." He leaves Don to contemplate the ad once again, and I know I already mentioned 30 Rock, but an "Okay, I see it now" would make me forgive a lot.