Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A | 8 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Coming To A Boil
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 11 | Aired on 2007.10.04
Fade into shirtless (as opposed to typically pajama-clad) Don getting into bed with Betty; it's a nice touch. It also illustrates how hot it is. Betty tries to cuddle with him and tells him he's working too much, an assessment with which he sort of agrees. They try to get comfortable in the heat, but then Betty tells Don what the salesman said about the air escaping. This awakens Don, as he sits up and sharply asks, "You let a stranger in my house?" They have words about it; he grumpily bids her goodnight, and she poutily turns away from him. Oh, good, getting to sleep will be much easier now!
At Sterling Cooper, Mona leads a weak-looking Roger in with Bertram in tow, and when they get to the reception area, Bertram rallies the troops for a round of applause. That's presumably for being back on his feet, and not for keeping Mona from finding out about riding that girl like a pack mule. Roger says he feels like he should make a speech, and then orders everyone back to work. Pete of course almost busts a gut fake-laughing, which is fitting, since Roger was fake-joking. Roger kisses Mona, and she tells him he's got one hour. Don and Bertram lead him away, and Harry and Paul note how terrible he looks, although it's nowhere near as bad as it was last episode. Pete agrees with me, which: Ew. I need to go take a shower.
In his office, Roger is musing about the fact that the attack happened right there. Joan then enters, and Bertram tells her they brought her in because of her "discretion." They ask her if she can help mitigate his paleness, and then Roger smiles, "Hey, honey." Bertram and Don look over, surprised at this breaking of the office code, but they don't dwell on it, and Don asks Joan to do her best. When the two men leave, Joan sits down and kisses Roger; she then fixes him with a fond smile before reaching for her makeup and getting to work. Roger: "We should have done this for Nixon." Hee. Roger blusters about how bad the Nixon campaign has been, and Joan softly cautions him not to get so upset. He tells her he missed her, and she tries to keep it mostly business at first, but as the scene goes on, it's clear that her emotions are getting the better of her. Roger says that since she's very dear to him, he wants to tell her something. Her face is laid open to him, lip quivering as she waits for this: "You are the finest piece of ass I ever had. And I don't care who knows it. I am so glad I got to roam those hillsides." If that's the most eloquent he can be, it's just as well Don's about to be made partner. Roger does a lot better, though, when he tells her that he's had a lot of time lately to contemplate his mistakes and regrets. "And being with you is not one of them." This sounds like a goodbye, and poor Joan looks so sad and vulnerable here. If only Carol had waited until now to make her Sapphic overtures, she might have had a shot. Joan dries her eyes, but, as you'd expect, she doesn't take long to pull it together, and, telling Roger he looks better, she withdraws.