Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B+ | 317 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT Did You Hear?
By Couch Baron | Season 2 | Episode 4 | Aired on 2008.08.17
In Paul's office, Sally picks up a picture of Sheila and asks if she's Paul's maid. Paul sets Sally straight, so Sally asks, "Do you lay on top of her?" Heh, nice callback to the scene earlier when Sally walked in to find Don on top of Betty. Paul, however, does not know that there's a method to Sally's curiosity, so he tells her Don will be angry with him if he doesn't do his work. Given what we've seen of Don with his Creative staff, he'll probably be angry anyway, but I understand Paul's need to get out of the conversation.
There's a buffet meal set up in the main area, so everyone's taking a break and eating. Well, not the secretaries, who apparently have to wait until everyone else has stuffed their faces. A couple of them cast nasty looks Peggy's way, not that she notices. Also among the haves is of course Bertram, who looks like he just came from hanging out with Sam Snead. He then flips out, as he somehow got some gum stuck to his argyle sock, and then, noticing a secretary "chewing [her] cud," yells at her for treating the office "like a subway platform," and cans her. He hobbles away on a wave of crotchetiness, and once he's gone, Duck thanks the girl for getting Bertram out of the office for the day. He gives her a napkin for the gum and adds, "He won't remember firing you." I love Bertram, but Duck's probably right. Don then comes out of his office and, without fanfare, announces that American Airlines isn't about the past any more than America is. "Ask not about Cuba, ask not about the bomb -- we're going to the moon." Sal doesn't completely get Don's angle, so Don finishes with this: "Let's pretend we know what 1963 looks like." Here's a tip: You don't. When Don leaves, Pete complains that if they can't mention the crash, there's no preamble to their presentation at all. It's Duck, surprisingly, that sort of comes to Don's defense: "Our job is to bend down the branch. Let him pick the fruit." When the boys disappear, a nearby Sally picks up a highball with some booze still in it. Not too late for an emergency-room sweep!