Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B | 6 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT The Man-Boy Becomes A Man
By Couch Baron | Season 4 | Episode 4 | Aired on 08.15.2010
Predictably, that's all Ken needs to hear, and they settle in to look at the menus as Ken says he's just glad to be out of the office. Pete asks how things are, and Ken says he's doing okay, but it isn't a love affair, although it's much better than McCann. "My mother was a nurse at the state hospital in Vermont, and that was the last time I saw so many retarded people in one building." How odd it is to see that Ken is no longer quite the happy golden retriever he once was. I could get used to it. Pete congratulates him on his impending nuptials, and divulges his big news, and I'm surprised given what a hen he is that Harry didn't blow up his spot there. Ken warmly congratulates him and says he can't wait to be in that position himself, although I'd imagine he's looking forward to the trying part just as much, and then goes on that while he knows they're all slaves to Don over at SCDP, he'd rather answer to Creative than "some old fart." I know Aaron Staton is still a series regular, so he's going to be around in some capacity, but I do hope he returns to SCDP; no one makes Pete behave more hilariously than he. Ken goes on that Geyer is supposedly hoping to turn Mountain Dew into Pepsi, "but the only reason Pepsi would do it is to make BBDO sweat. This whole idea that we'd get the bigger company is a joke! We'd just end up with a bunch of little pieces." Little pieces with large dollar values, true, but it's still too bad Harry's not hearing this, just so he could thank Bertram again for not leaving him to be a mid-level cog in the machine of McCann. Pete is sympathetic, but Ken laughs it off, saying they're still very lucky, and then muses, "Another Campbell. That's just what the world needs." Heh. Pete seems to take that with a sense of humor, which shows that he does keep on making strides forward.
Finding his office door closed and Allison nowhere in sight, Don tentatively knocks; getting no answer, he enters to find her sitting on one of his chairs. He tells her he's glad she's feeling better, and while it's true she's not crying at the moment she's a complete disheveled mess, so once again he's picked the Wrong Thing To Say. It won't be the last time, either. Once he's walked in, she closes the door and says she's embarrassed; he willfully pretends not to get it, so she tells him, "This actually happened! We made a mistake, and I feel like it's awkward, and it's better for both of us if I move on." He tells her that's unnecessary, although not with any of the compassion or sincerity it would take to get her to change her mind, and Allison says it's what she wants, and a friend of hers told her about a job at a magazine. "I thought that might be interesting, working for a woman." HA! I don't think that was meant to be nearly as hilarious as I found it. Allison concludes that she would appreciate it if he'd write her a recommendation, to which he readily agrees. However, he suggests that it might be even better if she were to just type something up and have him sign it. Now, much like with the Christmas bonus, I don't think he's being intentionally jerky here, at least not completely -- what he's proposing is fairly common practice. But as obtuse as he's capable of being, he still has to know that this entire situation has come from his failure to treat her with any kind of personal warmth since their physical encounter. Especially when you consider that skill with the language is how he makes his living, he could have realized that a few words of praise from his own hand might have resulted in Allison not throwing a paperweight in his direction and shattering a picture frame, which is what happens in practice. Outside, the noise attracts both Peggy and Joan, although Peggy understandably looks a lot less surprised that it's come to this; inside, Allison has started to cry again as she tells him she doesn't say this easily, "but you are not a good person!" She grabs her things and runs through the now-gauntlet of observers, and Joan takes a moment to process and figure out how to play this one...