Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A- | 524 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT Yesterdayland
By Couch Baron | Season 5 | Episode 6 | Aired on 2012.04.22
...fades into the presentation artwork, which depicts some kids around a beach bonfire, one of them holding a pot containing, presumably, Heinz baked beans. Peggy pitches the idea that the beans brought the kids together and made them safe and heads to the slogan, "Home is where the Heinz is." Personally, I liked the bean ballet better, but this does seem more in line with what Raymond wanted. Regardless, a brief back-and-forth leads to this outburst from the client: "Stop writing down what I ask for and try to figure out what I want!" Peggy's eyes narrow and even though Ken tries to intervene, when Raymond asks if Don signed off on this, Peggy acidly informs him that he loves it, and "maybe Don doesn't understand what you wanted either." Sensing this could get out of hand, Ken tries to jump in once again, but it's only moments before Peggy is stepping forward and telling Raymond that she thinks he does like the idea. "I think you just like fighting." Committed now, she leans in and tells Raymond that he has to run with this concept, because it's young and it's beautiful, "and no one else is gonna figure out how to say that about beans!" Despite Peggy's earlier agita about the presentation, I think she's pursuing a gambit here rather than completely losing her head and if this were a show that gave into cliché more often, Raymond would see the error of his ways and applaud Peggy for her gumption. Instead, however, he turns to Ken and asks if he can believe her (Ken has a very Larry Tate "That depends" moment in response) and then turns back to Peggy, red in the face and informs her that she's lucky he has a daughter or he wouldn't be so understanding. And wrapped up in that comment is the obvious truth that he would be hearing her differently were she a man, a theme the show allows its characters to struggle against but never to defeat.
Ken steps in more effectively by offering that Creative is frustrated, and Raymond sighs that he's frustrated as well before conceding that the idea is close. Ken suggests he and Raymond have dinner that night and maybe see a show, which I guess means he's not on deadline for another sci-fi short story and he and Raymond exit. It's probably just me, but I like to think that Raymond's impossibility is, somewhere, bringing a smile to the face of my beloved Dr. Faye. Peggy stares balefully through the glass at the group of men while Stan sighs that he admires her for that "completely suicidal move," adding, "Women usually want to please." And while that statement's maddening as well, at least he's appreciating her apparent renegade nature to some degree. Peggy asks him for "sketches of the talking beans" and I hope we don't have to see that presentation. There's only so much I can take. Pete then busts in and tells Peggy she's off the account and when she asks what Raymond said, Pete merely tells her those were his exact words. It's a good thing he refrains from adding his two cents, because in the mood she's in, Peggy would be the second person in as many episodes to make hamburger out of Pete's face in this room.