Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B+ | 11 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT Here's a Question For You
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 4 | Aired on 2007.08.10
Pete looks like he's going to explode into tears as he heads for his office, wherein Ken and Harry couldn't have picked a worse time to be listening to that Newhart record again. Pete kicks them out, and moments later, from outside, we see his door open and the record (called "The Button-Down Mind Of Bob Newhart) come flying out, jacket and all. Hildy regards them impassively, and then gets back to typing. Heh.
Don comes bursting into Roger's office and tells him what happened, and Roger replies, "That little shit." Those Navy boys have a way with words.
In "his" office, Pete is downing liquor and unsuccessfully trying not to cry. We fade down to his feet...
...and then we cross-fade into another pair of feet, and then pan up to see that they belong to Betty. She's telling Dr. Wayne how hard it was to see Helen's life -- her "sad little job at the jewelry store," frozen food, being exhausted all the time. After a pause, she opines that Helen is jealous of her, but she doesn't know what to do about it. She goes on that she's concerned about Helen's kids, especially Glen, and adds, "The person taking care of him isn't giving him what he needs. You know?" I know it's Betty we're talking about, but I have to agree.
Roger and Don head in to see Bertram, who bids them into seats. He uses a long metaphor to get to the point, which is that Pete's mother's family owned just about everything in Manhattan north of 125th Street. And they're worried about Pete living on 83rd? Bertram goes on that Pete's grandfather panicked and dropped it all in the crash of '29, but he still doesn't want Pete's mother telling her rich friends about how bad Sterling Cooper treated Pete. On top of that, Pete is their "entrée" into many exclusive institutions -- clubs, Dartmouth, even Gracie Mansion. This is a neat answer to the why Sterling and Cooper told Pete that he's good with people when that obviously isn't true. Don still thinks they could get someone else with those connections who isn't Pete, but Bertram replies, "You're going to need a stronger stomach if you're going to be back in the kitchen seeing how the sausage is made." That's the grossest way I've ever heard anyone get fast-tracked. Don eventually bows, and as he and Roger leave, Bertram whistles "This Old Man" to himself. God, I love that old coot.