Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A- | 4 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Mystery Date
By Couch Baron | Season 5 | Episode 4 | Aired on 04.08.2012
...while we cut to two doors opening, those being to a cabinet in the SCDP break room containing snacks, but not the aspirin Don's in search of. When Megan joins him, he explains that he didn't ask Dawn to find it because he's gone through a whole bottle since she's been there, and he's embarrassed. Boy, I'd love to break open the casing on his internal Shame-O-Meter. Megan, her secretarial skills undiminished by her elevated position, quickly tracks down a bottle and then strokes Don's hair sympathetically as he has yet another coughing fit, and then she tells him she's sending him home, as he's clearly got a fever. Don sighs and apologizes for the morning incident, explaining that he got together with Andrea a long time ago, and he was unhappy. Megan replies, "Because you were married," and on the one hand, she does seem to be convicting him for past crimes here, a little bit. However, it's worth our while to remember that Don was over the moon about Betty once too; besides, she's of a far more outspoken generation that Don is. Megan goes on that he can't really blame his past "careless appetite" on Betty, and goes on that the fact that he clearly feels guilty about the morning makes the whole thing worse. I mean, she's obviously in a delicate moral position here, especially since Don had a fairly serious thing going with Faye (MISS YOU, FAYE) when he took up with her, but she still has a point, and also these kind of doubts can happen when in the past you accepted someone's word that he's been in love with you "for a long time" WHEN IN REALITY YOU'VE KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR ROUGHLY FOUR SECONDS. Don reverts to the gallows humor he does so well and succeeds in getting a smile out of his current wife, but when she tells him again to go home, he replies that he has to attend this one meeting so he can skip the next two. That actually sounds like his normal batting average, so good for him for keeping it up while at death's door.
In the Rye Town Francis Spookhouse, Sally is staring into space when Pauline admonishes her for not eating her sandwich, and then catches sight of a story in the paper, presumably about the student nurses. Sally tries to look on, but Pauline smacks her with the speed of a frat boy playing Red Hands, and Sally rubs her knuckles in disbelief. Pauline tells her that some things aren't for children, and adds that Sally demanded tuna salad, so she's going to sit there until she's eaten it. Sally complains that it's got relish in it, and then tells Pauline she really hurt her hand, and Pauline does say she shouldn't have done that, but tells Sally she needs to be respectful, and that she's sure Betty has rules too, although she does add that she may be "distracted" when it comes to enforcing them. I do think that living in the Rye Town Francis Spookhouse with Grandma Slaps-A-Lot here is giving Sally a new appreciation for her mother, and I can't say I blame her. But Pauline tells Sally she's sure Betty would be sick if she knew how Sally was behaving, and Sally is going to finish that sandwich if it takes all day. It's hard to believe after their relationship of last season, but I think Betty would take Sally's side here. Sally does take a small bite, and I'm sure the relish flavor is lost in all the bile, so there's that.