Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B+ | 10 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Where Have You Gone, Dick Whitman?
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 6 | Aired on 2007.08.23
Pete joins the boys, and Roger right after him; as if on cue, Joan waggles her ass in front of the mirror. She then turns to face the boys with her best sultry pout; Ken stands up and cheesily salutes, and the other boys follow, but Roger looks pissed. You should see what she does when she has Carol to play off of, dude. Paul then, referring to Peggy, asks what's with "Mouse Ears" (hee) there; she's sitting by herself quietly observing the proceedings. We get a long look at the bunch of other women blotting their lipstick, and then the one on the end stylishly and in slowish motion drops her paper into a wastebasket filled with it.
At the Pierre, Don is already seated and smoking and drinking away when Rachel appears, clad in a red suit that's practically begging for a pillbox hat. Don gets her chair, and she stiffly sits down while refusing his offer of refreshment. He tries to tell her she looks beautiful, but she's having as much of that as she does of pork and shellfish, and asks him to get down to business. He tells her about the Israeli campaign, and she can't believe she's the only "Jew" he knows in New York. He replies, "You're my favorite." Oy, gevalt. He then spills some of his drink on his tie, which flusters him a little, but Rachel reaches out and cleans it off, and the ice is pretty clearly starting to melt as she comments that he's usually "so put together." She counsels Don not to cross an Israeli, but isn't forthcoming with any more advice, as she doesn't consider herself overly Jewish, and certainly doesn't think she's any kind of expert on Israel. He keeps after her, though, so she ruminates that Jews have lived in exile time out of mind -- in Babylon, Shanghai, Brooklyn -- and they've survived. She pointedly adds, "Maybe it's the fact that we thrive at doing business with people who hate us." Don defensively says he doesn't hate her, and she counters, "No. Individuals are wonderful." I'm starting to think that forecast of melting ice might have been a little premature. Rachel's point, though, is that an actual Jewish nation is a very big deal, prompting Don to ask why she's not there herself. She tells him her life is in New York, and for her, it's the concept of Israel that's the important thing. Don takes her hand as he smiles, "Utopia," and Rachel struggles with herself for several seconds before pulling it away. She ruefully gives Don a lesson in Greek etymology, saying that the word "Utopia" has two derivations, the first being "the good place," and the second being "the place that cannot be." It sure was nice of those Greeks to come up with a word that can easily be used to parallel the tragic nature of Don and Rachel's relationship! Don looks somewhat gobsmacked as Rachel gets up and says she has to get back to the office. "I'd better not see this on my bill." Heh.