Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A- | 1034 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT A Turkey Lurkey Christmas To You, Jerky
By Couch Baron | Season 4 | Episode 2 | Aired on 2010.08.01
Well, not really on the spoiler front, as a short time later, Allison shows up. Don apologizes, but he's got a bottle of booze in his hand, so his judgment really seems impaired, both generally and in this moment. Allison gets him some aspirin as he flops down on the couch, and she's about to safely take her leave, but he pulls her down with him and starts kissing her with an amorous smile. She resists momentarily, but it's pretty clear at least part of her has thought about this before, so she goes with it. The camera tastefully pans left so all we see is Allison sliding off her shoes...
...and then we somewhat disturbingly cross-fade into Sally looking out the window, wondering what her Dad is up to. She then gets into bed and lovingly fondles the lanyard...
...and then, after the passage of probably not too much time, Don and Allison are done. They enjoy each other without awkwardness, which seems nice but probably is going to make tomorrow morning even harder to take for her. After a few moments, she grimaces as she remembers she's supposed to meet "somebody," as over at Joan's, Adorable Joey suddenly feels like crying and has no idea why. Allison's prior commitment neatly obviates any awkward conversation about spending the night, and after she quickly freshens up in the bathroom, he assures her everything's okay, and she gives him a kiss and takes off. When she's gone, however, Don doesn't even bother with going to bed or even turning off the lights as he collapses back down on the couch, and I guess the best we can really hope for is that he won't remember this at all.
We start on a closeup of female feet, and considering the way they're primly stepping over the dregs of the party, it's not a big shock that they belong to Peggy. As if to validate that idea, when Peggy goes into her office she finds Freddy sitting at her desk, and he explains that it's "the cleanest spot in the office." She asks why he didn't come to the party, and instead of telling her to put two and two together again, he explains that in his experience, when they give you the Santa suit, "there's usually a bottle already in the pocket." I don't think an exception was made in this case. Peggy's glad, as she doesn't want to worry every time she hurts his feelings he's going to start drinking again, and I understand her point, but I can't say I blame him for suggesting that she not continue to do that. I mean, I don't blame her for what she said; I just think it's something they could both strive for in the future. She does apologize for calling him old-fashioned, and he returns the favor by apologizing for saying she wanted a husband, but she admits she does want to get married, and she has a boyfriend, but he won't leave her alone, which is an old-fashioned euphemism for "has grabby hands." Freddy starts to tell her about his randy old days when he was courting Violet, which sends Peggy running for coffee, but she turns around and admits the other part of her dilemma -- she doesn't want to be alone on New Year's Eve. Freddy gives it to her straight -- if she wants to marry this guy, she can't do anything, or he won't respect her. She asks what happens if she doesn't know, and he warns her not to lead him on. "That is physically very uncomfortable, you know." Heh. And speaking of uncomfortable...