Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B+ | 464 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Goodbye, Norma Jean
By Couch Baron | Season 2 | Episode 9 | Aired on 2008.09.28
In the conference room, Paul is wrapping up a proposal about a cartoon turtle or some such to Duck. In attendance are Sal and Pete, but it's to Peggy that Duck turns for an opinion. She affirms her turtle support, so Duck leaves, and it's just like Freddy never existed...
...but someone who surely still exists is Mona, who comes tearing into Don's office like a house on fire. I honestly had no idea what she could have been on about, even though it seems obvious in retrospect and was foreshadowed more than once, so great work from the show. She finds Don on his couch (lots of couch shots this episode -- shout-out? KIDDING), who sits up and tells Jane it's okay. She leaves, and Mona tells him she doesn't even know what to say to him, because Roger is leaving her -- he's in love with a secretary, and her understanding is that Don said it was great. She quotes his line about it being your life and having to move forward, and Don looks chagrined as he says he didn't mean it that way. The thing is, though, he kind of totally did. After mentioning that they've been married for 25 years, she heads out -- only to find Roger waiting for her. She tells him not to make her make a scene, and when he says they should talk about it, she bites out, "You can talk to Margaret." Well, this will make her decision to elope that much easier. Mona stalks out, and then, as Don watches, Roger puts his hand on Jane's shoulder, who's overcome with emotion and runs away. Roger then turns to Don, who's shocked and disgusted for reasons too numerous to list, and tells him he can explain, but Don's reply says it all: "I want her off my desk." I have nothing to add to that except that I'll see you next week.
John Ramos is a writer and producer living in Los Angeles. You can reach him at couchbaron@gmail.com.
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