Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B | 3 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Love And Marriage
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 3 | Aired on 2007.08.02
Inside, Pete apologizes for being late, saying he took the Chinese people out of the building. "But I have a feeling in an hour I'm going to want to take them out again." No one congratulates him for his effective rehearsal of that line, which is more restraint than I'd expect from Don and Roger. Maybe it's a wedding present of sorts. The group then gets into a discussion of the ad, which pokes fun at the weaknesses of the Beetle. Harry thinks the joke's on them, because you come away thinking that it's a great ad, not a great car. I cannot tell you the last car commercial I saw that was associated with the product it was selling in even a vague way, so I'm feeling Harry there, I think. After Pete predictably opines that the ad is "brilliant," Don brings the subject around to Secor again, and after being chastised again for their lack of progress, the boys leave, except Pete, who lingers. He's quite the lingerer, have you noticed? Pete, in that buddy-buddy way he keeps trying with Don, tells "Draper" that he missed him. Don: "It must not have been much of a honeymoon!" Hee. Pete actually looks taken aback at that one, so Don apologizes and welcomes him back, and asks how married life is treating him. Pete says he quite likes it, and in fact is looking forward to going home that night. After we see that Don is having some trouble with his cufflinks, he offhandedly says he'd love to meet Pete's new bride, and of course Pete can't leave it at that, saying that maybe they can get dinner one night "with the wives." Don replies, "Maybe we can," in a tone that means, "How does 1977 work for you? Because it's terrible for me." Pete leaves.
Joan and Peggy look like they're returning from lunch as they head into the break room. Inside are Marge and one other ostensible telephone operator, and Joan returns Marge's copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover with the comment, "I can see why it got banned!" Oh, please, Joan. As if Lady Chatterley herself wouldn't blush from reading your biography. After Joan mentions that she carries around a change of clothing and a toothbrush in her purse, Marge tries to lend the book to Peggy, but Joan initially puts the kibosh on that idea, thinking Peggy's too proper for the language therein. Joan, you're already her birth-control pimp. You're kind of sending mixed messages in the piety department. Joan then snarks that she doesn't care how old the book is -- it's just another testament to the fact that most people think marriage is a joke. Nice little thematic throwaway there. When Marge starts talking about "the desperate passion of the forbidden," Peggy, with spot-on timing, asks, "Can I borrow it?" Heh. Marge counsels Peggy not to read the book on the train, as it will attract "the wrong element." The girls disperse, no doubt ready to put in a solid and completely undistracted afternoon of work.