Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B+ | 6 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Growing Concerns
By Couch Baron | Season 5 | Episode 3 | Aired on 04.01.2012
In the copywriters' room, Peggy is reviewing portfolios and noting with some heat how many of them contain knockoffs of the Volkswagen "Lemon" ad. Stan is equally unimpressed and Peggy boredly flips book after book onto the loser pile until she comes across one that has "Judge not, lest ye be judged" embossed on it. Amused and backed up by Stan's opinion that the irony is promising, she opens it and is just as impressed by the contents. Stan agrees, but thinks Peggy shouldn't consider hiring anyone with the potential to upstage her and I'm only liking Stan more for his protectiveness, even though it's unsurprisingly crudely expressed. Peggy, however, says she likes working with talented people, but Stan points out that this guy will be in direct competition with her. "Are you suddenly not competitive, the chick who races people to the toilet?" HA! Peggy doesn't object to that characterization, but does ignore Stan's advice and says she's bringing the guy in. It's not just because I love Stan that I think he's going to be proven at least partially right, although it doesn't hurt.
Betty's in the bathtub, making a very concerted attempt to relax, when Henry knocks and asks if he can come in. She gives him leave, so he enters and tells her she's all set for the next day at eleven. She's surprised at the quick timetable and not really in a good way, as I think she was hoping to have a little more time in purgatory before having to deal with potentially life-threatening findings. Henry, however, thinks there's little point in waiting and while he's right on the merits, I wonder if she's going to appreciate his businesslike approach regardless of what happens. It certainly doesn't seem to compare favorably with Don's reaction. Henry asks her to come to bed, offering to get her some brandy in the process, but she won't get out of the tub without him turning around despite his sincere assurances that she's beautiful. Eventually, he obliges, and apparently they used a body double for this shot that lasts like one second, so I'm not sure why they bothered. We get it -- moo. Henry tells Betty he's going to have a brandy...
...and then it's an odd cross-fade (the fade starts before he even speaks that line; it's a weird choice for this show that prizes its dialogue so much) into a woman recognizing Betty in the specialist's office. Betty greets her as "Joyce," and I couldn't have told you this, but she was one of the housewives all the way back in the early Season 1 episode "Marriage Of Figaro," the one with Sally's fiasco of a birthday party. (By the way, what happened to Polly along the way? Is she slumming it on the streets of New York with Chauncy?) Also, she apparently was at the house for the fundraiser Betty threw for Henry in "Wee Small Hours." Anyway, Joyce does not look so great, but the nurse puts pressure on them to get to their respective physicians, so Joyce asks Betty to lunch afterward and Betty reluctantly agrees. Given where they've just met, I'm guessing they'll skip the small talk.