Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A | 479 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT Bertram is Evil. Evil!
By Couch Baron | Season 3 | Episode 7 | Aired on 2009.09.27
Indeed, Bertram asks when he was going to tell them, and Don jokes that he thought he'd let the phone call happen and then see who took credit for it. Pryce pours Don a finger or two and says that "despite its modest billings," the London office is thrilled with its potential for international growth. Among the many things that might make Don bristle at the way the Hilton thing plays out, keep in mind that a modest beginning with the potential for astronomical growth was how Don saw, and pitched, the Madison Square Garden situation, and was completely ignored. Or, as Don puts it, "Finally." There's a reason he's the ad man. Pryce is another one who's incapable of containing his goofy smile, but Roger, less positively, asks exactly how Don (as opposed to an Accounts man, like Roger) managed this feat. Don replies that he and Hilton travel in the same circles, and it's a nice haughty comeback to Roger's snotty tone, but it's still hilarious that what really happened is that they were both desperately digging around for the same type of booze. Actually, even funnier is that the two of them wouldn't have met if Don weren't so anxious to escape Roger's blackface act. Bertram says there is a bit of a sticky situation having to do with the contract, and Don reasonably doesn't get it at first, thinking he's referring to the agreement between SC and Hilton, but that's not it -- for Hilton to do business with them, it's a necessity that all the principals of the firm be, as Pryce puts it, "secured." Don, already uncomfortable, says he'll give Hilton his word, presumably that anything he works on will be proprietary, but Pryce says that while Hilton would agree to that, his lawyers won't, and he produces a draft of a contract for Don to look over. He adds that Don will of course want to share it with his attorney, but he mentions the basic idea -- three years, non-compete clause, and a healthy raise. Don says he'll think about it, which is clearly not an acceptable answer, and Pryce tries the tack of saying how generous it is -- a three-year guarantee with a five-thousand-dollar signing bonus. Well, it's true that the bonus is quite significant, but given that Don pulled in half a million on the merger Pryce has to know Don clearly doesn't need it. Bertram, however, says that they want to take care of Don, but now that I know how the episode ends, behind his fatherly smile all I can see is the face of a crocodile. Run, Don, run! He doesn't listen to me, instead saying that he knows Hilton a bit now, and he's sure he tends to want what he can't have. "And you should tell him it matters to me." This is Don's best argument in theory and worst in practice, because it's certainly true that Connie commands enough power and intimidation to make even his high-priced lawyers back off. Unfortunately, since Bertram in particular has decided to use the opportunity to force Don to commit to SC, appealing to them to represent his interests is futile. Bertram basically tells him as much, although through a sunny smile that's sending newfound chills up my spine, so Don finally backs down and agrees to look over the contract. Satisfied with that answer for the moment, Bertram says he met Hilton once. "He's a bit of an eccentric, isn't he?" Pryce and Roger take a hilarious beat in response that translates both to "Don't ask us" and "Look who's talking," so Don, with a small smile for the humor of the moment, agrees.