Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B | 407 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT That's Some Great Business Sense!
By Couch Baron | Season 3 | Episode 2 | Aired on 2009.08.23
Don arrives home to find William furiously plunging the kitchen sink; upon seeing him, William smiles that it's all under control. Heh. The kids are watching TV, Gene's at the kitchen table, and Judy's setting places in the dining room. Don heads for the stairs to see Betty but meets her on her way down: "I'm going out for a bucket of chicken." Boy, when she decides to eat, she doesn't fool around. Don asks what's wrong, and Betty tells him she's a horrible daughter; William informed her that the only options are to put Gene in a home or for him and Judy to move into chez Hofstadt. Don does not need to hear any more, and he calls William's name out in a tone that sounds a little more reproving than the one for telling him he's got the wrong tie on. Moments later, the two of them are in Don's study, and Don doesn't drag it out so there's no reason for me to: He informs William what's going to happen, which is that William is going to support Gene financially while Don takes Gene into his house, and the Hofstadt ancestral home will remain untouched. Also, William will tell Betty that this is what he wants: "We'll pretend that you did the right thing on your own." William does raise his voice a little in response, but his little tempest in a teapot doesn't even register with Don, as he adds that William will be leaving the Lincoln. "New York Central, Broadway Limited from Penn Station. It leaves in two hours." He fails to add that if he's late, they'll be demolishing the station around him, but after a signature Don Draper display of virility I doubt William's going to dawdle.
Outside, Don sits at the kitchen table with Gene, finally having some "people," as, without sound, we see William explain the situation to Betty. Betty turns to Don in silent gratitude, and Don favors her with an almost imperceptible smile. William, Betty, and Judy then enter the kitchen, and Betty tells him she and Don want him to live with them for a while. Gene isn't thrilled, even after Judy tries to comfort him: "I should have been the first to go." Yikes. I mean, I doubt anyone there would disagree, but still. William runs off to help the girls pack, and he's rushing just like I predicted. In fairness, though, he's got to be psyched about getting away from those bunk beds.
Peggy's settled into a booth with the one guy, who looks like he started shaving halfway through Season Two. He sloppily chomps on a burger as he tells her he's just about to graduate from Brooklyn College, and he started prelaw but switched to engineering. Peggy is doing a good job of staying engaged in a conversation with someone she normally wouldn't be caught dead talking to, brightly noting that the two tracks he's been on are very different. She goes on that she works for an ad agency, and he replies, "I don't know how you girls do all that typing!" Peggy looks like she's considering telling him how it really is, but instead decides to channel her feelings from earlier in the day: "I work for a jerk!" Heh. Some of the guy's friends then come up and engage him in a "clever" exchange, the point of which is to let Peggy know that he lives right around the corner, wink wink nudge nudge. The guy looks embarrassed, but all Peggy does is grab the burger out of his hand and take a big playful bite. He smiles and tells her she's funny, and the only reason she doesn't stick her shoulder out like Ann-Margret is that she's got the guy in the bag already.