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
Pryce is in Pete's office, apparently waiting for Roger as Pete barks at Clara, who tells him that Caroline informed her that the meeting is in Roger's office. Oh good -- glad the petty turf wars between Pete and Roger aren't over. And in case it's not clear on the page, I'm not kidding. Exasperated, Pete gets up...
...and leads Pryce into Roger's office, wherein he informs Roger that he has good news -- Mohawk is happening. What's more, he thinks Roger should handle the account and Roger crows that they must have asked for him. Pete levelly tells him that they "enjoy your company," which, as I indicated in the recaplet, I take to mean they want someone who can keep up with them. With Pryce around, however, you know it won't all be good news and indeed, he pipes up that Mohawk has recently taken on debt to replace their planes to the tune of $54 million. And what's more, there's a mechanic's strike looming, which I assume has the potential to ground the industry. Pete, however, pipes up that Mohawk likely will be spared any consequence of the latter and plows on that he and Don have been trying to explain to Pryce that Mohawk is a daily business, and as such, they'll need a dedicated copywriter on the account. Ah, I see -- Pete is throwing Roger a bone because he needs him to help push this idea past Pryce. This kid has learned how to play. They grow up so fast! Pryce whinges about the extra expense, but with Roger backing him up, Pete tells him they should just hire someone with retail experience who can crank out local fare ads three times a week and be done with it. Pete then congratulates Roger, who looks extremely pleased with himself. It'd be hard to believe, if this weren't someone who tells anyone who'll listen that he had the vision to discover Don Draper, a man he thought wasn't fit to sell him fur.
Well, whatever you can say about the circumstances that led to the decision, there is now a youngish African-American woman on SCDP's payroll and they've put her with Don, which makes perfect sense given his expressed attitude at the end of last episode and from the standpoint of giving Caroline a break from flitting back and forth between him and Roger. (In theory, they could have given her to Roger, but to quote George Costanza when Kramer offered to let him live with him, "That might not work out.") Also, the new girl's name is "Dawn," and as I indicated in the recaplet, I'm glad to know that as good as this show is, it's not above getting a lot of mileage out of the near-homonym. Harry asks Dawn for Don and is informed that Megan's in there with him; surprisingly, he does not opt to come back later, instead distracting Dawn from her work with an ill-considered turn of phrase in the vein of Pryce's faux pas at the end of last episode. Megan then appears and gives Harry a dismissive greeting that makes me wonder for a moment if she did tell Don what she overheard, but Harry is too excited about his good news -- he got them tickets to the Stones concert at Forest Hills. Don asks for an opinion of their interest and Harry offers that the manager sounded greedy, so they agree to head to the show and take one car. However, when Harry asks if Don would like to meet early for dinner at a "dynamite Eye-talian restaurant with a first-rate veal parm," Don doesn't miss a beat with a flat "Nope." Heh. Harry amends the plan to say that he'll be ready at seven-thirty "having eaten," and by the way, I think I've said it before, but it's a testament to how good Rich Sommer's performance is that I hate Harry as deeply as I do. Don tells Harry to have Dawn put it on his calendar...