Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A- | 3 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT It's A Man's World
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 2 | Aired on 2007.07.26
...and then we fade to later, when people are back at their desks. Roger comes into Don's office and, seeing him sitting by his coffee table having a drink, remarks that he can't get used to the fact that it always seems like Don isn't doing anything. Don't take this the wrong way, Roger, but I'd think that would make you view him as partner material. Don offers Roger a drink, and Roger sits on the couch, looks at his watch, and replies, "4:30? Close enough." How precious that he normally waits until five to start his second bender of the day. Roger tells Don that Bertram is going to want his Nixon team lineup soon, and he should know that it will have to include Pete. Don notes that going to Niagara Falls apparently does wonders for your career, and Roger snorts that Pete's choice of honeymoon spot shows that he "redefines 'lack of imagination.'" Among other things. Don asks Roger what women want, and Roger sneers, "Who cares." And you say your daughter's in therapy. And Don brings that up, but while Roger initially refuses to acknowledge that, he follows by saying that while he's comfortable with himself in every way, he's still not a woman. "And I think it behooves any man to toss all female troubles into the hands of a stranger." Um...all of them? Don takes Roger's meaning and recalls that they had a shrink when he was in the Army. "A gossip. Busting on other people's thoughts." Roger thinks the profession is still like that, and Don brings it around to what's troubling him, asking who could be unhappy in the world they now live in. It's interesting, of course, because the implication is that Don thinks he himself is happy, or at least wants other people to think he is, when I think it's pretty clear he's not. Maybe he's not un-happy, but that's not the same thing. Anyway, Roger thinks women want everything, especially things other women have. "Trust me -- psychiatry is just this year's candy pink stove." Roger finishes his drink, and on his way out, adds, "It's just more happiness." Heh. Don sits and thinks...
...and then he's arriving home, to find his kids watching People Are Funny. Heh. He greets them as "Beauty and the Beast," and then Betty starts to put out some dinner, and after Don kisses her, she notes, "Someone started on the train." Yes, someone who needed to catch up to Roger. He confesses that he actually started at the office, and then, kind of endearingly if overoptimistically giddy with anticipation, tells her he was wrong when he told her she had everything. With a big smile, he gives her a rather lovely white-gold watch. Betty thanks and kisses him, but as she goes to get more food, she asks if Don noticed the bruise under Sally's eye. Don didn't really, but Betty gets a little agitated, saying Sally could have gotten a scar, and that would have been okay happening to Bobby, as a boy with a scar is nothing, but for a girl, it's so much worse. So you won't mind if poor Bobby goes and slits his wrists now, then. Don, irritated that throwing some jewelry at the problem didn't work, points out that nothing happened, but Betty says she keeps thinking that she could have done worse than kill the kids -- she could have caused a permanent scar on Sally's face, condemning her to a long, lonely, miserable life. Wow. All I can say is that someone around here needs an extra-large candy pink stove. Betty sinks down into a chair and starts to cry, and Don, kind of horrified, gets up and rubs her shoulders. She asks what's happening to her, and if she needs to see someone, and he reluctantly concedes that she probably does. "Whatever you want." Betty doesn't look particularly comforted by his lack of conviction, which is understandable, but at least she got him to see reason here. So to speak.