Episode Report Card Couch Baron: C- | 14 USERS: B- YOU GRADE IT Through the Looking Glass
By Couch Baron | Season 6 | Episode 8 | Aired on 05.19.2013
...and approaching Cutler, who's giving a little speech to the tearful CGC people. Gleason has died, so I'm guessing Ted's wife called to tell him to get his ass over to the hospital to say goodbye. After Cutler finishes, Ted tells the group that Gleason was a great artist and friend before informing them that he's going to be unavailable through the weekend. Everyone nods in understanding, and Peggy pipes up that while she'd like to attend the funeral, she'll still make herself available for Chevy. Don, still possibly feeling all those EMOTIONS, does a credible job of expressing sympathy. The stygian meeting breaks up, at which point Cutler informs Don that the doctor is there, and he'd like Don to see him. Don isn't thrilled, but doesn't refuse, and then we get an inkling of what's to come when Cutler positively bounds up the stairs. Good thing Harry Hamlin keeps it tight.
Upstairs, Stan and Roger are chatting a bit about Gleason. Cutler, who's with Don, Mathis and his nerdy art guy for whom I'm still not sure we have a name in tow, interrupts. Ken then emerges from the office within which the "doctor" has set up, and Stan, who apparently already got the "treatment," asks Ken if he feels anything. Ken replies that it's supposed to take a minute, and then Cutler sends Don in to see "Dr." "Hecht," who asks Don if there's anything in his medical history he'd like to make him aware of. Don replies in the negative because apparently he is not aware that whorehouse coughs can have unforeseen side effects. Don also admits that he's not sure why he's there. The doctor, in a very "these aren't the droids you're looking for" manner, tells him he's exhausted, so he's going to give him a shot of a proprietary "energy serum" that's made of B vitamins and a "mild stimulant." Don is skeptical, but of course he's going to be secretly predisposed toward any procedure that calls for him to drop his pants. As the "doctor" prepares the shot, he makes small talk about what the company's new name might be, adding that "SCDPCGC" is quite the mouthful. In response, we get a slow push-in on Don's face, so I guess we're meant to conclude that Something Is Happening despite all evidence to the contrary. Sorry about it, Camera Guy, but I'll draw my own conclusions there.
Don emerges from the office to find Stan beating Cutler out in a race around the office or whatever. Before Stan can then get into an arm-wrestling match with Mathis, Don takes off, but his typical blithe disapproval doesn't last long as voices start to echo in his head and he's wracked by a coughing fit on the stairs. Given the upcoming metaphor, I guess that means that tricks have been turned on this very spot, and while it doesn't seem that comfortable, I wouldn't rule anything out around here. Through his watery eyes, he see through Ted's open office door that Peggy is comforting him, even opting for the classic prelude-to-an-affair move of putting her hand on his arm. He stares somewhat uncomprehendingly...