Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A | 8 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Coming To A Boil
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 11 | Aired on 2007.10.04
Betty and Francine are in the nursery; Francine has dropped the kid, and between the weather and the lactating, she's a hot mess, if you'll pardon the expression. Betty wonders if they should leave the kid in peace, but Francine says that the door is a lot noisier than their voices. Betty asks about the "pushy" salesman, but apparently Francine didn't even let him tell her what he was selling; she adds that if she'd let him in while she was alone, Carlton would have broken her arm. Betty thinks that what she did was foolish, but Francine is more concerned about why she told Don. Betty says she doesn't know -- it just came up, and Francine seems to accept that. I doubt Dr. Wayne would do the same. Betty adds, "He's very protective." Use the commercial break to come up with your own retort.
It's the big meeting, and the same aged good ole boy from "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" (his name's "Lee," and he's the one who told Pete they weren't selling death) is digging into a spread from one of the local Jewish delis. Roger and Don then enter, and after the greetings, Lee looks appraisingly at Roger while saying how wonderful it is to see him. Lee and Roger do a little verbal dance about Roger's health, and then Roger brings up the lawsuit; Roger thinks there's nothing to worry about, as while the decision in the lawsuit did blame the company, there were no accompanying damages. However, surprisingly, given his attitude at the last meeting, Lee sees the writing on the wall; even though Roger assures him he talked to the Surgeon General's office and it will be "at least three years" before they can compile a report on the health effects of tobacco, he's worried that legislation is already in progress. Pete mentions that another year or two beyond that, there will probably be warning labels on cigarettes. (It actually happened in 1965, if you're interested.) Don thinks they should wait and see if market share drops before they panic and create a whole new ad campaign. It's not that I disagree with the idea of not panicking, but I don't think the SC boys' ostrich-like attitude about this whole issue is doing them any favors. On the other hand, considering how much stress Don underwent to come up with this campaign, I can understand his reluctance to start over. Roger backs Don up, and then manfully stands and lights a cigarette as Lee relaxes for the first time and says he's glad they all came by, and adds that he missed all them New Yorkers. Roger holds up a pastrami sandwich and starts to toast New Yorkers, but then clutches his chest and keels over. Damn, Roger's circulatory system, that is cold. I mean, that pastrami looked good -- you could have at least let him have a bite before you sent him back to the hospital. Several people rush over to him, and they don't drag this out too long…