Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A | 683 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT European Gay-cation
By Couch Baron | Season 2 | Episode 11 | Aired on 2008.10.12
...and we cut to afterward, where Pete is crowing that one of these companies spends as much on media buys as three Lucky Strikes. Don sends Pete off on an errand, and his timing is perfect, because at that moment, Joy comes into view. Of course, she's walking in slow motion, so he would have had a couple minutes to get rid of Pete before she got there. But seriously, is the slow motion necessary? This show strives for realism so often that using that device to emphasize the idea that Don finds her sexy seems cheap. Especially since he'll be boning her in a few scenes anyway. She gives him the double-cheek-kiss, but at his rather muted response, tells him she's got to leave, as she's headed for Palm Springs. She invites him along, and when he hesitates, she asks, "Why would you deny yourself something you want?" There are a number of possible answers, but this girl and you and I know that underneath Don's buttoned-up exterior is a hedonist, so it's no surprise when, after she buys a little time by tying a scarf over her hair like Grace Kelly, he gets in the car. She asks if he'd like to get his things, and not wanting to talk about TWA, he responds, "No." They drive off...
...and we cut to Pete, sitting with two potential clients at an outdoor table and telling them he thinks Don needed to make a phone call. I think Pete's about to find out exactly how well Right Guard works. I just hope he lets Ken know the results.
As the music plays again (I thought at first it was simply to emphasize the exotic nature of Joy and her family, but given that it came to be known as "The Snake Dance," I wonder if it's supposed to be evocative of temptation as well) Don and Joy arrive at their destination in Palm Springs, and Joy tells them the rather large house belongs to friends of hers who are currently in Sardinia. They head out to the pool, and Joy points out a topless girl lying face down on a raft, saying her name is "Stephanie." Even if Don's job didn't force him to be good with names, I have a feeling he'd remember that one. Willy and Rocci are sunbathing, and two others are also hanging out, "Greta" and "Carlos," about whom Joy comments, "I'm surprised to see them in the same place." I'm surprised to see him at all, as he's hot enough to cause blindness. Joy leads Don over to Greta and Carlos and pours him a drink, and after a brief exchange of small talk, Carlos asks Joy in Spanish if Don is someone important. Joy declines to answer in favor of stripping off her dress to reveal a bikini and asking Don to go swimming with her, saying he can ask inside for a bathing suit or simply go nude. I'm thinking if she polled the people in attendance, the opinion would be pretty one-sided. However, we won't get an answer right now, as Don suddenly seems dizzy (between the cough, the incident with Bobbie, and now this, his health is not looking so great) and after she notes he's gone very pale, he falls to the ground. At least he didn't hit his head on the side of the pool. That's how Brooke died on Melrose Place!