Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B | 677 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT The Man-Boy Becomes A Man
By Couch Baron | Season 4 | Episode 4 | Aired on 2010.08.15
Speaking of Don, he's typing something (another try at the letter to Allison? I'm not holding my breath) when Mrs. Blankenship buzzes that "Dr. Miller" is there to see him. "It's a she." Mrs. Blankenship's shaping up to be another worthy candidate for the Mad Men Road Comedy Troupe, I tell you what. Don looks irritated, but has her sent in, and it turns out that instead of moving the meeting, as he requested, Mrs. Blankenship told Faye that Don needed to see her immediately. He apologetically explains that they're "still working things out," and goes to pour a drink as Faye tells him she's done everything but finish the report, but it turns out "the hypothesis was rejected," and she instead recommends a strategy that links Pond's to matrimony. "A veiled promise." Don loathes the idea ("Hello, 1925") and says he won't do it, and asks what they're going to tell the client. Faye tells him she can't change the truth, but Don isn't done arguing: "A new idea is something they don't know yet, so of course it's not gonna come up as an option." Well, that may be true, but if you're only going to go with the focus group findings when they're what you want to hear, why have them at all, right? Faye doesn't make that argument, but does point out that she tried the "routine" and "ritual" concepts, as he well knows, but all they cared about was finding a husband. Don bites out that you can't tell how people are going to behave by how they have behaved, and it's an intriguing idea but he'd probably be more convincing without a pre-lunch drink in his hand. Faye asks why he's being so hostile, adding that she's had this argument many times in the past, but he replies that she goes in and gets people to talk "just to be heard, and not only does it have nothing to do with what I do, but it's nobody's business!" Oh, Don. Leaving aside your performance in Overidentification Theater, shouldn't you be having this discussion with Bertram? He's the one responsible for bringing Faye in, isn't he? Anyway, sensing there's no winning path here, Faye backs down, acknowledging that he's the client and withdrawing...
...while elsewhere, Peggy's lying on her couch when her phone rings. It's Joyce, who tells her they're having lunch in five minutes. Peggy's in, and asks if they should meet in the lobby, but Joyce tells her no. "My friends want to see Megan." Well, if she's going to be on display, good thing her skin's so wonderful!