Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A- | 546 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT Strange Bedfellows
By Couch Baron | Season 6 | Episode 6 | Aired on 2013.05.05
Pete catches Don on his way into the office and informs him that Herb Rennet is canceling their dinner for that night. Don, like most people, finds this a welcome relief, but Pete suggests the two of them take the opportunity to have dinner together and discuss a few things. Don: "Let's enjoy our reprieve." At least Pete's gotten better at pretending he doesn't care when Don blows him off like this. When Don enters his office, though, he finds Roger, who asks if Pete told him the dinner's off. Don: "Yes. Unless it was the world's most boring dream." Hee. Roger, however, tells him it's actually on, and he's going to be taking Pete's place at the dinner because Herb wants a word with them alone "to straighten things out." Don dismissively asks why Roger can't handle it, and given that they've both heartily agreed in the past that Don should stay away from Accounts, it's a valid question, but Roger thinks the account is in jeopardy, so Don has to go. He adds that he wants to "pack it with spouses" to "limit the explosion," and when Don protests that Marie's in town and she and Megan have plans, Roger practically sprouts wood as he tells Don to bring Marie along. Given that he hasn't even taken off his coat, Don looks like he wants to walk right out and give starting the day again a try.
A secretary is announcing the start to the partners' meeting over at CGC, which means we get to meet the third stooge, Frank Gleason. After Cutler condescends to the girl for a bit and we learn this is actually a Creative meeting, Chaough pulls out a portfolio case and says he wants to go over Chevrolet again, "and devote our final days to overdoing it on the artwork." Not that he could have known, but that's a sentence he probably would go back and rephrase. Cutler complains that he can't look at the sketches again, and adds that "they" are very keen on "the rocket ship thing with the astronaut anecdotes." Chaough is horrified that Cutler spoiled the Chevy people on the pitch, but that's forgotten when Gleason blurts out that he doesn't want to draw any more rockets and they never should have dropped Alfa Romeo (the implication being that they did so just to be able to pitch to Chevrolet). Chaough tries to cheerlead Gleason's work -- they're apparently even a smaller agency than SCDP if a partner is still doing sketches -- but Gleason mournfully says he doesn't want to draw any more astronauts, and given how evocative they are of the future, that's going to prove to be more than understandable.