Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A+ | 11 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT "Mr. Campbell. Who Cares?"
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 12 | Aired on 2007.10.11
The two guys enter a tent; Don nervously stands at attention until the other guy gives him the "at ease" command. As you've no doubt surmised, this man is Lieutenant Donald Draper, and he tells Dick that the tent they're in is for officers, and he can bunk next door. "I'd introduce you to the men, but you're looking at the complete company." That's one way to make sure no funny business happens, I guess. Dick, in a soft, quavery voice that doesn't sound at all like himself, partially because he's got that farm accent for which Roger called him out, asks where everyone is, and Don tells him they were gone when he got there. He also mentions he's an engineer, and says that Dick will be doing all the digging for the field hospital they've been tasked with building -- they need to establish fighting positions on all four sides of the site. And Dick has to do all the digging? I'm all for delegating, but this seems a little extreme. Don asks Dick what brought him into the Army, and he says he enlisted, which Don finds hard to believe. Don, for his part, they "got" him with college, but he's three and a half years in, which makes him practically a civilian. "I'm supposed to be building swimming pools, not latrines." He asks if Dick's any good with his rifle, and Dick says he's had some practice, yes. Don asks Dick why he enlisted, and Dick tells him he "just wanted to leave." Don: "I bet you're reconsidering if this was a step up." Not so clear, given what we've seen of Dick's past, and his expression looks like he's actually trying to do that math.
And back in his office, Don is trying to figure things out as well, as he lights a cigarette and looks like his mind is going in twenty different directions, at least. He reaches for the phone, drops it back...
...and then Rachel's assistant is buzzing and telling her that Don is there to see her. She asks her to hold her calls, and then the man himself enters. He pulls her over for a long kiss, and she notices he's flushed. He asks her to go away with him, maybe to L.A., and she's charmed at first, but she quickly gets the sense that all is not well, and he verbally confirms that. "Something happened, and...I want to go, and I want you to come with me, and I don't want to come back." I'm no ad man, but I'm thinking this pitch lacks refinement. You're making her sound like a gun moll here. She inquires as to what happened, but he asks her, too sharply, why it matters -- isn't this what she wants? She admits that she's thought about it, but it clearly doesn't feel right, and she walks away and lights a cigarette, trying to get a firm handle on her thoughts. She realizes that this isn't how she wants him, and as his desperation starts to flow freely, she begins to get agitated, asking what would be in store for his children. He tells her he'll provide for them, although I doubt he's even considered the logistics of such an undertaking, and Rachel echoes my sentiments: "My God, you haven't thought this through." She asks if he really wants his children to grow up without a father, especially since he knows what that feels like; he heatedly and with a hint of contempt asks her if she's having an attack of conscience, but she refuses to be cowed, saying that she's asking because she suddenly feels like she doesn't know him. Well, given that he seems to consider that a prerequisite for marriage, Rachel, maybe this is a step in the right direction. He tries to tell her that she knows more about him than anyone, which from what we've seen is almost certainly true, but she points out that he won't even tell her what happened, and when he refuses to take this last chance to come clean, she gets angry with him for even foisting this upon her, for tempting her to become complicit in the plot to abandon his family. He breathes that people do it every day, which is exactly the wrong thing to say, and she seethes that their involvement was just a cheap affair, as he doesn't want to run away with her -- he just wants to run away. I don't think that's completely true, yet the larger point that his behavior is the ultimate act of selfishness is taken. Her eyes fill as she tells him he's a coward; he looks baldly stunned both at that revelation and at how quickly and completely everything has unraveled for him, and she, in no uncertain terms, tells him to go, which he does. Poor dear. Will the Jews' suffering never end?