Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A- | 893 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Company Woman
By Couch Baron | Season 5 | Episode 11 | Aired on 2012.05.27
...but Ken, at least, is too focused on heading into Peggy's office and locking the door. With a drink in her hand and some steel in her voice, Peggy says she's not crying, but Ken tells her he didn't think she was. He tries to give her an explanation, if not a justification for Don's behavior, saying that they're not getting Jaguar and he thinks Don knows it, but Peggy doesn't care. Ken then tries the tack of saying he'll make sure she goes to Paris and if that doesn't happen, they'll both leave as they agreed. But Peggy's in a mood to pay the shittiness forward: "You and your stupid pact. Save the fiction for your stories." Ken takes that one on the chin and gets out of there and at least Peggy looks less than proud of herself and often happens when you punch a golden retriever.
Oh goody, Lane is turning up to see Joan. Just to frame this encounter, she thinks she's made a clear denial of any interest in this horrible errand with Gross Pig, while Lane thinks she's seriously considering it. So when he tells her they don't need the account that badly, he's being sincere, but she takes understandable offense. Of course, he's got his own ass to cover here, so he tells her that when the company is thinking of spending fifty grand there needs to be a discussion about it. Joan, given the social propriety that's always refined her sex appeal, is aghast that there was any discussion among the partners about it at all, adding that she didn't want anyone to know she was even asked and you'd think this would bring some realization to Lane about her actual feelings on the matter. Whether that's true or not, Joan goes on to wonder in her most seething tone if Roger was involved in the discussion and Lane has to tell her that yes he was, although he does point out that Roger is a partner. Joan, understandably without the complete control she normally exudes, asks why Lane mentioned the number if he's against the idea and in response, Lane comes up with a mixture of truth and lies saying that the number might be enough to turn her head (the obvious implication being that someone was going to approach her with it eventually) and he wanted a chance to dissuade her. Joan bites out that it is a lot of money -- four times what she makes in a year -- and supposes Lane wouldn't even be tempted. Given how important it's ended up being to the season's plotline, it's a fairly grave flaw that we haven't gotten any insight into how Lane let his personal financial mismanagement get so dire, but he doesn't give that the chance to hit him in his own financial misdeeds, instead telling her that if he were, he wouldn't make the mistake of being shy about asking what he wanted. Joan unwillingly plays along, asking what he would want, so he says he settled for too little when the company was formed (it does sound like his equity stake is far less than the other partners' -- whether that's fair is another question) and if he were her, instead of taking the cash he'd ask to be a partner to the tune of five percent. Even if he weren't covering his own ass, I'm not sure I'd agree - five percent of a company that's been hanging on by a thread could turn out to be nothing, while fifty grand in the bank is not.