Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A- | 3 USERS: C- YOU GRADE IT I Went To A Garden Party…
By Couch Baron | Season 3 | Episode 3 | Aired on 08.30.2009
ndsy guy as "Henry Francis," from the Governor's office; when he shakes hands with Betty, they exchange A Look of significance. Roger gossips that "Hank" just came from Governor Rockefeller's marriage to "Happy" (his second wife, Margaretta Murphy). Betty's scandalized, as Happy only officially got divorced a month earlier and has four children, and Bertram points out that that's the first thing people say, which is why the move is political suicide for Rockefeller. Jane, who I see on second viewing is already teetering a bit, asks why, then, he married her, and Hank tells her they're in love, to which she's like, "Aww!" Before everyone gets to be all "look at the drunk hostess," though, some peppy music starts up, and Pete and Trudy get out on the dance floor and proceed to kick the party's ass by doing a full-on, full-length Charleston, and all I can say is you go, Alison Brie and Vincent Kartheiser. I've never used this expression unironically, but that was good clean fun. Plus, Kartheiser looks as flexible as Gumby up there. To her dismay, Harry pulls Jennifer off the floor to give them more room, and then, watching them go, Ken, who for all we've seen of him has probably been trying his hand at being a proto-Wedding Crasher, says he has got to bring a date next time, while Jennifer, seemingly bummed at being reminded of her and her husband's misfit status, stomps off. Shut up, Jennifer. Pete and Trudy finish up and get the applause they deserve......and we cut to Paul intoning (from The Hollow Men), "This is the way the world ends." Heh. He's lying on the floor boring Smitty and Peggy with his stuffiness, and after the latter two laugh about the Tigertones again, Smitty offers that he went to UMich. Peggy: "I went to Miss Deever's [sp?] secretarial school." God, she did, didn't she? That seems like a million years ago. Paul then manages to link rum to the fact that they all almost died, which leads to Peggy suggesting the Daiquiri Beach campaign be something about life. Smitty suggests they go up on the roof, causing Peggy to get more ideas, and when Smitty's brain finally catches up and asks if she's working, she dreamily says she is. Getting to her feet, she tells them they're free to go. "I'm in a very good place right now." She exits, and Smitty looks bummed he didn't get any action. I'm coming around to your side, kid, but to get Peggy it's going to take a lot more than that.
Olive is still there (I love that you're not Lola, honey, but go home already) when Peggy returns, and Olive's still all disapproving about the whole pot thing, but there's a new element -- she's worried that Peggy isn't thinking about her future. What she doesn't know, though, is that Peggy has always thought about her future, and now's no exception, as, with a beatific smile, she points out that she has a job and her own office and secretary. "And I am not scared of any of this." I take that to mean that she feels like she's becoming socially equal to the men, and is embracing that development, but just in case it sounds like she's cutting Olive down, her face turns stoner-sympathetic as she realizes Olive is scared -- for her. "Don't worry about me. I am going to get to do everything you want for me. I am going to be fine, Olive. I really am." Mollified by Peggy's intense sincerity, Olive seems to relax, and then brings it back to a normal interaction by telling Peggy her expense reports are ready for her review. Peggy heads into her office, but after dropping something inside, reemerges with a Dictaphone, or at least the pieces of one, in her hands, saying that after Olive sets it up and gets her a glass of water, she can go. Well, she also has to stand uncomfortably while Peggy gets momentarily hypnotized by a piece of jewelry she's wearing, but you're probably not surprised to hear that.
Back above 86th Street, Joan is asking Mrs. Stolich when she's due, and she tells her early December. After some talk about clothes, Joan tells her the name of a friend of hers at Lord and Taylor who could help her out, prompting Mrs. Ettinger to marvel that Joan really knows everything. Well, not everything about her husband, but we'll get to that quite soon. Yes, after Ettinger compliments Stolich's surgical prowess (and it sounds like Stolich is planning to head to Texas the next year), it comes up that Greg recently got a "bad result" on a pneumonectomy, something he didn't share with Joan because he "doesn't like to worry Joanie about those kinds of things." The look on Joan's face says the damage, and a great deal of it, is done, even as Mrs. Ettinger suggests they steer the conversation away from shop talk. Sensing that his guests' affinity for his wife is the best weapon at his disposal, Greg suggests Joan play for them, and even though she clearly doesn't want to, soon she's up there fingering the accordion (I understand that's actually Christina Hendricks playing, which is awesome) and singing the Dario Moreno "C'est Magnifique." She puts on a good show, but when she looks Greg's way, her eyes look like that of a trapped animal (or a caged bird, if you will). On the other hand, the fact that divorce was mentioned so prominently in this episode gives me hope.
Back at the other party, Betty's at the buffet, telling Don she just needs to have a little more food and then they can go. Given her long-standing disinclination to eat, even while pregnant, I'm wondering if this is another subtle example of her asserting control over him. Jane then staggers up, plate in hand, and after she slurs something about the family always being the last to eat, she drops her food, and soon Betty and Don are hauling her to her feet and into a chair. They take it all in good enough humor until Jane tells Betty she knew she and Don would get back together. Betty looks disbelievingly at Don, who assures her he'll take care of Jane. She stalks off (although on second viewing, after the initial shock, she doesn't seem quite as angry as I thought; I'm guessing she remembered that Jane was Don's secretary at the time) leaving a confused Jane to pleadingly opine that Don doesn't like her and say she's really a nice person. I don't know that the show's history really bears that out, but it's not like Don's really being unkind to her here either. Nevertheless, Roger's voice suddenly cuts in and asks what's going on, and Jane, suddenly seeming to grasp what happened, worriedly says she should have eaten something. Don, not really having much more he can do, walks away, but Roger, after loudly asking for a glass of milk to be brought to his wife, asks Don if they can talk, so Don unwillingly pauses. Roger asks what that was, and Don tries to tell him Jane's drunk and leave it at that, but Roger wonders what he did to "get under [Don's] skin." Don tries once again to escape, his stance loudly proclaiming that Roger's deluding himself if he thinks he actually wants to hear what Don has to say, but Roger asks for it once more, saying his mother was right -- she said you shouldn't be conspicuously happy, because some people don't like it. Don finally obliges Roger with his usual economy of words: "No one thinks you're happy. They think you're foolish." Roger nods, but he's hurt more than you might think, and he leaves with a comment about being able to choose your guests that suggests this is the last garden party to which Don will be invited for a while. And while that may not seem like the way to hit Don where it hurts, Don looks regretful as he stands there in the wake of the confrontation. Perhaps it's because this question popped into his mind: Despite all his faults, without Roger, what kind of fun would SC be for Don?