By Joe R
As Season 4 begins, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is up and running, although at a decidedly more modest scale than anyone there is used to. Just ask them about their mythical second floor!
Don's in a bit of a funk, partially due to living in a sad bachelor apartment while Betty and (husband!) Henry are living in the house Don's paying for, and partially because he royally screws up an interview with Ad Age in which his taciturn Midwestern stoicism is, perhaps for the first time, taken for smug posturing by the reporter. Even worse, he fails to mention Jai Alai, which leads to SCDP offending and possibly losing the walking cash cow that is Ho-Ho.
Peggy and cute new guy Joey are struggling to sell canned ham due to the penny-pinching of the client. Along with Pete, they come up with the New Marketing idea of hiring actresses to stage a fight over a ham at a supermarket in Queens to get some free publicity. The idea works and the client ups their media buy, but unfortunately, overzealous fake-fighting and lingering resentments between the actresses lead to one pressing charges against the other. Peggy is forced to go to Don, hat in hand, for bail money. Don's a dick to her and her maybe-fiancé, but Peggy, as usual, is able to level Don with one poignant exit line.
Betty and Henry are, like I said, married and living in Don's house. His family cannot stand her, and we're treated to the iciest Thanksgiving dinner ever, punctuated by Sally Draper regurgitating her sweet potatoes back onto the plate. Don finally tells Betty to get her narrow ass and her "temporary" husband out of his house. Henry, for his part, agrees and tells Betty to cut the shit and move on.
Roger has the spring back in his step, setting Don up on a date with Sarah Newlin, who appears to catch Don's eye by not putting out. And then he goes home and pays a hooker to slap him around.
By episode's end, Don decides to eschew the whole modesty thing, pitches a bikini ad to a "family-oriented" apparel company that is basically one giant middle finger to the father-and-son prudes in charge, and when they balk, he loudly kicks them out. Then he has Joan arrange a second chance at media glory, being interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and being every bit the boastful, smarmy douche into which the American businessman would soon evolve. Happy 1964, y'all!
Discuss this episode in our forums, and read our interview with Lane Pryce himself, Jared Harris. Then see the show's most outrageous moments so far!
Want to immediately access TWoP content no matter where you are online? Download the free TWoP toolbar for your web browser. Already have a customized toolbar? Then just add our free toolbar app to get updated on our content as soon it's published.