Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT All the Real Girls
By Couch Baron | Season 4 | Episode 9 | Aired on 09.19.2010
Sally to his apartment, and sit with her until he gets there. "I would have my secretary do it, but she's dead." Faye agrees out of necessity, but is clearly unnerved by the prospect, and asks if he wants to introduce her and what she should say, but Don can't hold her hand right now beyond just telling her that she's Faye.He then barks at Megan to find Bertram and Roger at lunch and stop them from bringing Secor back to the office, and there's a joke about Secor shitting their pants to be made but once again, I'll leave that to Roger. Don then takes Faye into his office, introduces her to Sally, and informs his wayward daughter that Faye will be taking her to his place, declining to explain further. When he's gone, Faye re-introduces herself far too formally, and when Sally's like, "I got your name the first time," we know just how far Faye's in over her head here. But maybe she can teach Sally how to speak in a true Noo Yawk accent. Wouldn't Betty just love that?
Sometime later, the coroner's people are wheeling a sheet-covered Miss Blankenship out when Bertram stops them, saying she's not going to the morgue but to "Frank E. Campbell," who I assume is a funeral director. Roger sympathetically pats Bertram on the back as Megan touchingly places Miss Blankenship's handbag on top of her, and it's always the little things that get you, you know? Don appears and asks if anyone tracked down her family, and Bertram offers that she has a niece, and he'll make the call. Roger watches in despair as the coroner's people resume taking Miss Blankenship out, and he then shuffles out of the room, with Joan following in concern. Megan, who's being kind of a rock here, then tells Don that he should go home, patting his arm as she does, and after taking a moment to process the awful events of the last couple hours, Don agrees.
Elsewhere, Joan follows Roger into his office, on the way ignoring the people in the break room who shockingly have decided to commemorate Miss Blankenship's death by drinking, and once inside, Roger flops down in a chair and tells Joan he doesn't want to die in this office. "I almost have, twice." Well, technically, that was another office, unless he's had a couple episodes since that we haven't heard about. But his point is taken, and Joan assures him that won't happen before sighing, "Poor Ida," and Roger agrees: "She died like she lived. Surrounded by the people she answered phones for." Wow. That's the most depressing line in the entire episode, bar none. Roger then begs Joan to have dinner with him, even saying he'll meet her in the lobby, I'm assuming for the purposes of discretion, and even though the look on Joan's face says she knows this is a bad idea any way you slice it, I'm pretty sure she's in. I mean, any excuse to get out of that office at this point, right?
Faye and Sally are sitting on the couch watching television, and if I were Faye I'd be thanking the Lord above for the miracle of that invention, when Don arrives home. Faye tells him it was fine -- they watched TV, and "one of us took a nap." Heh. Don asks if she wants to stay, but his offer of "You're gonna need to eat" is not particularly romantic, not that he's in a position to slobber all over her at the moment with his child there. Besides which, Faye surely does not want to be present for whatever disciplinary hearing is upcoming, so, true or not, she cites previous dinner plans and heads for the door. Before she's gone, however, Don thanks her, and she says she was glad she could help before raising her voice to tell Sally good night. Sally returns the sentiment, even smiling at her, and Faye, you may not have felt comfortable taking care of her but if you knew this kid you'd be aware that you did just fine. When she's gone, Sally asks if they can order a pizza, but before he entertains dinner requests, Don tells Sally to promise him that she's never going to pull a stunt like that again. Sally promises, so Don heads into the other room, perhaps to call for dinner. Too bad Faye didn't stay -- she could probably have hooked him up with some awesome pizza. And free candy for dessert!
Roger and Joan are in what appears to be a diner, and Joan wonders why they always used to go here: "The clientele is older than I remember." Well, that's a good sign. It's when they're younger than you remember that you're in trouble. Roger asks why she never talks to him, and when she replies that Greg doesn't like it, he points out that she had to know him being shipped off was a possibility when he signed up. Joan, with a trace of bitterness, admits she wasn't consulted there, but guesses that Roger doesn't tell Jane about all his decisions either. "She's the woman behind the man, isn't she?" Not that signing up for potential wartime duty is remotely the same thing as whatever petty things Roger may hide from Jane, but Joan's merely needling him playfully, and he smiles before asking if she's listened to his memoirs. She tells him she just has them transcribed and then recycles the tapes, so there's the answer as to how Don got his hands on the, um, Dr. Lyle Evans section, and when he asks if she isn't a little curious if there's a chapter about her, she warns, "There better not be." Heh. But I'm pretty sure if he were going to mention her, we wouldn't have been subject to his thoughts and feelings about vanilla ice cream, and he sort of agrees with me by telling her that's the problem: "Every time I look back, all the good stuff was with you." Joan enjoys that admission, much as she tries not to, and this emboldens him to apologize "if" he keeps "pestering" her, and even though he can't help himself, he doesn't expect anything to happen, and she replies that she appreciates that. Well, they seem to have reached an understanding!
On the couch, Sally inquires if she can ask Don something, and Don replies, "Yes, I'm still mad at you." Heh. However, Sally wants to know what Don's involvement with Faye is, astutely pointing out that Faye knew Don had peanut butter in his cabinet and also that she said she wanted to meet Sally, so Don explains that he does like Faye, but they also work together and he mentions Sally a lot. He then asks if she likes Faye, and Sally tells him she seems nice, but when Don offers that maybe she'll get to see her again sometime, Sally's like, "Oh," in a "Great, another step-parent" tone. Before any further awkward discussion can ensue, however, the pizza arrives, and I'll leave it to you to decide which of them is the happier to see it.
Joan and Roger are walking because Roger thought it was such a nice night, but Joan warily says she doesn't like the neighborhood so much anymore, and her instincts are proven correct when a guy comes out of nowhere and pulls a gun on them. Roger proves he can be pretty smart sometimes when he looks at the sidewalk and gestures for Joan to do the same, and then hands over all their valuables, with the only significant and understandable pause coming when Joan has to give up her wedding ring. She goes through with it, however, and when the mugger is gone, Joan says she wants to scream in a voice that sounds like she's going to hyperventilate, which would make for an interesting on-screen performance indeed. However, we get a different type of audiovisual entertainment, as Roger hurries her around a corner so she can calm down, and after he assures her that everything can be replaced, she kisses him. Once they pull away, they take a moment to process that, but then he goes for it and she tells him not to stop, and soon they are adding their names to the long list of people who have had public sex in New York City. Good thing she got mugged for her ring so the symbolism would be spot-on!
Don, tucking Sally in, asks if she doesn't wan