Mad Men 1.2: Brought to you by some kind of deodorant

Don, his boss Roger Sterling (partner at the agency), and their wives are out to dinner. Don sidesteps questions about his childhood. They talk about Roger's neurotic daughter. It seems that girl children are nuisances.

Betty and Roger's wife go to the restroom. Betty's hands are numb and she needs to ask Roger's wife to help her with her lipstick. She tells the other woman that her mother died a few months ago. She's obviously under a lot of emotional stress.

In a meeting the next day, Don is iffy on the idea of the agency getting involved with the Nixon campaign; he says he doesn't vote. His bosses are clearly pro-Nixon.

Peggy rejects a lunch date with one of the junior madmen, but Joan gets Peggy to go out to lunch with them in a group. One of the guys says they're making bets on who will sleep with Peggy first.

Some of the neighborhood housewives meet at Betty's house. They're talking about the PTA
and gossiping about Helen Bishop, a divorced woman with two kids who's just moved into the neighborhood. She works at the jewelry counter in a local store. Their tone is pity mixed with suspicion. One of the women is worried that Helen is bad for property values.

Daughter Sally comes in with a plastic bag over her head. Betty scolds her - because the bag over Sally's head means that the dry cleaning is probably in a heap on the floor.

Later, Betty takes the kids out in the car and her hands get numb so that she can't handle the steering wheel. They have a minor accident, rolling up onto someone's lawn.

Don goes to visit his girlfriend Midge again. She has a new TV, which was given to her by "someone." When Don disapproves, she throws it out the window to end the conversation.

At home that evening, Betty tells Don about the accident. The hospital wasn't able to reach him at work (since he was visiting with Midge). Don's first reaction is to ask if the car is okay. They talk about the problem with her hands. The doctor says there's nothing physically wrong with her, and that she should see a psychiatrist. Don scoffs. (He tells her to leave the dishes for "the girl" - at first I thought he meant Sally, but now I realize he probably means the part-time cleaning lady.)

Betty is willing to see a psychiatrist. Wanting her to get better, Don reluctantly agrees.

The junior madmen pitch a futuristic spaceship-oriented theme to Don to sell deodorant. Don rejects it out of hand. He has the idea to sell deodorant by appealing to women, since they are the ones who actually buy the product - men don't care what they smell like. But Don doesn't know what women want. (Yet he's got a wife, a girlfriend, and another woman in the pipeline... I think women like men who ask them questions about themselves. Don asks a lot of questions, partly out of curiosity as an adman, and partly to deflect questions away from himself.)

Paul the copywriter is depressed that his spaceship idea fizzled. He has lunch with Peggy and shows her around the office. He's a Twilight Zone fan; Peggy can't stand science fiction. He puts a bug in her ear about becoming a copywriter. She's surprised to hear that it's possible for a woman to have such an esteemed job.

Don asks his boss, "What do women want?"

Roger replies, "Who cares?"

After work, Don gives Betty a watch with a tiny face that only young eyes like hers can read. (The very first time she has to squint to read it, she's going to panic and think she's old and ugly.) Betty is worried because she thought for a moment that Sally might have gotten a scar from their minor accident. She thinks that for a girl to grow up with a scar on her face would be be worse than being dead.

Next day, Don takes Betty to the city to meet the doctor. Then he goes to visit his girlfriend, who doesn't want to hear about Betty; it makes her feel bad.

Peggy again rebuffs Paul the copywriter for lunch; he assumes there's someone else. Joan tells Peggy that she should be grateful for all the attention. Despite Peggy's frumpy clothes and sad hairstyle, every man still looks at her. (They look at all the women that way.)

Alone at her desk later, Peggy looks at the postcard Pete sent to the office from Niagara Falls and cries.

Betty's psychiatrist doesn't talk all. He lets Betty ramble on about her mother.

Somehow Don gets his idea for the deodorant ad: women want any excuse to get closer.

He goes to dinner with Betty; the upscale restaurant offers fatty dinners and creamed vegetables.

That night, after Betty is already in bed, Don calls the psychiatrist for a report.

Looks like the psychiatrist can talk after all. His diagnosis: Betty is suffering from anxiety. (DUH!)

Advertising lesson: Sales campaigns come down to what women want.