Mad Men 1.10: Pain

Betty's dad and his "friend" Gloria are visiting. Betty hates Gloria.

The madmen look at Kennedy ads. His ads are cheerful and upbeat. Nixon's ads are money-oriented, dull, and gloomy. They want to find dirt on Kennedy. They know he's a womanizer, but they figure women would like that about him. Don admiringly says that Nixon is a self-made man, while Kennedy was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Labor Day weekend is coming. Joan doesn't want to spend it with Roger. She's upset about the movie The Apartment with Shirley MacLaine, in which a female elevator operator leads a life that probably seemed glamorous within this 1962 "comedy," but in retrospect would probably have been miserable.

Don and Paul meet with Rachel Menken at a restaurant. They want to close her store for three months for remodeling. Rachel's father gripes, but he accepts.

Joan's roommate Carol shows up at the office upset. She's been scapegoated and fired for some mishap at her job. Joan suggests that they go out and date men and spend all their money.

Sterling & Cooper have been dumped by Dr. Scholl's. Don has a private tantrum. Roger is pissed. They go to casting to pick up some chicks.

Pete is a jerk with Peggy. Peggy says she's confused by his behavior. Sometimes she thinks he likes her, and sometimes she thinks he doesn't like her. He puts her down for being a writer.

Roger and Don try to make time with all the twins who are trying out for a Double-Sided Aluminum ad. Roger picks out his favorite pair of twins (redheads, of course).

Betty has gone to the family place at the shore. Don will go tomorrow. Roger's date's name is Mirabelle. Don's date is Eleanor. Roger wants the twins to make out. Don wants to leave. Eleanor wants to dance.

As Joan and Carol prepare for their hot night on the town, Carol tells Joan that she's in love with her. She followed her to Manhattan after college to be with her. "Just think of me as a boy," she says. Joan doesn't respond to any of this.

Mirabelle is crawling around the office on all fours with Roger riding on her back. Don and Eleanor wait outside. Don wants to leave, but Eleanor wants Don to stay with her while she waits.

Roger babbles to Mirabelle about his daughter. Soon he's ready for round two.

Carol and Joan have picked up a couple of drips. Joan and her date go into his bedroom. Carol seems resigned to her fate as her date begins pawing her on the sofa.

Don and Eleanor talk. Eleanor is trying to be amiable, but Don's not into it.

Roger's having a heart attack. He's surprised, because he's been eating cream and butter as he was instructed to. He faces the prospect of death philosophically. His daughter (finally got that haircut) and his wife show up at the hospital. (At some point, Don had to remind Roger that his wife's name was Mona, not Mirabelle.)

Joan meets Cooper at the office and ditches her date. Cooper has her send telegrams to all their clients.

Betty calls Don to complain about her father and Gloria.

Don goes to Rachel's place and makes a move. She rejects him. He tells her that his first time as a pallbearer was for his aunt, when he was five. It was like he moved up a notch in the family. He and Rachel argue, but finally they have sex.

Cooper tells Joan to go for a younger guy. He has her operate the elevator, just like in the Shirley MacLaine movie that upset her so much.

Don begins to tell his life's story to Rachel. His mother was a prostitute. She died giving birth to him. He moved in with his father and his father's wife. His father was a drunk. He died of a horse-kick to the face when Don was 10. Then his father's wife found a new man.