This updated recap is more detailed and also corrects some whopping errors I made last week, such as getting Maidenform and Playtex mixed up!
When you have a hangup about something and then there's a story that hits that hangup, it really doesn't matter what else is in that story, because all you're going to see is that sad, abandoned dog and hate the guy who ran him off.
May, 1962.
Opening song: "The Infanta," by the Decemberists.
Client Playtex is jealous of Maidenform's sexy, fantasy-based advertising and wants their own ads to have more sex appeal. Don and the madmen question the need to change their strategy, since sales are strong. As a bra-wearer and de facto spokeswoman for women, Peggy is asked whether she wears Playtex, and why. She does, and she agrees with the survey: Playtex has legitimate selling points that attract customers. (I could be more specific, but I don't feel like doing a Playtex ad.) Duck makes a really lame suggestion that's essentially a paraphrase of the current Maidenform ad.
Duck's ex-wife Pauline (the credits say this is Alexandra Paul - I did not recognize her!) shows up to drop off their two teenage kids, Mark and Patricia, and dog Chauncey, for the holiday. Pauline hints at a severe alcohol problem that Duck claims not to have any more.
Pete, Peggy, and Sal brainstorm on a Clearasil campaign. (Pete's father in law has some connection to Clearasil, I forget what.) Peggy has an idea, a story about a date, which would work both for print and TV. She says there's "some kind of line" at the end. Pete keeps suggesting "Thanks, Clearasil!," but Peggy stubbornly resists this idea. Sal likes it. Finally Peggy says she'll "think about it."
It's Memorial Day. Betty and Don go to some country club function as guests of the Pattersons. \Marcy Patterson speaks nostalgically of the Rosenberg execution and wonders if a power failure could cause the Sing Sing Correctional Facility's electronic gates to unlock. (The Sing Sing prison is located in Ossining, NY - where the Drapers live.) Betty asks to change the subject and later seems to dodge some kind of invitation from them.
Meanwhile, Don's friend Crab says that he was scapegoated and fired from a PR firm which had been contracted by the CIA to inspire rebellion and sabotage in Cuba. Don is surprised to hear that his friend has no confidence in Kennedy, is nervous about Cuba, and is building a bomb shelter that his wife doesn't want people to know about.
Betty runs into that young twit Arthur from the horse place who made a pass at her. He guesses that she changed her riding schedule to avoid him. He promises to stay out of her way. She says that it isn't necessary, and she wants to be friends. He tells her of some of his recent mishaps with the horses. Betty seems willing to hear more, but Bobby and Sally show up and scare him off.
It's time to listen to speeches. All the servicemen in the audience are asked to stand for applause. Don is among them. He doesn't get up right away and is uncomfortable with the applause.
Pete and Trudy have Pete's brother and his wife over for a cookout. Pete's brother jokes that Mom talks about Pete all the time. They laugh at this. Trudy is not amused. Pete and Trudy are supposed to visit with Mom. Pete says he's too important to the agency to take that much time off.
There's a fashion show and auction at the country club - women modeling swimsuits. Betty is very surprised when Don gets up in the middle of it, saying he has to go to work. He phones Bobbie at her hotel, but she's made other plans to take her college-age son to the beach. (Don is surprised she has a son.) But Jimmy will be out of town for 10 days, during which they can screw around all they want to. She wants Don to come to that place she has at the beach, but he doesn't want to be reminded of their accident. (Bobbie thinks about it all the time and seems to need to talk about it.)
Pete tells Peggy that his father-in-law loved "Thanks, Clearasil!" He also cluelessly gives away the ending of a movie she hasn't seen yet. He acknowleges that Peggy didn't like "Thanks, Clearasil!" She says it's all about keeping his FIL happy, and adds "I'll do my job, and you do yours." This strikes Pete as snarky, but she plays innocent.
He then tries to find out where she lives and whether she's seeing anyone. She tells him the neighborhood and that she spent the holiday with her family. Then she gets rid of him.
Roger shows some interest in Don's new secretary Jane and bums a cigarette from Don. He tells Don to make nice with Duck.
Duck brings the dog and kids to work. He finds out from them that Pauline is remarrying - "Franklin Reeve" has bribed the kids with large cash gifts. Duck tries to be big about it reminds them that he and their mother need to start new lives. However, he is more upset when the kids say that Pauline wants him to take the dog back - after originally having taken the dog away from him - because Frank's allergic. Duck slumps out of his own office, defeated.
The madmen have had an offsite "meeting," i.e. drinks at a bar, to which Peggy was not invited. In reference to the Playtex campaign, they decided that all women want to be either Jackie Kennedy or Marilyn Monroe. They pitch the idea to Don. Sal says "a line and a curve - nothing goes better together." Ha ha. Peggy disagrees with the Jackie vs. Marilyn theory; Ken says she's more of a Gertrude Stein. Some of the madmen laugh; Sal solemnly says she's more "classical" - Hellenic (Greek). Don says she's like Irene Dunne.
Chauncey follows Duck into Don's office; Duck seems annoyed, but the madmen flock around the dog to pet and admire it. Don shoos them away and Duck kicks out the dog. Don and Duck have "lunch," which consists of the two men discussing the tension between them. After eighteen months, Don thinks Duck's still not integrating well with the company. He's been selling clients' ideas to Don more than he's been selling Don's ideas to the clients. Duck says he's grateful to Don for hiring him and wants Don to stop holding the American Airlines debacle over his head. He looks bad, but his mistakes haven't hurt the company. Don agrees... but I think they both know that the only thing they accomplished on this foodless lunch in Duck's office was to hold Roger off for a little while.
Peggy confronts Freddie about the "meeting" she wasn't invited to. He blows her off and tells her to write some "titillating" copy.
Don takes the afternoon off to see Bobbie. Afterwards, she needs to take off - to see her college-age daughter in a play. Don asks if that's "everyone"; Bobbie doesn't really answer. She seems surprised when he doesn't want to hang around.
The madmen "bra-dition" models for the Playtex campaign. Again, no one tells Peggy, and she's pissed when she finds out. Ken assures her that he won't let Paul do any writing without her.
Pete meets Duck's dog, Chauncey. Duck claims he made his wife give the dog back because he missed him. He says dogs communicate better than wives. Pete jokes (I think he's joking) that he should get a dog of his own to be the office dog, to improve the atmosphere there. Duck humorlessly says it's a bad idea.
Pete meets one of the rejected would-be Playtex models and goes back to her place, where they have sex on her couch while her elderly mom waits in the kitchen. A phallic-looking military plane soars on the TV screen while a voiceover recites the breathtaking poem "High Flight" by John Magee. He goes home to a darkened apartment afterwards; Trudy didn't wait up for him.
Next morning, Betty is serving breakfast in a two-piece yellow swimsuit that she plans to wear to the pool at the country club. Don sharply disapproves and says she looks "desperate" and will be ogled by all the men.
Peggy tries to get Joan to make sure she's included in all Playtex-related communications. She complains that she's been left out of the activities. "I'm a good drinker," Peggy says. Joan says she has no involvement in these things, and Peggy needs to learn "their" language. She says Peggy's never taken her advice before anyway. (Not true, Peggy took her advice to go on the Pill and look how well that turned out.) Joan does give Peggy one more piece of advice: Stop dressing like a little girl.
The madmen have taken two photos of a model - in one photo she's Marilyn in white, and in the other photo she's Jackie in black. The Playtex guys love it and ask the madmen to stash it away - because they've decided for now to stick with their current campaign.
Duck is embarrassed. Don is gracious about it.
The Playtex guys offer to take the gang out to celebrate at a gentlemen's club. Peggy isn't invited, but she overhears the address and makes a mental note.
Having had a truly crappy day, Duck tries to sneak a drink after hours. Chauncey stares at him with pleading eyes. Duck leads the dog to the front door, removes his leash, and lets him out into the wilds of Manhattan. The dog barks for Duck's attention, but Duck doesn't look back. The dog runs away.
Don goes to Bobbie for another tryst. He asks her not to talk, but she won't shut up. She babbles that his reputation as a lover is well known - women, including some chick named Sarah Tierney from Random House, have been talking about him. He denies knowing this woman, but only after a hesitation that's long enough to suggest that he knows exactly who she is. Don is really angry to hear that Bobbie thinks he's like her. He ties her to the bed, which excites her even more, but then he gets dressed and leaves. "I told you to stop talking." Bobbie is aghast.
The guys are enjoying a girlie show at the Tom-Tom club. Peggy shows up - and she has chosen this evening to dress like a grown-up. Paul and Freddie welcome her, and Playtex guy pulls her onto his lap.
Not all of the guys are interested to see Peggy at all, but only one of them looks upset to see Peggy this way: Pete. She gives him a hard look for a moment, then falters and looks away.
Next morning. Don wakes up coughing. Sally comes into the bathroom to watch him shave. "I'm not going to talk - I don't want you to cut yourself." Don tries to shave, but can't do it. (I think he suddenly can't stop thinking about cutting himself. Not to mention the painful contrast between sweet little QUIET Sally and big awful BLABBERMOUTH Bobbie.)
Sally notices the freaked out look on his face and asks if he's okay. He sends her out and washes his face and sits down and stares into space.
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