I thought it was pretty clear from the last episode that he’d called Anna.
Some time ago, Peggy’s sister revealed in confession with the priest that Peggy had a baby out of wedlock. Because anything said in confession is between the priest and the parishioner, the priest can’t tell Peggy that he knows, so he’s trying to get her to confess it on her own. I see this as the second or third attempt he’s made - at first he thought she’d confess if he befriended her, but now he’s becoming more aggressive. Hard to say whether he’s frustrated for the sake of her soul, or because she’s not “properly” remorseful.
Yep, sure noticed that. I have a hard time imagining Pete being suicidal, though (and a .22 is pretty weak to off yourself with, isn’t it?).
I think it was a combination of Don threatening to walk and Duck losing his temper. He may have lost his booze-induced mojo and be slipping back into angry-alcoholic-with-poor-judgment land.
I don’t really have a hard time believing that’s what happened, considering that Duck is an over-confident drunk. I’m surprised the deal got as far as it did before he had the rug pulled out from under him by something or another. Also, I don’t remember the specifics of the scene entirely, but it seemed to me as though Mr. Sheffield and his partner weren’t particularly surprised by Don’s revelation.
Peggy’s Priest is just monsterous. Not having grown up in a religious family, I’m ignorant, but is it normal for a Priest to talk to a member of his congregation like that? Would something like that fly today?
I thought Peggy’s conversation with Pete was heart-wrenching, and that’s saying a lot considering how much I dislike Pete. I wondered about the scene of him at the end with the gun, though. I half-expected him to kill himself right then.
I’m also interested in Betty’s doctor talking to her relatively candidly about terminating the pregnancy. In fact, when Betty showed up at the bar I thought she was there to get a clandestine abortion.
Ditto. I was frankly surprised he didn’t fly into a rage – God knows it would’ve been justified. I wish he’d asked a few basic questions about what happened to the baby, but I guess he was too shocked. When he told Peggy he loves her–I really don’t believe that. Not that I think he was deliberately lying, necessarily, but I think he was reacting out of emotional stress and infatuation. I’m immensely relieved that Peggy turned him down. She deserves better. From what we’ve seen of Pete when he dated Peggy in the first season and with Trudy, he doesn’t treat women well.
I thought she was going to try to drink herself into a miscarriage. Then I realized that they probably weren’t aware of the effects of alcohol during pregnancy yet.
He would not have been privy during due diligence, yes, but after the merger was completed and he was notified that he’d be appointed president (which was obviously not a surprise), he probably should have asked about the legal positions of the partners. Particularly since he was going to play a card based on that.
So he’s shrewd enough to broker the merger, but not enough to make sure when he played his card against Don, he actually had it? It just seemed odd.
I loved the scene with Betty in the bar. She knew exactly what she was doing the minute she walked in there.
Sit at the bar as a single, beautiful woman.
Accept drink from stud at far end of bar, which you knew would be coming.
Snub guy when he comes to talk to you.
Give him the eye as you walk by on the way to the ladies’ washroom.
Wait for stud.
Fuck him in the bathroom.
Don’t tell him your name.
Classic retaliation fuck. I don’t think she’ll ever tell Don unless his behavior gets out of hand again. She’s going to have him wrapped around her little finger.
The shot of Pete with the rifle was a little chilling.
If the deal falls through based on Don’s comments, then the buyers really screwed up by not doing their due diligence. If Donald Draper is the keystone to the arch, you make sure ahead of time that he’ll be on board post-transaction. If he’s not, then Duck really flew off the handle and his behavior should be questions. I also think Duck was overly smug in his conversation with Pete, and showed his cards a little too early there. I don’t think PPL can trust his judgment as president at this point.
Does Don really respect Pete now, or is he just screwing with him?
A non-compete clause wouldn’t have stopped Don from working at all. Depending on how it was written, it might have stopped him from working for any clients that SC had, any competitors of SC clients, or possibly even from working in New York state. But in any case, Don could move to California and work for a new set of clients.
It’s even slightly possible (although really stupid) that Don’s share of the profits is based on an informal bonus agreement, rather than a written formal partnership. FWIW I worked at an agency where one of the partners was fired. The other partners simply bought her share of the business. Ditto when the partners left the business.
The big question is whether PPL thinks Duck’s philosophy that the agency’s future lies in buying and selling time and space (which means Don will walk) is more promising than Don’s philosophy that great creative work will build the business (which will put him in continuing conflict with Duck.)
I didn’t look at it as the Brits not doing due diligence. I saw it as DUCK having missed it. A major part of his motivation was his desire to make Don bend over and pick up the soap.
Betty also waited until she learned she was pregnant. She knew there couldn’t be even an accidental consequence. (I doubt the show will give her the clap.)
But wrapped around her little finger? Don exploded in the first season when she let an air conditioning salesman into the house. When he finds out about her cheating on him we’ll see the real Draper break through.
I’m positive that next season will start just before Kennedy’s assassination and end after The Beatles on Ed Sullivan.
I was 13, the perfect age for The Beatles and the creative evolution in all the arts that the 60s brought. I’ve never stopped to think about how my parents felt in that time, with all those changes that they couldn’t understand or accept. The ones that formed me must have been a long trial to them. Adapt or die. That’s pretty heady for a cable show.
Duck was playing it as a “surprise” that he had been appointed as president – hence his remark about not really having prepared something. Even though he brokered the deal, the first time anyone officially was told Duck would be president, was when Mr. Scheffield told the SC partners – so it would not have been appropriate for Duck to have asked about Don’s contract before then.
Probably, Duck should have gone and asked the switchboard ladies about Don’s contract.
I thought she was trying to horse-ride herself into a miscarriage, since her doctor specifically told her to stop riding, but she went off to ride at every opportunity.
Also noted she lit up a cigarette at the beauty salon. Which made me cringe, even though it makes sense for the time.
I suspect what will happen is that the merger will go through (it sounds like it already HAS gone through; Bertram said “you’ve bought us”) and that Don or Roger will become the new president. (I can’t see Bert wanting to put forth the effort). I agree that Bert may have seem this coming; he’s fairly sly, and I can’t believe he wanted to trust his life’s work to Duck. Roger may have also anticipated this turn of events.
As for the contract issue, the terms of Don’s employment could have been considered separate from the partnership agreement. He was an employee and head of the Creative Department before making parner, if I recall aright. Perhaps his inclusion in the firm’s equity was structured in a similar fashion as the fourth partner, who was clearly an owner but did not work there.
I suspect Don, Bertram, & Roger all have two sources of income coming in from SC: a salary based on their job titles, and a share of the profits.
I think we’re supposed to conclude that the baby is Don’s, from when she climbed on top of him on the floor of her parents’ house when they visited her father after his stroke. She turned down the guy from the stables, which is why she set him up with Sarah Beth.
I don’t think the salesman thing was jealousy, it was power. But the balance of power has shifted. By coming back to her, Don made it clear that he can’t live without her. He was in the middle of heaven, out there in CA. Free & easy T&A, no responsibilities, nobody that knew him as anyone. The perfect opportunity for him to set up shop doing anything he wanted, under any identity he chose. But he gave it all up for his wife, kids and job back in New York. So Betty knows where his weakness is. He needs her.
She now has the upper hand in the relationship. He expressed the need and desire for her; she was aloof the whole time, even during the final awkward scene where he walked in the house. Hi and hugs for the kids, sit on the couch with the wife who barely even acknolwedged his existence.
And if he ever starts to stray again? She has that one dalliance in her back pocket, which she knows will destroy him if he ever finds out.
