Did anyone else think he actually ran over someone when that woman screamed? I did at first.
Or they just make Peggy Creative Director (acting); she’s been the #2 in the department since season 4. Of course if he really is Don’s replacement it means they were lying about it being a suspension & never intended to allow Don back; especially since they brought literally brought him in on the same day they got rid of Don. Also Peggy getting passed over like that (combined with her breakup w/Ted) will probably be the catalyst for her leaving to start her own agency. Either way it’ll sure make for an interesting final season.
No, that was my point. If they were going to make Peggy the head of creative, they didn’t need to bring in the guy with Duck. Since they did bring him in, Peggy is not going to be head of creative. Also if Joan was correct about Ted overseeing Peggy from afar, she is still not head of creative.
And, yes, they were not being forthright with Don. He immediately realized when he saw Duck that they had not wanted Don to know about his replacement. Duck, since he’s a jackass, probably came in early so Don would know he’s being replaced.
Peggy doesn’t have the money or client list to start her own agency. She could possibly leave to become head of creative at a small, boutique agency (like SCDP used to be).
I (and most of the recaps I’ve read) believe the replacement was for Pete, not Don. It seemed fairly obvious to me. This show can be astonishingly subtle, so I’m not positive, but I think Peggy will head Creative until Don possibly dries out. But we’ll see!
eta: obviously Ted will be the head in California, but she’ll be the acting head, so whatevs
Since Don is apparently being shown the door, and Peggy is never going anywhere at SC&P, I’m predicting that they wind up opening their own firm together.
Sure, the question of Don’s presumed non-competition clause would need to be worked out, and there’s the small matter of Peggy hating Don’s guts…but I’m sure all that could be worked out in a dramatically satisfying manner.
There is no sting in Don meeting Duck with Pete’s replacement. The sting comes from the guy being Don’s replacement. Since they went to the trouble of setting up the background on Duck’s headhunting earlier in the season, it’s obviously a key element to the season.
Also, there’s no dramatic tension in Pete being replaced. Pete is replaceable – the business goes on unaffected by Pete not being in NY or not at SC&P. Heck, Pete was replaced at Chevy by Bob, who was so easily hired that no one can actually remember doing so. Also, Pete is a partner, even if a junior partner. They’d have to buy him out if he was leaving, and since Don actually paid his partnership fees, that’d be way more complicated than what we saw.
Don is the one who is critical to the business of SC&P – they need a creative director to reassure clients. He’s the one they need to replace. And, ultimately, the show’s significant events revolve around him.
Eh, I don’t think it makes sense that its Don’s replacement either. If they were going to fire him, why go through the dance of pretending its a suspension? How can they fire their creative lead and hire a new one without telling one of the Partners? Plus Roger, Cooper and Joan all like Don (and Ted owes him for giving up CA), it seems kind of unlikely they’d all vote for firing him without talking to him in private first.
(plus it was heavily implied that the other partners had voted on what to do earlier that morning. Pretty unlikely they’d set up an interview just an hour or so after they’d created the vacancy, on Thanksgiving morning no less).
Duck’s there to gloat because Don is suffering from a problem similar to the one that wrecked his career. The guy he’s bringing in is just to fill out the office positions being left by people going to Chicago/CA.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the nameless new guy Lou Avery, played by Allan Havey?
The IMDB synopsis page seems to think he’s clearly Don’s replacement, but I don’t think I’m giving that much weight. My guess is that Lou’s coming in because Don is leaving, but he’s not Don’s replacement - Lou’s either taking on Pete’s work, or Peggy’s, or whoever else is taking on Don’s work.
The primary issue of these “Don & Peggy Inc” dreams is of course that Peggy hates Don at this point. At the very least, she has no respect for him.
The second issue is that Don has a lot of money and could open a business for himself. Peggy has a shitbox rat infested apartment she can’t sell. There’s no logical way for them to go into a new business as equal partners and I can’t imagine Peggy going in essentially as Don’s employee.
If I recall correctly, Don was made a partner after Roger’s heart attack because they wanted to assure clients of continuity. But, I believe that Don was forced to sign a contract only when Putnam Powell & Lowe insisted before executing the merger.
Don’s current partnership is something that he, Cooper and Lane cooked up when they organized a new company over a holiday weekend. They found out they were about to be sold off and they organized a new company very quickly. IIRC, first Lane had to fire them all. Then the Brits fired Lane.
Yeah, but he was offered a partnership before that. Back when it was still just the original Sterling Cooper.
Don didn’t want to sign because he didn’t want to pin himself down with his stolen identity. To Roger and Bert, they were offering a considerable sum of money and Don was just being stubborn… or keeping his options open to move to another firm. This was around when the other firm was using Betty in their ad and sending Don golf clubs. As I recall (and I haven’t seen them since they first aired), Don was finally given something of an ultimatum to either sign on or risk losing his job.
This was before the Putnum buy-out since I remember wondering at the time if they could do the deal without Don (partner) being present, Don being MIA in California at the time.
Don has no respect for Duck, and a big part of that is tied to Duck’s own history of alcoholism. Over the years, Duck got a reputation for drunken unpredictability, ranting at clients and partners, and even getting in a drunken brawl with Don after being caught trying to crap on Roger’s office chair. When Don sees Duck getting off of the elevator, he realizes that no matter how poorly he thinks of Duck, the partners see Duck as someone who’s more reliable and valuable at this point than Don.
I don’t think it was Duck’s alcoholism that bothered Don. I don’t think Don has ever been bothered by alcoholism. Son hated the way that Duck aggressively went after new business and threw away old clients easily just for a shot at a bigger one v
Yeah, Duck the Dog Killer has a lot more wrong with him than just being a drunk. I think Don hates him in large part because he dated (and consequently hurt) Peggy. Don doesn’t like when people hurt Peggy, even though he does it all the time. But hypocrisy is another of his numerous flaws, so…