Okay, wow... This show isn't as different from The Sopranos as we might have thought. Because it turns out that Don, who seems to be imploding a little, isn't above employing the threat of sexual violence to get what he wants.
But let's start from the beginning. At the expensive stable where Betty rides her horses, she's spending time with Arthur Case, a boyish young squire who's trying to learn how to ride in order to please his fiancee. (When the horse doesn't follow directions, Betty gives him some advice that perfectly encapsulates this episode's view of male-female relationships: "Just pull up on the reins, straighten her out.... She needs to be told what to do.") As expected, Arthur eventually makes a play for Betty... and Betty, who loves attention and little boys in equal measure, puts him off, but not that convincingly. And afterward, her hands start shaking again. (Their conversation includes another casually hilarious exchange. Arthur: "You're so profoundly sad." Betty, who obviously is: "No -- It's just my people are Nordic.")
Back at the office, Harry is accidentally gets Ken's paycheck, which he opens... only to discover that his slick coworker makes $300 a week, to Harry's $200. He calls his pregnant wife to ask what to do, and she essentially tells him to grow a pair. So he calls a buddy at CBS to ask about job possibilities, but the guy thinks he'll be losing his own job soon. Why? The network hasn't been able to find sponsors for an episode of a lawyer show called The Defenders, in which a woman has an illegal abortion. (This is another Mad Men slice of reality, as the controversial episode actually did air in 1962.)
Harry convinces his bosses that they should try to get their clients to buy some prime-time ad spots during the show, which are dirt cheap because nobody else wants them. The clients don't want to be associated with the show either, but boss-man Cooper is impressed with Harry's initiative. As a result, Roger offers him a couple of free wishes. For the first, he's allowed to form a new TV department, of which he'll be both the supervisor and the sole employee. He also asks for a raise, and gets one -- but only to $225, because Roger lies to his face and assures him that nobody on his level makes close to $300.
Meanwhile, there's trouble on a commercial set, and everyone's to blame. A comedian named Jimmy Barrett is drunkenly filming an ad for Utz potato chips, while his minder, the equally drunken Freddy, falls asleep on the job. Ken decides to drop by the set with Utz's owners, a Mr. and Mrs. Schilling. But when they get there, Jimmy immediately begins making vicious fun of Mrs. Schilling's weight. The couple leaves, angry and mortified.
Everyone gathers in Don's office to deal with the fallout, and he chews out Ken for taking the couple to the set without asking. Ken responds that they stopped by Don's office first, but he wasn't there. (We know that Don wasn't out banging some exotic woman for a change, but as part of his new, more passive lifestyle, was watching a dull foreign film in an art-house movie theater.) So now Don's on the hook too, for which he blames the fact that new secretary Lois didn't cover for him properly. He tells her she's not cut out for the job -- which is true -- and sends her back to the switchboard. Joan, on the other hand, knows exactly how to handle executives' special needs, and she agrees to fill in for a while. So we'll see where that goes.
Don realizes that in order to fix the crisis, he needs to make Jimmy apologize to the Schillings. But to get to the star, he has to go through attractive wife/manager Bobbie -- and we can guess what that means. He offers her a ride, and it starts to hail outside, fogging up the windows. She kisses him, and he says no, but she points out that part of his body is clearly saying "yes." And Don, who was raised in poverty, can never let anything go to waste, particularly a boner. So with that, Don the adulterer is back in business.
Now that Don apparently has the apology in hand, he decides that the perfect setting for it would be the schmancy New York restaurant Lutèce, so he arranges for all three couples -- him and Betty, the Schillings, and Jimmy and Bobbie -- to dine there together. But when they arrive, Jimmy forgets all about the apology, and instead starts hitting on poor Betty. Don confronts Bobbie in the bathroom, where she informs him that they have an airtight contract with Sterling Cooper that keeps her in control, and the apology will now cost a cool 25 grand.
This is where things get really ugly: Don holds her, and we think he's about to initiate some inappropriately timed nookie. But instead, he suddenly grabs her under her dress, and with his hand on her nether region, says menacingly, "Believe me, I will ruin him. Do what I say." (It's unclear whether or not she's supposed to be seen as partly enjoying this -- on the show's video blog, writer/creator Matthew Weiner says, "Don's force is unwelcome and welcome.") The shocking tactic works -- back at the table, she indicates to her husband that he should say he's sorry, and he does, grudgingly.
On the way home, Betty is crying over being leered at all night, though she says it's because she's happy that Don finally seems to be including her in his business. But she has no idea what's really going on. Which is that Don's back, and he's worse than ever.
Image: AMC
Previously:
Mad Men Recap: Something Special in the Air
Mad Men Recap: The Shock of the New