Our favorite disaster-in-progress Sally Draper is on the fast-track to Junkiehookertown in this episode. She’s taken to chatting up her old pal Creepy Glenn on the phone while he’s stashed away at some sort of poor man’s boarding school where they play dorm hallway hockey with lacrosse wickets and soccer balls. As they talk, her step-grandmother of doom trips over the phone cord and hurts her ankle, so Sally calls for help.
Meanwhile, Don and Megan are in Manhattan hosting her French-Canadian parents for a spell. Monsieur Zhou-Bisou-Bisou is a grouchy, Communist professor of sorts, and Madame Zhou-Bisou-Bisou is clearly unhappy in her marriage because she’s undressing Don with her eyes. Don is due to receive an award from the American Cancer Society people for his full-page, career-risking rejection of Lucky Strike, and they are in town to attend the dinner and generally act obnoxious. Sally and her brother head into Manhattan since step-grandma is now on the DL to have dinner with Don and the Zhou-Bisou-Bisous.
The next day, Megan has an idea for the to-date impossible Heinz baked beans campaign that involves scenes of mothers serving baked beans to their children since the beginning of time and into the future. Don loves it, possibly because he can use it and still hasn’t had to do any actual work (as Robert Cooper intimated in the last episode). So the creative team now has to shift to Megan’s concept, which thrills them since she’s schtooping the boss.
Over cocktails, Roger tells his first wife Mona about his LSD trip, and he gets all insightful and psychoanalytical, which Mona seems to find charming. She agrees to help Roger mine her connections at Don’s awards dinner for more business.
Peggy confides to Joan that she suspects that her boyfriend Abe is ready to dump her because he’s invited her to dinner on a work night and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Joan gently explains that he’s probably going to propose. “Men don’t take the time to end things. They ignore you until you insist on a declaration of hate.” This is why you take your man problems to Joan. She is such the wise sage.
At dinner, though, Abe asks a very nicely dressed Peggy to move in with him – not quite the commitment she was expecting. She looks disappointed at first but quickly perks up and says yes, enthusiastically. Peggy’s mom is not enthusiastic about this cohabitation with Jewish Abe. But Joan says she’s proud of her, and that her decision was brave.
Don, Ken, and their wives take the Mr. Heinz Pain in the Beans and his wife to dinner. In the restroom, Mrs. Beans implies to Megan that they’re not getting the business. I got a kick out of Ken saying, mid-conversation, “Now there’s no teeth, so nothing should change,” as Megan returned to the table. Oh now there are teeth, and there will be change!
Megan acts fast, whispers to Don that they’re being fired, and they quickly launch into a wistful conversation/pitch about families eating beans at dinner. It is a success, and Mr. Beans gives it the go-ahead. The atmosphere at SCDP is celebratory the next day as Megan tells Peggy about her victory, assuming she might be upset because Pain in the Beans didn’t like Peggy’s campfire Beauty of Beans campaign idea, or her Bean Ballet idea for that matter. But Peggy is gracious and congratulates her, saying, “This is as good as this job gets. Savor it.” Megan looks a little disappointed to hear this.
Sally somehow convinces Don to let her go to the awards dinner, so she appears in her finest Megan-selected outfit, complete with sparkly mod dress, makeup and white go-go boots. Monsieur Zhou-Bisou-Bisou reminds an unnerved Don, “No matter what, one day your little girl will spread her legs and fly away.” This is jarringly true. Don needs no such reminding.
He tells her to ditch the makeup and the boots, and they head to the dinner, where she is Jolly Roger’s “date.” This is great fun, with Roger jokingly calling her a “mean drunk” and having her hold onto the business cards he collects. Don gets his award, but then everything turns south. Don finds out that the people at the dinner (potential clients) love his work but not him — they see him as untrustworthy and disloyal for turning his back on Lucky Strike. Megan’s dad tells her that he hates that she gave up on her dreams to be Mrs. Draper. And Sally catches Mme Zhou-Bisou-Bisou, um, Zhou-Bisou-Bisouing Roger in a private room. She is mortified.
Later Glenn asks Sally how her night in the city was, and she responds, “Dirty.” Oh dear. Talk about growing up too fast.
Clearly Megan has big ambitions and is realizing that Don might be holding her back. What’s her dream, anyway? And how long until Sally starts working the streets, or at least sneaking out of town to visit Creepy Glenn? Her eating disorder is now established (and seemingly accepted) – what’s next?