Synopsis: Pete Campbell brings his affluent, but dimwitted friend Hoho to the office to discuss his plans of promoting Jai Alai in the United States. The mad men of Sterling Cooper take advantage of the gullible young man with money to burn. Meanwhile, Sally Draper is enjoying the company of grandpa Gene when tragedy strikes. Episode Summary: With her shower broken, Peggy Olson temporarily stays at her sister’s house. She informs her about her decision to leave Brooklyn for Manhattan. Anita worries that it is too far from home with their mother already living at her house, but Peggy already has her mind set for it, and is in fact looking forward to live in the city. Continue reading...
Pete Campbell’s friend Hoho walks straight into a trap at Sterling Cooper. The filthy rich young man dreams of promoting his passion for the little known sport called Jai Alai. The mad men of Sterling Cooper immediately sees a defenseless prey with a lot of money to burn, and convinces him to sign a million dollar deal to bring Jai Alai into the American spotlight. Don Draper walks into the killing and is concerned with the idea of taking advantage of the gullible moneyed kid knowing that his shipping magnate father is closely connected with Bertram Cooper.
Gene Hofstadt sits down with Betty Draper to discuss with her the arrangements for when he is gone. This bothers Betty, but her father insists. Having taken him in, Gene makes it so that Betty is made the executor of his will. He also promises her her mother’s precious belongings. It only took them minutes to discuss the arrangements, but still it ended on a bad note with Gene criticizing her for marrying a man like Don and upsetting Betty for his lack of sensitivity, him knowing full well that talk about death upsets her so.
Don Draper gives Gene another reason to dislike him. Gene brings out a big box of his old things from the war, and shows its contents to Bobby. For every object in that box, Gene had a story to go with it most of which not suitable for a boy of Bobby’s age. Don lets pass a few that made him cringe, but could not let go of the one about the German soldier Gene had killed. To add to his disapproval, his father-in-law gives Bobby the dead man’s hat with the bullet hole, dried blood and all. Don orders his son not to keep it, but Gene insists and loses when Don personally takes the hat from his son. Gene continues with Bobby’s education with a story about the fan from a woman he met in the war.
The director for the Pepsi Patio commercial dropped out at the last minute with no replacement in place, Don assigns Salvatore Romano to take the job. Sal is thrilled with the opportunity. That night, his wife puts on a newly bought nightgown and seduces him, but he brushes her off using his work as an excuse. Kitty could sense that something is wrong, and has noticed it for months now. Sal once again uses his job as an alibi citing work anxiety as the cause for the change in his behavior. He tells her that his work as art director using illustrations is quickly being replaced by photography and segues to the new opportunity Don had given him, which at first exhilarated him, but now has just put more pressure on his work. As Sal demonstrates the shot ripped off of Bye Bye Birdie, Kitty realizes what’s wrong with her husband.
As per Don’s suggestion, Lane speaks to Bert Cooper about the business with Hoho, which immediately leads to a meeting with the rich kid’s father, Horace Cook. Bert advises to pull the plug on the deal, but much to their surprise Horace orders them not to do so. Horace is fully aware of his son’s worthless dream, and he believes that the young man will only look for another agency to fulfill it. He finds it best that Sterling Cooper do the work, and is resigned to find no success in it. Horace could only hope that his son swindles all of his money, and reaches rock bottom. He believes that only then will his son would come to a realization, and maybe finally make something of himself.
Peggy puts an ad on their office bulletin board looking for a roommate. The mad men of Sterling Cooper take advantage, and seek Lois Sadler’s help with their prank. Lois gives Peggy a ring, and reads off of Paul Kinsey’s script. Lois pretends to be this young woman from New Jersey who works in a tannery in Manhattan. She goes on telling Peggy that she does not keep pets for the tannery has rubbed off on her, and the smell makes them crazy. Peggy was about to turn her down, but has a change of heart when she learns that the woman’s face is badly burned. Finally, the young woman informs her that she needs help with going to the bathroom. All in the room guffaw, and Peggy at last realizes that all was a prank.
Sally Draper enjoys the company of her grandfather. He let her drive his car for one, and now he let’s her eat ice cream before dinner. The story about her self-conscious mother being fat was just icing on a cake. Moreover, Gene tells her that she reminds her of her beloved grandmother more than her mom. He remembers that her grandmother used to work as a drafter for an engineer, and believes that Sally unlike Betty can make something of herself.
Don has dinner with Hoho and Pete Campbell to sign the foolproof deal. Hoho goes on about his real dream of actually making something that would make his father proud. After the meeting with Horace, Don is very much aware that Hoho’s father expects nothing from this, and all of them know the outcome of this endeavor. Feeling sorry for the young man, Don advises Hoho to reevaluate his obsession with Jai Alai much to Pete’s chagrin. However, Don did not count on Hoho’s idiocy. The young man thought nothing of Don’s advice, but a sales tactic to win him over. It took no time to get all signatures for the deal, and the main office is very pleased.
Peggy takes down her ad from the bulletin board. Joan gives her advice on getting a roommate. Though a successful copywriter, Peggy failed miserably in writing a personal ad. Joan found her ad too businesslike, and hits the mark on seeing what Peggy really wants out of living in Manhattan. The young copywriter on her way up the ladder wants adventure, and she certainly should not be looking for someone from her office to go with her. Peggy wastes no time to rewrite her ad, and immediately gets a response from a pleasant, outgoing girl.
Gene drives his grandchildren to school, and tells his favorite grandchild to be all-dressed and ready for her ballet lesson by the time he picks her up. Sally and Bobby wait in front of the school when Betty drives up to fetch them. Sally waits in front of their house for the return of grandpa Gene when a police car pulls up in front. She calls her mother out, and the two of them receive the painful news that Gene passed away.
Sterling Cooper runs a reel of the Patio ad, which is an exact imitation of the opening scene of Bye Bye Birdie. Much to their surprise, the executives at Pepsi found it a failure though they fairly acknowledge that it is their idea. Confused as to how it could have failed, Roger Sterling sums it up simply as “It’s not Ann-Margret.” Sal has just come to Don’s office to apologize for letting him down when Don receives the call from Betty informing him of her father’s passing. Seeing how Sal sees himself to blame for the failed Patio pitch finds the need to appease the troubled art director by telling him that he can now call himself a commercial director, and it is the only good thing that came out of their work for the Patio campaign.
Peggy gives her mother a brand new television set to put her in a good mood before breaking the news of her moving to Manhattan, which is two hours away from home. Peggy’s mother, ever ungrateful, found the new television set a ruse that only made her feel cheap.
Sally takes her grandfather’s passing really hard, and no one consoles her for all are busy consoling Betty. Later that night, Don checks on Sally now fast asleep on her bed. He then goes to Gene’s room, and stows away his folding bed.
Watch the Mad Men episode The Arrangements [HD]
Previous Mad Men episode summary: My Old Kentucky Home
Next Mad Men episode summary: The Fog
More Mad Men episode summaries
0 Comments:
Post a Comment