Try 30 days of free premium.

The Rejected Recap

During a conference call, Don and Roger tag team Lucky Strike's Lee Garner Jr., attempting to ease his concerns about new restrictions on cigarette advertising. When it's not his turn to dissemble, Don fixes cocktails, green-lights Peggy's “indulge yourself” concept for Pond's and grants Faye's request to moderate a focus group with the secretaries.

Roger and Lane, meanwhile, inform Pete that Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce must drop Clearasil, his father-in-law Tom’s account. A Pond's executive claims that the companies' products conflict, and the Pond's billings are more valuable.

Back on the phone with Lee, Roger insists that the agency isn't overbilling Lucky Strike. Don pretends there is a fire down by Radio City, providing them with an excuse to hang up.

Harry tells Pete about a recent outing with Ken. "Kenny's the competition," Pete criticizes. Ken has Mountain Dew, Harry says, inviting Pete to lunch with them the next day.

Peggy meets Joyce, an assistant photo editor at Life magazine. Joyce shows Peggy rejected photographs taken by a friend. "My boss hates nudes," Joyce explains.

Tom preempts Pete's Clearasil announcement by congratulating him on Trudy's pregnancy. Tom berates himself after realizing that Pete didn't already know. "I feel like my heart's going to burst," says Pete, neglecting to deliver the Clearasil news.

Back at home, Pete assures Trudy he doesn’t care how he heard, musing, "It feels much different than I expected." "How would you know what this feels like?" she asks. Trudy suggests that she tell her father about Clearasil.

Faye's intentionally self-deprecating remarks set a lighthearted tone for the focus group. Don, Freddy, and Peggy watch from behind a two-way mirror. The conversation turns somber when a woman named Dottie laments that her boyfriend never really noticed her. "It's worse when they notice sometimes," mumbles Allison, looking at the mirror. Don shifts in his chair.

Pete, meanwhile, confesses to Lane that he didn't cut Clearasil loose. He's going to be a father, Pete says. "That should take the sting out of all this," says Lane before quickly apologizing.

Back in the focus group, Dottie sobs, "I gave him everything, and I got nothing." Allison bolts away in tears; Peggy leaves to console her. "They just want to get married," Freddy concludes.

"People cry in these things all the time," Peggy tells Allison. "I can't even say anything because I know he's right out there," says Allison. "You must have gone through everything I've gone through." "Your problem is not my problem," Peggy snaps.

Over lunch, Ken accuses Pete of backstabbing. Pete apologizes for any perceived slights, then the two laugh over Ken’s description of life at McCann after the takeover. Ken expresses doubt that his success with Mountain Dew will convince Pepsi to let his agency promote its core product lines.

Explaining that working with him is too awkward, Allison tells Don she’s quitting and asks for a recommendation letter. “Type up whatever you want, and I'll sign it," Don replies. Allison hurls a paperweight at him and stalks away.

Joyce invites Peggy to a party that her photographer friend is holding downtown.

Trudy and Pete host her parents for dinner. "I'm done auditioning," Pete tells Tom. Success on Clearasil was supposed to lead to "a shot at the big one," Vicks Chemical. "You want the cough syrup?" asks Tom. "I want all of it," Pete demands.

Peggy meets Joyce at the party inside a noisy downtown loft. Joyce offers Peggy a joint, then nibbles her ear. "I have a boyfriend," Peggy says. "He doesn't own your vagina," Joyce replies. "No, but he's renting it," laughs Peggy.

Don, meanwhile, returns home drunk. He begins typing an apology letter to Allison, but stops after one line.

Back at the loft, a writer named Abe dismisses Peggy's copywriting. Peggy compliments Joyce's friend Kellogg on his nudes. "We're looking for photographers," she says. "Art in advertising?" he asks. "Why would anyone do that after Warhol?"

A police raid interrupts the conversation. Abe and Peggy hide in a closet. Abe kisses her before she and Joyce flee down the fire escape.

At work the next day, Don greets Miss Blankenship, his elderly new secretary. "What'd you do to make them take her out of mothballs?" jokes Roger. Pete announces that he's about to sign the entire Vicks Chemical cough line.

A secretary asks Peggy and Joey to sign a card for Pete and Trudy. Peggy walks to Pete's office and congratulates him. Returning to her own office, she bangs her head against the desk.

Faye informs Don that the discussion group rejected Peggy’s “indulge yourself” concept. She proposes that ads should link Pond's to matrimony. "Hello, 1925," scoffs Don. "You stick your finger in people's brains, and they just start talking," he continues. "Not only does it have nothing to do with what I do, it's nobody's business."

Peggy leaves for lunch with Joyce just as Pete and other executives prepare to take Tom out. Joyce's crew hangs outside the reception area. Standing with them, Peggy looks over her shoulder at Pete. He catches her gaze.

Outside his apartment that evening, Don watches as his elderly female neighbor wheels her groceries down the hallway. "Did you get pears?" her husband asks repeatedly. "We'll discuss it inside," she says.

Source: AMC.com

Written by MichaelDeBoey on Oct 29, 2015

Try 30 days of free premium.