Don gets a dreaded Urgent Message from Stephanie in California, and begins a long day of drinking to fortify himself for the inevitable horrible news. Roger, ever the frat boy, is planning a way to sneak a flask into the pre-fight dinner with Freddy Rumsen and his Ponds client, who are both in AA, rather than have to endure the meal without cocktails. Still not sure when or how Roger will crash and burn, but I sense it’s coming soon.
The agency has been working on Samsonite, and Don hated the commercial idea the team pitched earlier in the day with Joe Namath. Endorsements are lazy, he says, and Joe Namath isn’t exactly a household name yet. (We’re years away from “Broadway Joe”.) When Don shoots down all of Peggy’s ideas from the afternoon brainstorming session and says they’ll do it right then, they’re both so annoyed for so many different reasons. Sure, some of it’s directed at each other, but as we’ll soon see, that’s not the half of it.
