Basket of Kisses

April 8“22, 1962

Sunday, April 8
Brooklyn: The Church of the Holy Innocents
Peggy is seated in church with her mother and sister and two boys, presumably her nephews. Peggy, hungover (as pointed out by Anita), leaves the chapel. In the hall she meets Father Gill (Colin Hanks), a young visiting priest, punishing two young parishioners (who are standing in the corner). Turns out he is having supper with Peggy’s family this very afternoon. He gently persuades (manipulates?) her to go back inside.

The Draper home
The Drapers seem to have overslept again. They are awakened by a phone call from Caroline (a friend or something), to discuss the specifics of the edibles at that afternoon’s barbecue that Drapers were to attend. While Betty is on the phone, Don gets all hot for her and gets her to cancel–Betty tells Caroline that Don isn’t feeling well. They start making love, but are quickly interrupted by the kids, looking for breakfast. They send them downstairs for cereal, but the kids leave the door open. D’oh!

The family spends the afternoon hanging out in the living room, Sally, (bartender-in-training), serving her parents very strong Bloody Marys, and Bobby entertaining himself. He fiddles with the stereo, and Betty tells him to stop. He says he didn’t do it. Betty shoots Don a ‘did-you-hear-that-little-liar’ look.  Don does not bite. Don and Betty progress to slow-dancing to Perry Como (old man music, even then).

Brooklyn
Over in Brooklyn, we meet Gerry Respola (Jerry D. O’Donnell) Anita’s back-injured-mostly-on-the-couch-husband. Peggy opens the door to greet Father Gill just as another guest, Tootsie Yates (Cathrine Grace) arrives.

At the supper table, Anita asks Father Gill to say grace. He says a beautiful and eloquent thanks-oriented blessing. Katherine, Peggy’s mother, thanks him. And then asks him if he’s going to say grace. As dessert is being served they discuss Father Gill’s musical abilities, his trip to Rome, and Peggy’s job in Manhattan. Father Gill offers to drive Peggy to the train stop. Before leaving, he agrees to a photo with Anita, Katherine, and Tootsie (Peggy shoots the picture).

Manhattan
The Sterlings are out for dinner; Roger, Mona, Margaret (in double-stranded pearls), and Brooks, Margaret’s fiancee of two months. Margaret is not interested in planning or having a big wedding. Roger plays the ‘your mother wants you to have a big wedding’ card. Mona reminisces about her own wedding day, and Roger appears unmoved if not downright uncomfortable.

Brooklyn
In the car by the subway stop, Father Gill solicits advice from Peggy, (having heard about her professional presentations) on his upcoming Palm Sunday sermon. She gives him a few pointers.

The Draper home
The family piles onto the bed, playfully discussing Betty’s seemingly large feet. Bobby begins jumping on the bed, which collapses it. Betty gets angry and sends the kids off to bed, until Sally reminds her that no one fed them dinner. As it’s already 7:30, Betty takes the kids downstairs to make grilled cheese.

Monday, April 9
(And yet, the ‘Lunch Specials’ board says that it’s Monday, April 16th. That is just plain wrong. It also offers Bluepoint oysters for $1.50. Oh my!)
Manhattan
Marty Hasselbach, the Gorton’s client, delivers a punchline over post-lunch drinks, and Pete and Ken laugh and laugh. They are soon joined by Vicky, the hired help, who fawns appropriately (but, eww) over Hasselbach. Next Roger strolls in and says hello, and Vicky positions herself as Marty’s wife of five years. Now Roger is visibly moved.

Either Monday or Tuesday
Sterling Cooper
Bobbie Barrett shows up unannounced at Don’s office to discuss an idea for a TV show for her husband; a Candid Camera-esque show hosted by the rude Jimmy called Grin and Barrett. Don is reluctant to get involved, but agrees it’s a good idea, and advises her as to how to get Jimmy out of his Utz contract. Bobbie locks the door (observed by Joan). Don agrees to talk to the Shillings to smooth the way, and Bobbie moves in (kneepads and all) on Don.

Tuesday, April 10
Sterling Cooper
Ken and Pete are working in Ken’s office. Roger comes in, confirms their 3:00 with Hasselbach, and asks if he’s bringing the wife. Pete explains, Ken offers Roger her phone number (or others), Roger says no and leaves.

The Draper home
Don comes home from work to find that Bobby is being punished for breaking the record player and lying about it. Betty wants Don to handle it. Don takes the long walk up the stairs to Bobby’s room and speaks sternly to him about not doing it again. At the bottom of the staircase Betty is angry at Don for going so light on him, insisting that Bobby should be spanked. “You think you’d be the man you are today if your father didn’t hit you?” Don isn’t having it.

Sunday, April 15 (Palm Sunday)
The Draper home
Don is making pancakes on the griddle with Bobby at his side. Betty comes through the kitchen; she seems still angry with Don in general. The phone rings and Don answers–it’s Duck, telling Don that the American Airlines pitch has been moved up to Friday, and everyone is coming into the office to work on it. During the phone call, Bobby, mesmerized by the bubbling pancake, burns himself on the griddle. Betty comes in, snarks at Don for allowing it to happen, and insisting that if he has to go to the office, he is to take Sally while she takes Bobby to the emergency room. Sally is psyched.

Brooklyn
Over in Brooklyn, Father Gill stops by Anita’s; he is supposed to stay for another supper but instead makes apologies. He hands Anita a copy of the sermon he delivered, asking her to please give it to Peggy because she’d helped him. Anita looks pissed.

Sterling Cooper
Don and Sally arrive at Sterling Cooper where Don promptly leaves Sally in Joan’s nearly imperceptibly resentful care. In the conference room it’s nearly a full house. Pete is in a tennis sweater and teeny white shorts. Duck is in the lead, mapping out all aspects of the presentation, from introductions and staging and timing to contents of the handouts, guidelines and overall strategy. He notices Harry and asks why he is there; Harry responds that he is the head of the television department. Duck asks Don for a hint as to what the creative will be, to which Don responds that they’re not ready to do that. The meeting breaks as Don leads the creative team in a procession to his office. They pass Joan and Sally, who has been torturing Joan with a one-way discussion about having ‘big ones’.

In Don’s office, Don pours himself a drink. Peggy and (primarily) Sal present a storyboard to Don representing the TV commercials; Sal seems terribly nervous. The team also looks at a print ad, discusses menus and china patterns. Overall they are floundering; they haven’t committed to a cohesive concept/campaign. Don: I don’t know… we got a lot of bricks, but I don’t know what the building looks like.

A hotel in Manhattan
Roger opens a door and Vicky, in a stunning cocktail dress, comes into the hotel room. After she rejects his kiss, Roger negotiates for free reign. He is interested in winning her over. He also warns her that he is in poor health.

Lots of people claim to be ‘PCs’. Oh wait, that’s the commercial.

Sterling Cooper
Sally comes into Paul’s office while he’s working, and asks a lot of questions about Sheila after seeing her photograph. She is way too interested in their sexual activity for Paul’s comfort level, and he tactfully ends the conversation.

Suppertime buffet. The secretaries wait in line until all the executives are fed. The boys (Pete, Ken, Harry) discuss the perks of having AA as their client. Cooper, walking around in his argyle socks, steps in gum and fires a gum-chewing secretary, and Duck then tells her she is not fired and that Cooper won’t remember (it appears as though Duck set the whole thing up to get Cooper out of their hair). Don comes out and makes a Donspeech, inspiring, fascinating and confusing to those who have to execute solid ideas around it. Sally picks up a stray cocktail and imbibes.

The hotel
Back in the hotel room, Roger wants to take Vicky to a nice dinner. He offers buckets of money (to cover the loss of the client she will have to cancel) and she finally accepts.

Sterling Cooper
Joan and a secretary appear to be discussing Peggy and her salary, probably in reaction to having to watch Peggy eat ahead of the ‘girls’. Don picks up the passed out Sally from the couch. Both he and Joan separately notice the empty tumbler that falls from where Sally had been sleeping.

Peggy is calling in to Anita’s, speaking first to her mother–Katherine tells her she’s heading home and hands the phone to Anita, who is visibly angry. After hanging up, Anita confronts her mother for being too easy on Peggy, and Katherine blatantly ignores the topic.

Friday, April 20th (Good Friday)
Sterling Cooper
The morning of the pitch. Everyone is in the conference room, silently and solemnly putting the final touches on the room and getting into position, literally. Duck enters and tells them that Shel Kenely was fired that morning. As Shel was their contact, this means it’s over, but they have to go through the exercise of pitching (delivering a stillborn, as Don puts it).

Brooklyn
Anita goes to confession and, under the guise of confessing her own anger, tells Father Gill that Peggy had a child out of wedlock, saying that she had seduced a married man.

Sterling Cooper
In the conference room, after the pitch, everyone clears out leaving Roger, Don and Duck. Don brims with anger and ‘I told you so’. After Duck leaves, Roger talks about loving the chase, and the excitement of getting new business. He compares it to the rush of a first cigarette, though his description sounds more like a new romance.

The Draper home
Don comes home and joins the family for dinner. He makes it clear his day was not good. Betty goes on to talk about her father and brother. Bobby plays with his robot at the table and causes a spill. Betty gets angry and tells Don he has to do something. Don grabs the robot, throws it across the room, asks if that’s what she wanted, and goes upstairs. Betty chases after him, picking a larger fight. In their bedroom, things escalate, Don alludes to real violence, Betty shoves him hard, he shoves back harder, she leaves the room.

Don sits on the bed. Bobby comes in and apologizes to Don. They have a conversation about dads getting mad. Bobby asks for details about Don’s father, and Don talks about him, really describes some memories. Bobby: We have to get you a new daddy. They hug.

Later, Betty comes in to bed where Don is already on his pillow. She is still angry and fighting. Don says he will not hit Bobby, that his own father beat him badly as a child. This elicits some softness in Betty.

Sunday, April 22 (Easter Sunday)
The Church of the holy Innocents
Outside of church at the big Easter egg hunt, Father Gill and Peggy say hello and discuss the sermon she’d helped with. Father Gill hands her a blue egg, telling her it’s for the little one (presumably Anita’s youngest).

Back to Season 2 Episode List