Episode 2.13: Meditations in an Emergency
October 22 through 26, 1962 (Kennedy’s speech was on Monday, the 22nd; Putnam, Powell and Lowe meet with Sterling Cooper on Friday the 26th)
October 22, 1962
Office of Doctor Aldrich
Betty sits on the exam table. Doctor Aldrich enters, wearing a scarf and apologizing for the lack of heat. He references an appointment last week, and tells Betty she is pregnant. He tells her to take it easy, and specifically not to ride. Betty raises the issue of abortion (without using the word) and the doctor says it is not an option for a “married woman of means.” He asks her to change for her exam, but as soon as he is gone, she leaves.
Sterling Cooper
Ken walks into Harry’s office, where Peggy and Paul already sit. Harry is getting everyone’s sales projections early, he doesn’t know why. He notes that Clearasil is missing from the report. They discuss why Don might still be absent.
Peggy goes into Pete’s office. He’s waiting for a call from North American Aviation. She asks him if he’s told anyone about Clearasil, he hasn’t. She tells him about the “emergency accounting.” She advises Pete to tell Duck the truth.
At the Stables
Betty rides up, dismounts, sees Don. They talk, he wants their marriage back. She is reluctant. He wants to see the kids, she tells him she’ll call to make arrangements.
Sterling Cooper
Pete enters Duck’s office. Duck offers him a drink and pours for them both. Pete tells Duck they’ve lost Clearasil. Duck realizes right away it’s a family issue. Duck confides in him that they are merging, tells him that Clearasil would have been a conflict anyway. He tells Pete he wants him as Head of Accounts and that he will be President. He asks for Pete’s confidentiality. Pete asks what Don thinks, and Duck says it doesn’t matter, he will be president and Don can’t do a thing about it.
Don’s Hotel
Kennedy is giving the Cuban Missile Crisis speech. Don picks up the phone, begins to dial, hangs up, and goes back to watching the television.
October 23–25, 1962 (it’s unclear how many of the following events take place on the same day, but it is all after Kennedy’s speech on Monday, and before the PPL meeting on Friday)
Sterling Cooper
Don enters the office, wet from rain. Everyone has news radio on. He is greeted warmly by Hildy and Joan. He greets Peggy, noting her office and haircut. Then he meets with Joan in his office about what’s going on, sets up meetings with the copywriters and Sal, and then Roger. She inquires about informing people about safety protocol, Don thinks it’s pointless.
Then Pete enters, angry that Don abandoned him. Don suggests he left Pete there because he knew he could handle it, and Don praises Pete for his performance out there. Pete is mollified and smiles warmly as he leaves.
Don enters Roger’s office. Roger tells Don that the company has been sold to Putnam, Powell and Lowe. He reveals that Duck put the deal together in a bar, informs Don that he’s engaged, and lies to Don that it was Alice and Bert Cooper who wanted the deal, while he reluctantly agreed.
The Church of the Holy Innocents
Father Gill ties the threat of nuclear war into a contemplation of forgiving those who transgress against us, and to preparing ourselves to meet God.
Peggy sits with her mother and bows her head as Father Gill says we are all sinners.
The Hair Salon
The women gossip; they are afraid. One woman doesn’t want talk about the crisis in front of her daughter. Francine gets up to leave, but sees Betty doesn’t look well. They talk. Betty says she’s pregnant and again suggests abortion. Francine knows of a doctor in Albany. Francine hugs her and leaves.
Sterling Cooper
Paul, Sal and Ken are in Harry’s office, trying to get the TV to work. Harry sees a memo asking for a headcount and realizes something big is going on. Figuring “someone knows what’s going on,” Ken pulls Lois out of the switchboard room and they ask her questions about what’s going on. Finally Sal says “We’ll really owe you.” Lois tells them the merger is in the works. The men are upset.
October 25, 1962 (The note Don wrote was delivered the next day, and Leave it to Beaver was on Thursday nights.)
Don’s Hotel
A knock at the door, the kids come in, Sally hugs Daddy enthusiastically and Bobby punches him. Don invites Betty to join them for dinner, but she refuses, saying she has plans, and asks him to drop them off in the morning.
We see Betty gazing at a store window, then enter a bar with shopping bags. She orders a gimlet and a man pays for it, then comes to say hello. She thanks him for the drink and cuts off the conversation. She knocks her drink back while listening to news.
At the hotel, Don eats dinner with the kids in the bed. Sally tells a knock-knock joke.
At the bar, Betty, drunk enough to be speaking kind of deliberately, asks the bartender to watch her things. She gives the guy who bought her drink a look as she walks a little drunkenly towards the ladies room. It’s occupied, and she stands and waits, the guy approaches, then kisses her for a long time. She pulls him to her. He takes her into an office, and as she goes in, she says “I’m married.” They quickly undress each other and she leads him to a couch. The have sex partially dressed.
Meanwhile, the kids watch Leave it to Beaver as Don writes something.
Finished, Betty and the guy get dressed and leave, he again asking for her name, but she doesn’t answer.
Church of the Holy Innocents
Peggy brings baked goods into the church kitchen, apparently in case they need to use the church basement as a bomb shelter. Father Gill talks with her. He insists she should unburden herself or she will go to Hell, she says she doesn’t believe that and leaves.
The Draper Home
Betty comes home with her shopping bags, puts them down in the kitchen, and eats a chicken leg out of the fridge, in the dark.
The Campbell Home
Trudy is packing up to leave New York. Pete mocks her for packing the silver, and for not understanding that Rehobeth Beach is not a safe place in case of attack. She tells him if he loved her, he’d go with her, and he says “You’re right,” and does not volunteer to go.
October 26, 1962
Sterling Cooper
Harry tells Ken, Sal, and Paul that the merger meeting must be today. Pete joins them. They discuss the merger and Pete leaves to speak with Don in Don’s office. He tells Don that Duck will be president. Don thanks him for the information.
The Draper Home
Betty gets home from riding and finds a letter from Don. It is the letter he wrote in the hotel the night before.
Sterling Cooper
In the conference room, senior staff meets with PPL. The PPL people say Duck will be president, and Duck feigns surprise. Duck’s speech immediately diminishes Creative’s importance. Don bows out of being a part of such an agency, and Duck tries to control him, demanding he honor his contract. Don says he doesn’t have a contract and walks out. Duck loses his temper, letting slip that he put the deal together. The Powell guy asks Duck to leave, and they continue discussing the merger, effectively removing Duck from the equation.
Don heads towards his office, and Joan tells him Betty called and wants him to come home. Don tells Joan to go home as well.
Pete takes a drink from his office and steps into the open area. The company is almost empty. He smiles at Peggy and invites her to join him for a drink, she accepts. He confesses that he loves her, and she tells him that she had his baby and gave it away. Choked up, she leaves him staring and confused.
The Draper Home
Don comes home and sits on the couch with Betty, the kids are on the floor.
Sterling Cooper
Pete sits alone in the dark with his rifle.
Peggy’s Apartment
Peggy in bed, clasps her hands in prayer, crosses herself, and shuts the light.
The Draper Home
Don has just put the kids to bed and Betty says she has to tell him something. She tells him she’s pregnant. Don looks stricken, they both sit with pained expressions until at last he opens his hand to her. She takes it.
