It's been three weeks since Don has been accepted back into the arms-length-arms of SCP and as we all expected, he hasn't left his office yet. Based on his fast acceptance of their strict terms of employment at the end of the last episode, I sort of thought Don would've been a little more amiable to his coworkers and superiors. But it looks like Don has never been more frustrated or willing to throw his own private temper tantrum.
For the fair price of $100 more a week, Peggy gets the unlucky job of overseeing Don in a new business pitch. While she's hesitant to accept this "reward," she does get a bit of satisfaction in knowing that Don has to answer to her. But Don being Don, he's not going to answer to anyone. Instead he shirks his responsibility to write tags for Peggy and openly stays in his office playing solitaire and chain smoking.
And can we blame him? Well, yes, actually. Don's a dickworm who needed a kick in the pants. He's lived in a world where he was on top, in charge and could do no wrong for too long. Now at the bottom of the totem pole, Don still thinks he can rest on his laurels and expect that the company will be thankful and overjoyed that Don's charming presence has graced the halls of SCP once more. But alas, it is just Roger who is happily checking up on him to see if he's doing his job, (really, just showing up to work on time). But in the end, Don, to everyone's delight, is still working out of a dead man's office with the door closed.
Meanwhile, Mona and Roger must deal with the heartbreaking news that any parent in the tender year of 1969 dreads getting: "My daughter's in a commune?!" Roger reluctantly gets involved and the two drive upstate in an attempt to talk some sense into their daughter Margaret. A very different Margaret steps out of the dilapidated farm house and a dirty, poncho-wearing yet oddly attractive 'Marigold' descends the stairs towards her well-dressed, sophisticated parents.Mona immediately reminds Marigold of her responsibilities as a Mother and insists that she stop being selfish and not abandon her family. Marigold, clearly discovering that life is pretty sweet when you reject traditional society, tosses back some hefty insults at Mona and sweetly hand slaps her for how well she did her own job. Mona quickly resigns to the fact that Marigold will never listen to common sense and flees the scene while Roger, no stranger to the exotic call of the bohemian lifestyle, decides to stay and see what Marigold's new life is all about.
Roger gets a taste of reality after a night on the farm. Sure, he got to smoke some grass, peel some potatoes and sleep in a loft with his spiritually enlightened daughter and be "the cool dad" but things went South quickly after Marigold slinks off into the night to have sex. Come morning, Roger tries and fails at literally carrying Marigold out of this situation. Some heated words are tossed at Roger and he quickly realizes maybe he wasn't the father of the year, walking, (presumably) towards the train, covered in mud with his tail between his legs. What's interesting about Roger, is that he himself shares a bed with multiple partners of varying ages and disciplines, expands his mind on Acid and still shows up to work in a suit and tie. Seeing him on a farm, quick to jump in to the fun and play the roll, is still wearing an expensive suit at the end of day. Connected, but not all the way there to the two worlds he has his feet in.
Perhaps it wasn't meant to be called out, but I really found it interesting how the men and women were portrayed in this episode both in and out of the office. Peggy gets a raise and is put in a powerful position overseeing her former boss, only to have to cater to his whims and be patient until he comes around on his own. Marigold and her other free-loving female friends are the ones shown doing the work, peeling the potatoes and raising the children while the men, (the 'man') rolls joints and shrugs his shoulders at the mention of gathering firewood. The same man who wakes up Marigold next to her sleeping father to go have a roll in his own hay. I don't know, maybe it wasn't meant to be pointed out, but I thought this juxtaposition between the two sexes was very interesting.
The subject of man vs. technology was a huge theme during 'The Monolith.' The new, looming presence of the office computer seemed to both delight and unnerve people in different ways. (By the way, I LOVED seeing how a computer needed to be installed and take days to do so!) Don's quick friendship with Lloyd, the "LeaseTech" representative who sought advertising advice over a smoke, proved to be unlucky in that it only furthered Don's inability to feel like he's really "at work" again.
Frustrated, Don does what Don does best: proceeds to secretly binge drink in his office, breaking one of the biggest rules that will keep him employed. Valiant Freddy Rumsen comes to the rescue and brings him home to both sober him up and give him a dose of real talk. "Do the work," he says. Don says he doesn't need to hear this right now, to which Freddy says, "You're hungover, this is the best time to hear this." The talk seemed to do the trick and Don gets to work early to finish up on those tags for Peggy. For all the things we can blame Don for, being good at his job isn't one of them. I was so glad to see him back at his typewriter, clean shaven, humbled and ready to truly do the work. But as I said at the end of last week's episode: "We'll see."
