It's the fortieth anniversary of Sterling Cooper and Don is to receive an award at the anniversary banquet. Don spends the night prior to the banquet with Suzanne. Don meets Suzanne's brother Danny, an epileptic, who has a chance to work as a janitor with people who hire the disabled. Don offers to take Danny to the job, but Danny tells Don he doesn't want to do that kind of job the rest of his life, and has Don drop him off far from his supposed destination. Don lies to Suzanne about it.
While Don is away, Betty finds the keys to his private desk, which she has been trying to get into since before Gene was born. It contains Don's shoebox of past mementos — his dogtags as Dick Whitman, pictures of him and Adam, and his certificate of divorce from Anna. Betty, watching Don at the banquet, realizes she doesn't know her husband at all.
Pryce is tasked with making sure Bert Cooper comes to the banquet, as the latter is feeling the effects of age and had been planning to skip. When he questions the home office about this, he's told the company which owns Sterling Cooper plans to sell it to the highest bidder.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes.
- Bait-and-Switch: After Don is dismissive of the ideas Peggy comes up with for Western Union, and irritated when Kinsey won't explain why he didn't come up with any ideas, Kinsey reluctantly admits he had an idea, but forgot to write it down (see "Eureka!" Moment below), and he doesn't remember it. Instead of becoming even more angry, Don sighs and admits he hates it when that happens. The three then are able to spitball an idea to work on, and Don tells Kinsey things worked out for the best.
- Book Ends: The episode begins with Kinsey presenting a proposal for a television commercial advertising Aqua Net hairspray; when Don disputes some bits of it, Peggy improvises a solution on the spot. Kinsey is irate that Peggy made him look bad in front of the boss. But when Paul blows the brilliant idea for Western Union's telegram service, all he's left with is a Chinese platitude: "The faintest ink is better than the sharpest memory." Peggy
Ass Pulls this into the entire Western Union campaign ("You can't frame a phone call"). This time the look Kinsey gives her is one of respect, even awe. - Blatant Lies: Don comes up with two. When asked about the quality of the workplace where he took Miss Farrell's brother, he answers it was nice. And when Betty asks Don where he was all night he answers, "I told you I was with Hilton."
- Dark Secret: Don keeps a number of documents locked up because he has a major secret to hide.
- "Eureka!" Moment: While talking to a janitor late at night in the office building, Kinsey comes up with an idea for a pitch for Western Union. Unfortunately, he forgets to write it down, and can't remember it the next morning.
- Hot Teacher: Suzanne is this.
- Modesty Bedsheet: A Sex Position scene presents Suzanne beneath a bed sheet.
- New Media Are Evil: Peggy tries to exploit this by playing it down. She wants to develop an ad campaign for telegrams. She proposes that the telephone is not so much evil as unreliable, because there's no permanent record of it.
- No Social Skills: Danny's disability gives him this impression because his condition will alienate him from people he'd need to impress.
- Potty Failure: Discussed Trope. Danny insists that when he wets his pants while having a seizure, anyone who's witnessed it will not give him another chance.
- Self-Made Man: Deconstructed. Don tells Danny that if he works as a janitor he can go on to become a great success, like Don. Danny points out that even if he is a competent worker, his epilepsy will always alienate him from the people whom he'd have to impress to become successful.
- True Blue Femininity: Betty invokes this in the ice silver and blue gown she wears to the dinner commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the agency.
- Wham Line: "Sterling Cooper is for sale."
