Faye brings the secretaries together for a focus group for Pond's, and Allison breaks down about her encounter with Don the previous Christmas. She confronts him, glass objects are smashed, and Cooper gets Don a new secretary he's sure not to have sex with -– the elderly Miss Blankenship.
Meanwhile, Peggy befriends a flirtatious lesbian photographer who works at Life magazine, who introduces her to a pretentious avant-garde photographer during an underground showing/party/whatever in Greenwich Village. The party gets shut down by the police, but Peggy hides out with an...interesting journalist and sparks fly. And Pete has to drop his father-in-law's account– unless he can get all of Vick Chemical– which is harder because he's just found out Trudy is pregnant.
This episode contains examples of:
- The Ace: Pete is immediately intimidated when he learns Ken is returning, as he was always this to Pete at Sterling Cooper.
- Berserk Button: Two.
- Joan doesn't take it well when, Caroline states that she and Joan are both "married and old" for why they're not asked to participate in the Ponds focus group, and is seething over it.
- When Peggy is comforting Allison, the latter asks Peggy how she deals with Don, implying that she slept with Don too and Peggy angrily tells her to buck up.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Allison proves this, after being a quiet and good-natured secretary for four seasons, she throws a paperweight at Don and calls him out.
- The Bus Came Back: Ken Cosgrove, Accounts.
- Held Gaze: Between Pete and Peggy. Despite their accord, the Dark Secret they share still weighs heavy.
- Jerkass: Don comes across as this to Allison, given that he even tries to get her to write her own reference for him. But he's outdone by Lee Garner Jnr., even though we only see Don and Roger's side of their telephone conversation with him.
- It Meant Something to Me: Allison tells Don how angry she is at him for regarding their hook-up as just another one night stand.
- Put on a Bus: Allison actually buys a ticket straight out of SCDP and into a women's magazine.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Allison puts it plain to Don.I don't usually say this but you're not a good person!
- Yiddish as a Second Language: Those goniffs at NBC are screwing Harry.
