One of the Jaguar executives, Herb Rennett, has designs on Joan, all but saying outright that it's no dice if he doesn't get to sleep with her. Pete's willing to consider it merely the cost of business and approaches her, and then the other partners, with the proposition. Don isn't having it for even a second, but the other partners are less firmly opposed; Lane even offers her full partnership and a 5% share in the company to get her to consider it. Don goes as far as to go to Joan's home to plead with her not to do it, saying they don't need to do business with Jaguar if that's the cost. However, he's too late since Joan's meeting with the Jaguar executive happened earlier that night. In the end, Don makes his presentation, and Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce secures its first big car account.
Peggy, once again feeling taken for granted, accepts an offer from Ted Chaough. At first, Don just thinks she's asking for a raise, until it truly sinks in. She tries to give notice, but ends up leaving during the Jaguar celebrations.
In other developments, Pete wants an apartment in Manhattan and Trudy wants a second child, but neither will budge. Don is happy that Megan got a callback on an audition—until he realizes that getting the part means she'd be off in Boston for three months. She ends up not getting the part, and he appears to feel bad for her, but having already seen his true feelings come out once, Megan knows better.
This episode contains examples of:
- All for Nothing: Don tries to stop Joan from sleeping with the Jaguar executive but it's too late. He arrives at her house after she already slept with him.
- All Men Are Perverts: Discussed by Peggy and Freddy.Freddy: I worked on the Plymouth account ... Car guys are creeps.Peggy: They're all creeps.
- Bittersweet Ending: SCDP gets the Jaguar account, and Joan becomes a partner in the company. However...
- The partnership is her price for literally prostituting herself.
- Don's upset that getting the account owed as much (if not more) to the above as it did to all that hard work Creative had put into the presentation. Especially given that he tried to talk her out of it.
- Peggy, fed up with being taken for granted, finally snaps and leaves. At what should be a moment of triumph, Don has his protégé walk out on him and can barely hold back the tears.
- Call-Back: Don throwing money in Peggy's face recalls their conversation in "The Suitcase" about how he never showed her any appreciation, to which he replied: "That's what the money is for". Trudy's comment about wanting her daughter to grow up in the "fresh air" of the suburbs is a subtle reference to the recent smog in New York.
- Comically Small Bribe: Invoked by Freddy in jest, who suggests he'll make some discreet inquiries for Peggy for opportunities at other firms, provided she buys him another slice of pie.
- Commuting on a Bus: Freddy, who's meeting up with Peggy for lunch and offering career advice.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: After holding down the other accounts while everyone else in Creative department (plus freelancers) was handling Jaguar, and saving another account, Peggy is still treated dismissively by Don. This prompts her to start looking for other jobs.
- Madonna-Whore Complex: Invoked when reliable and sturdy Sedans are compared to wives while the sporty but tempramental Jaguars are compared to mistresses. This is later discarded in favor of a pitch that outright states that, unlike a beautiful woman, a Jaguar is something of beauty that a man can actually own.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After Peggy gives notice to Don, he quickly realizes that she wouldn't be leaving if it weren't for him taking her for granted. Worse, she's leaving for Cutler Gleason and Chaough.
- Once More, with Clarity: when Don learns that Joan is thinking of going through with it, he interrupts her at her apartment. The next scene is Don giving his pitch to the Jaguar execs, intercut with scenes of Joan going through with it and returning home to take a shower... Where she is interrupted by Don showing up to tell her not to go through with it.
- Only Sane Man:
- Or rather, only decent man, and subtly done. Ken makes his disgust at Herb's proposition clear but is over-ruled by Pete (who, being a junior partner, is senior to him). Later, he can't sing Peggy's praises enough when she single-handedly saves the Chevalier Blanc account — in contrast to Don, who doesn't seem to care.
- Less subtly, Don is the only partner whose reaction to Herb's proposition is "No. Just... No." He maintains this attitude throughout, to the point that the partners — who are in no way as principled — don't bother to call a vote until he's already made his dramatic exit. (The vote is 4 in favor and 0 against for some reason.)
- Property of Love: Of a sort, in the pitch, Don compares driving and possessing Jaguars with "owning" beautiful women.
- Redhead In Green: Herb invokes this by giving Joan an emerald and gold necklace he bought her, thinking that it would look good on a woman of her complexion and less-invoked, her hair.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Lane correctly points out that the amount of money Joan is being offered is only equivalent to a few years' worth of wages, and that a partnership in the company will be worth a lot more in the longer run. However, Lane's underlying reason is as much preventing the discovery of his embezzlement as it is doing right by Joan.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Peggy, after Don throws dollar bills at her face during an argument, decides to leave for another agency where she will have an elevated title and higher salary.
- Shout-Out: Pete's reading Goodnight Moon to Tammy.
- Shower of Angst: Joan was about to take one when her Mother informs her that Don has come into their apartment after she had slept with Herb as part of the deal.
- You Are Too Late: Editing and Anachronic Order are used to obscure the fact that Don doesn't reach Joan until after she's already gone through with it.
