Mad Men Episode 3.07 Seven Twenty Seven

It's daylight. Peggy awakes beside a sleeping man. Elsewhere, Betty reclines on a plush red couch. Don, his nose caked with blood, rises groggily from a motel room floor.

On another morning, Betty and her decorator show Don the Drapers' living room makeover. When Betty asks what they should place in front of the fireplace, the decorator tells her it must remain empty as the "soul of your home."

At work that day, Roger grumbles to Don about competitor David Ogilvy's Confessions of an Advertising Man. "It's the book everybody writes," Roger says. "It should be called A Thousand Reasons I'm so Great."

Conrad Hilton pays Don an unscheduled visit. Connie describes himself as having a "wandering eye" despite having his needs met. The upshot: He wants Don to handle Hilton's three New York City properties.

Betty hosts Francine and two other members of the Junior League, which is campaigning to prevent the installation of a huge water tank that will drain the scenic local reservoir and mar the landscape. Betty says that she knows someone in the governor's office -- Henry Francis, the man she met at Roger and Jane's party -- who might have influence.

Pete congratulates Don for the Hilton deal and expresses interest in the account. Don shifts the conversation to Pete's sales prospects: With conflict likely in Vietnam, Pete says that he's close to landing American Aviation.

Betty calls Henry. He agrees to meet about the reservoir on Saturday afternoon.

Peggy receives an expensive Herm's scarf from Duck. "Send it back," Pete advises. Duck is trying to use them to get back at Don for ousting him from Sterling Cooper.

Roger, Cooper, and Lane congratulate Don for the Hilton coup, but say that there's a hitch. Connie's lawyers want Don under contract to Sterling Cooper to ensure continuity. Lane hands Don a three-year contract. Connie will "enjoy something he can't have," the reluctant Don contends.

Betty and Henry meet at a local bakery, both making excuses for arriving alone. Henry says that he's not sure he can help with the water-tank project. Betty sighs. "Don't give up so easily," he says.

In a park, Sally's teacher - Miss Farrell - helps her students make camera obscuras to view a solar eclipse. The kids' dads, including Don, assist.

The eclipse occurs as Henry and Betty leave the bakery. Henry shields her eyes when she gazes at the sun. "I feel a little dizzy," Betty says. Henry notices a pink fainting couch in a nearby antiques store. "That's what you need," he says, explaining that Victorian ladies would use them whenever they felt "overwhelmed."

Back in the park, Miss Farrell interprets Don's small talk as a come-on. "We're just talking," Don says.

On Monday, Peggy calls Duck about returning the scarf. He suggests she do so in person at his hotel suite. "Please don't contact me again," Peggy says.

"You think you're more dangerous without a contract?" Roger asks Don later that day. It's affecting business, he adds, because Don is Sterling Cooper's David Ogilvy -- though Roger is not convinced that Don even wants to be an ad man anymore.

Peggy drops by Don's office, fishing for the Hilton assignment. "You have an office and a job that a lot of full grown men would kill for," Don fires back. "Stop asking for things."

Roger calls Betty and encourages her to persuade Don to sign the contract. It's the first she's heard of it.

Peggy visits Duck's suite. She indicates what she might want from his agency to leave Sterling Cooper, but quickly decides she can't jump ship. Duck holds her hand, then kisses her. "What do you want from me?" she asks. To "give you a go around like you've never had," he replies. The two begin a passionate kiss.

That night, Betty and Don argue about the contract. "No contract means I have all the power," he says. "What's the matter?" Betty asks. "You don't know where you're going to be in three years?"

Drink in hand, Don leaves the house and drives away. He picks up a young couple hitchhiking to Niagra Falls. They say that they're eloping so the man can avoid being sent to Vietnam. The man says that they haven't any money but can get Don high. Don swallows two of their phenobarbital pills.

Later in a motel room, Don dances with the young woman until the man cuts in. Don, his eyes glazed, has a vision of his father, Archie Whitman. "Look at you," Archie reproaches. "Up to your old tricks." Moments later, the young man punches Don in the back of the head.

The next morning Don, his nose bloody, reads a note from the couple. They've stolen his money but left his car.

Peggy awakes beside Duck, still in his suite. "I love the morning," he says when she attempts to leave. They start kissing.

At the Draper residence, Betty's decorator scolds her for buying the fainting couch and blocking the fireplace with it.

Peggy, wearing the previous day's outfit, enters Sterling Cooper as Don does. "Fender bender," Don says, pointing to his bandaged nose.

In Don's office, Cooper insists he sign the contract. "Would you say I know something about you, Don?" Cooper asks. "I would," Don agrees. "Then sign," Cooper says. "After all, when it comes down to it, who's really signing this contract anyway?" Don acquiesces, but demands that all contact with Roger cease.

Don returns home to find Betty resting on her fainting couch. "I signed it," he says.