Conner lounges on the couch in Mason's office twirling a red colored pencil in his hand while Mason frantically searches for something as he works the design sitting on his desk. When Conner breaks the pencil in half, Mason asks him if he's seen his red pencil. Nope, he hasn't, he answers, as he drops the two halves of it behind the couch. Out of sight, out of mind. Mason shrugs and says he can't go to lunch because he has a meeting with Mark Shale, a clothing company. Their guys want to figure out a way to start selling teens' clothing. Conner asks why he wasn't invited to the meeting; Mason tells him he can go, but he didn't originally say anything about it because Conner hates meetings. They bicker back and forth about this point until Mason finds his way out of it-playing to Conner's ego. He asks him if he'll "please" go to the meeting "for him." Done. . .
. . .except Conner isn't with Mason when he walks into the conference room and shakes hands with Jim, an account executive. He tells him that Conner couldn't make it because he had a conflict. Jim then introduces Mason to Scott Chernoff, a young hotshot with Rothman Teens & More-a newly-created branch of RGM devoted to interacting with the teen market. Mason smiles and laughs at the play on words, but asks Jim if he'll speak to him privately in his office for a moment.
When they walk into the office, Conner is still sitting on the couch, but with a broken blue colored pencil in his hands this time. Jim points out that this was supposed to be a private meeting; Conner tells him to act like he's not even there. Mason expresses his dislike of this Rothman Teens stuff. Why did Jim ambush him with Chernoff in the meeting? Mark Shale is their account-why would he allow the Teens group to swoop in? Jim tells him that Reyner created the group to work with teens. Now that Mark Shale wants to take some money in their budget and market to teens, it falls in Chernoff's realm. Conner stands to argue (Apparently he is in the room). The Teens group is like a virus. It comes in to work on one account and, before long, everybody in the group has spread and wants to have its hands on all of a group's accounts. Mason goes on: Mark Shale is their account. Are the people there not happy with their work? Is that why this is happening? Jim assures him that this isn't the case. . .but they could be on their way to being unhappy.
What does that mean?
Well, they're not unhappy yet, but they could be. So, they're pre-unhappy, Mason says, which, because Jim is ready to throw them off of part of the Mark Shale account, makes him pre-mad. Jim defends his move: Adults already shop at Mark Shale for clothes, but they want to be able to compete with Abercrombie and American Eagle as far as teens go. Mason and Conner's commercials for them haven't played well with younger demos. Conner points out an important detail Jim leaves out-their spots were made for 35-51 year-olds. Of course they don't play to teens. Furthermore, why would Jim yank a piece of an account out from underneath them before they've had an opportunity to work on it? Jim relents. They can work on the teen stuff for Mark Shale, but he gives them two pieces of advice: One, get some younger faces in the room when they're working (Mason and Conner can't believe he just sort of called them old) and two, before the client comes in tomorrow, make sure to talk to some teens (Mason points out that he has teens at home-he'll talk to them).
Mason arrives home later to find Erin and his daughter, Haley, flipping through TiVo. Haley says her mom is fast-forwarding through the commercials too slow-you have to go at least three arrows to skip through them entirely. Mason expresses his gratitude to her for embracing his life's work, then asks if he can talk to her in the kitchen. Suspicious, Haley obliges.
He tells her that he has a client coming into the office tomorrow and they want to know what teens her age are into these days. He wants to know what she thinks is cool. First thing's first: advertising doesn't work on her or her people her age, she says. Mason attempts another route.
She wears Nikes-why did she buy them? Because they were the only brand in the store?
No, because they liked the way they looked.
So Nike's years and years of advertising had no effect on her decision?
Nope. No affect whatsoever.
So how does she make a decision?
She just does it.
Hmmm. . .Where has he heard that before?
Haley tells him to just get to the point.
What does she like these days? He has no idea. When he starts ticking things off, like online videos and video games, it seems that the only thing Haley likes is negativity. She says she's into Leonard Cohen and just downloaded a new book. She also has Mason listen to some new music she downloaded on her iPod
The next day at RGM, Tom and Hector stop Sarah as she walks by their cubes. Before they can break it to her daintily, Tom blurts out that he can't believe she's gay. Um, what's he talking about? He points to a story on adgabber.com, a website that allows people to give their commentary on what's going on in the ad world. According to a story on there, few women in the industry have been given a chance to work on male-skewing campaigns, like beer, save for a few lesbians, like someone named Jane Williams and RGM's very own Sarah Krajicek-Hunter.
Sarah's appalled at this blatant lie and looks to the duo to make her feel better. They know this is obviously a mistake, right? She was married after all. Hector points out that they thought that this was the reason behind the divorce. Fine. Two weeks ago, she made out with Chip the Douchebag at a bar while sitting right next to them. Okay, Tom says, so she's a bisexual at best. Realizing that she can't explain her way out of this, Sarah asks how popular Ad Gabber is. Not very, Hector assures.
Then how did they find the story? Sarah wants to see their browser history to see if they've googled her, but they refuse. While the trio is locked up in a fight for the keyboard and mouse, Mason stops them. They have a meeting with Todd Sustin, the Mark Shale brand manager. Hector and Tom weren't aware that they had a meeting, but Mason tells them all they have to do is look young.
In the meeting, Jim pumps up Mason to Sustin, saying he's got some great ideas. Mason stands to deliver them, but completely falls flat. To Tom and Hector's subtle horror, he tells Sustin that his first idea involves putting discount codes for Mark Shale in the teen section of the online book market. Sustin can't believe he just suggested that-who the hell told him teens are buying books online? He tells Mason that he obviously doesn't have kids, which subdues him into silence as he realizes two things: he just might've lost the account and he's out of touch. Luckily, one of those situations can be assuaged because Conner is there. Like the noble partner he is, he leans in to give his pitch. He interests Sustin by talking about doing a web series featuring teenagers that employs the pop culture reference and cynical world view that with which most of them really connect. As he speaks on to a captive audience, Mason stares off.
Conner pops into Mason's office a bit later and isn't met with the thanks he expected. After all, he did just save the meeting with Sustin. No, instead Mason rips him for not backing him up and stomping all over his ideas. That was his first meeting with Sustin as Creative Director and he wasn't allowed to pilot the plane. Conner stands up for himself and points out that he was trying to be the copilot so the plane wouldn't crash. Mason knows he's right and comes back to rationality. He apologizes, saying he didn't realize he was so out of touch. He hates that some brand manager, who definitely isn't cool, thinks he's uncool. His worst nightmare is happening. When the two of them started out in the business, they'd watch the old guys, who really weren't that old, slowly lose their touch. Now it's happening to him.
Conner stops that talk right there. Mason isn't out of touch-he can access any demo he wants. He's "au courant," which is tough while being a father and living in the suburbs. In this case, he was misinformed-maybe Haley was the problem.
Mason jumps to her defense. She's a perfectly well-adjusted teen. Conner points out that she downloads books. Mason counters with the fact that, last month, he set up a Facebook account for her. The two of them log into it to explore deeper and. . .Mason isn't thrilled with what he sees. She has three friends, one of whom is her math teacher, Mr. Wilkinson. This is bad. . .
. . .and then it gets worse. Jim walks into his office with Chernoff to let him know that Rothman Teens & More will be taking over the Mark Shale teens account. When Mason begins to protest, Jim stops him. He just made the company look ridiculous in front of Sustin and almost cost them a $1 million account. He didn't come into his office to discuss this. Chernoff will be in charge of Mark Shale's teens from now on. Jim exits and Chernoff follows suit, expect before leaving, he turns to tell Mason he has some ideas for some of his other campaigns. As soon as this Mark Shale thing is done, they should sit down and talk about them.
Fantastic.
Later that night, Mason snoops on Haley's Facebook account while Erin prepares dinner. She tells him that he shouldn't be doing that; He says he's worried about her. She only has three friends. Three. In the world. Erin thinks that's a good thing-she expected her wall to be filled with comments from 17 year-old boys. Although, it seems as though the two of them need to have a conference with Mr. Wilkinson. Mason agrees. He does not, however, agree when Erin says she's glad Haley has turned out to be like her father. When she was that age, Erin was a bit wild and ran with a "fast crew." Mason is hurt-he's cool, too, you know. In fact, he's one of the coolest guys in the entire suburb. Erin asks him if it's really Haley he's worried about. . .
At the office that evening, Sarah walks in to Conner's office and asks him if she looks like a lesbian. Without a moment's hesitation, he says no. She tells him about the article on Ad Gabber and how she didn't really care at first, but now that it has over 70 comments, it's beginning to be irksome. He assures her that nobody cares who's gay anymore and she agrees, but, nonetheless, the things people are saying about her are unnerving. The two of them scroll through some of the comments and Sarah becomes more upset with each one. Someone really hits a homerun with: "She walks like a trucker. She must be a lesbian." Conner wants to help ease her mind, so he offers to help. He and she should go out. Now that the Mark Shale account has been yanked from him and Mason, he has a lot more time on his hands. Plus, it's a well known fact that he's not a lesbian. Sarah says she's not going to date someone from work-it's her policy. That's fine. Conner suggests they go shopping together. Sarah bristles. She likes the way she dresses and doesn't see why she should have to change anything as a result of the false story.
Back at the McGuire household, Haley asks her dad about his meeting with Mark Shale. He says it went fine, but she can read his voice. They didn't like her ideas. No, that's not the case he tells her hoping to ease the blow. They wanted to go in another direction, which happens all of the time in advertising. Fine, whatever. That's not going to matter in about two seconds anyway because, oh crap, Haley just saw that her parents logged into her Facebook account. Like any teenager, she's none-too-pleased about this. Why were they snooping? Mason tries the truth and it blows up in his face. He tells her they're worried about her and couldn't help but notice that she only has three friends. She argues that she's selective-does that make her not popular enough for her dad? Or is it his "stupid" clients for whom she's not popular enough? He agrees, they are stupid clients, but it's too late. Haley storms off as Mason profusely apologizes for snooping. When he tries to follow her upstairs to her room to talk to her about it, Erin tells him don't bother.
The next day at work, Tom and Hector pitch a new tagline and design to Mason for their Potbelly campaign: "We're homey in the original sense of the word" is written in an "edgy" font. In fact, it's the same type that Spike Jonze used in the Wrangler campaign he directed. Mason says he can't read it and Hector tosses the art board aside. Fine. They'll just have to use some boring old school font. Mason defends himself and says not everything has to be hip and cool. Conner pops into his office because he has news. As they walk through the bullpen, he tells him Jim called. As it turns out, Mark Shale liked his web series ideas and is on the way to the office to talk about it. While this didn't get Rothman Teens & More kicked off of the campaign, it brought Mason and Conner back on. Mason is excited. . .but why did Jim call Conner instead of him? Conner makes up a quick comeback-he's an account guy, might be nervous around the big bad Creative Director. Mason says he'll give him a call, but Conner tells him not to. Mark Shale has pegged him as the guy who doesn't know teens, so how about he let Conner handle this one. By himself. You know, for the good of the group. Mason pauses, knowing that his "uncoolness" factor has come into play once again, but doesn't let it get the best of him. Yes, Conner can handle this one by himself and he wishes him luck in his meeting with Sustin and Mark Shale.
In the meeting, Conner explains the concept of a webisode. It's not commercial featuring Mark Shale-it's a story that uses Mark Shale as a setting. He's thinking it'll feature teens who have after-school jobs at the store. Chernoff, who sits next to Conner, cuts in every now and then to put in his two cents, clearly trying to be an active, if not annoying, participant in the proceedings. Conner takes this in stride, although his level of irritation rises every time the young punk opens his mouth. When he begins explaining that the series of webisodes will mostly center around a romance-maybe the girl in women's fashion has a thing for the guy in sportswear, for example-Mason walks into the conference room and apologizes for being late. Sustin uses this opportunity to crack a joke: Was he busy downloading books. The group laughs, except for Conner-what the hell does Mason think he's doing?
Conner is asked how their webisodes will stand out amongst the many others that are being released. After all, these things are all the rage these days. Conner explains that it's all about execution to grab teens' attention. The Mark Shale people are made nervous by this. The company is just a regional player. It doesn't have the resources or the widespread recognition that would allow them to easily break through. How will RGM make them stand out?
Chernoff jumps in to say something to reclaim the momentum he had yesterday, but Mason cuts him off before he can get rolling. Mark Shale's webisodes would stand out if they were directed by Spike Jonze.
Whoa, really?! Sustin and his crew are impressed. The Spike Jonze? Spike Jonze who directed Being John Malkovich? Absolutely. Mason says they should have no problem getting him and smiles broadly. Conner, however, is nowhere near as thrilled.
A bit later, Mason pops into Conner's office ecstatic at his smooth move. Conner thanks him, but his words drip with sarcasm. Mason picks up on it, of course, and wants to know why. Well, he didn't just hijack Conner's meeting; he also promised a regional client that he could get a major Hollywood director to shoot their small-budget webisodes. Oh, shit, he did just do that didn't he? Swamped with newfound horror, Mason asks Conner what he's going to do.
He'll think of something, Conner spits. After all, he is the Creative Director.
Mason runs into Cochran a bit later in the men's room. He asks the smug Brit if the toilets aren't working on his floor, but is told that their in perfect working order. Weird. Cochran says he heard that Mason got Spike Jonze to agree to direct Mark Shale's webisodes. Raynor must be really pleased with this. His congratulations come coated in masked disingenuousness, of course. Mason, never one to back down from his adversary, confirms that the director is on board, but says he's holding back on telling Raynor until he's 100% certain. Oh, so Spike Jonze might not be doing it then? No, no, he's doing it, but even Cochran knows that nothing is for certain with these Hollywood types. Mason is hopeful that everything will work out. Yes, Cochran says, it certainly sounds like he is. He exits as Mason grits his teeth.
Elsewhere in the office, Sarah walks into her office and runs into Beverly, another staffer. Apparently, Beverly was leaving some white tea on Sarah's desk. When they were in a meeting together, she thought it sounded like Sarah was coming down with a cold or something. Sarah says she's not, but thanks her nonetheless. Since she's not sick, Beverly invites her to the Optimists' part tomorrow. Sarah says she'll go-the two of them could share a cab there. That's a no-go, though. Beverly has a meeting beforehand, but she'll meet her there. It's a plan. . .
Or maybe a date?
Tom was listening to this entire conversation and, after Beverly walks away, tells Sarah that, if she's so concerned with this gay rumor, she might want to not go out on dates with lesbians so much. Sarah wants to know how he knows that Beverly is gay. Well, she did just bring her tea. So? Aaaand he's also seen her make out with other women. Aw, man. Sarah says she just won't go to the party, but Tom warns her-she doesn't want to be known as the rude lesbian. That'd be worse for her rep because lesbians never forget.
Mason rushes by looking for Conner. Sarah says she heard he got Spike Jonze-he says he heard that she's a lesbian.
In Conner's office, Mason tells him that he just talked to Cochran who'd already heard the Spike Jonze thing, which means Reyner knows. Emotionless, Conner says it sucks to be Mason. Hoping to breakthrough to his friend, Mason reveals that Cochran craps on their floor. Conner agrees that this is a bit hostile. And an opening is created through which the rest of Mason's information and plea can move. He apologizes for taking over his friend's meeting and promising Spike Jonze, but unfortunately, that all happened in the past. RGM's producers have tried contacting Spike through his commercial rep, but to no avail. Mason needs Conner's help, but the latter wants to know if he's asking as his friend or as his boss. Mason thinks for a moment and answers both, adding that he's done *THUMB THING* on multiple occasions to save Conner's ass.
Fine, what does he want?
He wants Conner to call Amanda Patterson, a girl he used to date who reps the company who used to rep Spike. Maybe she knows somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody. Conner grabs his phone, but pauses. He's trying to remember if he was a dick to this girl. If he was, he'll have to apologize. If he wasn't but apologizes anyway, she'll get confused. Mason doesn't like those odds, but they have no choice. It's quite a dilemma, kind of like trying to decide whether to cut the blue wire or the red wire.
Amanda picks up the phone and, much to Mason's delight, it's clear that Conner wasn't a dick to her.
Outside of Conner's office, Sarah goes to Tom and Hector with a request. As it turns out, the entirety of the Chicago ad world attends this Optimists' party and she can't go there without a dude. He ex-husband isn't available so. . .one of them needs to go with her. Hector clarifies-she wants one of them to be her date? She's not thrilled about the idea, but yes. Well, which one? She says she doesn't care before walking off. Tom and Hector are left looking at each other. It's obvious both want the opportunity.
At home, Mason and family (minus his son Jack-he's at a sleepover) sit down for dinner. Haley sits down all hussied up in new make up and clothing-this is not a typical look for her. Her parents point this out and she says it how "us popular kids" dress to attract "inappropriate men." She's decided that she needs to work on being cooler so her parents will be proud of her. Mason says he already apologized. Yet, she goes on. As it turns out, she has a lot of catching up to do-by the end of the week, in order to be a typical teen, she needs to have sex with 3.2 boys. Don't worry about birth control, though; it's mostly oral. She rises and leaves the table. Mason tells Erin to make her stop, but his wife just tells him that he should've never gotten on her Facebook account.
In town, Conner and Amanda eat dinner at his apartment. They're having a good time when Amanda asks him why he decided to call her out of the blue after not talking to her for a year. Wow, has it been that long? He says he missed her in his own flirty way and tries to change the subject, but then he mentions Spike Jonze. This piques her interest-why would he mention him? Well, it turns out his agency is trying to get into contact with him and he knows she used to work for him. So that's why he called her. It seems a little too convenient to just be a coincidence. Conner can sense the coming storm and tries to ease his way out of it. It's not a coincidence but more of a. . .reminder. Trying to reach Spike reminded him that he used to hang out with Amanda and that he really enjoyed it. She calls him on his bluff, labeling him a "user." Getting up to leave, Conner admits that he's doing it to help Mason. Well, if Mason wants to get a hold of Spike, he can contact Richard Donarelli, his feature agent. From what she hears, though, that guy doesn't even call Steven Spielberg back. He can also tell Mason that his partner is a prick whom he should never ask to help him out again.
Conner's phone rings as Amanda leaves his apartment. It's Mason of course, who can tell something is wrong by Conner's tone. Conner tells him this isn't the case and that he and Amanda are great. She says hi. He also gives him good news-they're going on a trip tomorrow. He tells Mason to pack his bags. They have a meeting with Spike Jonze's agent in Los Angeles. . .
. . .or so Conner hopes.
The following morning in LA, the duo arrives in front of an important-looking office building. They roll their luggage in behind them and Mason complains that they should've dropped it off at the hotel beforehand. Conner says they don't have time-he doesn't want them to be late for their meeting. What time is the meeting, exactly, Mason asks. Conner answers his questions with another question: What time is it now? That's when Mason realizes that Conner couldn't get them a meeting with Spike's agent. His partner comes clean and says that Amanda had some "issues." Mason says they're screwed. Conner, always the optimist, makes his way to the front desk anyway.
He tells the receptionist that they're there to see Richard Donarelli. When she asks who he is, he says Spike Jonze. She calls up to Donarelli's office to tell him that Spike is there to see him. . .and all Mason can do is roll his eyes.
Back in Chicago, Hector and Tom argue over Sarah. Hector says they're both going to the Optimists' party anyway, just one of them will happen to walk in the door with her. This isn't good enough for Tom and he refuses to back down. This forces Hector to spill it-he kind of has a thing for Sarah. Tom pauses for a moment, seeming to change his mind, but. . .he doesn't. He still wants to go as her date.
In LA, Donarelli comes down to the lobby looking for Spike and is surprised to meet Mason and Conner. They explain that they represent Rothman Green & Mohr, an advertising agency in Chicago. Yeah, so? Well, they have a project that they think Spike will really like. Donarelli rolls his eyes and walks away from the two of them, but can't escape. They bounce off one another as they explain they're idea. There's a clothing store in the Chicago area-it's not national, but whatever, still big-that wants to reach teens in an innovative way on the internet. They don't have an idea how, but that's what they want Spike to figure. He'd have complete carte blanche on the project, except they'd bleep any four letter words. Donarelli looks at them full of Hollywood condescension, but does tell them that Spike is in between features right now and has said that he's interested in doing something innovative online. He'll try to get a meeting with the three of them in the next couple of days. After Donarelli gets on an elevator, Mason and Conner trip over each other in thanking the other one for his performance just then.
In the office, Hector and Tom approach Sarah. They tell her that trying to decide who should be her date themselves has put a real strain on their friendship. She has to decide.
Fine.
Without hesitation-or bothering to look up from what she's doing-she chooses Hector. He's quietly elated. Tom is devastated.
In Mason's hotel room, Conner raids the mini bar as Mason speak on the phone. He confirms that the two of them will be meeting with Spike in the next couple of days. Mason hangs up excitedly to tell Conner, who notices "Girls Gone Wild" is on TV. Nothing can go wrong today. He tells Mason to quit working and start celebrating. Mason, however, is trying to get the other half of his life together-he sends Haley a Facebook friend request.
Then Donarelli calls. Mason answers excited. . .
. . .this doesn't last for long.
Donarelli wants to know how stupid Mason thinks he is? He just saw in the Chicago Sun-Times that RGM has confirmed Spike Jonze to work on a series of webisodes. Mason says he had no idea that story ran and has no clue as to who planted it. Nonetheless, Donarelli is pissed. When Mason figures out who's behind this, he can then find himself a new director. Click.
Mason tells Conner what just happened and he can't believe it. How does something like that happen?
Flash to the RGM bathroom, where Cochran is on the phone leaking the Spike Jonze story, presumably to the Sun-Times.
Conner sees how devastated Mason is and wants to find something, anything, that will make him feel better. He glances at his computer and says things are looking up already-Haley replied to him. After actually reading the message, though, Conner realizes that he shouldn't have said anything about it at all. She said. . .no thanks. She has enough friends.
Damn it.
A bit later, Conner is on the phone with Tom saying he's never seen Mason like this. He's like a zombie. He needs Tom to somehow tell him where they'll be able to meet Spike Jonze face-to-face tonight. Tom reports that, after being on TMZ for an hour, he's narrowed it down to three places-The Ivy, some restaurant called Ammo, and walking a dog in Runyan Canyon. That's not specific enough. Where's Hector? He needs both of them working on this. Tom tells him Hector isn't around-he's out with Sarah. Conner is stunned. Didn't she just tell him she doesn't date coworkers? Tom is just as incredulous-he thinks she chose him because he's tall.
Then, Mason walks in the door and tells Conner to hang up-he has something. He just found out from the "hot" concierge downstairs that one of her friend's boyfriend's roommates is DJing at a party in the Hollywood Hills that night. Guess who's on the guest list? Mr. Spike Jonze. Mason has the address. Both of them basically jump for joy.
In the back of a cab in Chicago, Hector and Sarah sit in awkward silence. When he finally asks her if she'd like to stop somewhere before the party to get drinks, she tells him she'd already started drinking. Oh. . .
Back in LA, Conner and Mason have their own problems. They arrive at the party, drop their car with the valet, then proceed to get stopped at the door by the bouncer. When he asks their name, Conner tells him Spike Jonze. Nope, he's not. He's already in the party. Mason goes to grab money out of his pocket, but the bouncer stops him, saying that'd be awfully embarrassing. The two of them need to just step aside.
Sheepishly, the two of them back away.
Sarah and Hector's cab arrives out of the Optimists' party. Before they get to the door, Hector suggests that they hold hands to sell the fact that they're dating. Sarah pulls away, saying she can't do it, and goes to sit down on a street bench. Hector says she needs to tell him if he's doing something wrong, but she tells him he's not. She's the one that has the problem. Why does she care what other people think? Everybody does, Hector tries to reassure her, but she says others don't take it as far as her. At this point, she's almost in tears. She has enough problems with men and this certainly hasn't helped. She just doesn't get it-she's "okay" looking, talented and successfully. Hector agrees on all points. Sarah wants to know why nobody likes her. Her old agency wouldn't take her back because they couldn't stand her. Hector breaks in because he thought they wanted her back and she was the one that refused. She makes him promise not to tell anybody that; he, of course, obliges.
Now Sarah is in tears. She knows there's something about her that pushes people away and now, to help this, every eligible man in Chicago thinks she's gay. Her age keeps creeping up and she's just so alone.
Hector points out that she's not alone at the moment. He busts out a spot-on Christopher Walken impression, saying she's sitting with him. She laughs and says he's weird. Then. . .they kiss. When they part, not quite knowing what they just did, she says, "Maybe I am gay." Both of them have the silence to help them ponder what just happened.
In LA, Mason and Conner look up at the house where the party is taking place. Mason says they need to get in there and begins trying to climb the rather large hill on which the house is built. Conner doesn't follow, but just watches as his friend's dignity slides away just like he does when he tries to climb up the hill. After two attempts, Mason comes to his senses. What the hell is he trying to do and why didn't Conner try to stop him? Conner says Mason is always the one trying to stop him from doing stuff he shouldn't be doing and he didn't know how to operate within the role reversal.
Mason realizes that it wasn't the Mark Shale people or Rothman Teens & More who forced him to try and climb up a hill-which actually might be a mountain-he did it to himself. He wanted so badly for them to think he was cool. Because he's not.
Conner puts it all into perspective for him. So what if Mason isn't "au courant"? He has a beautiful wife, great kids, and just got a big promotion. Conner only has one thing: his "au courant-ness." Mason should be happy with what he's got and let Conner have his one thing. Up until this moment, Mason had thought he did-Conner tells him otherwise.
He doesn't need to be in every single meeting micro-managing every single detail. Conner can handle his own. It gives him some autonomy and it frees up Mason to do other Creative Director stuff. That way, they won't end up on another dark hillside ruining their good clothes. Mason agrees.
Conner busts out two little bottles of liquor from the mini bar and gives one to Mason, who asks what they're going to do about Mark Shale. Tell them the truth, Conner says. Tell them they sat around the pool with Spike Jonze, who said he'd love to be on the project, but due to a scheduling conflict, he couldn't. However, he did mention a hot new director named Jan Elfers, who is like a younger, cooler Spike Jonze. Who's Jan Elfers? An awesome director a suburban dad would've never heard of, Conner answers with a smirk. Mason returns it and asks if he can get him. Another smirk from Conner-shouldn't be a problem. They toast their mini bottles and look out over the lights of LA.
When Mason returns home, he finds Haley sitting in a chair, dressed as herself once again, and reading a book she's downloaded. So, she has enough friends, huh? She says she does, but not unkindly. When Mason asks if the two of them are on okay terms, she says that her and Mom are actually worried about him.
Why?
They looked at his Facebook page and he has no friends.
Mason tells her that he's selective.
