| Time Zones | |
|---|---|
| Production | |
| Season 7 Episode 1 | |
| Air date | 13 April 2014 |
| Written by | Matthew Weiner |
| Directed by | Scott Hornbacher |
| Previous In Care Of |
Next A Day's Work |
Intro[]
Don makes a new friend. Joan meets a client for drinks. Peggy hears impressive new work. Roger receives a puzzling phone call.
Synopsis[]
Freddy presents several pitches for Accutron Watches to Peggy. His best one is “Accutron: It’s not a timepiece, it’s a conversation piece.” Peggy is impressed but suggests that they change the tagline to “Accutron: It’s time for a conversation.” Freddy tries to defend his version, but Shirley, Peggy's new secretary, interrupts to inform Peggy that she has a meeting.
"Are you ready?" - Time Zones
Roger awakes to the sound of his phone ringing. He is in a hotel room filled with naked young people, some asleep and some awake, and in various stages of undress, evidence of a threesome. Margaret Sterling is on the phone, asking to meet with Roger for Sunday brunch at the Plaza. He accepts.
At the Sterling Cooper & Partners office, Joan overhears Ken yelling at his employees for missing a deadline. As they run out of his office, Ken complains to Joan about how busy he is and how he has no one to rely on. He tells Joan to meet with the new director of marketing for Butler Shoes. “If I meet with him, it’s a demotion,” explains Ken. Joan agrees to do so.
Peggy and the creatives meet in Lou's office to show him their ideas for Chevrolet and Accutron. Peggy presents her Accutron pitch: “It’s time for a conversation.” Lou prefers “Accutron is accurate," and rebuffs Peggy's attempts to convince him otherwise.
Don leaves the airport and Megan is there waiting for him in a convertible. She gets out greets him with a kiss. Don loads his suitcase into the car and Megan insists on driving. Meanwhile, Ted walks into the New York SC&P, visiting from California. Jim asks him to return to at least stay for Nixon's inauguration, but Ted insists on doing some work before returning to L.A.
Don and Megan in California, Time Zones.
Don and Megan have dinner with Megan's agent, Alan Silver. Alan tells Megan she has a callback for a television show pilot on NBC, and they order champagne to celebrate. Joan meets Wayne Barnes, the director of marketing for Butler Shoes, at a bar. Wayne expected to see Ken and is not interested in dealing with Joan. He explains that he is recommending Butler move their advertising in-house to save costs. Joan tries to save the account by asking him to hold off on his recommendation. He agrees and leaves.
Don and Megan arrive at Megan’s modest house in the Hollywood hills. Don hears coyotes in the canyons and complains, "It’s like Dracula’s castle up here." Megan is drunk so Don puts her to bed and watches TV by himself. In the morning, Don wakes up on the couch. Megan offers to drop him at the office, but Don insists on taking a cab.
While working late at SC&P, Peggy runs into Ted. Flustered, she calls for Stan. Stan sees their awkward interaction, and after Ted walks away, he tells Peggy to "Buck up, chief."
Don meets with Pete, Time Zones.
Don and Pete meet at a diner. Pete is tanner and much happier, even hugging Don as a greeting. Don is confused at Pete's change and even calls him a "hippie." Pete informs Don that he’s signed H. Salt Fish and Chips, but is dismayed that no one at SC&P cares. Pete notices that Don timed his California trip to coincide with Ted’s New York trip, and Don denies doing so on purpose. Pete shows Don SC&P’s Beverly Hills office, and introduces him to Bonnie, his realtor and new girlfriend.
Joan meets with a Columbia University business school professor in his office. Joan wants help in analyzing Butler Footwear's new plan to cut costs. He agrees, in exchange for something in return. Joan initially fears he wants a sexual favor and curtly remarks, "I thought this was a business school." He explains that he wants some data about commissions versus fees for his research. Joan smugly tells him to get a second notepad because she has "a lot of information to give" to him.
Don arrives at Megan’s house where she is making dinner. The doorbell rings, and a couple of delivery men install a new color television set that looks very out of place compared to Megan's laid-back decor. She is displeased, but Don insists that she accept the gift so she can watch herself on television.
Peggy is at home, and a little boy knocks on her door. It is her tenant's son, Julio, sent to complain about a clogged toilet. They argue over who is to blame and Peggy snaps at him, handing him a plunger and telling him to fix it himself.
Don meets a sexy widow, Lee, on his flight, Time Zones.
In California, Don and Megan have sex, although it is initially awkward for the both of them. In the morning, Don tells Megan that he has to return to New York. On his flight back, he sits next to a beautiful widow named Lee. Meanwhile, Roger meets Margaret at the Plaza. He thinks Margaret is going to ask for money, but instead she reveals that she wanted to tell him that she forgives him. Confused, Roger asks if she’s going to church or something. "Not in a way that you would understand," she tells him. Roger says that he forgives her, too. Later, Roger returns his hotel room where there are two young people in his bed. A naked woman asks where he was. “If you were with someone, I don’t care,” the woman says. “You know anyone’s welcome in this bed.” He tells the young woman to move over so he can get some sleep.
On the flight, Lee explains she was in California to scatter her husband's ashes at Disneyland. "He died of thirst," she says. Don sighs that Megan sees him as a terrible husband. Lee falls asleep on Don's shoulder and when they land in New York City, she offers to "give him a lift" and promises, "I can make you feel better." Don refuses, saying he has to go to work.
At SC&P, Peggy's tenant calls her office to complain about the toilet. Peggy tells Shirley to call Peggy's sister Anita and get her husband Gerry to fix it. Lou passes by and Peggy offers him Freddy Rumsen's original tagline for Accutron in hopes of changing Lou's mind. Lou considers the matter already settled and tells Peggy to focus on her other accounts. “I guess I’m just immune to your charms,” he shrugs.
Peggy tries to sway Lou, Time Zones.
Clara, Ken's secretary, tells Joan that Mr. Butler will be coming to the office, and Joan realizes that Wayne made his recommendation to fire SC&P. She calls Wayne using Ken's office phone, removing her earrings to do so. He tries to tell her to not be upset, but Joan warns him, “You will be competing against us, not against other shoe companies." Wayne agrees to reconsider and asks Joan what to tell Mr. Butler. She advises him to say SC&P cancelled the meeting, needing more time to revise their strategy. He agrees.
Peggy asks Stan to work on Accutron with her and he points out that by continually pestering Lou about the Accutron pitch, she’s conveying that she thinks she is smarter than Lou and urges her to drop it. Angry and frustrated, Peggy calls everyone else “hacks“. “Nobody cares about anything!”, she yells.
At his apartment, Don is watching Nixon's inauguration speech. Freddy Rumsen arrives with take-out food, and tells Don that Peggy loved the Accutron tagline. He mentions other pitches to other clients that he has made, and it is clear that these are all Don's ideas, and Freddy is his frontman.
Back in the SC&P offices, Ken goes to Joan's office to thank her for holding onto the Butler account, but warns her to stay out of his office. He throws her an earring that she left on his desk, but his aim is off due to his eyepatch.
Don sits alone, Time Zones.
Peggy comes home to find Gerry asleep on her couch. She invites him to stay overnight, but he declines, saying that he doesn’t want to leave Anita at home alone. When he leaves, Peggy falls to her knees, sobbing.
Back at his apartment in his pajamas, Don decides not to drink. Instead, he sits alone in the dark on his freezing cold balcony.
Trivia[]
- Closing song: "You Keep Me Hanging On," by Vanilla Fudge.