It is important to remember that Don has empathy because, like Freddie, he also pissed in his pants (had a bad day) and it changed the direction of his life.

In Korea he was lighting his cigarette and had not noticed he had pissed his pants until (the real) Don Draper pointed it out to him. Dick then tried to wipe it away and inadvertently dropped his lighter onto a combustible liquid trail from a leaking fuel drum.

He reacted to the giggling of the guys because he recalled his embarrassment. He told them off and strolled away in his mac-daddy festus way. (I HATE when he does that...this scene shows the dismissive stroll better than any other. Don does it all the time and it makes me cringe.)

I highy doubt that this was a "backhanded slap at the viewers". There is no reason for that, plus you don't diss your best customers.

The comment about giggling girls is just typical of the way guys talked to each other at that time - still do when they're together with other guys - to belittle each other, comparing them to the female of the species. It happens in the series all the time - remember when Roger told Don "Take off your dress," about AA or Martinson's Coffee, not sure which. It all goes along with their dismissive attitude towards women in general.

Hapynzap...
I hate when I respond to a post and miss the thought or question originally asked....sorry!..

I'm with flowerpower and don't feel the writers would poke at us just for the sake of poking. I do think they want to remind us of the two leaky bladders, though. That buncha guys needs to be reigned in from time to time. They have no stop buttons...Don's good at that, but can't stop himself.

Well it makes you wonder if the writers when they go home at night "laugh at us" reading these threads and wild assumptions. heh

To be fair to the Guys, they didn't know Freddie was going to be fired over the incident. The decision had only just been made. Remember how hard Sal was laughing in the office and Don was amused when he first heard about it? It was going to be part of the SC legend until...

"It's all fun and games until somebody gets fired."

They do gossip in that office don't they? Remember after Jane took the boys up to see the Rothko she almost got fired from the buzz in the office that Joan picked up on.

If the Peggy and Pete baby secret got out it could mean the end of her career too.

Don is smart to try to keep his personal stuff out of the office.

Ritt...
To be specific (in lieu of fair), 'The Guys' may not have known the incident would end with Freddie's firing, but sniveling Petey sure did. He ran straight to Duck full of disgust and positioned himself as the hero. He vicerally reacted to having been near Freddie and shook himself (literally) to mentally shed the memory.

Peggy knew she had been manipulated when she realized Pete had arranged a meeting to inform Don after telling her not to go to him. In the end, he said they both might get bonuses, and she could get Rumson's office. As it sunk in, they congratulated each other. Peggy didn't feel like celebrating, but shuffling Pete had put one in the win column for himself.

When Duck demanded that Freddie be taken off all his accounts there was no turning back. I thought it interesting that Roger took the opportunity to pull a power play and remind Don he didn't have a contract and reminded him that had the power to fire anyone he wants.
Don got real quiet and prepared for a cocktail hour...

Somebody else mentioned that Freddie had given blood that morning and then started to drink Combine that with the surprise visit from the Samsonite guys from Colorado provided the perfect storm for his blackout episode.

I cant wait for the gossip mill to get started next episode with the Roger/Mona situation.

Hapyzap....
It wasn't a surprise visit. They were expected and the team was polishing their presentation when the unexpected happened with the lead copywriter, Freddie.

Got ya grey. Oh and Freddie didnt give blood the day before. Looks like Freddie was unprepared all the way around.

Pampers may have saved his job had they had them back then heh

err I mean Depends hehe

.....Not to split hairs, but wasn't the Samsonite meeting and accident on a Thursday?

.....and the blood drive was on Friday?

When they (I think it was Paul?) said "It's a good thing Freddie donated yesterday," it was a satiric reference to Freddie's accident.

Does that sound right?

Hapynzap, you should check out the Blog for an interview with Joel Murray. He talks about the logistics of that scene, including having to wear Depends..... bless his heart!

.....Sorry, and to answer your question, Hapynzap, I wasn't laughing. Not one bit.

....greytone, WHY doesn't Draper have a contract? Was that normal or average in those days? Why wouldn't that be an advantage for him? Isn't that just good business sense?

I mean, as great a creative director as he is, Draper doesn't seem to be addressing the other big strides it takes to get ahead within the corporate structure. He's a partner now. (The philanthropy thing will probably imbue him with at least a little more influence.)

The sight of Draper sitting there, with that little half-smile and a drink in his hand, TAKING IT. He had no leverage with which to fight for Freddy, and it was his department. Talk about castrated. Wouldn't a contract with specificities help Draper have something with which to work and gain ground within the partnership?

I'm better now than I was then about getting these details, but sometimes I feel like I saw a different Season One from everyone else. Maybe I need the ginseng or whatever it is!

Well the meeting on the Freddie firing certainly did go over Don's head. I don't get it. Don hired Duck and Don was Pete's boss last year when he was Junior Manager of Accounts. These 2 depts. are dysfunctional if they are not working together as a team but rather being competitive with each other.

Poor Freddie as much as we may like him it all added up to this one tipping point anyways that ended up in his firing. He has had other incidents - the Jimmy Barrett Utz commercial when he was sleeping on the job (or maybe had another petit mal siezure) caused a lot of problems for the firm and Don.

DM....
He apparently prefers to work thay way, ie., unencumbered, so he can cut and move at any time. He has said should he leave SC, it will be to do something entirely different from advertising. In addition, he had just asked Rachel to run away with him, so he was definitely focusing on being mobile.

In Season 1, when the competing ad firm was wooing him, Roger upped his salary to $45,000 per year. It was during that conversation (Nixon vs. Kennedy) that Don told him no contract.

I still contend that Don arranged it this way so he could leave 'the child' Betty as soon as he was sure she was healed enough to be 'the adult' Betty. Her new strength is making his control of her and his circumstances very difficult, particularly because his image (a most important part of his self-esteem) has been shattered by the gossip about his behavior.

The only thing I think Don is really relieved about is not having to lie and cover his actions and thoughts on a daily basis. A liar operates on heightened tension required to keep up with all the lies and deceit. It must be exhausting; he is relieved not to be so exhausted.

....this is probably dead, but RIGHT. Of course. I wonder how much of Draper's "travelling light" for a quick getaway is based on fear of discovery..... like his ultimate back-up plan if everything unravels.

That was a great post greytone.... and the spin on the little girl aspect. The people on this forum say that so much, and I wasn't feeling it at all. In fact, I felt defensive about it, not sure why.

But when I compare Betty to the other women, it's pretty clear they are ALL "in charge," as Helen puts it. Poor Betty. Finding out you're suddenly "in charge" is so hard, especially since she has never prepared for that eventuality.

And you are right about deceit being draining. It takes extended calculation and a lot of energy to craft and maintain lies.

Okay,

Was watching this for the first time last night (on Blu-Ray) and felt as if I'd seen this exact same sequence--Freddy pissing himself and then being fired--before. Was this already done in season one? Or was there a similar story-line in season one?

This is driving me nuts--I'm nearly certain that a very similar story-line was in the first season or is in another TV show or movie.

Okay,

Was watching this for the first time last night (on Blu-Ray) and felt as if I'd seen this exact same sequence--Freddy pissing himself and then being fired--before. Was this already done in season one? Or was there a similar story-line in season one?

This is driving me nuts--I'm nearly certain that a very similar story-line was in the first season or is in another TV show or movie.