Good questions.

As I understand it, it works this way. Duck is presenting himself to the English as their "American" contact. They're English, and they've many other businesses. An inexpensive, controlling interest in SC would give them their own advertising outlet to help sell their products in America (at this time, the wealthiest market on Earth). Roger's divorce suggests that he'll sell out part of his interest cheap. However, these Englishmen don't want to manage SC; they don't have the time or know-how, and they're based in England, not the U.S. (no internet chat at this time, remember? They have to have an American manager).

So Duck is saying, "Make me manager." Why him? Because they know him, he'll be loyal to them, and he is saying that he can get them the deal--no him, no deal.

Meanwhile, the carrot he's holding out to Roger and Bert is that this English company would get 51% BUT give SC exclusive rights to advertise all their stuff. So, yes, Roger and Bert lose controlling interest, but they maintain a voice, and they get all these big accounts, making them a big company with big money (hence, the stock they own goes up!). They don't have to beg Cadbury Chocolate to use them for advertisers, they've got Cadbury Chocolate, no question.

And since the 51% is English guys running their own business, Roger and Bert assume that nothing will really change except that they'll have a lot of big accounts--and money from the 51% they're going to sell off. They don't know that Duck is making a deal with these Brits to use that 51% power to make him the manager over their heads.

All of which makes Don the prophet of Doom. He warned SC that they should be loyal to small, good clients, not get greedy and try to go after the big fish. Because the big fish might not stay on the hook...or might turn around and eat them. In this case, Duck, angry and afraid that SC is going to fire him, has turned traitor. He's used his insider knowledge of the divorce to get himself a sweet deal--SC finally gets the big fish they wanted, but with Duck running the show, and there will be nothing Roger or Bert will be able to do about it if they take the bait. The English boss can outvote them and make whoever he wishes manager of the company.

I pretty sure that's what's going on, but I'm not a business person either, so I could be mistaken.

I have the feeling that somehow Bert will turn the tables on Duck...I don't think he is as gullible as he appeared to be when Duck made that proposal to he and Roger...I think he was just acting that way in order to give Duck enough rope to hang him
self.
Bert is one sly old fox and nobody, including Duck the Backstabber is going to put one over on him!

Good question and good responses....
Do you remember when we had the topic that discussed the office organization at Sterling Cooper? Boy! Am I glad we had that discussion because it helped me visualize the key to this set-up.

Duck does not like having to approach Don to get an okay on his business visions. It irks him to have to go to Don to gain consensus or approval on who he should or should not approach in his task to increase their business. Roger was on his side for a while, forcing Don to fire Mohawk to speak with American Airlines, and pushing to hire younger staff to meet the future movement in advertising. Having both things not turn out as roaring successes is the sore point Don picks at every opportunity. It was the reason why Roger instructed both to go to lunch to 'make nice.' Don was not congenial and agreed to a short meeting before leaving the office for a tryst with Bobbie. (I would have bet money Duck took a drink after that meeting...he was pretty defeated.)

Now, above all, he wants to make sure he pays Don back for his dismissive attitude. His approach to Roger for a partnership stake showed how far out of his graces he has fallen. This is the first time we have heard he promised to bring a 30% increase of business with him. All enough reason to tell his buddy "Sinjin/St. John," he must be over Creative or the deal is off.

Thanks,13 and SCFan. Now I get it. But if Bert is getting senile, he may go for it. So it looks like if there is a difference of opinion about whether to do this, Don's share of the stock may make him the swing vote? And he's off chasing his libido in Palm Springs.

Here's the way I see it falling out in the season finale.

Yoda Bert is initially very interested in the proposal. He talks with his sister and they're one bloc but because of Don's interest, not a majority bloc.

Roger, who inherited his father's share, but who also gave up some interest to Don, for personal reasons, definitely wants to sell and in the scene on the preview is trying to convince Bert's sister. Who wants to know how Don is going to vote. Without his okay, she'll stick with her bro.

The kimono opens. Bert reads the fine print and says no, so Sis also votes no. Roger was going to go for the deal anyway and has a few misgivings but still wants it.

Don comes back, finds out Duck is pushing for this and is instantly suspicious. He hasn't forgotten the stillborn AA proposal. He reads the proposal and realizes the implications. Bert has a heart attack or becomes incapacitated. Don meets the English as Bert's representative. They let slip that Duck wants the presidency with Creative reporting to him. Duck doesn't know Don doesn't have a contract. He figures by contract, Don will have to stay and maintain the agency's imagination. Don talks with Roger, explaining Duck will be taking Roger's position...

However, Don makes a counter-offer, bypassing Duck as the contact. The English do need a correspondent with complete knowledge of the American market. Why buy the cow when all you want is the milk? SC can do the work for a fraction of the cost that it would cost to buy 51% of the agency. A win-win. Except for Dead Duck who is handed his walking papers.

The final scene of the show. Don picks up the phone and dials a number. He lights a cigar and leans back in his chair as the phone rings. "Freddy! Don. How are you doing? We're expanding and need another experienced copy and sales manager. ...Don't worry about Duck. He's roast now..."

**Or** Don doesn't come back or is on his way back and we're left at the eleventh hour to accept or reject the proposal. Frankly, I don't think this will happen because we've got a two year jump to next season and would thereby lose a lot of dramatic action.

One of Don's considerations (before he meets the English) is that if he sold his 12.5%, that's a lot of getaway money so he's definitely considering it. He'd never have to work again. Then Betty calls. She's pregnant and will he come home? He's not going to disappear. Not yet anyway. So he rejects the offer.

So then Duck jumps off the roof?

"They love the idea of just sticking a key in the door at Sterling Cooper." Bert looks at Roger.... ...pause...

"Really? Is this as solid as American Airlines?"

"I guess you are happy having to scramble on the third tier of this industry, waiting for minor divisions of major companies to drop in your lap. On the table will be mountains of money, international prestige, a chance at going public, and we don't have to change our name."

Duck's business philosophy shines bright here, driven by what he mentions first, money. Don feels there are plenty of mid-level paying clients to keep them busy if they present creative advertising campaigns.

Don's business philosophy was set by the men who gave their word and firm handshake to seal deal. Don has mentioned these men, and some of them took a chance and recognized his talent. Those men did not rely on birth or social connections to make their fortune. He still looks for the hobo codes that mark each man's character...the marks left in secret places by those he encounters in life. So far, Don's begun to think about the marks he carries and how to shed them. I think that's why he said when he leaves, he will also leave advertising.

Jumps or gets thrown! Or, having gone to the roof to bewail his bad luck to the heavens, he encounters Chauncey who, unbeknownst to Duck, was found by the building maintenance crew and is being kept on the roof where he runs around for exercise and upon seeing Duck, rushes madly over to him and leaping up with his front paws, he pushes Duck over the side, and Duck's last sight as he falls to the ground is of Chauncey gazing down at him from the roof with sad doggy eyes, head tilted quizzically as though to say, "what, you're leaving me again?!?"

greytone,very,very good! I love the hobo code analogy. And Zerelda, very, very funny.

Thank you, flowerpower,zerelda,greytone, Ritt, thirteen and SCfan. You made me smile.

Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap.... Bravo! You guys are priceless!!

Duck's business philosophy shines bright here, driven by what he mentions first, money. Don feels there are plenty of mid-level paying clients to keep them busy if they present creative advertising campaigns.

Don's business philosophy was set by the men who gave their word and firm handshake to seal deal. Don has mentioned these men, and some of them took a chance and recognized his talent. Those men did not rely on birth or social connections to make their fortune. He still looks for the hobo codes that mark each man's character...the marks left in secret places by those he encounters in life. So far, Don's begun to think about the marks he carries and how to shed them. I think that's why he said when he leaves, he will also leave advertising.
Wow, Greytone, this is awesome! There's enough talent with phrases and analysis in so many of the posters here that you make me want to create a book of essays on MadMen....and teach a class :-D

I imagine that Weiner is, on top of everything else, making a not so subtle point about his own situation in television. So many networks chase after big numbers and nothing else, like SC blinded by that gold ring of big companies. They ignore the quality of the company and the owners, and ignore the fact that big companies may well ruin them.

Perhaps Weiner is suggesting, none too subtly, that if networks, as in the past, treated writers well, and were happy with the respectable numbers of happy viewers those writers' shows brought in, rather than always chasing after the big numbers, they'd not only have better television, but everyone would benefit? Just a thought.

If the Englishman had offered Duck a job, would Duck have taken it and not brought up the purchase of SC? He obviously had the plan ready to go, but did he only pull it out, after a drink of warm martini, because he was out of other options?

Sizzie...
Quiet as it's kept, he pulled it out before drinking that warm martini. lol...

Seriously, I believe he formulated a way to use the information he learned about Roger to put forward his own best interests. He knew the possibility of being re-hired was remote because of how he left the firm. Apparently, he was a working drunk, much like Freddie Rumsen. He knew he had to sweeten the pot with an opportunity to benefit their firm and enable them to stop piddling with the possible purchase of smaller American companies in order to get an American foothold.

I wonder will it work? Does Bert support him or is he fascinated by him? Which side will Pete land on? Will Peggy return a favor and go looking for Don?

zerelda: yes! poetic justice. lol!

Greytone, Thanks! You hit the nail on the head.

"Of course" the hobo code of conduct is why Don exhibits so much integrity in his business dealings, even though he has so many personal hangups.

And "of course" Peggy will pay a pivotal role in finding and saving Don.

Can't wait to see how Duck's plan backfires.

Don't forget that Don hired Duck in the first place. I doubt Bert will forget that.

Great thread...thanx to everyone reading and posting here...

This is the way I see it...
Don is reviewing his life to determine where he has been marked, who has marked him, and which marks he must shed en route to his real self...to the level of intimacy that reflects only the truth of his life.

Because he has had to live a life so calculated, Don was stunned to learn he is carrying a mark he knew nothing about. Bobbie told him about it. It worries him that Sally will see another one he isn't aware of when she gazes up at him. He does not want to carry the brutal mark of his father's type of discipline. His fear affects his parenting and makes him avoid disciplining his son with anything firmer than a hug.

Betty continues to challenge him, and he never wins the recent stare-downs between them...his fear is that she also sees straight through him and the lie on his lips. No wonder he's relieved not to have to deal with it face-to-face.

Don has never seemed to care about his good looks, and allows his attractiveness to carry him through his random sexual encounters. This shows his path through life will not be attached to the coattails of a 'cougar,' nor is he easily swayed by flattery or drawn, like Roger, to the innocence of youth.

This leaves only the offices of Sterling Cooper where he feels safe and in control, where the way he has conducted business has always been fair and honorable. That is, prior to Duck's arrival. Will he return to correct the course of his career? The show is about Mad Men, so I suppose the inevitable will happen. It's all the personal stuff that has unleveled Sterling Cooper. (Isn't this what Joan complained about to Peggy?) Don will certainly return where he can continue to make it up as he goes along....my feeling is that some of our favorite storylines will be cliffhangers to next season...

I have to say that these posts are interesting.

May I please point out something I noticed last Sunday and re-watched to be sure?

No one jumps in the beginning credits, the bottom falls out. Things fall away and then the man falls because there is no longer "something" to hold him.

I hope you all do not think I am being silly.

No, you're not silly 57Chevy, very observant. I have the whole MM opening credits sequence on my computer.

The fact that the figure ends up sitting comfortably in the chair in a relaxed repose (and doesn't hit the pavement) is a visual metaphor for how Don's story will turn out, I hope. That he will "land" safely.