My only thought is that Gene knew full well Sally stole his money. He kept it in a money clip so there is no way it would have fallen out of that, out of his pocket, folded in threes or fours. In a money clip it's folded in half. Anyway, Gene may be losing it to some extent but he's still smarter than an 11 year-old. And Sally had the guiltiest look on her face. Not cute, not sorrowful, GUILTY! Gene knows she took the money.

I think the only one who knew for sure that Sally had taken the $5 bill was Carla. Carla knew that Betty's dad thought she had taken it, even though he wouldn't come right out and say it. Carla also knew that that $5 bill was not just sitting there on the floor that whole time. I thought this was a suble way to bring up racial issues and distrust.

Carla is also in tune with the children (more so than their mother, that's for sure) and could tell Sally was acting guilty.

Did anyone else think it was weird that Gene looked the bill over said it was the one? Does he mark his bills, or did he know Sally took it and was waiting for her to own up to it?

60sChild: I think Gene knows full well Sally took the money, As I said above, he may be suffering from Dementia or whatever, but he can still outsmart an 11 year-old. He knows she took the money.

Sally didn't need to be punished by Gene, and he knew it. Her conscience was doing that job. Little kids think God can see them, that their teachers and parents can read their thoughts. And she learned a valuable lesson-- money doesn't make you happy. She felt relieved and probably would think twice about stealing again. Punishments don't stick like life lessons.

Sally does'nt get an allowance and up to this point, we've not seen her have a need for money, other than the repair of the latch on Don's luggage... She wasn't thinking about anything, just like a kid will do... I like to think that she had some recognition that Carla was being blamed.
Sally has a chilly relationship w/ her mother... Probably a lot like Betty and her own mother. Both girls have a degree of respect for their parent, know that she is beautiful and admired but there is a chasam of reserve that an 11 yr old doesn't have the skills to bridge.The new baby and the uncertainty about where it fits into the family dynamic has her perplexed and we may see some more acting out.....
I expect to see similar behavior from Gene as well.
Betty's parenting skills are thin and so along w/ impending birth, struggling to keep on an even keel w/ Don and his ability to disappear into his own universe right before her eyes, she's got her hands full...
I wish I could be more sympathetic....

@60s child: Of course he doesn't mark his bills! He knew Sally was guilty from the start and Sally wouldn't know if $5 bills could be identified. He just said that to show that the bill was his. :)

I'm willing to bet both Gene and Carla knew Sally took that five bucks.

Both of the adults, along with everyolone else, just happened past the spot where the five spot magically turned up and notobdy spotted the money...and Sally just as magically spotted it where it was. Sure they caught wise.

I don't think Gene ever syspected Carla of taking the money.

I think those of you saying that both Carla and Gene knew Sally was guilty are right. And yeah, you'd have to be stone blind to miss the guilty look on her face. (Give that kid an Emmy!)

I also agree with the various reasons for why she did it. I do think that what happened echos somewhat the situation we saw with Sal. That "uh-oh" moment when Sal thought his boss was going to nail him on the plane, but didn't. Ditto, Sally thinks Grandpa is going to nail her for stealing, but he doesn't.

What still puzzles me, however, is Gene's obsession with the $5, and the fact that neither adult (Carla or Gene) called Sally on the combined theft of the money and the fact that she didn't confess to stealing it.

Some people keep track of their money to the penny. Those who have real respect for their money keep in denominational order and facing the same direction.

Children learn which adults pay attention to their money and which do not. Sally misread her Grandpa Hofstadt perhaps by overhearing the adults speak of his memory.

When I was young, my Dad often fell in a drunken stupor on the couch to sleep. It was a common habit to scour the couch after he got up for the miscellaneous change between the cushions. We also played dressup at my grandmother's house using old clothes, hats and purses from her 'givaway stacks.' Oh, joy and surprise it was to find coins in the pockets or pocketbooks. Remember, there were penny candies then, and a whole Hershey bar was a nickel!

I think Sally took the money because she has been ignored and felt no one would notice. I think it's good for Gene to have not called her outloud on her theft, but made her stay in his presense and go on with their relationship as if it were their secret now.

Wow!.....Hmmmmm.....think of how many people in Mad Men now hold secrets on other people!....

Grey,

My brothers and I used to scour under the sofa cushions for change - it was always falling out of men's pockets and I had a lot of brothers-in-law. We almost always found some change. Also, vacuuming the sofa was a desired chore because of the "dividends."

I think Gene suspected Sally took the $$, but I think Carla knew it. She knows those kids better than their own mother. She was just giving Sally time to come clean on her own.

I'm starting to worry about Sally - smoking cigarettes, sassing her mother, drinking at the office, and now stealing. She's not even a teenager yet.

Did anyone else notice that when Don and Betty left for the party, Don touched each of them on the top of the head and Betty just marched right past them without even looking?

I think Gene (not sure if Carla picked up on it right away) noticed Sally looking awfully guilty when he asked her if she'd finished looking for the money. She looked hesitant and said 'Yes?". He said, "Oh really??" She shrunk back into her bedroom and Gene looked satisfied. He also didn't really want Carla going through all the trouble of looking since he already suspected Sally. It makes me wonder if Betty pulled the same stunts at that age for attention. I can totally see Betty stealing for kicks.

Jolie, actually, I don't think Betty did steal for kicks as a child. In spite of what we see or think of her now, I suspect she was daddy's little girl and a good little girl at that. I think she was raised to be a proper, upright lady, with fairy tale expectations. Like, be very good and you'll marry prince charming, who will always be true, and live happily ever after.

In not coming true, such expectations would explain a lot about how she acts now.

Betty's brother, however, who has his eye on getting the house and all its goods for himself, I could totally see trying to get away with all kinds of things as a kid. And I suspect that is why grandpa Gene was not fooled by Sally.

This episode called to mind "The Hobo Code" in which the young Don (Dick) witnesses his father being dishonest by witholding a nickel that he had promised a homeless man for work he had done for him. Nothing brings the dynamic of power/submission into sharper relief more than money - who has it and who hasn't. Remember the look of grim acceptance on the face of the "hobo" as he realized he wasn't getting the money. Also recall Betty saying to her brother "Stop counting other people's money!" in reference to Betty and Don's finances. I think Gene is very aware of what is going on behind the scenes, particularly with his son. Finding the missing $5.00 is a way for him to regain some measure of control once again. I think that he knows Sally took the money. It will be interesting to see how he uses this knowledge in the future.

He knew, and Carla must have figured it out early on. After all, Sally had come looking for him when he "indisposed" and the money was there before she came looking for him, gone when he came out.

As to why he was so almost agitated about finding the $5, it was a fair piece of money (think about gas being maybe 30 cents a gallon). Also he had come through the Depression, and even though he had good money, comparatively speaking, we don't know if he'd lost a fortune, then built another with his company. Even the well-to-do were scarred by that economic cataclysm.

My late father-in-law explained that for those who lived in the 1930s, they came out the other side of it with one of two attitudes: either they pinched every penny in fear of becoming poor again, or money didn't matter much to them because they'd been poor and survived and could do it again if necessary. He was of the latter persuasion but his second wife had the former attitude (and drove us nuts with her insistence on him getting his mall parking ticket validated to save 50 cents, among other things.)

To Gene, as he said, it's not about the money.

It's the fact his money was taken by someone he trusted and the most likely suspect was Sally. He knew it wasn't Don or Betty. He would sincerely doubt it was Carla because she'd been was employed there for some time. Which left the kids, only one of which he knew would come into his room...

Indigo, Aubum and Ritt, great observations. You've really shed new light on the Grandpa and Sally story. Indigo, I really hadn't thought about the Hobo story in connection with it.

And as you all say, and I think you're very right, it did seem to be a way for grandpa to maintain power and control in a household where he has virtually none (even the maid won't take any guff from him at supper). He showed Sally that he was still the adult, calling the shots and demanding that there be standards of virtue in the household.

I think Gene really loves his granddaughter and this escapade will bring them closer

After 3rd viewing, have to admit that Gene knew all along where the money trail led... His brutish behavior toward Carla is his frustration at being treated as one of the children, even being served dinner w/ them.... Hard cheese for a guy who has been the CEO of sumthin .. Now that his fade in fade out dementia has put him in Don's home as an invalid he looks for ways to assert his sense of Alpha dog status... Where's William when we need a whippin boy..? "You People" seems to be the only phrase that he can issue to give voice to his wilting contempt.
It shur don't cut no ice w/ Carla. she gets back a bit of her own by refusing to sit at the table, prefering to have her mac 'n cheese standing with her back turned....

Nana, you're right. The more I think about this part of the episode, the more it reflects, to me, the idea of finding one's power in small victories. In this case, an old man shows a little girl that she can't take advantage of him, no matter how weak he seems. In getting Sally to return his $5 to him--and feel properly guilty about it, he achieves a victory and feels empowered.

Likewise, Don tells of how when he was a powerless valet at a rich club, not allowed to come in even to use the toilet, he had his small victory--and felt empowered--by urinating in people's trunks. Joan seems to capitulate to her husband by singing a song, but her expression tells him that she knows she's saving his ass, and she's the one with the power to make him look good.

And yes, even Carla asserts her power and has a small victory by not sitting at the table.

And finally, Peggy points out that in this otherwise all male ad business, she has an office with her name on the door and secretary. Just by being employed there in that way, she's achieved a victory. She has power.

I think I'm finally seeing how this part of the story related to the other parts.... :-)

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