I couldn't decide either.

For one thing, how did the stupid kids know Don wasn't a slasher??? Dumb!!

And Don....fool!! Is this supposed to be better than just staying home and going up to bed?? I can see going out for a drive to cool off. I've done that myself. But picking up hitchhikers...taking their drugs and going to a room??? No way. Oh well. Live and learn, right? Stupid!!

Hi Spek1 and Jolie 10!

I posted under the main episode thread about this. But, I agree...how stupid could Don get?
Those kids must be pros.
I did get a kick out of more and more Vietnam references, last weeks episode, and last nights. The draft is around the corner...

Did they steal his money and his Caddy?

Don wasn't exactly stupid - he was angry drunk, so right there, before the reds, he wasn't thinking straight. They left him his car and a single bill (didn't catch the denomination) in his wallet.

Ordinarily hitchhiking in the early 60s was less dangerous and more common than today. People were more inclined to give a short lift to strangers, especially young ones, than now - they weren't considered a threat. And some middle-aged guy in a Cadillac, drink in hand, wasn't going to be any threat to a couple. As we see, however, the times they are a-changin'.

Anybody else laugh when Doug asks Sandy how many did you give him, she says he took two, and then Doug says then HOW is he still awake?? (just before he whacks Don unconscious - ouch!) Apparently Don has more tolerance for booze and drugs than they've ever seen in an older guy.

Hey 60'sChild, I'd like to think that the kids were pros, but really, it seems like such a silly plan. What if their potential victim didn't take the drugs? It's not like they gave a secretly drug laced drink, they gave out DRUGS! What if they didn't join them in the motel? Since they claimed to not have much money, I'm guessing Don paid for the motel AND for the beer and booze aplenty. No gun, no knife, no blackjack or brass knuckles to force the robbery along. These kids were pretty ill-prepared, and were lucky that they found somebody as stupid as Don was.

liquorupfront, they didn't take the Caddy, but emptied out Don's wallet, leaving him a single dollar. They also seem to have taken his credit cards and ID, which I'm sure will come into play in the future — the kids try to use them, get caught, but it does open some sort of investigation to discover "Don Draper"

Spek1: Yeah, I also noticed that his driver's license was missing. I think you're right -- that will come back to haunt him, just like Bert Cooper's knowledge of Dick Whitman.

Wow, we're on a real roller coaster now.

Seems old Don likes hooking up with strangers who give him drugs...such as the nomads in CA.

What an episode...and the season is 1/2 over....many loose ends to tie up!

LOL, Suzanne--who doesn't?!

Alright, mostly kidding. But again, that idea of the seedy/dangerous is what attracts some people do these risky things. It is the essence of Noir.

it seems like such a silly plan.

Spek1, as Annie pointed out, those were more innocent times--and I mean that literally and figuratively. People left their doors unlocked, towns had a lot less crime, and yes, people were more inclined to pick up hitchhikers and hitchhike than now. During the 60's, in fact, that is all young people did; so much so that by the early 70's stories of abuse and crime on both ends finally wised people up. Which is why you rarely see hitchhikers now or anyone willing to pick them up.

Don isn't being as stupid as he seems in picking up the kids, as the practice in his time is common. And the kids, knowing that guys like him are usually good souls picking up a hitchhiker, aren't being as stupid as they seem. But the innocence goes farther than that. Young kids raised in a world with less crime or less crime shows to watch (think of how many CSI shows we've got!) aren't going to prepare as you suggest. They're not Bonnie and Clyde. They're two teens looking to grab some quick cash off a sucker. That's all. No need for knife, gun or anything else. They meant for Don to fall asleep and then they'd roll him and be gone. If they'd had a knife or gun, something might have gone horribly wrong. If they had unintentionally maimed or shot him, it'd be a major crime that would have the cops all over the state looking for them. So their plan isn't that stupid. If he doesn't drink, etc. then they hope for better with the next guy who picks them up.

As for Don, yes, he's being reckless--and yes, stupid, but this is sort of stupid for him is not out of character. Dick W. is a hobo at heart. A bohemian. He drinks, takes drugs, picks up hitchhikers. He has a self-destructive streak in him. And when something goes wrong--like he crashes the car or gets rolled--he accepts that as part of that lifestyle. Like the hobo. You hope you'll get paid for the work, but sometimes you get robbed.

So long as Don thinks of himself that way, he'll continue to go on these reckless, self-destructive adventures and binges.

Thirteen...wonderful exposition on "innocent times, hitchhiking...etc. I used to do it....

I think Don sometimes goes into his reckless "walk on the wild side" trip when something really pushes his buttons... like when Betty confronts him v angry about adultery w/Bobbie B.just before he goes to Calif... the Euro/Bohos invite him and he goes along.... and like when the whole Jimmy Barret/Utz owner fiasco happens, he is angry and though he resists at first, succumbs to Bobbies seduction..

Hey, I have no problem with the hitchhiking, just the drugs and partying afterwards. If picking up strangers on the side of the road speaks of simpler, innocent times (and I agree) then what do offers of drugs and motel booze-ups speak of? I still say the kids had a silly plan and happened to hit the jackpot with Don. What were the odds of them getting picked up? Fairly good, and if a car didn't pick them up, no worries, the next one might. But then what were the odds that the driver would accept their drugs? Very, very low, in my opinion. I'd think that the odds would be much higher today; hitchhiking is far riskier today, as others have said, and thus the people doing it or picking them up are far riskier people. But in those innocent days, they had an almost certain chance of being picked up by an everyday person, someone not looking for fun, to get high, to party, but just to help out two kids.Then they'd be dropped off at the motel (where they really don't want to be) and their plan would've fizzled out. Like I said, it's a Hail Mary of a plan, and Don walked into it, wallet and all.

Besides, wasn't Don quite opposed to young druggies when he was still seeing Midge?

At any rate, the scene was cool and it carried the story in a great direction. As I mentioned earlier, somebody's got Don's credit cards and ID now, and I'm sure that will come into play. I'm pretty sure Don didn't report the crime... could he have done so discreetly? Nahhhh, with his luck, he'd be reporting to the same cops that held him and Bobbie for drunk driving :)

Hi Spek1.... it was a cool scene... and 'same cops"...LOL

I dunno...I think Don was not so much opposed to Midges friends as young druggies, as much as he was sick of them acting so superior to a "mere business type" who wore a suit, worked hard and brought home the bacon, so to speak.

a question for everyone:

How did Don's face get bloody, and how did he break his nose, if he was hit with blunt force in the back of the head?

Just curious.....

I knew at some point there would be a threesome in the future for Mad Men like old Roger had in mind with the double mint girls. I just thought it would involve Joan, Dr Harris and Joans old roommate, or maybe Sal, his wife and Ken. who knows maybe Pete and Trudy will start swinging and invite Peggy to join the fun?

I am not sure there were too many credit cards around back then and identity theft just wasn't on the radar. I think he will get a new license and that's the end of it. It was pretty stupid, though..

Just another example of him thinking he can be someone he is not.. to the kids he was as square as his powder blue caddy and job title, but to Don, I bet he fancied himself irresistible to them, incredibly hip and modern, not the relic somone in their teens would take him for.

Spek1--I think you're misunderstanding the hitchhikers' plan. I don't think they said, "Well give the guy drugs and he'll pass out--" They thought, "We'll lure the guy into the hotel room with us for a party of liquor and we'll lace drugs in the alcohol." The chances of them luring some guy into buying drinks and partying with them isn't so far fetched. Not in a town of "bored, philandering" men.

The two grifters' plan, ultimately, wasto steal someone's money and there are many ways to do that. They happened to get an easy mark in self-destructive Don, no argument there, but I'm sure they'd have done things differently if they'd been picked up by an up-right, Bible reading, teetotaler. Notice how they sounded Don out? Maybe they would have asked the up-right guy to take them to a church, share a soft-drink--and into that would have gone the drugs. And that's how they would have rolled him.

Given the way these two played Don, I wouldn't assume they had only one plan. I don't say they were geniuses, or career criminals, or even planning ahead beyond that one simple robbery. Just that they weren't so stupid as that. They didn't take anything that would get them reported to the police and in real trouble, like the car. So they had some smarts.

As for Don's credit cards--he probably canceled them all, with Betty none the wiser, and got a new ID. As said, there weren't that many credit cards used in those days, nor so frequently and casually as we use them now, Most people wrote personal checks for big amounts of money and used cash for small amounts. Credit cards were a rare sort of deal. And as we saw in Season One, there were some credit cards exclusively for the business man who didn't want his wife to see the bill and know what he was up to. Likely Don's credit bills come to his work, not his home.