Connie assigns Don the job of inspecting the Rome Hilton. Don invites Betty to fly to Italy with him, but she begs off because they have a baby. She and the committee then go to court on the reservoir issue. Henry Francis runs a little late getting to court, but once he gets there he convinces the judge that the previous water survey was wrong and that another study is needed. He then kisses Betty by his car. That night Betty reverses course, telling Don that she wants to go to Rome with him after all, implicitly to remove herself from the temptation of an affair with Henry. The couple have a romantic time in Rome and rejuvenate their marriage. When they're back in Tarrytown, however, Betty unloads on Don, telling him she hates the town, their friends, and nearly everything about their life.
Sally and neighbor Ernie are in the Draper bathroom playing grownup when Sally leans over and plants a kiss on Ernie. Bobby teases them about it and Sally tackles him, hitting him several times before Carla pulls her off. Carla tells Don and Betty when they return from Italy. Betty has a heart-to-heart with Sally, telling her that she should let boys chase after her, not chase after them herself.
Alone for the weekend while Trudy is away, Pete Campbell sees Gudrun, the au pair of his neighbors the Lawrences, distraught over a dress that she borrowed from Mrs. Lawrence without her knowledge and stained. Pete offers to help get her a replacement. The sales clerk at Bonwit Teller is unhelpful, so he asks to see her manager, which turns out to be Joan. Joan doesn't buy his story about this being a dress Trudy stained, as she recognizes that it's not her size, but she promises to be discreet. Gudrun is grateful to Pete for replacing the dress but turns down his offer of a drink because she has boyfriend. Later at night he knocks on the door and demands to see her in the dress then roughly kisses her. After Trudy returns he restrains himself from confessing what he did but tearfully tells her that he doesn't want her leaving him alone anymore.
This episode contains examples of:
- Bait the Dog: Pete has been showing some signs of growth in Season 3, so at first it seems like he might be helping Gudrun out of the kindness of his heart, or more realistically doing a solid for her now so she'll be open to things in the future. Neither of these things turn out to be the case.
- Bilingual Dialogue: Betty turns out to be quite fluent in Italian, speaking it to two locals who flirt with her and insult Don.
- Contrived Coincidence: Of all the places Pete could have found Joan working at, it's at the clothes store that has the one dress he's looking for.
- Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job: Bonwit Teller isn't a terrible job, but it's a step down from being office manager at Sterling Cooper and a sign for Pete that Joan's husband Greg isn't doing as well as he might have thought.
- Imposter Forgot One Detail: Joan quickly realises that Trudy wouldn't fit into the dress Pete's brought into Bonwit Teller.
- Kissing In A Tree: Bobby teases Sally and Ernie with this old chestnut. She beats him up for it.
- Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Joan and Pete agree to keep their meeting at the clothes store between the two of them.
- The Main Characters Do Everything: Don is sent to Rome to inspect the Hilton there even though he's not a hotel inspector and doesn't speak Italian. Justified by Connie's eccentricity and the fact that Don is one of the few people he trusts.
- No Guy Wants to Be Chased: Lampshaded by Betty when she learns of Sally kissing Ernie.Betty: You don't kiss boys, boys kiss you.
- Questionable Consent: Gudrun initially turns Pete down, but then reluctantly lets him into her apartment when he brings up how much trouble he went to over the dress (it's not mentioned that he could get her fired by revealing what happened, but the subtext is hard to ignore). He doesn't physically force his way in, but the exchange makes clear she feels compelled by some combination of obligation and fear. We don't see everything that follows, but her employer tells Pete she spent the next day weeping.
