Betty and Henry take the kids shopping for Christmas trees. There, Sally runs into Glenn, who clearly has a crush on her. He spends the rest of the episode calling her to give terrible advice from his own mother's recent remarriage, and finally trashes their house (save for Sally's room) while they're out.
Don, spending his first Christmas alone, attracts the attention of his nurse neighbor Phoebe, who is worried about his persistent drunkenness. Don has other concerns as Lee Garner, Jr. invites himself to SCDP's Christmas party, which was initially intended to be a low-key (and low-budget) affair but which now has to be a full-on party because they have to bend over backwards for their biggest client. Lee, being Lee, humiliates Roger by forcing him to dress as Santa Claus. Don gets wasted and returns home without his keys. He calls his secretary Alison to bring them, and they have sex.
Freddy Rumsen returns, 18 months sober, bringing with him an account with Pond's Cold Cream. Freddy's been away for over two years and he and his former protegé Peggy no longer see eye-to-eye.
This episode contains examples of:
- Alone Among the Couples: Don with the Cranes (talking about a trip to the mountains), the Campbells (trip to the Bahamas), Peggy and her boyfriend, and the Sterlings (where Jane questions why Don hadn't brought her friend as a date).
- The Bus Came Back: Freddy Rumsen returns, sober and a good deal more mature. It turns out Peggy has been trying to bring him onboard at SCDP for months. However, he is not rehired, instead working as an independent copy writer who works on call for various firms on Madison Avenue. His reputation as an alcoholic is still pursuing him, and it becomes Commuting on a Bus.
- Bait-and-Switch: Freddy's proposal for the Pond's Cold Cream is an ad implying that it will help women find husbands. Peggy calls him out on this as being sexist and old fashioned, and they focus group her idea instead. Then it turns out all of the women in the group are too preoccupied with discussing their love lives to properly respond to the interviewer's prompts. The interviewer promptly (and independently of Freddy's idea) recommends the campaign target women trying to find husbands.
- The Bully: Lee Garner Jr. takes this up to 11 at the Christmas party, which only became a full-on party after he demanded an invitation. Short version: He forces Roger to dress up as Santa and makes everyone pose for pictures with Roger-as-Santa. After hitting on his wife.
- Character Development: Freddy Rumsen has become a much nicer person after being Put on a Bus in Season 2. He's completely sober, is attending AA, and rushes to the help of a fellow alcoholic who falls off the wagon. While he's not happy about Peggy's criticism of his ad suggestions, he deals with their disagreements civilly, and they maintain a friendly relationship.
- Deadpan Snarker
- Don: Did you enjoy ze Führer's birthday?Roger: May he live for a zousand years!
- Jerkass: Lee Garner Jr., so very, very much.
- Lady in Red: Joan in her red Christmas dress with the bow down the back, to invoke a sexy look for Lee Garner Jr. Roger even likes that dress.
- Roger: He was all over you that time you wore the red dress, the one with the bow in the back.Joan: You have an incredible memory.Roger: Well I think about it, that dress I mean.
- My Girl Is Not a Slut: Peggy tells her new boyfriend Mark that she's a virgin (or at least doesn't correct his assumption), likely operating with this trope.
- Pet the Dog: Glen might have grown irascible and bitter, but he does tell his friend to leave him behind and save himself if they're caught vandalizing the Draper residence.
- Shout-Out: When Freddy returns, Peggy enthusiastically gives him a hug, and he jokes, "I feel like the Tin Man."
