The story opens with Roger proposing to Jane in bed. Don and Pete have flown to California to look for aerospace business. Don loses interest in work, and pursues a girl named Joy, who is involved in a group of libertines who practice free sex. Duck realizes that he is unlikely to be made partner, so he arranges to have Sterling Cooper bought by a British firm who will make him Don's boss, knowing that Roger needs money because Mona is demanding a large settlement before she lets him marry Jane. Kurt invites Peggy to a Bob Dylan concert, but she is dismayed to learn that he is openly gay. In the end, Don sees that Joy isn't afraid to go topless in front of children, and it's too far even for him, so he ends his association with Joy's friends.
This episode contains examples of:
- Divorce Assets Conflict: Mona does not want a divorce, and is only willing to let Roger divorce her if she gets a large amount of money.
- Everyone Has Standards: Don has some standards with regard to what children should see.
- Fag Hag / Gay Best Friend: Peggy continues to see Kurt after learning that he is gay, although she is visibly let down. She does have a lot in common with Kurt, and he helps her style her hair.
- Fanservice: Joy is shown in scanty underwear and at one point naked in a pool.
- Friends with Benefits: Joy has many friends who give each other many benefits.
- Have I Mentioned I Am Gay?: Peggy's friend Kurt tells everyone he is gay, but we don't see him in a relationship with a man. Especially unusual since most men in this era (in the United States anyway) would never bring this up unprompted. Peggy is disappointed that Kurt doesn't date women.
- Hostile Take Over: Averted. Sterling Cooper is privately held, but since Roger needs money, the firm is a position where they may accept takeover terms that are not ideal.
- Important Haircut: Peggy switches from her curly Tomboyish Ponytail to a more adult, bobbed flip when Kurt gives her a homemade haircut.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Joy has the makings of one — she's spirited, beautiful, lusty, intelligent, audacious, wealthy, and possessed of an instant and intense infatuation with Don — but her lifestyle proves too beyond the pale for Don to jibe with. Adept as he is at managing his liaisons, Don actually seems overwhelmed by this particular hookup.
- Nipple and Dimed: AMC placed some limits on how much of Joy's body you can see. So, the fanservice described above excludes nipples.
- Shout-Out: Joy is reading The Sound and the Fury.
- Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: Don, a man to whom adultery is a matter of daily routine, finds Joy and her libertine friends to be too much.
- Weapon of Mass Destruction: Pete and Don attend an elaborate presentation on ICBMs with multiple independent reentry vehicles. The speaker tells the audience that they can penetrate Soviet missile defense systems, leaving the Soviets with little ability to retaliate. Don is disturbed by the tone of the presentation. The presenter seems all right with obliterating the Soviet Union.
