It's May 25, 1965, Peggy's 26th birthday. Peggy and the creative team give Don a presentation for Samsonite he doesn't like, and he has her stay late to work on it while the rest of the office goes to watch a boxing match
between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston on closed-circuit TV in a theater. Peggy calls her boyfriend Mark to apologize for being late for their romantic dinner, but unknown to her, he has also assembled her mother, sister, brother-in-law and roommate for a surprise birthday party. After she bails on the party, they break up.
Unknown to Peggy, Don's erratic behavior is caused by a missed call from California forcing Don to face the fact that Anna is likely gone. He buries himself in his work all night as he and Peggy go through confrontations, followed by giggles, followed by Greek food and drinking. They find Duck Phillips in the office looking to take a shot at Don until Peggy gets rid of him.
They pass out in Don's office, and Don hallucinates Anna's ghost holding a suitcase. He wakes up and calls Stephanie: She's gone. But he has a new campaign for Samsonite...
Despite the single, fairly straightforward plot, this is one of the best-received episodes the show ever had, and its method of characterization has been compared to the Breaking Bad episode "Fly."
This episode contains examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny: After Don finishes playing Peggy Roger's tape, she admonishes him for it:Peggy: It's like reading someone's diary.Don: Come on! Ida was a hellcat? Cooper lost his balls? Roger's writing a book?![Peggy starts cracking up]
- Back for the Dead: Anna Draper dies off-screen, having succumbed to cancer. Don realizes it when he sees her "ghost".
- Berserk Button: Don't call Peggy a whore in front of Don.
- Bottle Episode: Even though other characters and locations appear, the bulk of the episode is Don and Peggy in the office. And true to form, it features in many lists of the show's best single episodes.
- Call-Back / Continuity Nod:
- Peggy and Don talk reference the fact that Don was the only person from the office who visited her while she was in the hospital.
- At the end of the episode, Don places his hand on Peggy's. In the pilot she placed her hand on his and he responded angrily "I'm not your boyfriend; I'm your boss."
- Peggy goes to the ladies room to cry, something she hasn't done since the beginning of the first season.
- We finally learn who Dr. Lyle Evans was; according to Roger, he was the surgeon who performed an unnecessary operation on Bert's testicles. Bert may or may not have had him killed.
- Crippling Castration: According to Roger, Bert underwent an operation to have both of his testicles removed ... at the "height of his sexual prime", and it turns out that it was totally unnecessary.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Downplayed, but Duck is a surprisingly good fighter despite that fact that he's so drunk he can barely walk.Duck: I killed 17 men at Okinawa!
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Harry and Danny casually discuss which of them is more of a "Jew", meaning Greedy Jew.
- Excrement Statement: Duck pees on the floor of what he thinks is Don's office, to "leave him a little present". Peggy points out it's actually Roger's office he's peeing in.
- I Am Not Pretty: Peggy, moaning about dating, expresses that "men don't exactly stop in the street and look at me" with Don pointing out she's "cute as hell" and is it really the sort of attention she wants?
- It Will Never Catch On: Two in one for Don, who shoots down a commercial concept which would have starred Joe Namath and been aimed at getting women to buy suitcases. Don claims Namath hasn't proven himself and that women don't buy suitcases.note
- I Was Quite a Looker: On Roger's tapes (that Don and Peggy listen to), he describes Ida Blankenship as the "queen of perversions", which makes Don laugh and Peggy gasp.
- Manly Tears: Upon learning that Anna's died from Stephanie, Don immediately starts crying.
- The Missus and the Ex: Pete is uncomfortable when Peggy and Trudy go in the restroom together.
- Meaningful Rename: Subverted in-universe, as everyone continues to refer to Muhammad Ali as Cassius Clay; Truth in Television, as most people at the time would have continued to refer to him by his original name.
- Mood Whiplash: We go from Don and Peggy having a bitter argument because she feels she hasn't received the recognition she deserves from him, to Peggy crying in the bathroom, to the hilarity of Don and Peggy listening to Roger's tapes for his proposed book. Amazingly, it works.
- Race for Your Love: Discussed when Peggy argues with Don over her break up with Mark, she averts the trope.Don: Go! Go run to him like in the movies.
- Shout-Out: Don's Samsonite idea is this to the iconic photo of Muhammad Ali standing over the downed Sonny Liston, which is on the front page of every newspaper in the morning.
- Suddenly Shouting: Don and Peggy get into an argument over her work and whether or not she deserves more recognition. They gradually raise their voices to one another, but Don eventually resorts to screaming to reinforce his point.Don: It's your job! I give you money, you give me ideas.Peggy: And you never say thank you!Don: (shouting) That's what the money is for!
- Vomit Discretion Shot: We hear, rather than see, Don vomiting in a bathroom stall. Considering how much he's had to drink, perhaps it's for the best.
- What Does She See in Him?: Don has this reaction when he learns Peggy used to be in a sexual relationship with Duck.
