'Mad Men' recap: The Past Informs The Present

On "Mad Men," the New York Times advertising reporter calls Don with the news that CGC, a rival agency, has signed Clearasil, which is bad news, given that they're the ones that the crying Ho-Ho went to with his jai alai business after Don forgot to remember him to The Wall Street Journal.

Things get worse when Don takes Bethany (yes, that Bethany from the season premiere) to Benihana for reasons that will become obvious, and while he's there he runs into his new arch-rival from CGC, who throws down the gauntlet in regard to Honda. Yes, Pete tells the partners that he's got a bead on Honda Motorcycles, which is especially exciting since they're dipping their toe into cars, but Roger, a good World War II vet, is unwilling to do business with the people who were responsible for killing his shipmates. Everyone else, however, wants to get Honda in, and Bertram even gives Pete some tips on how to deal with Japanese protocols beyond reading "The Chrysanthemum And The Sword," which Pete has already been advised to pick up.

When the Honda people come in, they goggle at Joan's rack, but the meeting is going well enough until Roger crashes the party and starts throwing his weight around in an effort to sabotage the relationship. Pete and Don take him on, with Pete explicitly telling Roger that he's only trying to kill new business so Lucky Strike will stay as important as possible, and Don backing him up. After an off-screen talking-to from Bertram, Roger apologizes, but everyone except Don feels like it's too late to salvage the account. Don, however, after reading "The Chrysanthemum And The Sword," comes up with some cloak-and-dagger bait-and-switch stuff that effectively takes CGC out of the running and gets SCDP a shot at Honda's cars. Not that they're worth buying at this point, but we have the feeling that might change.

While Don is on his date, Phoebe, the next-door-neighbor nurse, babysits the kids, and gets more than she bargained for when Sally tries to cut her own hair, with predictably awful results. As a result, in addition to reading Don the riot act, Betty slaps Sally, and it's left to Henry to give her some parenting advice that might result in mother and daughter actually having a speaking relationship in the future. This, however, does not prevent Sally from discovering the joys of pleasuring herself, and when a neighbor mother catches her in the act ...

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