Don Draper and Betty are seen dining with Roger Sterling and his wife, Mona, at an elegant restaurant. The conversation turns to nannies. Everyone but Don has had them, Don wants to get out of the subject. Mona and Betty excuse themselves to go 'powder their noses'. Betty, trying to put on some lipstick, notices her hands shake uncontrollably. Mona, thinking it is nerves, does the application. During the trip home, Betty keeps talking about the nanny conversation. It is clear Don wants to end the conversation. After they get home, she runs to the bathroom to throw up.
Peggy shows up dressed in her outdated style. She walks with Joan wondering what is she going to do with her first paycheck. In the ladies' room, Peggy watches another secretary crying. Joan motions her to move on. Later, Joan comes by Peggy's desk and watches her pulling a brown paper bag that is her lunch. Joan has no stomach to watch Peggy and tells her to come to lunch with her. Three of the junior executives invite them and the conversation at the table is peppered with a lot of sexual talk.
The campaign for the Right Guard deodorant is not going well. In their presentation to Don, the aerosol can is seen next to astronauts, something that their boss does not like. The men, horsing around get Ken on the desk where they try to pull his shirt off to try the product, but Bert Cooper enters the office and the guys go away. Bert has come to interest Don in the Richard Nixon campaign, trying to win his support because he feels Nixon will keep the economy going as it has been under Eisenhower. Don agrees with his boss to help.
Joan and her neighbor, Francine, are seen in the Draper kitchen catching up with the latest gossip. A divorced woman, Helen Bishop, has moved in. The new arrival has two children. Betty, driving with the children in the car passes Helen's house and sees her pushing huge boxes into the house. Betty's hands begin shaking, making her lose control of the car and hits a bird stand.
Back in the office, Paul, a junior executive gives Peggy a tour of the agency after he and Peggy got sandwiches from a vending cart. Paul takes her into his office, where he proceeds to kiss her; it is obvious he wants to have sex with her. Peggy is horrified, but she stands firm in her rejection, walking out of his office.
Don wakes up in Midge's apartment. When he looks around, he watches a television set that someone had given to her. He is surprised Midge would even considered having such a thing. He repeats a phrase he heard Midge say about how she felt about the medium. Since it is a portable, she grabs it and throws it out the window. Later, Don gets home with a present for Betty, as a way to compensate for her guilt and because of the accident she had. It is clear she needs help to deal with this problem. A visit to a psychiatrist is arranged for Betty.
Joan comes over to Peggy with a letter has errors. She had found a few mistakes in the correspondence Peggy typed after lunch, but she does not know what happened to her at Paul's office. Peggy goes to see Don in his office. She tries to put her hand over Don's, whose reaction is not what she expected. He reminds her he is not her boyfriend; he is her boss. Later that night Don calls the psychiatrist to find out about the session with his wife.
The second episode of this first season was written by the creator of the series, Matthew Weiner. Alan Taylor, the director, showed a good understanding for the material and the way he blocked the chapter. Everything runs as smoothly in his hands. The program recreates the New York of 1960 with good accuracy.
Jon Hamm, Elizabeth Moss, Christine Hendricks, Jannuary Jones, John Sterling, Maggie Siff, and Michael Gladis are prominently featured in the second installment. The acting is one of the best things on a continuing series on television.
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