We're ruined because we get these things and wish for what we had.
Don, still reeling from Anna's death, begins to take stock of his life. Betty bumps into Don while he's on a date with Bethany, and her level of dismay over it draws concern from Henry, who think she's still in love with Don. Joey acts incredibly disrespectfully to Joan, to the point of drawing a cartoon depicting her fellating Lane and leaving in in a place where he knows she'll see it. Peggy fires him for this, but Joan sees Peggy's action as undermining her authority. Henry calls Don to get him to pick up the boxes he's left in the garage, and ignores him when he does so. Don goes on a date with Faye, and later turns up uninvited at Gene's birthday party — at which Betty stops Henry from confronting him.
This episode contains examples of:
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Joey picks up on this when Stan badmouths Peggy.
- Call-Back: Joey telling Joan that she dresses like she "wants to get raped" inevitably calls to mind the time when she was actually raped.
- Cardboard Box of Unemployment: When Peggy fires Joey Baird after he tapes a demeaning cartoon to Joan's window. Joey attempts a Take This Job and Shove It when he grabs a bankers box Peggy's currently using to store files, dumps it out, and takes it with him, but it mostly serves to characterize him as a petulant Manchild.
- Hidden Depths: Don notes that in terms of getting a message across, Joey's cartoon is much better than any of the actual work he has done.Don: Narrative, forced perspective. Are you sure Joey did this?"
- Ignored Aesop: Played with; Don intentionally misses the point of Faye quoting Aesop's "North Wind and the Sun" fable, thinking that she's actually asking if she can borrow his coat.
- Mistaken for Gay: Joey thinks Harry is hitting on him when he suggests that he's good-looking enough to be an actor.
- Mr. Fanservice: Don. Swimming.
- Not Quite the Right Thing: Peggy fires Joey for his inappropriate behaviour, but Joan feels that Peggy taking this step makes it look like Joan couldn't and so reduces her to being a "meaningless secretary".Joan: All you've done is prove to them that I'm a meaningless secretary and you're another humourless bitch.
- Put on a Bus: This is the last we see of Bethany, Jane's friend who she tried to set up with Don.
- Questionable Consent: Greg convinces Joan to have sex as a way of saying goodbye, despite her clearly being too upset.
- Silent Treatment: Henry gives Don this when the latter comes to pick up his boxes.
- Vengeful Vending Machine: The new SCDP vending machine has started eating people's change (and Joey's watch, when he tried to retrieve a snack).
- The Vietnam War: comes up several times during the episode:
- Don watches coverage about it on the TV.
- Joan, upset by both her colleagues' behaviour and Greg leaving, states to Joey, Danny, and Stan how she won't care when they end up getting drafted and deployed there.
- Voiceover Letter: Don's journal.
