airdate: Sunday, November 8, 2009
written by: Matthew Weiner & Erin Levy
directed by: Matthew Weiner

• Don: "You come and go as you please."
  Conrad Hilton: "Yes I do."
  Don: "And you don't give a crap that my future is tied up in this mess because of you."
  Hilton: "You wanted my account. And you were lucky to get it."
  Don: "And you wanted to play with me. Kick me around, knock me down to size, while you called me son. I get it now, Connie. It's business."
  
  
• "Lane, we've worked next to each other for a year. Don't act like a stranger. We've got tea!" - Roger Sterling
  
  
• Don, Roger, Bert, and Lane conspire to start a new firm, stealing as much business as they can from Sterling Cooper:
  Don: "Jesus, that's right. You have absolute authority to fire anyone. Fire us. Fire us, sever our contracts, let us go."
  [Bert grins; Roger is incredulous]
  Roger: "Can you do that?"
  Lane: "Why would I?"
  Don: "Because once this sale goes through, you'll be thrown overboard and be a corpse knocking against their hull."
  Lane: "Nothing good ever came from seeking revenge."
  Bert: "Nonsense. We'll make you a partner."
  Lane: [intrigued] "I should think this worth more than that."
  Don: [suddenly grinning] "So... we're negotiating. We'll put your name on the door."
  Roger: "Uh, I don't know."
  Don: "Do you know how to do what he does?"
  Bert: "I don't."
  [realizing they're in it together, the four men sit]
  Lane: "It could be done. But getting you, us, out of here isn't the difficult part. We need accounts."
  Roger: "Let's say we have Lucky Strike."
  Lane: "Now that's, let's see, 23 million dollars in billings?"
  Roger: "24."
  Lane: "We'd still need another third for cash flow."
  Roger: "Well, I can't take anyone else. Or Lee Garner Sr. won't think that he's special. What about Hilton?"
  Don: "No."
  Lane: "Well, can we get any of our other accounts?"
  Roger: "We'll get them."
  Lane: "If I were to send a telex at noon today that you'd all been sacked, it's after close of business in London, it would remain unnoticed until Monday morning there, 2 AM here. That gives us today and the weekend to first gather the accounts and then a skeleton staff to service them. And of course, we would have to obtain all the materials required for continuity of service."
  Don: "Obtain? We have to steal everything."
  Lane: "Anyone approached must be a certainty. If news spreads, they'll lock us out."
  [the four men take all this in]
  Don: "Do we vote or something?"
  [Roger, Bert, and Don raise their hands]
  Lane: "Well, gentlemen. I suppose you're fired."
  Roger: "Well it's official: Friday, December 13th, 1963. Four guys shot their own legs off."
  
  
• "I don't want to make a career out of being there so you can kick me when you fail." - Peggy, to Don
  
  
• Don: "I need an attorney. Divorce."
  Roger: "So it's true, huh?"
  Don: "What are you talking about?"
  Roger: "Henry Francis."
  Don: "Who?!"
  Roger: "Oh, Jesus. Right when things were almost normal."
  Don: "I need you to tell me what you know."
  Roger: "Margaret's friends with his daughter."
  Don: "Are they sleeping together?"
  Roger: "I don't know. It came from his daughter. He talks about her. It sounds like it's serious. I was going to tell you. No I wasn't. I thought you knew. I'm sorry I told you. Believe me. I'm sorry about that."
  
  
• Harry: "What's going on?"
  Bert: "PPL has been sold to McCann, we're starting a new agency, we'd like you to join us as our new Head of Media."
  Harry: "Are you kidding?"
  Roger: "Yes. Yes, we are. Happy birthday."
  Bert: "We need your answer."
  Harry: "I should really call my wife."
  Bert: "Mr. Crane, Harry, this matter is secret and time sensitive. If you turn us down and elect to be a mid-level cog at McCann Erickson, we'll have to lock you in the storeroom until morning. I'm sure you understand."
  
  
• Don: "There are people out there who buy things. People like you and me. Then something happened. Something terrible. And the way that they saw themselves... is gone. And nobody understands that. But you do. And that's very valuable."
  Peggy: "Is it?"
  Don: "With you or without you, I'm moving on. And I don't know if I can do it alone. Will you help me?"
  Peggy: "What if I say no? You'll never speak to me again."
  Don: "No. I will spend the rest of my life trying to hire you."
  
  
• "Joan. What a good idea." - Don, seeing that Roger has brought in Joan as a co-conspirator
  
  
• Roger: "I'm tired. Peggy, can you get me some coffee?"
  Peggy: "No."
  
  
• [Monday morning, and St. John Powell is calling Lane from London:]
  Lane: "St. John. How are you?"
  St. John: "What in God's name is going on over there?!"
  Lane: "I think at this point it should be very clear."
  St. John: "You're fired. You're fired for costing this company millions of pounds. You're fired for insubordination. You're fired for lack of character!"
  Lane: "Very good. Happy Christmas!"
  
  
• [Joan organizes the new company in their crowded hotel suite at the Pierre]:
  Joan: "So let's see. I have Peggy and Pete sharing the desk. Don, we'll replace one of these couches with a table for you, and we're adding two additional phone lines. Media will be in the bedroom with the television."
  Roger: "Accounts gets the bed."
  Joan: "And no one is to come to this office. If you have meetings, please take them elsewhere. I don't want them in the lobby or the bar of this hotel."
  [the phone rings]
  Joan: "Well, look at that. [she answers] Good morning. Sterling Cooper Draper Price, how may I help you? [pause] Yes, Harry. It's room 435."
  

• Betty is now actively seeking a divorce from Don, with Henry's help. At first Don tries to fight her, but eventually relents, and Betty flies to Reno with Henry.
  
  
• When they learn that Sterling Cooper is to be sold, Don, Roger, Bert, and Lane devise a plan to steal as many clients as possible and start their own new firm. They recruit Pete, Peggy, Harry, and Joan to help, leaving the rest of Sterling Cooper behind.
  
  
• Don realizes that he needs Peggy's talent, and goes out of his way to convince her to join him at the new company.

• "Shut the door. Have a seat" (or some variation of the phrase) is repeated three times in the episode.
  
  
• Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce sets up its first office in Room 435 of The Pierre.
  
  
• The real McCann Erickson ad firm is best known for the "Rice-a-Roni" jingle and the "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" campaign of the 1970s.
  

• A few references were made about Kennedy's assassination, which took place one month earlier.
  
  
• The episode takes place mainly over the weekend following December 13, 1963.
  

• Putnam, Powell, and Lowe is going to be purchased by McCann Erickson on January 1, 1964, and Sterling Cooper will be absorbed by the parent corporation.
  
  
• Conrad Hilton tells Don that because the sale, he'll have to move his account to another firm.
  
  
• Bert, Roger, Don, and Lane, joined by Peggy, Pete, Harry, and Joan, start a new ad firm almost overnight, called "Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce."
  
  
• To get Bert, Roger, and Don out of their contacts (and sink the value of Sterling Cooper and PPL before the sale), Lane summarily fires all three men, then joins them in their new enterprise.
  
  
• Roger is able to bring Lucky Strikes as the major client for their new firm, but they need more clients, and enlist Pete's help in getting as many as he can (passing Ken over). Pete manages to nab North American Aviation, Seacore, Jai Alai, Samsonite, and Clearasil.
  

• As a boy, Don was present (and marginally responsible for) his father's death.
  

• Betty's on a plane to Reno. Will she go through with her plans to divorce Don? Will she marry Henry?
  
  
• How will Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce do as a new company?
  
  
• Does the new company create an opportunity for Sal to return? Will any of the other Sterling Cooper characters join as well?

• What will happen to all of the regular characters who were not picked to join new firm?
  

• Discuss this episode...
  

• Mad Men returns for Season 4 in 2010!