Mad Men

Connie tells Don that ad agency McCann Erickson is buying Puttnam, Powell, and Lowe -- and Sterling Cooper along with it. He's terminating his arrangement with Don. "My future is tied up in this mess because of you," Don complains, referring to the three-year contract Hilton's lawyers insisted he sign.  It's just business, Connie replies.

Entering Sterling Cooper, Don flashes back to his youth: Archie Whitman defies the other members of an agricultural cooperative after the price of wheat collapses.

Don informs Cooper about the sale and proposes that they buy Sterling Cooper themselves. Cooper resists at first, but then sketches out a potential scenario: Roger would have to be included because Lucky Strike is the agency's biggest account.

Don and Cooper reveal their plan to Roger, and Don apologizes to Roger for belittling his contributions to Sterling Cooper. Don learned from his Hilton experience that he isn't an account man, he says. Don's problem, Roger explains, is that he doesn't value relationships.

That evening, Betty tells Don that she is divorcing him. She should see a doctor, Don replies. "Because I'd have to be sick to want out of this?" she asks. "I didn't break up this family," she reminds him.

The next day, Lane tells Roger, Don and Cooper that McCann is buying Sterling Cooper, but not PPL. Cooper names a buy-back price, but Lane says that McCann offered more.

A lawyer describes for Betty and Henry the difficulty she would have obtaining a New York divorce. "That's why people go to Reno," he says. A Nevada divorce would require Don's consent, but little else. Henry asks Betty not to request a financial settlement. "I don't want you owing him anything," he says.

Lane calls Saint John, who discloses that PPL is indeed part of the McCann deal. "Where's my place in this?" Lane asks. Saint John assures Lane he will be "essential to the transition" and will subsequently "prove yourself irreplaceable." Lane slams the phone.

Don has another flashback: Archie, drunk, tells Abigail that he will sell his wheat himself. He heads to the stable. A young Dick Whitman watches as Archie's horse kicks him in the face and kills him.

Lane concedes to Roger, Don, and Cooper that they were correct about PPL, but maintains that purchasing Sterling Cooper is impossible. Don suggests Lane sever their contracts, freeing them to start their own agency. Lane will be "thrown overboard" after the sale goes through anyway, says Don. They'll make him a partner, Cooper proposes.

"It could be done," Lane says of the scheme, but they'd need Lucky Strike, plus additional accounts for cash flow. A telegram sent that day (Friday) wouldn't be read in London until Monday, giving them the weekend to secure accounts, assemble a skeleton staff and spirit away the necessary materials. "Well, gentlemen," Lane says with a smile. "I suppose you're fired."

Don tells Peggy about the new agency and outlines what she must accomplish by Sunday evening. "You just assume I'll do whatever you say," Peggy responds. “I’m not gonna beg you,” Don says. "Beg me? You didn't even ask me," she says, declining the proposition.

Roger and Don visit Pete at home and offer him a role at the new agency. Roger admits that they need his accounts, but says that they also need his talent. "I want to hear it from him," says Pete, looking at Don. "You've been ahead on a lot of things," Don says. "Aeronautics, teenagers, the Negro market. We need you to keep us looking forward." A deal is struck: Pete will be made a partner if he delivers $8 million in accounts by Sunday.

Over drinks, Don tells Roger about the divorce. "So it's true," Roger says. "Henry Francis." Stunned, Don presses Roger for details. “I thought you knew,” Roger says. "I’m sorry I told you, believe me."

Don wakes Betty that night and asks who Henry Francis is. "You never forgave me," Don says. "Forgave what?" she replies. "That I've never been enough?" She won't get a nickel, Don threatens, and he'll take the kids. "I'm going to Reno, and you're going to consent," she says. "You’re a whore, you know that?" Don replies, grabbing her nightgown roughly.

The next day, Harry joins the new agency. Everyone is in good spirits, but there is one problem: No one knows where the required materials are stored. Roger says that he'll make a call.

Meanwhile, Don and Betty tell their children that Don will be moving out of the house. Sally takes the news hard. "Nobody wants to do this," Don tells a tearful Bobby.

At Peggy's apartment, Don apologizes for regarding her as an extension of himself. "Will you help me?" he asks. Peggy suggests that should she refuse, Don will never speak to her again. "I will spend the rest of my life trying to hire you," he counters.

At Roger's behest, Joan arrives at the office, having already hired movers. She indicates what needs transporting and where to locate it. Don arrives with Peggy, and asks Joan to find him an apartment.

"How long do you think it will take us to be in a place like this again?" Roger asks Don as they depart Sterling Cooper. "I never saw myself working in a place like this," Don replies.

"We've been robbed!" shouts Don's secretary, Allison, on Monday morning. Saint John calls and fires Lane. "Very good.  Happy Christmas." Lane replies.

The phone rings in a suite at the Pierre hotel. "Good morning, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce," answers Joan.

Back at the old Sterling Cooper, Paul opens Peggy's door and sees her abandoned office. "Dammit," he says.

At the Pierre, Pete reassures a client about continuity of service while Trudy supplies lunch. "Isn't this exciting?" she gushes.

Don calls Betty. "I'm not going to fight you," he says. "I hope you get what you always wanted."

Later, Betty sits on a plane with baby Gene on her lap and Henry Francis beside her. Sally and Bobby watch television with Carla. Don exits a cab in front of a Greenwich Village apartment building. Suitcases in hand, he enters the building.