In a development that I can't imagine signals any good news, Don asks Miss Blankenship if she's had any luck with a call to California, and Miss Blankenship tells him there was no answer. She then announces "Misters Peters and Pryce" to see him, which means Pete and Pryce, of course, in case you lost your Blankenship-to-English dictionary. Pete's not sure what's going on -- he got a call from his contact Masao saying the meeting was a disaster, but then the guy turned around and called Pryce and set a time for their presentation. However, Bertram and Roger then enter, and Roger, apparently having had a talking-to from the only person he regards as senior to him, apologizes for his behavior and says he realizes he shouldn't limit their potential business in any way. The bad news, however, as Bertram sees it, is that they should have gotten a gift back from the Honda people, and the absence of one suggests they only fixed the meeting with the expectation that SCDP would use it to resign from the competition.

Don learns from Miss Blankenship that he did get a package, but it turns out only to be a taunt from Chaough, which sets off another round of bickering that culminates in Pete putting his hand over his heart: "I'm expecting a child!" Heh. I'm guessing the principals are going to be pretty sick of that line before nine months are up. For his part, Don is not quite ready to commit hara-kiri; he instead suggests they shoot something "outrageous" and "graphic" to get Honda's attention. Pryce, however, points out that the conditions limit them to boards and copy -- "no finished work" -- and besides, the budget they're limited to precludes anything like what Don's talking about anyway. Don wants to go out of pocket, but Pryce tells him doing a spec commercial will severely hinder their ability to pitch new business for the rest of the year, and Pete adds that he'd be willing to take that risk if he didn't think they were already dead in the water. With a baleful look Roger's way, he adds, "But we are," before heading out. Chastened, Roger follows with Bertram in tow, and as we go to commercial I can't help but wonder what Don and Pryce are going to do with each other in the face of this news. Maybe they'll get drunk and go to the movies again!