Love Among the Ruins (2024)

Love Among the Ruins
Production
Season 3 Episode 2
Air date	23 August 2009
Written by	Cathryn Humphries Matthew Weiner
Directed by	Lesli Linka Glatter
Previous Out of Town	Next My Old Kentucky Home

Intro[]

Sterling Cooper argues over the ad campaign for Pepsi's new diet cola, Patio Cola. Representatives of Madison Square Garden engage SC in their campaign to demolish Penn Station and build a new MSG. Betty's father, Gene, moves in with the Drapers. Don meets Sally's teacher.

Synopsis[]

Ann-Margret belts out the title song of the film musical "Bye Bye Birdie". Ken Cosgrove, Salvatore Romano, and Harry Crane, viewing the clip with Peggy Olson in the conference room, find the star's routine sexy. A prospective account, Patio Cola, Pepsi's new diet soda, wants a campaign with a similar look, but Peggy questions whether this is the best way to target female consumers.

Pete brings representatives of Madison Square Garden into Sterling Cooper. They are seeking to outmaneuver opponents of their plan to raze Penn Station, deemed by many an architectural masterpiece, and replace it with their arena. Paul alienates the businessmen by siding with the protesters.

Lane announces that the London office has lost the Campbell's Soup UK account. The real problem, however, is that Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency never scheduled a meeting with the company's American operation. "Perhaps I should drag Burt Peterson in and fire him again?" quips Roger when Lane demands an explanation.

Don and Betty Hofstadt join Lane and his homesick wife, Rebecca, for dinner. "I didn't want to be there anymore than you did," Don tells Betty on the drive home. Her main preoccupation, though, is her father: He's sick, and his companion, Gloria Massey, has left him. Betty wants her dad to visit the Drapers for a few days.

In Roger's office the next day, his daughter, Margaret, tells him she doesn't want Jane Siegel at her wedding. Mona, his ex-wife, offers a compromise: Roger and "June" can host their own table. "So you get the in-laws and I get Siberia?" asks Roger, who makes it clear he wants Jane to attend.

Lane tells Don that Betty was charming at dinner. She lifted his wife's spirits "inestimably." Lane asks Don and Roger to have lunch with Edgar Raffit of Madison Square Garden to undo the damage from his encounter with Pete and Paul.

Betty's father, Eugene Hofstadt, arrives at the Draper home with her brother, William Hofstadt, and his family. Gene has brought lunch, including a sandwich for Gloria, though according to William he knows she's gone and is just being dramatic.

Roger, waiting with Don at the restaurant for Raffit, blames Mona for turning Margaret against him. "All of a sudden I could give two craps about that wedding," he says. "All I want to do is win."

A moment later, Raffit arrives and Don suggests that he stop fretting over public opinion: It shows a guilty conscience. Sterling Cooper could help Raffit change the conversation about Penn Station's destruction to one in which Madison Square Garden is the cornerstone of New York's renaissance. Raffit likes the approach but doesn't want "the communist" (Paul) handling the account.

At the Draper home, William proposes putting Gene into a nursing home, and Betty accuses William of going after their dad's house. Nursing homes are "for people who don't have families," she contends.

That night, William tells his wife, Judy, that Betty and her father fought constantly, something his sister forgets. Family is important to Betty, Judy replies.

At her apartment in a nightgown, Peggy brushes her hair into a flip and mimics Ann-Margret's rendition of "Bye Bye Birdie" in front of a mirror.

Lane informs Don that London wants Sterling Cooper to drop Madison Square Garden as a client. It's not worth the projected billings. Don argues that the arena provides the agency's entrance to the upcoming World's Fair and thirty years of Garden-related business. "Why the hell did you buy us in the first place?" Don asks when Lane says London's decision is final. “I don’t know,” Lane replies.

Peggy discusses the Patio campaign with Don. Shouldn't the fantasy be a female one, she asks. "Men want her. Women want to be her," Don says of the Ann-Margret dynamic. "I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable." Peggy dismisses the approach as phony, but Don reminds her that she's not an artist. "You solve problems," he says.

Roger, leaving the office with Peggy, asks her what her father would have to do for her to not want him at her wedding. "My father passed away," Peggy replies. "There you go," Roger says. "You'd do anything."

When Don arrives home, Betty says William has given her two options: Put Gene in a home or have Judy care for him. Don pulls William aside and delivers an ultimatum. William will support his father financially, and Gene will live with Don and Betty. Gene's house will remain untouched. William acquiesces. "So the animals are running the zoo," Gene remarks after learning his fate.

At a bar, Peggy meets a Brooklyn College engineering student. They end up on his sofa, aggressively making out. "I can't," says Peggy when he can't produce a condom, though she suggests there are sexual alternatives. "This was fun," she says as she departs a few hours later.

Meanwhile, the sound of sirens and then noises in their kitchen awaken Betty and Don, who discover Gene pouring booze down the sink. "The heat is on,” Gene says. “We gotta get rid of the stuff."

At her school, Sally takes part in a Maypole dance celebrating springtime and renewal. A fellow parent takes a family photo that includes the Drapers and Gene.

At work another day, Peggy enters Don's office to discuss the Pampers diapers account.

Cast[]

Main Star[]

• Jon HammasDon Draper
• Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson
• Vincent Kartheiser as Pete Campbell
• January Jones as Betty Hofstadt
• Christina Hendricks as Joan Holloway
• Bryan Batt as Salvatore Romano
• Michael Gladis as Paul Kinsey
• Aaron Staton as Ken Cosgrove
• Rich Sommer as Harry Crane
• Robert MorseasBertram Cooper
• John Slattery as Roger Sterling

Guest Star[]

• Jared HarrisasLane Pryce
• Talia BalsamasMona Sterling
• Kiernan ShipkaasSally Draper
• Ryan CutronaasGene Hofstadt
• Embeth DavidtzasRebecca Pryce
• Eric LadinasWilliam Hofstadt
• Abigail SpencerasMiss Farrell
• Elizabeth RiceasMargaret Sterling
• Megan Henningas Judy Hofstadt
• Kevin Cooney as Edgar Raffit
• James Immekusas Charlie

Co-Star[]

• Alexa AlemanniasAllison
• Jared GilmoreasBobby Draper
• Derek Ray as Brooks
• Brian Carpenteras Arnold Merriman
• Billy Finniganas College Boy
• Mark Brandon as Man #1
• Jeremy Scott Johnson as Ralph Buckland
• Austin Traceas Scott