Commissions and Fees

Sally's (Kiernan Shipka) childhood comes to an end while she has a rendezvous with former neighbor Glen Bishop (Marten Weiner).

After Don expresses a yearning for more, Roger (John Slattery) gets him a meeting with Dow Chemical, a client that could shape the future of the company.

Lane pretends to be ignorant at first, but then apologizes while arguing that he was only taking his own money that he had previously invested and for which he had not been compensated, lambasting Don as being out of touch with how people who aren't rich have to live.

Don stuns Lane when he firmly demands his resignation and gives him the weekend to think of an "elegant exit", assuring him that this is the worst part of starting over.

Lane wanders over to Joan's (Christina Hendricks) office with the drink still in his hand, but she sends him away after he makes an insinuating comment.

At a partners meeting, Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) says Jaguar would like to pay SCDP via a fee structure instead of straight commission.

Later declaring that he is tired of meager accounts, Don tells Roger to arrange a meeting with Ed Baxter at Dow Chemical Company.

Roger calls Dow the "Moby-Dick" of accounts and reminds him that Ken Cosgrove (Aaron Staton) is hesitant about doing business with his father-in-law, but Don does not care.

As Betty Francis (January Jones) packs for a family ski vacation, Sally complains that she would rather spend the weekend with Don and Megan (Jessica Paré).

Lane attempts to commit suicide in the middle of the night using the new car's exhaust, but, in an ironic confirmation of Cooper's earlier retort of Jaguars that "They don't start!

Inside, Don puts aside Baxter's concerns about the advertised anti-smoking letter and insists Dow Chemical needs a new agency, despite having 50% of the market share.

Don chides Baxter and his staff for allowing Dow to be satisfied with a 50% market share when they should go after more - and SCDP is the agency that can help them do it.

Joan tries to open Lane's door to find it blocked, and is disturbed by a foul odor and the sight of an upturned end-table.

Pete hops up onto a couch to look into Lane's office through the partition window; he claps his hand over his mouth in shock, and Ken holds Joan as she bursts into tears.

Jared Harris was told after the tenth episode read-through by series creator Matthew Weiner that Lane Pryce's time was at an end.

"[2] Harris continued about his character's subsequent suicide: "When Matt told me [the Jaguar] idea, I laughed my ass off.

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote about the "palpable, painful sense of dread throughout this episode", stating: "Though Lane's tax trouble seemed to come out of nowhere a few weeks ago...all of his behavior, and Don's, felt very true to form, and not like characters acting in a way designed to create a specific end point.

"[1] The Guardian's Paul McInnes felt the series was "recovering its poise" on its way to the season finale, stating: "After dallying with melodrama (Pete and Beth Dawes, Harry and Hari Kinsey), the show has moved back towards the darker, more sophisticated narratives of cause and unexpected consequence.

"[5] Verne Gay of Newsday compared the characters of Lane Pryce and Don Draper, stating: "Both have secret lives protected by carefully constructed façades.