Don Draper (Jon Hamm) is informed by Conrad Hilton (Chelcie Ross) that McCann Erickson is buying Puttnam, Powell, and Lowe, and thereby also Sterling Cooper.

Don approaches Bertram Cooper (Robert Morse) and, expressing a desire to build something of his own, convinces him that they should buy the company themselves instead of being tossed around by bigger entities like PPL and McCann.

When Lane later discovers PPL has in fact been sold and his employers are leaving him to fend for himself, he returns to the Sterling Cooper partners with the truth.

Lane agrees and takes advantage of the time difference between New York and London to put their plan into action, which gives them the weekend to acquire as many accounts as possible.

Don immediately tells Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) about the plan and to prepare to leave with him, but he is dismissive when she asks for further details.

Don then goes to see Peggy at her apartment and finally recognizes her talents, telling her that if she doesn't come to the new agency, he will spend the rest of his life trying to hire her.

When Pete arrives at Sterling Cooper over the weekend, he encounters a clueless Harry Crane (Rich Sommer), who is soon coerced into joining the new agency.

Roger brings Joan Harris (Christina Hendricks) aboard as well to ensure they leave with all necessary client files for continuity of service.

He wanted to highlight "the corporate nonsense that is unrelated to work", adding that "[Getting rid of Sterling Cooper] was very scary but I knew in my heart it was what I had to do.

"[1] In connection with the release of the episode, AMC did interviews with two of the actors portraying more peripheral characters on the show: Chelcie Ross, who played Conrad Hilton, and Joseph Culp, who interpreted the role of Dick/Don's father, Archie Whitman.

[10] San Francisco Chronicle's Tim Goodman also appreciated the "giddy abandon" of the episode, and called it "arguably the best melding of plot-movement and existential crisis exploration of the entire season.

[12] Sepinwall commended actors Jared Harris, whose Lane character he was glad to see remaining on the show, and John Slattery, for his comedic timing.

[12][13][14] Sepinwall enjoyed particularly what he referred to as his "favorite part of any caper (or other kind of ensemble adventure) movie: the gathering of the team.

"[12] Slate's Patrick Radden Keefe also mentioned Seven Samurai, adding that, though the concept is not a new one, "I tend to enjoy these types of sequences...[a]nd in this instance, the fact that the team members were being poached from inside Sterling Coop made it all the more fun.