At work, Pat Kirkland's son Skip is second-guessing Ned's ideas and generally undermining his position in the company. Ned confronts him, and Skip tells Ned how he was responsible for his being sent to military school 14 years before (in a story told in flashback). Ned delivers an ultimatum to the elder Kirkland: it's either Skippy or him, and he's ready to take clients with him if he goes. Kirkland shows him the door. Ned takes Eric with him, sure that Kirkland is bluffing, but he's not. At the muffin shop, Amanda delivers the joyous news that she's finally pregnant, but the occasion is dampened by Eric's new state of unemployment. Ned manages to steal an account from the agency, and he fortuitously meets Lloyd Bridges, who Stacey is interviewing for a magazine. Bridges agrees to endorse the client's product and makes a commercial. Ned and Eric are exulting in their success when the news breaks that an out-of-control Bridges has been arrested for shoplifting.