I must say, this has been one of my favourite episodes this season! I happen to be a fan of Peggy, which I know is controversial because so many dislike her.

However, I feel that Peggy is a pivotal charachter. I do not always like her! She does a lot of things that make me cringe. Her naivitee can make me uncomfortable at times, as well as her subtle arrogance in trying to be liked. Yet, we must consider....I cannot think of a single character that I like 100% of the time. They are full of flaws, ALL. No exceptions.

So, I was quite pleased with Peggy's little personal growth spurts this episode, and they satisfied a lot of what I have been anticipating--namely, someone who would venture into the changes in the "art world", the growing awareness of political injustices, and the growing mood for tolerance. Kudos to..Becky, I think it was? For guessing that there would indeed be a new gay character showing up. Not perhaps the one we expected! She may not last, but there she was.

Peggy seems, for the moment, to be clear about her heterosexuality, while at the same time appearing to be non-judgemental about alternative choices. However, Peggy is eternally in search of attention. Poor thing. She is slowly coming into herself, and it is so awesome to watch! Obviously she will make some more missteps. I see one coming with Gabe, the slightly "dangerous" journalist/writer (Jewish? Juxtaposed with her Catholic background?) however I'm pleased that she potentially has an exciting new man (that Mark guy is such a snore) to shake up her world. Every young woman needs one of these men in their past, and for Peggy, Gabe could well be that guy! The scene with Peggy trying on Dr. Miller's wedding ring (as Don looked on, bemused) could well have been a goodbye of sorts to hopes of that lifestyle.

Peggy has finally found some new friends to have fun with, and also to challenge her under-challenged clever mind. Some people who might actually take her seriously and broaden her world, which for her unrecognized intelligence is much needed indeed!

Contrasted with Pete's acceptance into the status quo, (even when Peggy congratulated him on Trudy's pregnancy, he thought at first it was about landing the new big contracts--Pete uses both the acquisition of the new contracts, and his impending fatherhood to gain acceptance with the big boys club), we can easily get quite giddy about potential upcoming conflicts within the SCDP environment!

Another small thing I LOVED...before Alison's outburst, she was trying to get Roger Sterling's attention in the hallway. She called out, "Mr. Sterling!" and when he didn't turn, she called out, "ROGER!" And then, he turned. I loved this. Finally, a secretary has had enough of this "you can call me Alison but I can't call you Roger?" business!!! Alison, despite her unprofessional breakdown (understandable, but still unprofessional), totally rocked this episode! She had so many call-outs!

Joan was not happy, however. She has missed the boat, simply because of her age. She's still sharp as anything (lol @ Mrs. Blankenship!) but clearly is just a tiny bit too old to be jumping on the Peggy bandwagon. It's sad, cuz I think she would have been right for it. I also think that this is why Sal is not coming back. He's just too old for what is coming up. Both born at the wrong time.

Well, these are but a few of my thoughts. Feel free to comment on any or all of them, or none at all! I've more to say but will spare y'all for the moment.

P.S. I have not proofread this, there are sure to be plenty of typos and grammatical errors. Apologies in advance.

Personally I think its very difficult to know who Peggy is... In fact, when we compare Peggy and Joan- you find that they like each other but there's also some strong feel of jealousy that runs among them... Peggy gets scared of Joan because of her beauty and confidence... while Joan is scared of Peggy's  influence over men in the office... From this point I don't know how this two ladies would related if there no any men around.

Peggy seemed to be channeling Joan when she talked to Allison. At first she seemed sympathetic, then when Allison's behavior veered toward the unprofessional, "Your problem is not my problem. Get over it." Joan schooled her way back in the first season that you do not talk to others about the person you work for.
Of course Peggy was probably also angry that Allison just assumed she slept her way into her copywriters position.

The truth is that I have always liked Joan from day one and completely adore Christina Hendricks, but I can not know how her character this season as it relates to the office. She emerges to totally dislike everything about working for SCDP. And at the office, to me she looks to have lost her name/identity wit and hilarity and looks somewhat put out at every angle (and episode 4 is just the right example).

"Of course Peggy was probably also angry that Allison just assumed she slept her way into her copywriters position."

Or what's worse and more hurtful is knowing that Don spurred Peggy's affections (the pilot) and her clumbsy attempt at an affair.  Don passed on sleeping with her, Peggy wasn't/ isn't up to Allison's beauty or Don's standards. Rejection hurts as much as being assumed to be a hussy.

@ mneeley490 and James:
I think you are both right. Peggy was definitely pissed about Allison's assumption, but she may have also been a little hurt by the fact that Don rejected her but not Allison. I like to think that Peggy will come to view this "rejection" as a show of respect from Don--that he respects her far too much to ever take advantage of her in that way. I also think that this incident probably clued Peggy in (Peggy in particular, since she seems quite sensitive to these things) to just how far down Don has slid, kind of like "uh oh. It's worse than we thought." Solidified when she saw him go straight for the bottle when she peeped over the wall.

Peggy’s gal pal is scummy…

Or I should say she is Valerie Solanas the radical feminist writer, best known for her attempted murder of Andy Warhol in 1968. She wrote the SCUM Manifesto which encouraged male gendercide and the creation of an all-female society.  You can see her in the Movie “I shot Andy Warhol” the actress / character in MM could be her double and I am assuming that is where she is drawing from. 

AND… Warhol is/was the biggest whores in the art industry.  He once said that “making money is the highest form of art” and he appeared on the TV show The Love Boat.  I love making money as much as the next guy but Warhol was a phony elitist who cranked out gimmicks for his rich patrons.

Drapery - I don’t think Don’s rejection was respect.   Peggy is too frumpy for Don and she was downright pitiful in the first episode when she placed her hand on his.

Yeah, when Don passed on Peggy in season one, it wasn't done out of respect for her.  In Mad Men time, that incident is now five years in the past.  She was simply a new secretary, and if he were so inclined, he could have picked a much prettier one than her to fool around with.

Plus, we know from Don's advice to Pete that he's smart enough not to shit where he eats. (At least he used to be smart enough.) 

The main reason he skipped on an office quickie back then, however, was probably because he was scoring everywhere else.  From that beatnik chick to any of his other conquests, he was really cleaning up.  Oh, and then there was the always-hot Betty to come home to for dessert. 

Yes...the game plan has changed.

Exactly, that's what I actually thought.

@ James and White Bread:

Yes, I totally agree with you both that Don rejected Peggy, full stop. I also agree that her advances to him were pretty pathetic (but at least she backed out fairly gracefully). What I meant by my comment was that I hoped Peggy would come to view his rejection as a show of respect, even if she's wrong to think so. Subtle difference, I know. I know Don would never have gone for a girl like her, especially back when she first started with the firm (very eloquently explained by White Bread, btw). Don saw her as a kid back then anyway, and surely still does. It's a ridiculous pairing. However, since she's so darn insecure/in need of attention I was merely hoping that she'd tell herself that he respected her too much (again, ridiculous, since at the time she'd only been on the job for a day or two). My comment came from a place of just feeling bad for the poor thing. I'm a big sap that way.

Plus, Peggy only came on to Don because that's what she thought was expected of her. She was more or less pressured into it.  She's still a long way from being a real grown-up yet, but she's learning some pretty big life lessons at the agency, so I really think that Don's past rejection will ultimately be but a small blip in her life. Something she'll look back on and shake her head at in mild embarrassment, maybe even giggle about her youthful naiveté.  In my opinion, she looks up to Don creatively, but I'm not sure she's ever really wanted to sleep with him (but I could be wrong about that since, going on looks alone, most of us ladies wouldn't kick the dude out of bed for eating crackers. haha).

Anyway, at the end of the day, Peggy's just  like the rest of us. She's figuring it out as she goes...


@ James:

Interesting comments about the new "scummy" character Joyce, and Warhol. Warhol could very well play into MM a lot, since his art can be so closely linked to advertising. Plenty to ponder there, so thanks for the extra insights. Wasn't there a film about V. Solanas' attempt on Warhol's life, with Janeane Garofolo (sp?) playing the leading role? I've never seen it, but now I get the resemblance to Joyce!