It's Sunday, April 8, 1962. Peggy is at church, listening to a monsignor drone on very pompously about the temptation of lust and how each person must bear "his" own cross. The whole thing makes Peggy nauseous, and she excuses herself to her mother Katherine and sister Anita. Anita grumbles and accuses Peggy of being hung over.
Peggy runs into Father Gill - the new "visiting" priest - on her way out. He's paying no attention to Mass, instead looking out the open door into the street. He recognizes that Peggy was trying to sneak out, but doesn't give her a hard time about it. By some coincidence, he'll be having dinner with them tonight. There's a strange chemistry between him and Peggy right away. She agrees to go back to the Mass with him.
Someone named Caroline calls the Draper household, waking Betty and Don. It's about a barbecue they aren't especially excited about. Don convinces Betty to cancel. They reschedule to Easter. Don's horny, but the kids interrupt. Don kicks them out. I don't know if he and Betty get to finish.
Later, Sally mixes a very strong Bloody Mary for her father in a gold-leaf glass similar to a set my (and apparently everyone's) grandparents used to have. Bobby fiddles with the record player; Betty yells at him, and he lies and says he wasn't touching it. Don agrees to dance with Betty at her request.
Anita's husband Gerry is stretched out on the couch watching baseball when Fr. Gill arrives. Gerry says he has too much back pain to answer the door, sit at the dinner table, or even put on his own shoes. A neighbor joins them for dinner as well - she greets the priest like he's a rock star. Gerry gets up just long enough to greet the priest, then gets horizontal again.
Anita is almost as excited as the neighbor to have a priest in their midst. She asks him to say grace; he gives a warm, off-the-cuff, free-form blessing that does not meet Katherine's approval. She makes him say the standard, formal, generic grace as well. He charms the hell out of the ladies. Katherine brags about Peggy's job. Anita tries to cut her short, but Katherine is too proud of Peggy. Peggy excuses herself. Fr. Gill suddenly realizes it's "late" and offers her a ride home. (If you're wondering, as I was, if the "4th Ave. BMT" was some kind of halfway house for confused unwed mothers, it's actually a stop on the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit. D'oh!) The women insist on taking a picture before he leaves!
Roger and Mona have dinner with their daughter and her fiance, Brooks. The parents are disappointed and perplexed that the kids don't want a fancy wedding. In fact, despite obviously being in love, they haven't begun making any plans at all.
Outside Peggy's place, Father Gill hesitantly asks Peggy for some advice about public speaking, because he has to say Mass on Palm Sunday next week. She tells him being prepared and confident is helpful, and to make eye contact to focus your message. She also tells him to make the sermon simpler to understand since it's the only part of the service that's in English.
Sally and Bobby join their parents on the bed for snuggling and laughs. Bobby jumps up and down; Betty asks him to stop; he doesn't and the bed collapses. Betty yells at him and tries to send the kids to bed. Sally says they haven't had dinner yet, and Don says it's only 7:30. (I'm really surprised Betty's not on Valium. Maybe it hasn't been invented yet.)
The Lunch Specials board at the restaurant says it's Monday, April 16 already. It also says that corn chowder is 80 cents, so you can tell it's a swanky place! Ken and Pete are having lunch with client Marty. Marty tells what he presumes to be a funny story. Pete laughs a little too hard, and Ken joins in after a moment's hesitation. Vicky, the "date" they've arranged for Marty, shows up. Roger arrives soon after. Vicky introduces herself as Marty's wife. Roger likes Vicky and invites her to tomorrow's meeting. Later, when Roger asks Pete and Ken about Marty's wife, they admit she's not his wife.
Bobbie Barrett - the loudmouth comedian's manager - shows up at Don's office without an appointment. She's all business. She has an idea for a TV show: similar to Candid Camera, but meaner. They think Utz will let Jimmy do this if they think it will make him a more powerful pitchman for their product.
Typing at Lois's old desk, Joan hears someone turn the lock on Don's door.
Don won't help Bobbie sell the show, but he agrees to speak the the Schillings (the Utz people). She tries to seduce him. He rejects her. She doesn't take no for an answer.
Bobby is in hot water again when Don gets home. He broke the record player and lied about it. Don goes up to his room and tells him not to do it again. Although the mere tone of Don's voice seems to shame the boy enough, Betty is disgusted that Don didn't spank him to teach him the difference between right and wrong. Don says it doesn't work that way. She asks if he'd be the man he is now if his father hadn't hit him. Don asks for something to eat.
Confusingly, it's now Sunday, April 15 - Palm Sunday. (Either the church is confused, or the restaurant was.) Betty's still mad at Don. Duck calls - the whole team has to work today because the American Airlines pitch has been moved up to Good Friday. Don hangs up on him when Bobby burns himself on the stove. Betty (who is putting butter on the burn - a big no-no) blames Don. She's even madder when she finds out that she has to take Bobby to the ER while Don goes to work. Don agrees to take Sally with him. Sally is psyched!
Anita's house. Gerry appears to be asleep on the couch with the radio tuned to some Irish guy while everyone else - the family, plus even more neighbors - is at the table. Fr. Gill shows up but can't stay. He asks for Peggy; they say she's sick. (She's at work.) He tells them she helped him with his sermon. Katherine is impressed. Anita seems miffed.
The women at the office think Don is hotter than ever now that they see him with his daughter. Of course he immediately leaves her with Joan. Duck choreographs their pitch to American. He wants them to have three campaigns ready. Don assembles his creative staff.
Sally tells Joan of her plan to someday have "big ones" like Joan's and her mother's.
The mad men have been killing themselves over this campaign. Don reviews what they've prepared. He doesn't like Sal's artwork for the campaign to recruit stewardesses. Paul has created a menu in French. Peggy has picked out a china pattern.
One person who has not been killing himself with work is Roger. He has a date with Vicki in his bedroom. Kissing isn't included; he has to offer her $100 to do it. He warns her about his health. She claims that no one dies doing this. (Ironically, the commercial coming out of Roger's scene is for a mens' hair coloring product.)
Sally pesters Paul while he's trying to work. She sees the picture of Sheila on his desk and asks if she's his maid. When she finds out she's his girlfriend, Sally wants to know if he ever gets on top of her. He sends her out.
There's a makeshift buffet dinner. The secretaries have to wait until the rest of the staff eats. (A few of them glare enviously at Peggy, who is already eating.) Sally is wandering around without supervision. Cooper gets gum on his socks. He yells at Duck's gum-chewing secretary and fires her, then goes back into his office. Duck thanks her for getting Cooper out and assures her that Cooper won't remember firing her!
Don comes out to describe his concept. It's going to be about the future, not the past. It's about the moon. No apologizing for the crash; that happened to someone else. He tells his people to scrap everything and start over. The guys gripe behind Don's (but not Sally's) back until Duck says something positive about Don, possibly meant for Sally's ears.
Bored, Sally sneaks a glass that still has some scotch in it off of someone's desk.
Vicky's done with Roger. He wants her to hang around for dinner. She agrees, only if he pays for the gig she'll have to cancel and takes her to Lutêce. He thinks their $8.50 lunch is way expensive; he's bragging, not complaining.
It's finally quittin' time. Don collects his sleeping child from the sofa. He sees the glass fall out of her hand and sarcastically thanks Joan for babysitting. (I don't think this is headed towards a "Little Girl Lost" subplot, but doesn't she look like Drew Barrymore at that age?)
Peggy calls Anita to find out how the sermon was. Anita says it was good and that the priest gave her a copy for Peggy. After the call, Katherine says it's great that he's getting to know Peggy without her "troubles." Anita complains that Peggy does whatever she wants, with no regard for others.
Gerry is warming up the car, so evidently he can get up sometimes...
Friday, April 20. The mad men are in their best clothes; everything is meticulously laid out for the meeting with American.
Duck comes in looking queasy. His friend Shel - the guy Pete shocked with the news of his father's death in the crash - just got fired from American. Basically, the deal is off, and now they'll just be going through the motions.
Anita goes to Confession with Fr. Gill. The purpose of this confession seems not so much to relieve her conscience, but to let him know what an awful person Peggy is. To be fair, she never mentions her sister by name, but Fr. Gill knows who she is. Anita claims that Peggy is hurting their mother, but it's obvious that Anita's the one who's feeling overburdened and resentful. (I know some people think Katherine is suffering too, but she seems very proud of Peggy to me.)
Anita tells the padre that Peggy "seduced" a married man and had a baby with him; now she doesn't take responsibility for it. Anita feels guilty for hating Peggy and being jealous that everyone admires and helps her. It's unfair, when Anita's been so good - and for what? Father tells her not to judge, and to trust in God to see her goodness and reward her in heaven. For this and a couple of trivial sins, he prescribes 3 Hail Marys, 2 Our Fathers, and to forgive her sister for not being as strong as Anita is.
I've had nearly a week to read what other people have been saying about this, and I am stunned by the way some people have reacted to this scene. They feel that Anita is 100% right and Peggy is the devil. Maybe they don't remember what happened:
- Peggy thought she had taken precautions. The doctor didn't tell her that it takes a week for the Pill to kick in. It's not outrageous for her to have been "sure" she couldn't get (or be) pregnant. Even if she had known, her only safe and legal option was to have the baby.
- Peggy never seduced Pete. They've been together a grand total of two times, both of which were his idea. The fact that Anita (or anyone) can imagine Peggy as a seductive vixen catching poor innocent Pete in her plush den of sensuality says more about Anita's imagination than about Peggy's character. It was an unplanned encounter with a drunken coworker in a dumpy little apartment.
- Pete was not a married man the first time, and in any case it is not Peggy's responsibility to keep Pete faithful to Trudy. (It's not Trudy's responsibility, either. It's Pete's.) Peggy herself was not cheating on anyone.
- Anita chose to lead a domestic life. There is nothing wrong with that, but you can't pick one kind of life and then be bitter when you see how well the alternative works out for someone else. Not that Peggy's choice has worked out flawlessly. I don't think that being committed is something to be envious of. Again, Anita has a very selective way of looking at Peggy's life. It's not as glamorous as Anita imagines.
- Peggy really was mentally ill (or didn't some people see the last episode of season 1?). No fair saying that she's "using" her breakdown to evade responsibility. Do people in wheelchairs "use" their disability so they don't have to walk? Ridiculous.
Yes, this is a real illness. It is hardly a secret in 2008. Peggy can't deal with the baby. It's not that she "won't" or that she's lazy. She CAN'T. She can barely look at it. Maybe someday she will feel differently; and maybe someday people won't say "vitamins and exercise" dismissively when the subject of postpartum mood disorders comes up. Maybe in another 46 years? - A woman who is supporting herself financially is not evading responsibility. A lazy, irresponsible woman can find someone to mooch off of so she doesn't have to hold down a job. Peggy could "use" her illness to sponge off of her family, but she doesn't.
I am guessing that Peggy couldn't put her child up for adoption because she was committed and therefore wasn't allowed to make decisions. The choice would have been to either have a relative take him, or else place him with strangers in a foster family until Peggy got better. Anita made a big sacrifice for her sister, and Peggy's not giving anything back.
But I doubt Peggy has anything to give.
OK, I'm done.
People are quiet in the boardroom after the American pitch. They know nothing will come of it. Don and Roger speak privately. Don points out that Duck was supposed to bring in new business, and instead he ran Mohawk off. Roger seems very casual about it.
Don comes home early in a foul mood. They're having dinner. Bobby knocks over a full glass of something with the toy robot Betty told him not to play with at the table. Betty tells Don to "do something," so he flings the robot across the room and it smashes to pieces against the wall, scaring the kids. Betty follows him up to their room, saying he takes no responsibility. (Meanwhile, Sally picks up a very large knife to slice some bread in the basket.) They argue about how hard it is for Betty to be "outnumbered" all day at home and he does nothing - except pay for everything they own. He says she's lucky he doesn't bring home his anger from work. The kids listen at the bottom of the stairs.
She shoves him. He shoves her. She tells the kids it's time for bed.
Bobby comes up to apologize to Don. Don says dads get mad sometimes. Bobby asks what Don's dad was like. Don says his father looked like him, but was bigger. He liked ham, and violet candy. He was a farmer. "But he died," Bobby says. "We have to get you a new daddy."
This says so much about what Bobby thinks of his daddy, it makes me sniffle. Don gives him a hug.
Bedtime. Don pretends to be asleep. Betty wants to talk. She accuses him of being one of the children. Don says Bobby is just a little kid. Don's father beat the hell out of him. It didn't make Don a better person, but it did make him fantasize about murdering him. Bobby's not as bad as Don was.
It's Sunday, April 22. There's an Easter egg hunt at church. Peggy tells Fr. Gill she read his sermon from last week and liked it. He gives her an Easter egg "for the little one."
Now Peggy knows that he knows.
Quote of the week: "Let's pretend we know what 1963 looks like." (Don)
No comments:
Post a Comment