Peggy

In the last few episodes of Mad Men, Peggy, Don Draper’s secretary, is really stepping it up. All the women in the office were called in to test a lip stick line that the company was creating an ad for and Peggy, not wanting to be ‘just another color in a box’ or just one of the colors in a ‘basket of kisses’. The men noticed her and thought that her one liners were very clever and they asked her to be a part of creating the ad to pitch. For the first time in the show we see a woman really step out of the bounds that are set for her by society. Peggy is eager to move forward in with this ad but she is still held down by the world she lives in. She is looked down upon by the other women and even held back by the men. Peggy’s character is constantly battling her desire to step out of the world she’s in and wanting so badly to fit into the world she is a part of. She even finds herself in the arms of Peter, who is a newly wed working at the ad company. This is not the first time she has been with Peter and by the looks of it, it wont be the last. Another sign of this man’s world she is living in. While this goes on with Peggy, we see new developments with Don, whose past has just walked back into his life and is haunting him. He continues to hide these things from his wife and continues to seek solace in the arms of his mistress. He does not want the life he has built himself to be destroyed. But his country, cane switch upbringing is hiding around every corner and we continue to see his flashbacks, letting us into his life a little bit more with each episode.  

Episode 5

I LOVED this weeks episode of Mad Men! It took a turn that I did not expect at all and it was just another perfect example of what great story tellers the writers of this show are. In this episode we learn more about the life of Donald Draper, or should I say Dick. In previous episodes we see by the way Don acts toward his wife that he is hiding something about his past life, family and childhood. In this episode a little light is shed on what he is hiding. Without notice a man shows up at Donald’s office asking for him. This man’s name is Adam and as soon as the name Adam is mentioned to Don we see a shift in his demeanor. We learn that this man, Adam, is in fact Donald’s little brother whom he left long ago in another life. In his brief interaction with Adam we learn that his mother was never a mother at all and Don clearly has deep bitterness about her. He is not saddened at all to learn of her death. When Don does not welcome Adam with open arms, Adam is hurt and confused as to why his older brother would abandoned him without notice and not be moved in anyway when he reappears in his life. Later in the show Don essentially buys Adam off and tells him to leave New York and never try to contact him again. Donald is concerned about protected his new life and does not want it to be ruined by his past. He wants absolutely no one to know about his past. He has moved on from it but we still see there is a deep pain in Don’s heart. I believe we will revisit this topic later on as the story develops.