Review
Peggy Olson (Elizabeth Moss) and Don Draper (Jon Hamm) have a friendship with many ups and downs in Mad Men, and brilliant writing and acting make it one of the best relationships in the series. Peggy started off as Draper’s secretary before rising to become a copywriter, and her progression is one of Mad Men‘s most satisfying character arcs. Part of this is seeing her grow in confidence and begin to stick up for herself more, especially to her “mentor and champion”, Don.
Peggy and Don’s non-romantic dynamic is established right from Mad Men season 1. Despite having many affairs, Draper reminds his protege, Peggy, “I’m your boss, not your boyfriend.” Draper initially promotes Peggy to copywriter as a power move to annoy Mad Men’s Pete Campbell, but this evolves into a genuine respect for her talents and her character. Throughout the 7 seasons of Mad Men, Peggy advocates for herself and her worth as a copywriter and challenges Don to treat her better.
5 Peggy Asks For The Bail Money Back
Mad Men Season 2, Episode 5, “The New Girl”
Peggy is still a junior copywriter in Mad Men season 2, but she begins to understand her worth and sticks up for herself in “The New Girl”. When Don is in a drunk-driving accident with Bobbie Barrett, one of Draper’s many mistresses in Mad Men, he calls Peggy for her help and discretion.
Don’s reliance on Peggy puts her in an awkward situation personally and financially. Considering the power dynamic, it is not Don’s finest hour in his and Peggy’s friendship. Peggy rightly confronts Don, telling him that the bail fee is a lot for her and asks for the money back. The thing that stands out about this confrontation scene is that Peggy starts off the interaction by calling him Mr. Draper, as usual, but finishes it by thanking him by his first name, setting expectations for more equal terms.
4 Peggy Won’t Be Taken For Granted
Mad Men Season 3, Episode 13, “Shut The Door, Have A Seat”
Mad Men‘s season 3 finale, “Shut The Door, Have A Seat,” is a pivotal moment for Peggy. When Don chooses not to join McCann Erickson and decides to start his own agency, Draper shows his arrogant presumption that Peggy will him to the new venture. She rightly calls him out, saying, “You just assume I’ll do whatever you say. Just you, like some nervous poodle.” After Don says he won’t beg, Peggy retorts, “Beg me? You didn’t even ask me… I don’t want to make a career of being there so you can kick me when you fail.”
Peggy shows her way with words in the scene as well as proving she is not to be taken for granted, and it has an impact on Don, even though he doesn’t show it in the moment. Later in the episode, Draper shows up at her apartment as a supplicant, and tells Peggy he will spend the rest of his life trying to hire her, showing her the respect she deserves.
3 Peggy Takes A Stand For Her Personal Time
Mad Men Season 4, Episode 7, “The Suitcase”
Mad Men is nothing if not consistent in showing that people in the ad industry work hard and play hard, and “The Suitcase” is no exception. In this acclaimed episode, Don and Peggy pull an all-nighter coming up with ideas for Samsonite. Peggy advocates for herself in the episode by confronting Don about the fact that she has a life outside the agency. The whole time they are working, her boyfriend, Mark, is waiting for her at the restaurant for her birthday dinner.
In response, Don tells her it is “time to get over birthdays”, which is an interesting projection considering if he were to celebrate his own, it wouldn’t be his real birthday. It turns out that Mark has invited Peggy’s mother to what she thought would be an intimate, romantic meal, bringing the reality home to her that even the person closest to her does not know her at all. Don makes up for his insensitivity by taking Peggy out to eat, a touching reconciliation in the most compelling friendship of the series.
2 Peggy Finally Quits Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce
Mad Men Season 5, Episode 11, “The Other Woman”
One of the most emotional scenes between Peggy and Don is her initiating perhaps the hardest confrontation — her quitting SCDP. It is a difficult moment for both characters, considering their long history and Peggy being Don’s protégée. For a start, the meeting starts off on the wrong foot — by trying to guess what the impromptu meeting is about, Don inadvertently insults her twice. Firstly, he says he “can’t put a girl on Jaguar”, and then he asks if it’s about Joan being made partner, which Peggy didn’t even know.
Nonetheless, Peggy begins her quitting speech by expressing her gratitude. Elisabeth Moss brilliantly shows how Peggy would feel in that situation — she sounds almost breathless and is wringing her hands with nerves. Jon Hamm, too, portrays the stages of Don’s grief expertly. Firstly, the denial, then bargaining, when he still thinks he can negotiate to keep her at SCDP. This is by shock when he realizes she means it, then anger, and finally, acceptance.
Elisabeth Moss’ tearful reaction is genuine.
It is worth noting that Don kissing Peggy’s hand goodbye instead of a handshake was ad-libbed by Jon Hamm, and that Elisabeth Moss’ tearful reaction is genuine, as the actress told Vanity Fair. This makes it one of the highlights of Don and Peggy’s relationship and marks a major point in Peggy’s growing confidence.
1 Peggy Calls Don A “Monster”
Mad Men Season 6, Episode 12, “The Quality Of Mercy”
Peggy and Ted Chaough’s workplace affair comes to a head when Don puts the pressure on both of them about the ramifications of such a relationship. Peggy has ideated a killer ad inspired by Rosemary’s Baby, which, incidentally, is a clever and historically relevant writing choice, considering Peggy’s own pregnancy horror in Mad Men season 1. Ted is convinced Peggy will win a Clio award for the creative idea. Don is less keen, since it is well over the budget agreed with the client, and he can see Ted’s judgment is clouded by infatuation.
The way Don handles this situation disgusts Peggy. He opens the meeting by saying “I think we all know why we’re here”, having clearly implied he is going to reveal their relationship to the client. However, he simultaneously saves the day for the ad and humiliates Ted and Peggy by claiming the pitch was Frank Gleason’s last idea before his tragic death by cancer.
Peggy calls him a “monster” for interfering with her Mad Men love affair.
Manipulating the client’s feelings with a morbid lie and stripping the chance of an award from Peggy is one of the worst things Don Draper ever did — plus, there is the added factor of Don being jealous of Ted professionally and perhaps still resentful that Peggy previously left SCDP for CGC. Don thinks he’s in the right in the situation, but Peggy calls him a “monster” for interfering with her Mad Men love affair.
Source: Vanity Fair
