Mad Men Roundtable: Season 3, “Love Among the Ruins”

In second place is Peggy Olsen, who is trying to emulate both the feminine wiles of Joan and the business cunning of Don–the boss she tells her one-night stand is “a jerk”.  I was surprised at that statement; I’d always thought she admired Don, so I’m anxious to learn why she feels that way.  My guess is that it’s a temporary thing, as he chided her to “keep some tools in her toolbox” when she repeatedly questioned the creative direction being used for an early version of Diet Pepsi called “Patio”.  (“Everyone wants a drink that sounds like a floor.”)  Peggy pointed out that the client isn’t always right, and feels the agency should give them something more female-targeted than their desired Ann Margaret type, straight out of Bye Bye Birdie, whose charms are more suited for enticing a male audience (even Don is moved to a lopsided grin when he screens the opening of the film).  Alone in her flat, wearing as chaste a nightgown as there ever was, Peggy sings the same song into her mirror, trying to let her sexy out.  Elisabeth Moss just owns everything she does in this role, by the way.  The next night, Peggy hits the town after work, armed with her new Ann Margaret confidence and Joan’s line she overheard in the lobby the day before.  “It’s so crowded in here, it feels like I’m on the subway.”  It earns her a free drink, and a nice guy with an apartment around the corner.  She’s smart enough not to do the deed without a Trojan, but still gets to have some fun.  She leaves in the middle of the night without getting the guy’s number.  See?  She’s Joan and Don all rolled into one.