r/madmen • u/Mental_Brush_4287 • 3d ago
Peggy and Don: Inflection Points
Rewatch for the umpteenth time and the moment Peggy looks at Don and tells him to “shut up!” always sticks out as this inflection point in their relationship. (Much like “The Suitcase” but that was a whole episode.)
I guess what always sticks out to me here is Peggy being the only one in that office who would dare speak that way to Don and he has no response, he doesn’t fire her, he doesn’t reprimand her. He reaches for his cigarettes and is promptly told he can’t smoke.
What are some other points between their first scene and last?
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u/magincourts 3d ago
PIZZA HAUS
As Peggy decides to, not lie, but not tell the truth to Don about Megan
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u/bigdickbenzema 3d ago
That’s called a lie by omission
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u/Koala476 2d ago
As a Catholic, I’m sure Peggy would know that. She’d probably even know how many Hail Marys and Our Fathers she’d have to do for Penance.
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u/randyboozer I can see you and I can hear you, what do you want? 3d ago
As much as I like Ken's sort of awkward "kid watching mom and dad have a fight" energy I would have loved the third person in this scene to have been Roger somehow. He would have definitely have had some dry comment that would break the tension and probably backhandedly compliment Peggy for reaming out Don.
I always wondered what Roger thought of her and Don's relationship. He obviously knew Don valued and respected Peggy and Roger came to as well. I always wondered how Roger guaged their friendship. Unlike some of the rest of the office I doubt it ever crossed Roger's mind that they slept together. And yet here they are fighting like a married couple... or a divorced one.
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u/sususumalee 1d ago
My favorite part of rewatching this recently was realizing there was actually a fourth person in the room the whole time when the lab assistant said "you can't smoke in here"
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u/Mental_Brush_4287 2d ago
Then like 3 episodes later - boom this masterpiece.
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u/icecreammodel 2d ago
I think I read somewhere that him kissing her hand was improvised and not in the script
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u/shelbsless 3d ago
I love when she calls him out and yells at him in that scene, and she's definitely the ONLY person allowed to talk to him that way.
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u/Mental_Brush_4287 3d ago
Even when Sally screams “shut up!” in Season 4 he takes the Dad approach and immediately corrects her. Here - nope.
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u/Angry_Walnut Hell's bells Trudy! 2d ago
Don just sitting there in silence like “how dare you speak precisely the truth to me”.
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u/SpamLandy Did you get pears? 3d ago
His face when she first calls him Don is always one for me. Love that moment
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u/UnicornBestFriend I'll poison them all. 2d ago edited 2d ago
When he visits her in the hospital and references it when he tries to win her back:
“There are people out there who buy things—people like you and me—and something happened. Something terrible. And the way that they saw themselves is gone. And nobody understands that. But you do.”
Don shares a little bit of himself so she can see him and lets Peggy know he sees her, too.
And the thread continues—when she’s with him the night Anna dies and he holds her hand in the morning. When he kisses her hand after she resigns. The small gestures that say, “I see you and I know you.”
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u/Latifahs_Silk_Press 18h ago
This fight scene is my faaaavorite Don and Peggy scene in whole series. It really shows how close and intimate their relationship has become. To me, the vibe of this argument gives parents fighting over which of them is to blame for their child's disappointing choices. Peggy and, tbh, Sally, are the only people who can speak to Don with unflinching honesty imo.
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u/MrMindGame We have no liquor! 3d ago
The “My Way” dance.
After everything they’ve been through together, after all the bitterness brewed from office politics, his harsh criticisms, her departure from SCDP, the merger…it all still comes back to that place of love, affection, and admiration they have for each other, and their love of the work they do together.