Even after all the love of retro and vintage on the Gilmore Girls, Rory Gilmore grows up to be a confused, shaky depressive married to a dick-ish insurance salesman, who tragically sleeps with that pathetic villain Pete Campbell--a jerk on his own one-way trip to suicide town. The moment she erases that heart by opening and shutting her window, I pictured Pete stepping into that amazing elevator shaft back at SCDP. Bu-bye. Appropriate considering the title of this week's Mad Men--"Lady Lazarus"--taken from a Sylvia Plath poem detailing her attempted suicides. Everyone has their desperate moments on the series this season, but Pete seems the most ready to do himself in. Perhaps on the ski slopes with his nifty new skis??
I realized also that I'm really all about identifying with Peggy. To the point that I was really pissed off at Meghan during and after the episode, even though part of me admires her willingness to follow her dreams. After last week's intimation by Emile that Meghan has given up on her dreams and surrendered to a life of ease with Don, I wondered, "Is Marxist Dad upset that Meghan's not an actress?" The crux is that she's landed success (w/Don, at SCDP) without much struggle. Well, turns out that Meghan was underwhelmed by her success at advertising, and Emile's words hit the mark. Even though, as Don admiringly told her last week "you're good at all of it."
I guess I really wanted Peggy to have another female teammate and supporter, someone to bounce ideas with and become a pal to. In some ways, Joan serves that function, but she's not another creative like Stan and MG, and Peggy's worried enough about "acting like a man." Last week felt like that mentoring relationship was really starting to blossom; but then everything has to unravel on Mad Men. First, Meghan lies to Peggy, saying she's going to meet Don for dinner after she's told Don that she couldn't join him and has to stay and work. This scene occurs after a mysterious phone call straight out of a Hitchcock film, with Meghan looking very mysterious.
Don, of course, calls multiple times looking for Meghan, putting Peggy in a really uncomfortable position. When he keeps demanding to know where Meghan is, Peggy snaps, "I don't know. Do you know where Abe is?" He's treating her a bit too much like his secretary, and she's understandably frustrated. My favorite moment is Peggy hesitantly picking up the phone, Don asking "Hello? Hello? Peggy?" and her crying "PIZZA HOUSE!" and hanging up on him. Hilarious. When the phone rings again, she wisely decides to split.
The next morning, Peggy drags Meghan into the bathroom to find out the scoop, and Meghan divulges that she hates working at SCDP, and that she's thought about trying to get fired. She wants to pursue acting.
To add fuel to the fire, shortly after their bathroom talk, Peggy and her fellow creatives are discussing the Cool Whip campaign with Don. He asks where Meghan is, and Peggy (still pissed) states that she's not coming. Then Meghan sashays in, giving Peggy a satisfied little smirk. That was the moment when I started loathing Meghan again. A woman who had almost completely won me over the last couple weeks, was back in the Zou-bisou-bisou slot. Boo. See catty smirk below. Oh, Mad Men, why did you have to go there??
Sure, there was a distinct chance of Meghan outshining Peggy rather than working alongside her, and that situation becomes reality when Meghan and Don do their little schtick about Cool Whip. Megan is really good--AT EVERYTHING. And she doesn't even want the success that Peggy craves or struggles to achieve. Meghan wants to explore her dreams, and being married to Don gives her the ability to pursue them. Her dreams do not need to be about making money and surviving financially--she will always land on her feet. See. Over-identifying with Peggy here.
To her credit, Meghan wakes Don that night to tell him that she wants to quit her job and go back to acting, admitting that "she'd rather fail at acting, than succeed with Heinz." Don's disappointed, but he gets points for not giving her a hard time and being supportive. He thought they made a great team, and now Meghan wants to venture out on her own. At least he recognizes what a woman who feels trapped and resentful might become (Hi Betty). Don also acknowledges that he put Meghan in an extremely awkward position by marrying her and then continuing to work with her at the firm. But Meghan flat out says, "I don't want to do it, Don." Ouch.
The next day, Meghan seems genuinely sad when she says goodbye to Peggy, Stan and MG. Peggy immediately sheds her bitchiness and shifts to concern, asking Meghan if she's okay. (Damn if I didn't soften too at her tears). Ginsberg hilariously jumps to the conclusion that Meghan's been fired and responds with outrage; maybe this guy really is from Mars, since, as Meghan pointed out, she would never be fired. Stan, incredulously asks if she's kidding (about quitting to pursue acting), but Peggy smacks him down, so they both graciously shake her hand and say they'll miss her. Peggy's reaction is the crucial one. She asks firmly if Meghan's sure, and Meghan replies, "Peggy, I've always appreciated what you've done for me. Not just yesterday." Awwwww. Okay, more softening from my surrogate, Peggy.
Peggy and Joan's pow-wow over Meghan's departure is also very telling. Joan was always suspicious of Meghan's role at the firm, and states that she was frankly surprised that Meghan didn't spectacularly fail. Peggy admits (oh, Peggy) that she might have been too hard on her, and scared Meghan away. When Joan suggests that these events might be all part of Meghan's cunning plan, Peggy defends her: "No, I think she's just good at everything. She's just one of those girls." Joan responds, "Then you had every right to be hard on her." Peggy realizes, this episode and last week's, that she's never going to be "one of those girls," and will have to fight for every single success, professionally and romantically, that she achieves.
Joan has really transformed over the seasons, and her comment reflects her new-found insight. As a woman who has capitalized on her exceptional beauty for quite some time, Joan now sees how advantages can be limitations. One senses a mixture of envy and maturity in the way in which Joan regards Meghan. Joan's portentous thoughts on "second wives" and Don's penchant for actress/models suggest that Meghan's choice will have significant consequences for the future.
Peggy and Don's confrontation at the Cool Whip text kitchen is one of those consequences, and a long time coming. Everyone at the Cool Whip HQ is expecting the witty Don and Meghan banter, and Meghan's absence, and replacement by Peggy, is palpable. Don and Peggy "screw up" the schtick, because they're both still reeling from Meghan's departure, and Peggy's no "Meghan."--both Don and Peggy know it. These tensions produce the following exchange:
Peggy: "Meghan is not the problem."
Don: "You didn't want her there. You were threatened by everything about her."
Peggy: "I spent more time training her than you did, and eight months defending her!"
Don: "Defending her? She was great at it!
Peggy: She thinks advertising is stupid.
Don: "No, she thinks that the people she works with are cynical and petty."
Peggy: "I did everything right, and I'm still getting it from you. You know, you are not made at me, so shut up!"
Yeah! You know how sometimes when you love someone, you get mad at them when you're really mad at something else entirely? Like, you get mad about "A," but you're really upset about "Q" and you aren't even aware that you are angry about "Q?" Well, Peggy comes to that realization (and verbalizes it), a moment earlier than Don, but they both are going through the same mix of emotions (albeit for different reasons). And they can argue with each other in this way because of their connection and understanding of each other. Still, I'm glad that Peggy's willing to stand up to Don's petulance and give him a little wake-up call. Yay, Peggy. Don is just starting to process what Meghan's loss means to him and SCDP, which that earlier encounter with the elevator shaft made painfully clear. Hello encroaching sense of foreboding!
Mad Men really makes apparent, week after week, the growing chasm between young and old, and the older generation's discomfort with change. I admired the way in which Meghan tried to play down Don's "out-of-touch" worries early in the episode, when she said that it's impossible to keep up because the world (and popular music) is constantly changing. The exchange Don and Roger have later on emphasizes this growing divide. While Roger says, "I was never able to choose my dreams," Don reminds him that he grew up in the Thirties and dreamed of "indoor plumbing." Again, that curmudgeonly fist-shaking coming from two characters desperately trying to stay in touch with the upcoming youthquake, whether from taking LSD or marrying young and hip.
All these tensions come together in a lovely concluding montage scene. Don arrives home from work just as Meghan's leaving for acting class, and she hands him The Beatles Revolver album, telling him to play "Tomorrow Never Knows" before she skips out the door in her perky Audrey Hepburn beatnik get-up. Don pops the vinyl onto his gorgeous hi-fi console, and sinks back into his recliner and lets the lyrics wash over him:
Turn off your mind relax and float down stream
It is not dying, it is not dying
Lay down all thoughts, surrender to the void,
It is shining, it is shining.
Yet you may see the meaning of within
It is being, it is being
Love is all and love is everyone
It is knowing, it is knowing.
The camera reveals our characters from "Lady Lazarus" at their various pursuits. Meghan lies on the floor in her acting class, immersed in some visualization exercise. Pete watches in misery as Beth/Rory draws a heart on her car window, and then erases it, stomping on his heart as well. Peggy and Stan share a joint while working on a campaign at SCDP, which softens their "reality" of Heinz Baked Beans.
And Don? Don cannot even sit through the whole song, but gets up and shuts off the stereo, drink in hand, and leaves the room. He just doesn't get it. Watch out for that elevator, Don.
