'Mad Men' recap: 'You're an attractive girl, Peggy'

“Mad Men” can be a lot of things, but one thing it’s usually not is a tearjerker. The show always packs an emotional wallop — you'll laugh, you’ll cringe, you’ll want to throw paperweights at Don — but good, old-fashioned lumps in your throat are hard to come by. Sunday night, however, there wasn’t a dry eye at my house. Granted, I watched the episode by myself, but still: If the image of Don, drunk, heartbroken and  curled up in Peggy’s lap, won’t get you a little misty-eyed, then your name must be Betty Draper.

For some time now, Peggy and Don have had a certain understanding. But the terms of their “special relationship” were unspoken and, therefore, easy to ignore. For Don, it meant being a bully; for Peggy, it meant giving in to Don's unreasonable demands. Sunday night, Peggy challenged the unspoken terms of their friendship, and as a result, their kinship became something real. One of my favorite things about “Mad Men” is the way that the most incremental developments can pack such a dramatic punch, and the fact that the very best episodes are often the ones in which very little actually happens.  I’ve heard "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner say the stakes on the series are low because, in the real world, most of our problems are not that melodramatic.  This episode was a perfect example of that; it was also my favorite of the season and maybe even my favorite of the series so far.

As the episode begins, both Peggy and Don are in emotionally fragile states.  There’s no question as to what’s on Peggy’s mind after she runs into a very pregnant (and ever so slightly patronizing) Trudy in the ladies' room.  Don’s in an even gloomier state after getting an “urgent” message from Anna’s niece, Stephanie; an “urgent” phone call can only mean one thing, and he knows it.  Rather than call California, Don starts to drink, and he calls Peggy in to see where she is on the Samsonite pitch.  There are two ways to interpret this move: 1) Don’s in pain, and he needs Peggy, his punching bag, or 2) Don uses his work to escape from his anguish, and Peggy’s his favorite person to work with.  Of course, it’s a bit of both, isn’t it?

Faithful “Mad Men” viewers will know that things tend to get freaky after-hours at the agency. (I’m thinking of “The Lost Weekend” and “Nixon vs. Kennedy” and, of course, the more recent "The Good News”), and the late-night drama is only more pronounced now that Don’s a full-fledged alcoholic with an empty apartment he doesn’t want to go home to.  I’ve always been a sucker for movies and TV shows centered on the “one-night-that-changed-it-all” device. (It’s a weakness that probably dates back to movies like “Adventures in Babysitting” and “Sixteen Candles.”) When the night begins, Peggy is Don’s malcontent underling; by its end, she has replaced Anna as the only person who really knows Don.  In return, Peggy has a friend to whom she will never have to explain anything.  Don might be a harsh boss, but as a friend, he’s not the judging type.  What remains unclear is the answer to Peggy’s question, “How long are you going to go on like this?”  Though if anyone’s going to rescue Don from his rye-soaked decline, it will be Peggy. No doubt she will always be glad she ditched dinner at the Forum of the Twelve Caesars.

A lot of the credit for this change goes to booze, of course, which helps to lubricate Don's and Peggy’s soul-baring.  But a lot of it also goes to Peggy, who doesn’t shy away from asking questions, as she once would have done — and doesn’t hold back her own secrets, either.  The pivotal scene, I think, is the one at the bar during the Liston-Clay fight.  Peggy tells Don she hates dating;  she is, it must be said, fishing for compliments.  But who cares?  It works.  Don tells her she’s attractive, which opens up a conversation about Allison, and then — credit to Don for this one — Peggy’s baby. It bears mentioning that even though we all know Don is a sad and occasionally evil drunk, a rotten father and an unreliable employee, there are two moments in this episode when I still want to be Peggy.  First, when Don tells her, “You’re an attractive girl, Peggy.”  Second, when Don takes a swing at Duck for calling Peggy a whore.  I consider myself a feminist, but that doesn’t mean I would mind having a handsome man punch some jerk's lights out  on my behalf.  So sue me. 

Another reason I loved this episode?  It appealed to the film-studies nerd in me in a major way.  This episode was called “The Suitcase,” which is, of course, a reference to Samsonite.  But, if you’ll indulge me for a second, I also think there’s something else going on here. Hitchcock was famous for using MacGuffins — objects that initially drive the plot but decline in importance in favor of the "real" story.  The suitcase, often stuffed with money or jewels or secret papers, is a favorite MacGuffin.  Now, there aren’t any visits to the Bates Motel or chases across Mt. Rushmore in this episode, only a late-night dinner at a Greek diner and the forging of a real friendship between Don and Peggy, but the suitcase functions in the same way.  If it weren’t for the Samsonite account, Peggy wouldn't have gone to dinner with Don.  Initially, it’s the reason she stays.  As the episode progresses, it becomes clear that Peggy isn’t staying because of “the suitcase,” but because of her relationship with Don: She can feel the tectonic plates shifting beneath her feet, and wisely, she decides to ride out the changes. Peggy and Don continue to brainstorm halfheartedly at the diner, and when Don comes up with a solid idea for Samsonite at the end of the episode, who really cares? I sure didn’t.

What matters is that hand.  I was worried that, after their long night together, Don would put the wall right back up where it used to be — that he’d pull another “Thank you for bringing my keys.”  When Peggy knocks on his door, I'm convinced he’ll be mean and impassive once again.  He sure manages to put on a clean shirt and whip out the pomade pretty quickly; why not the emotional armor too?  So when Don rested his hand on Peggy’s — a nice nod to the very first episode of the show — and asked her to keep the door open, well, people, I cried. 

It’s true: Even bloggers have hearts. 

A few things I’d feel remiss not mentioning:

--  If the recordings for “Sterling’s Gold” are to be believed, Lyle Evans was not a Matthew Weiner-generated meme intended to confuse “Mad Men” viewers but a physician who performed an unnecessary orchiectomy on Bert Cooper.  (Translation: he cut Bert’s testicles off.)   Well, that certainly solves everything, doesn’t it?

-- All hail Ida Blankenship, Queen of Perversions.

-- Recovering alcoholics are “self so-righteous,” according to Roger Sterling. 

I have but one question for you, Show Trackers, but it sure is a loaded one. What’s in store for Peggy and Don, after their special night together? 

-- Meredith Blake
twitter.com/MeredithBlake

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Photo: Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) lives it up on her birthday. Credit: Mike Yarish / AMC

Comments

[Maria]

At the bar it became clear that Don still doesn't know that Pete is the father. Is this going to come out this season?

This episode was excellent and total red meat for Peggy sympathizers. I was giddy, I was crying, then I watched the encore.

[Alison Woo]

Great insightful commentary.

It would be too easy for Weiner to pair off Peggy and Don and since Mad Men excels at what's not expected, it'll be interesting to see how this develops.

This has been a great season but one has to wonder what will it take for Don to turn his life around. I couldn't help think of the line from the very first episode when one of the boys asked Harry about Don and he said, "Who the hell knows about that guy? He could be Batman for all we know."

By revealing himself to Peggy, he absolutely shows how far he has come.

In a totally trivial but culturally important moment, how about Mark's Beatle-esque haircut? Each episode we're seeing how the shakeup of the 60s are encroaching upon the show's makeup.

Anna's "visit" to Don is very much in line with many people's stories of those who die reflecting that they were "visited" by their loved ones before they crossed over.

A remarkable episode and yet another reason why this is truly the best show on TV.

[Steve Miller]

I love the show. But, I've never wanted to watch the whole show again right after it finished, until this one. It was unbelievably outstanding. The two best characters with scenes that deal directly with both their individual and collective issues, without being clean or easy or neat or heavy handed. Masterful by all involved. I know that's not much detail or analysis, but....wow.

[Mike D'Virgilio]

I too think this was my favorite show of the season and maybe ever. The dynamic tension of the relationship was so beautifully played by both. I loved how it was placed in the context of the Liston/Clay fight, showing how huge a sport boxing was in American Culture back then. I loved the interplay of both Don and Peggy's history and how it cemented the relationship in a deeply emotional way.

I was thinking of the same thing as your question: will this lead to a sexual relationship? I don't think so. Peggy is certainly looking hot. As she has matured in her role at the agency her self-confidence has made her much more attractive than the mousy little girl of the first season or so. And I'm sure Don notices that. But I'm convinced he sees himself more as a mentor to Peggy, and he possibly also sees something more familial in the relationship than professional. Maybe now that Anna's gone Peggy could kind of, sort of, fill that hole for Don.

[Allen]

Best episode ever?

Absolutely loved last night's Mad Men... terrific to see Peggy getting so much screen time...

BTW if you're a Mad fan, check out Christina Hendricks (aka Joan) BEFORE she hit it big...

Here she is 10 years ago on MTV soap Undressed...

http://www.remotepatrolled.com/2010/08/guest-starring-christina-hendricks-gets-undressed/

[Dawn Z]

This episode: Pure GENIUS.
I thought this was one of the best-written television episodes of any kind I have ever seen. What about the Samsonite as a metaphor for Don himself? (and more and more, Peggy too) Didn't you see that? The commercial which Peggy and the team originally came up with totally was about Don Draper as Joe Namath, and also the theory that the luggage could travel anywhere and still take a beating. And how about the mouse -- "There must be another way out of here."
And remember, Don believes his own mother was a prostitute. This is about Peggy and Anna loving him like a mother/sister and knowing him better than anyone. When Don took a swing at Duck, I read it as Don swinging at someone who was in many ways insulting his own mother.
And it was interesting how they played out Duck's visit -- not only does it play a part in revealing Peggy's secret affair and showing that Don will accept her for who she is, but it sort of said there is hope for Don, and no hope for Duck. In one fell swoop, on her birthday (read "rebirth") Peggy lost a lot of baggage -- losing the lame boyfriend at the restaurant with the lame family, and finally seeing Duck as a lost cause. The juxtaposition between Duck and Don, with Don winning out as still having hope and being accepted for who he is by Peggy...the backdrop of the Cassius Clay fight...all just incredible knock-it-out of the ballpark writing.

[Rinky Dink]

"The Suitcase" wasn't Samsonite. It was the suitcase carried by Anna when she made her farewell visit to Don at the office -- as she set off on her final journey.

[Meredith Blake]

@Rinky Dink Nice catch re: Anna. There was also that brief mention of Uncle Mac's suitcase, too. Ahh....too much to think about!

[pattycupcake]

This episode felt so right to me because it seems Don and Peggy have always been written as foils for each other, reflecting off each other, acting as different versions of each other. So it makes sense that they would or could be the ones to save each other. It was incredibly moving to watch these two very lonely people finally get to hang out together. I have never seen their relationship as a romantic one and still don't, but I do see them continuing to save each other personally and possibly wind up together professionally in an even stronger way by the show's end. This episode was important and felt like it may have been thought up the first day the show was conceived, and coming smack in the middle of the arc of the entire projected life of this series, I wouldn't be surprised. Whatever the case, after all the misery of this season, it was exhilarating as an audience member to simply watch these two complex people interact. Sometimes love is more than being a "real couple" and sometimes being able to share secrets about yourself to a kindred soul who understands and cares without judgment is all the lifeline you need. Incredible acting. A very moving and beautiful episode.

[Jackson Panix]

What was the significance of the mouse?

[Pam]

Peggy has replaced Anna in Don's life as his best friend, coming as close as possible in Don Draper's world to a soul mate as possible. A sexual relationship would ruin that relationship. Instead of Don and Peggy climbing into bed together, look for a deepening emotional bond that will see Don through this challenging phase of his life.

[Jon]

Any episode featuring Peggy's family is an instant classic.

[Eric Dodson Greenberg]

For me, the emotional wallop was when Don broke down after hanging up with Stephanie. The only other time that he has let his emotional guard down (his baggage?)was when he confessed his identity to Betty. As he later movingly (and poetically) tells Anna, when Betty "could see me for who I really was, I knew she never wanted to look at me again." Elisabeth Moss's reaction to Don's tears is a tremendous bit of unspoken acting, but the wallop comes with her comforting him. Although she may not know the secrets that Anna and Betty know, her comforting him and telling him that it's not true that only person who really knows him has just died, is so powerful.

I had thought, when we learned of Anna's illness, that Matthew Weiner was setting up Don to hit rock bottom and that, with that bottom, would come a transformation, but to see it one fell swoop -- the night that changed everything, as you say -- was an amazing piece of theater.

I agree with everything you say about Peggy seeing Don defend her honor. But it works the other way too. Talk about rock bottom: Don knocked out (a la Liston) by Duck! Saying "uncle" to Duck! For Don, could there be a greater emasculation (parralles to Bert losing his balls?!?), but Peggy stands by him, stays with him. When he apologizes, as he lays in Peggy's lap, for embarrassing her, her "shhh" makes the scene about has maternal as could be. Peggy sees him, if not litterally for who is really is, then certainly at his worst -- bullying, drunk and on his back at the hands of his drunk nemesis Duck. And she stays with him. Peggy stands up for Don as much as he for her.

The maternal overtones of that scene -- his lying in Peggy's lap, her "shhh" to him when he apologizes -- bespeaks the unconditional love -- or at least the unconditional acceptance of a mother. And that, too, is a two-way street. It's an interesting (if less pronounced) part of the episode that Peggy's mother tells her she won't find another Mark; whereas Don tells her she's attractive, stands up for her when she's called a whore and, most important, tells her that she doesn't have to explain herself when her affair with Duck comes out. She has slept with his nemesis and rather than treat it as a betrayal, Don accepts her unconditionally.

In the end, I think the suitcase is Don's -- I may be "overwatching" but I think the suitcase Anna has is the Samsonite suitcase used in the pitch in the opening sequence (is it Don's suitcase?). It's an odd bit of detail for Anna to be taking a suitcase. I think with her death, she takes with her Don's emotional baggage, the hard-shell that he puts on -- and the essence of the Samsonite pitch throughout the episode.

[Susan]

A line from 'Bleecker Street', the song by Simon and Garfunkel which played over the closing credits:

'I saw a shadow touch a shadow's hand...'

Perfect.

[Evie]

The suitcase is a lot of things, not least of which is Baggage.

This is the first recap I've read on last night's episode written by a woman and, though I certainly appreciated the others, you hit on a few points others didn't that I connected with as well. Just a brilliant show. And right when I thought I couldn't love it any more than I already do.

[Not a Fan]

Glorifying an era that promoted mass over consumption and set the stage for how we consume today, may be historically significant, however, it does not change how repulsive it is. This show seems to me to be a last gasp effort set to justify the guilt that these old ad exec's feel today by reminding everyone of how it was. I know one of these "mad men" and today he is desperately searching for balance to relieve the guilt he lives with. Especially creating huge promotions for the tobacco and oil industries, has caused him to feel personally responsible for so much destruction of both lives and our earth. Is that something we should all be celebrating with a TV Drama?

Hopefully, Mad Men is seen as a an educational tool of how not to approach the future.

[Leslie]

What's in store for Peggy and Don after "The Suitcase"? My guess is an office marriage, long before the term became popular. These two people function best at work and it is at work that they bring out the best in each other. Don's devotion shows not in his marital fidelity to the miserable Betty but in the single person he is willing to apologize to, respect and forgive: his protege, Peggy. Peggy's devotion to the man who gave her a chance to return and prove her worth through her work is equally rewarded.

It is work comparing the Don/Peggy pairing with the Roger/Joan relationship. Both relationships started in the workplace but because the younger couple have decided avoid physical consummation there are fewer complications to burden their friendship.

Inevitably all teams break up (Simon and Garfunkel? Martin and Lewis?) but the creative team of Draper and Olson function well, baggage and all. And Duck Phillips loses it all.

[tranzmitta]

This was the first episode I feel compelled to write about and comment on. However, I must add that this - for me - also felt like one of the best episodes of the season, and of the series on the whole. For sure.

There's just something that draws you in about shows where the two leads are left - almost - alone together and bare all (maybe a little off-topic, but the episode of "Family Guy" where Stewie and Brian are locked up in the bank for the weekend had a very similar effect on me). You're privy to very intimate moments between two people who've grown so close to your own heart and who you just want to see work it out.

What was also particularly appealing about "The Suitcase" (btw, a metaphor I don't feel the need to go into as it has been explored enough in previous comments) was the way Don's rather childish unraveling in past episodes finally didn't seem quite a cumbersome as before (see the previous episode for a particularly morose rendering of drunken Draper - I had to fully agree with Joan there).

Sure, Don was still Don 4.0, but now it seemed like there was method to Weiner's madness. A certain sense of purpose to setting up Don this season like this. A building up of a catharsis, of sorts, which had finally caught up on the man of steel. As stark as it may sound, for me, the vomiting was the culmination, the cleansing of the system (thank God Peggy didn't pass him that last drink). You'll probably have noticed how Don slept like a baby afterward and seemed at ease with himself - but, my, didn't he look wrecked the next morning, even though Peggy thought he looked "fresh?"

To even presume that the "contact" in the final scene would be a prelude to more is preposterous, however. Draper may be the archetypal womanizer, but his whole relationship with Anna proved that the man isn't just male chauvinism personified (would we be watching this so frantically if he was? I think not).

Sure, he may have passed Peggy a compliment or two. But, this was in a tone of familiarity. Peggy is too much Don's protégé, his feminine side, and in a way the symbol burgeoning emancipation (like Don emancipated himself from his roots) to be reduced - by Don - to an object of desire. It's just too clear that with Anna's passing, Peggy is being lined up to be Don's next true great ally.

I may be going out on a limb here, but we won't have seen the last of the visiting cards with Olson on them. Who knows? Instead of Phillips & Olson it may just be Draper & Olson (or even Olson & Draper) on them in a season far, far away…

[Susan]

Unbelievable episode -- possibly the best ever of the entire series. Peggy changed SO much in this episode -- walked away from her family & the boyfriend they always envisioned for her; into being treated as one of the guys at the office -- being included in lunch with them; then on to sleeping on her couch at the office instead of going home -- she made serious choices of where she wanted to be both literally and figuratively.

[Richard Nusbaum]

A song written and performed by Gram Parsons in 1965 was called "That's the bag I'm in"; The song title was also a popular expression with hipsters at the time.

Lyrics to That's The Bag I'm In :
I burned my fingers on the coffee pot
Toast was cold and the orange juice was hot.
I should start over but you know I'd rather not.
Same thing gonna happen again
Cause that's the bag I'm in.

Last night as I was walking down the street,
Whistling the blues to the tapping of my feet,
Some jive crank called the cops on the beat.
It'll happen every single time.

Every morning when I get up,
I miss my connection and I'm late for work again
You know they'll probably drop the atom bomb the day my ship comes in.
I dasn't bet a nickle cause I'd get paid off in yen.
Sometimes you just can't win cause that's the bag I'm in.

Jukebox playing the same old melody,
Keep on bringing back those blue memories.
This evil feeling's gonna be the death of me
I think I'm going out of my mind.

Every morning when I wake up,
I burn my fingers on the pot,
Toast is cold and the orange juice is hot,
I should start over but you know I'd rather not
Same thing gonna happen again,
Cause that's the bag I'm in.

Certainly could have been used in the show.