TV: Mad Men (S4, E4 “The Rejected”)

So this episode starts off with Don and Roger on the phone with an upset Lee Garner. Something about tobacco restrictions from the government. Don receives a post-card/letter or something from Anna. She misses him. He puts it off to the side for the time being, we’ll probably see more of that later in this season, though. Then Don gives Peggy the thumbs up to an idea regarding the Ponds campaign and off Peggy and Dr. Miller go with the rounding up of women around the office for the “Ponds Focus Group”. I can’t really remember the reasoning behind this but I think it’s to find out if a woman’s sole goal in life is to end up married so they know where to go with the marketing of the product. Eventually there are women crying as Don, Peggy and Freddy sit behind the two way mirror and watch. Alison, Don’s smitten and broken-hearted secretary, is part of the group – yet she knows those three are behind the mirror. Anyhow, the emotions in the room get to her and eventually she storms out like the big moron that she is. Alison’s character reminds me very much of Roger Sterling’s new precious baby wife. They both drive me nuts. Her outburst later on was excellent, though, I quite enjoyed that – which I will touch on shortly.

Peter is told he must fire his Father-in-law as a client unless he’s able to pull more business from him. When Peter decides to tell him this, his Father-in-law slips up with the good news of Trudy, Peter’s wife, being pregnant. So, there you have it, Trudy is pregnant. Eventually Peter ends up delivering the bad news to his Father-in-law, whom calls him a “sonufabitch” following the brief discussion after Peter calls Trudy into the room. I loved how, throughout the entire episode, people didn’t really care much about Peter becoming a Father. He’s ecstatic about the news, and the cute scene where Trudy and him are sitting in the living room was sweet. But, I still think Peter’s an idiot. There was a brief ‘HI!’ to Ken Cosgrove in there as well. Something about Peter trying to steal Mountain Dew/Pepsi from him or something. Cosgrove is also getting married. I didn’t really pay attention to what was going on there, I was still trying to digest everything else.

So, back to Alison and her pouty mcpout session. Peggy feels slightly at fault for it and follows her into an office. Alison immediately starts asking her how Peggy does it, how she can stand working with Don. Alison is obviously assuming that Don has done something similar to Peggy, whereas he has done nothing but help Peggy. Only us viewers know this. Once Peggy realizes what is being said to her she snaps: “I don’t know what you think. Your problem is not my problem, and honestly, you should get over it.” Alison whimpers and asks Peggy to leave her alone and turns around like the big baby she is. Moments later, Alison walks into Don’s office and informs him that she’s quitting because of the mistake that they made and she feels awkward working for him. He disagrees, trying to play the professional man in the situation. She stands firm in her decision and asks him to write her a recommendation.

Don: “Absolutely. What would probably be even better is if you type whatever you want and I’ll sign it.”

Alison: “What?”

Don: “Just type it on my stationary. Put whatever you want and I’ll sign it.”

Alison snaps, picks up an ornament on the table and throws it directly at Don who manages to dodge it, with drink in hand (oh, surprise!). BAHAHA!  She yells, “I don’t say this easily, but you are not a good person!” Alison grabs her things and runs out of the office. Peggy’s head randomly appears in the ceiling window due to her standing on her desk and being desperately curious as to what the loud noise was. I burst out laughing. That scene was awesome.

What would you have said to Don if you were in Alison’s shoes? This day and age is a bit different, but try to put yourself there. Would you react similarly? I probably would have. I was totally on Alison’s side for that one.

During this episode, Peggy meets a new friend in the elevator named Joyce. She works for Life Magazine. Joyce’s behavior in the elevator after Peggy exited immediately had me thinking that Joyce had the hots for Peggy, or maybe any woman who paid attention to her. This girl was mysterious and I liked her. She invites Peggy out to an event being held by the photographer of the photos that Joyce was holding in the elevator (nudes, Peggy thought they were beautiful). Joyce is dressed quite differently at this artsy party and did she lick Peggy or something when they lit up that joint? Anyway, you hear Peggy say, “I have a boyfriend.” Joyce responds by telling her her boyfriend doesn’t own her vagina. One of the best lines of the episode goes to Peggy with her response: “No, but he’s renting it!”

I am excited to see where Peggy’s new path takes her. I am intrigued. She is such a funny lady. Nearing the end of the episode, Peggy finds out about the news of Peter’s baby and she refrains from signing the card to Trudy, but she does grow a pair and go to Peter’s office to congratulate him directly. I love Peggy. I really do. Before I started watching Mad Men and I saw the couple of scenes here and there, I fell in love with Peggy’s character. She’s so odd and excellent.