Mad Men #26 (2.13), 10/26/08: Peggy gives her confession

It's approximately October 22, 1962, when Kennedy gave his first televised speech about the Cuban missile crisis.

It turns out that Betty was bleeding last week because she's pregnant. He gives her some standard (for the time) pregnancy advice. He is surprised that Betty isn't showing more enthusiasm. At first, he thinks it's because she's afraid the pregnancy will affect her appearance. She tells him, "I can't have a baby right now." The doctor says the option she's hinting at is "for young girls who have no other options." He assures her that her husband and friends will make her feel better about it.

The doctor leaves the room so that Betty can undress for the exam. Instead, she leaves.

At the office, the mad men (minus Pete) wonder why they're being asked for ad revenue numbers earlier than usual, and if it has anything to do with Don's mysterious absence. Their pet theory is that the company might be considering opening a west coast office to cash in on the aerospace boom.

Pete is worried about what's going to happen to him when it's understood that they're losing the Clearasil account because of his problems with Trudy's father. Peggy advises him to be honest about what happened, without worrying about the outcome, because "people respect that." She also warns him, half-jokingly, not to blame it on Creative.

Don returns from his magical mystery tour and meets Betty at the stables (she has been riding, contrary to the doctor's orders). He seems apologetic and sincere. Betty expresses doubt and says things haven't been much different without him. She promises to call him later.

Pete meets with Duck, who offers him a drink (he's about to pour one for himself anyway). Pete tells him about losing the Clearasil account. He specifically says that it's not the fault of Sales or Creative; Duck easily guesses that it's Pete's father-in law.

Duck confidentially tells Pete that they'll soon be merging with the British company, and Duck will be president of Sterling-Cooper. He wants Pete to replace him as head of Accounts. Pete asks about Don, but Duck is cocky and says Don will either have to knuckle under or find a new job, since they all have non-competes in their contracts. (Evidently he doesn't know that Don insisted on working without a contract, as a condition of not jumping ship with a competitor last season. Which calls into question how Don would have been able to jump ship with a non-compete in his contract in the first place... I don't remember the details.)

Next day: it's raining. Don returns to the office. Joan updates him on recent developments and asks about the company's Civil Defense procedure. Don expresses skepticism that hiding under their desks will save their lives.

Pete is upset that Don abandoned him to handle General Dynamics alone; he reminds Don that he can't even drive. Nevertheless, Don thinks Pete did fine and congratulates Pete on handling things so well without him. Don says that Pete sometimes wants things before he's ready for them; now, in his opinion, Pete's ready.

Roger tells Don about the impending merger. Don's share will net him more than half a million dollars. Don is speechless. Roger spins the story such that Bert Cooper and his sister loved the idea, and Roger just went along to be team player. (I don't think even he believes that he's fooling Don.)

Roger is also miffed with President Kennedy for daring the Russians to bomb them from Cuba, just as he's about to get married. Don says they can't know what's really going on.

Peggy goes to Mass, where Fr. Gill urges his flock to confess their sins to God just in case they all get killed.

Betty is at the beauty shop, where neighbor Francine and some other women chat worriedly about the missiles pointed at them from Cuba, waiting to wipe them all out. Betty is sitting off to the side; she can hear them, but that doesn't prevent them from talking about her too. One woman thinks Betty's smug because she has a bomb shelter (not that I know of!). Another woman complains that they shouldn't discuss this in front of her daughter. Francine thinks it's better to be open with the kids about it.

Assuming that Betty is worrying about the missiles too, Francine offers her a Miltown. Betty tells her she's pregnant and that it's not a good time to be pregnant. Francine tells her about a doctor in Albany and a hospital procedure in Puerto Rico (not a good time to go to PR either). She advises Betty not to be hasty.

The madmen are getting more nervous not that there's a memo out asking for a list of people in every department. (Also, Harry's TV isn't working.) They pull Lois out of the switchboard room (apparently she got to stay with Sterling-Cooper after Don banished her from the secretarial pool). Lois swears them to secrecy and says that she and the other switchboard ladies have figured out that they're merging with the British advertising agency, and that there will be redundancies. Lois begs them to rescue her from the switchboard if they survive the redundancies.

Betty drops the kids off at the Roosevelt to spend the night with Don, where they order room service and watch Leave it to Beaver. (It's the one where a girl has to break a date with Wally because she has to stay home with her sister, so Wally suggests that they double-date with her sister and Beaver.) Don writes a letter.

Betty sees something she likes in a store window and buys it. Then she goes into a swanky lounge for water and a gimlet. A handsome stranger pays for the drink and tries to make conversation about the scary missiles. She rebuffs him, but then meets him in the service hallway (or whatever it is) and makes out with him. She tells him she's married. I think I see a ring on his hand too. He doesn't have a problem with that, so they have hasty sofa sex in either an office or a club room. Afterwards, she declines to tell the stranger her name. Then she goes home and feasts on leftover fried chicken.

Peggy brings some baked goods to Father Gill for the church's basement/fallout shelter - her mother thought the place should be well-stocked in case a lot of people have to stay there for a while. He warns Peggy that their lives could be ended in a rain of Cuban missiles at any moment and then she'd die and go to hell. He feels that God his sent him to this parish specifically to save her; he begs her to confess her sin. Evidently, however, Peggy's not sure that God's the one she needs to settle things with.

Trudy gathers her and Pete's valuables and prepares to take them with her to her parents' place in Rehoboth Beach. (She's worried about looters.) Pete says that a nuclear blast would put her parents' lawn furniture in their Manhattan living room anyway. Trudy gives him an envelope full of cash and urges him to pay someone to drive him to Rehoboth Beach if he needs to get out of Manhattan in a hurry. Pete says he wants to die in Manhattan.

Next day, the mad men are still worrying about the merger. Harry says he thinks it best to remain neutral; a loyalist will probably be fired. Paul whines and feels that Harry's attitude is crass.

Pete tells Don off-the-record that he knows about the merger, and that Duck is expecting to take over and hold it over Don's head. He can't explain why he's warning Don, but thought Don would like to know.

(There's a lot of undercurrent in this episode about "taking a stand" vs. "daring" the Russians. I just thought I'd mention it, because "undercurrent" is difficult to capture in a recap.)

Betty comes home from another day with the horsies and finds a note that Don left for her when he dropped off the kids with Carla. In the letter, he says that she won't be alone long, but he'll be alone forever if he can't be with her. (From what I've seen, he's alone even when they're together.)

Now there's the meeting with the British advertising guys, plus Bert Cooper, Roger, Don, and Duck. The British guys announce that Duck will be president. Duck pretends to be surprised, and happily accepts. He demurely says he's not prepared yet, then stands and gives a prepared speech about where he'd like to take the company.

He wants to increase the role of television advertising, and de-emphasize Creative. (Don beams in expectation.) Bert is annoyed that client satisfaction isn't even mentioned. Don takes this opportunity to quit. The British guys are taken aback. Duck gloats about the "artistic temperament" and Don's ego. He smugly mentions Don's contract. Don tells him, "I don't have a contract." Roger casually says they didn't feel he needed a contract.

Don says he's willing to discuss this further on Monday, and leaves. Duck says they can replace Don in a second with some kid. The British guy asks Duck to leave the room for a moment. Roger nervously asks if this will affect the merger. The British guy says that Duck never could hold his liquor.

(I assume that they've set him up to fail. Duck made his role in this merger conditional upon being put in charge; now that the merger's a reality, they don't need him any more, and they know he's a boozer. The British guy has been encouraging Duck to drink ever since that restaurant meeting a few weeks ago; they even sent a case of gin to his office. I suppose the plan was to hasten his departure.)

Joan tells Don that Betty has asked him to come home. Don sends Joan home too; the radio is on, and everyone in the office seems to be a nervous wreck.

Pete invites Peggy into his office for a drink. He says he picked the wrong woman. He understands her, and she understands him. He thinks she's perfect.

She tells him that she's not perfect. He says he loves her. She could have shamed him into being with her forever, but she didn't want to: she had his baby and she gave it away.

"I'm sorry, Pete." Pete is stunned.

Don comes home to his family, and they have a regular evening.

Pete spends the night awake with that silly rifle (the one he traded a surplus chip'n'dip wedding gift for) in his lap.

Peggy prays in her pink bed.

Betty is washing the dishes. The radio says that the Russians are taking their missiles down. Betty tells Don that she's pregnant. He takes her hand.

Quote of the week: "One day you're there, and all of a sudden there's less of you. And you wonder where that part went, if it's living somewhere outside of you, and you keep thinking maybe you'll get it back. And then you realize, it's just gone." (Peggy)