AUTHOR: ero
EMAIL: erivaoxhorn@yahoo.com
IP: 76.206.232.52
URL:
DATE: 10/18/2007 10:55:03 PM

How could Peggy have a baby without any knowledge nor it being obvious to anyone? I liked her character early in the show but am annoyed with her now. Felt sorry for Don though, sitting alone after his fantasy was shattered.

Patricia and all those who kept holding on to the Peggy;s pregnant thing, and we all kept saying "no, no, no. she's just fat". WOW, were we ever wrong. Can you belive this? WTF???

Can't belive I'm the first to post -- come one everyone. I'm blown away here.

First up!

That was a shockeroo.

I'll bet that her periods were always irregular so she thought nothing of it...either that, or she missed her periods the last 9 months and she was heavily into denial.

That was completely outragous! How could Peggy not have known she was carrying a child?

about that?! Bob Dylan's "dont think twice, its alright" and the end of the show!! totally awesome. i hate the majority of tv shows and this one has been yet the only ive seen in the seasons entirety. what a great finale. good stuff, good art.

How the hell could a show this damn good jump the shark in a few minutes? Peggy pregnant, with the troll's brat!? Hell to the no!!!!

I know a few women that barely showed during their pregnancies.

I sure never expected Peggy to pop out a kid.

What a horribly disappointing final episode. I have been hooked on this show since the beginning. I felt it was the very best TV I have ever seen in 50+ years.

But this ending? Left me completely cold.

And what about Peggy? A woman over 20 years old carrying a baby to full term and having no inkling she was pregnant?

Hmmm.

How could Peggy not know that she was with child? Ok, I know you see that kind of thing today with overweight women, and she was considered overweight for the 1960s but how could ya not know? Can't wait for Summer 2008. Great season guys! Love your faithful fan!

Leaving it off with a cliffhanger? I see that working on The Sopranos really helped out the show. Every episode was great & the last episode left it with a question mark. If someone ask me what do I think of Mad Men, I would say it's sexy, but in a different way. This show is a home run. It's been a fun 14 weeks & I can't wait for the return in summer 2008. I will miss the show. Congratulations to everyone who worked on the show. You guys did an excellent job!!! 8-)

I have no words.

I think that is what they call denial. I think the whole point of the her getting the birth control in the first show set her up to believed that "it was not possible", as she kept saying.

There are women that can go through a pregnancy with almost no symptoms...it could happen, though it is a bit of a stretch.

I was surprised and disappointed in this episode; not nearly as good as the other 12. I just felt like it was slow coming around to the contained events.

SHUT UP! I never saw that baby coming! I thought all that baby talk all this time was just not plausible. What a way to celebrate a promotion!

Who knows?

Maybe she thought nothing of missed periods -- she could have passed it off to rough days on the job or pretty much anything else.

I agree with Thomas on ending the show with Dylan--amazingly appropriate and haunting. I'm shocked by Peggy--how could she not notice and not know?? But Don!! I'm glad he seems to be seeing the light at last in regards to his family slipping away from him--how great that he put his own photos for the Kodak meeting!!--but I fear it's too late. Good to see him sad about his brother, we finally see his vulnerable side. I hope for the best for him and Betty--why didn't he just drive up anyway? I don't know if I can wait til next summer! Amazing show and the best thing on TV amidst all this reality garbage, that's for sure!

This show has lost all credibility. In one episode it has gone from respectable to total Soap Opera. Are we supposed to believe that woman of th 60's were too niave to know when they were pregnant? Major WTF. Peggy is with it enough to become a copy writer in NYC - yet a dumb as a post when it comes to her own body.

I feel bamboozled! I can deal with all these angsty characters and adultery! But Peggy poppin' out a child and Betty looking to a child for comfort. WTF?

This is the best show!!! Just love it!

Can't wait for next season.

Re to Post No 1:

What are you talking about, I have seen people who by taking the pill swore they weren't pregnant since they still got their periods. Oh my God, I can't wait for the next season...

I guess the writers were out of ideas, 'cause that "pregnancy" thing is just amateur hour.

p.s. I still can't believe that I have my dad's carousel collecting dust in the garage.

Yeah, that was a bit bizarre: the kid has issues and you cried on his shoulder? come ON!

ENOUGH with the WTF comments, ok people!

My question is how come January Jones was

not at the Direct TV wrap up party? She's a main player in the show. what gives?

Remember, Peggy went on the pill the night of or the day after she had sex with Pete the first time (got the prescription the same day, anyway.) The pill was brand new, and not many women understood what it would do to their body. It's understandable that she might think that her lack of periods (and weight gain, for that matter) had at least something to do with the pill.

That is what makes it so thrilling. Makes you want more...

thank you, thank you, thank you.

I knew Peggy was pregnant 3 weeks ago. If a woman is in denial and has a lot going on in her life, this has been known to happen. This is not only in the l960's but happens today. Back then Peggy didn't have a choice. To keep the baby and be a working women was unheard of. Today no one even would bat an eyelash at that concept. The scene with John slattery in the hospital telling Mona how much he loved her and needed her was perfect. Men in that era did not have their heart connected to their penis. They separated everything below their waistban from their brain and heart. Believe me I was a young woman back then and as a female you thought that this was the way it was supposed to be. Thank God people changed and men found out that they could be "female like" and they still didn't loose their manhood. Can't wait till next summer. Great job.

WTF?!!! Whose kid is it? According to the math, there's no way that it could be Pete Campbell's kid; they only hooked up fairly recently. And what about all the drinking she did in the previous episodes. Did that have any effect on the baby? I can see how an event like this could generate buzz, but I think that this time the writers were really kind of reaching to fill the plot this time. was that the season finale?

Oh, yeah: the Pill was still new and probably nobody knew what type of contraindications there were -- antibiotics can render oral BCPs ineffective.

Or maybe she forgot that she forgot to take a pill.

Can someone please explain to me what that scene at the end with Pete and Trudy and her parents was about? I didn't quite understand what was going on.

By the way...Did you guys listen to what Betty was saying at the therapist? She knows... And talking to a child is not too far off if you have EVER been depressed to her extend...Let me tell you my mother got cheated on (a "few" times) and she stayed depressed for TEN years. We took care of her during the years when we were supposed to be children. This all rings so true to me, damn! I think this show is the freaking BEST!

I'm just thinking that the baby must have moved at some time before that, how did she not feel that?

There are many women that have a baby and they didn't even know they were pregnant. Some continue to have their periods and the kicking feels like gas etc. I said she was probably pregnant. What on earth is she going to do now? Pete won't leave his wife. How will she work and have a child? In the 60s was this possible? As for the rest of the show I was in awe.

BRAVO!!! What a finale!

What a fantastic show. I love the whole series. I do not watch a lot of tv at all, but this is worth watching. I love the entire cast.

I was not sure what the scene with Pete and his in-laws wasa about either. Help.

On second thought, I think Peggy knew she was pregnant on some level, but was in denial. Remember the last couple party scenes? She didn't drink and went home early. I don't remember her ever outwardly acknowledging she was gaining weight. Remember when Don brought her into the meeting for the invigorator/relaxasizer? He talked about it being a device for weight loss and wanted her to try it out. Most women would have been offended, but she had no reaction and didn't even change her expression--I thought that was odd. I think she knew but was in denial. I just didn't realize that all these episodes were supposed to be over 9 months. Can't wait til next year!!

Where, oh where to begin?!?!

Peggy's baby..denial ain't just a river in Egypt. Still, disappointing that the writers went for that. Bet she gives it up for adoption.

Betty's shock at realizing her husband was talking to her shrink. She was using the DR to tell her husband that she actually KNEW about his infidelities. (Looks like Francine knew, too.) Or, was she just trying to manipulate Don into going away for Thanksgiving?

Loved creepy little Glen..."I wish I was older." Heh. Maybe he just has a thing for older women!

Can't believe that PEte used his Father-in-laws request (demand) for a grandchild to further his career. Oh wait, It's Pete. Too bad he didn't know he was already a father!

OY! OY! OY!

So, no abortion, but adoption?

And not only did the baby not move, Peg also didn't seem to have any other pregnancy related "symtoms": constant urination, constipation, morning sickness, to name a few.

Peggy's situation is rare, but possible. You still see stories like this in the news occasionally. Denial can go a long way.

I felt so bad when Don being with his family turned out to be a fantasy.

dolores obrien,

Women back then did drink when they were pregnant b/c they didn't know. Each show is over a period of time. So you can't really add it up. Usually one season is a year.

Peggy is going to need that promotion now that she popped out a Mini-Pete. I wonder if she'll keep him/her.

Congratulations to those folks who predicted a baby and not a thyroid problem but Peggy not knowing she had child for nine months or so just doesn't sit well.

"Peggy you peed yourself"

Peggy "Wha?"

-----Peggy drops lighter------

BOOOM!

Well, I loved it.

Peggy was in serious denial of her pregnancy. She's pretty out of touch with herself, so this fit. I knew a girl in my freshman year of college — she was a good Catholic girl — who had a baby over Christmas vacation. None of us knew she was pregnant. She fooled us all. We found out when she didn't come back to school.

As for Peggy, I think she knew that she was pregnant, deep down inside, but could never face it. I admit it... I screamed when they brought her the baby. I thought of all these bloggers saying "shut up... she's not pregnant already.

I knew that Betty would have an awakening. I loved the whole episode. Can't wait until June.

AWESOME!!! I got my husband hooked. Can't wait till he comes home so I can watch the season finale again with him. Bet Peggy gives up the baby for adoption. Wonder where they are going to pick up the show timeline wise in the summer (right where they left off, or summer 08). Do you think Don is done with his philandering ways? Peter just needs to become a man and stop riding on everyone with moneys coat tails.

I'm so excited by the prospect of another season. Betty's got Don over an existential barrel that's going to make his little secret seem tame.

Yes, friends, there are plenty of women who carry to term without ever knowing they're pregnant. Peggy was sure getting big fast, wasn't she? It looks like she's going to give the baby away so she can go beat the men at their own game. Everyone, even pure little Betty goes for the power once they have a taste! Just another rider on the Nihilism Express.

Man, what a show! Matthew Weiner, you're a genius!

Point of Purchase,

HA!

I know of someone in the 1930s (single) who was playing cards with her "old world" parents; said "Excuse me", went to the bathroom, amd had a baby! She simply went into denial, put it out of her mind, and thought the birth would never happen. The show's plot twist was a stretch, to be sure (and certainly knocked me sideways) but I also had to laugh at the amount of bloggers who said she was definitely not pregnant!

The scenes of Don demonstrating the Carousel were very, very touching. I'll be back later when I have had a chance to review the second showing!

Okay, so Peggy may have been in denial. But women's bellies grow a certain way when a baby is inside. I didn't see that on Peggy. And the baby was normal sized. Where was she hiding it? In her butt? I think the writers blew this one.

Don's presentation to Kodak was phenomenal. It almost had me in tears.

So, does Harry's wife know about Hildy and him, or was she just pissed off for him not coming home on election night? He probably told her...

SO sad that just as soon as Don get s grip, Betty and the kids aren't there to benefit.

At least he found out that Adam killed himself. Guess he really feels like the shit he is.

Well, it sure will be interesting to see just how Don, who finally realizes Betty and the kids are what are most important to him, will deal with his next conversation with Betty's doctor. Do you think Betty really knows about Don or is she testing him?

Today young women who are not much younger that the Peggy character frequently go thru entire preg. without "showing" or being able to hide their additional belly and weight with baggy clothes and I am sure that "the pill" at that time could have you continue to have a period and still be pregnant....So the question is not really whether or not this situation could happen...but rather, is it could writing/drama? and will she keep the baby or decide to give it up for adoption..my money is on either giving the baby up for adoption formally or cold and heartless as it might be...abandonment. Who knows, maybe next season Pete and Trudy will discover they can't have children and inadvertly adopt Peggy's baby....too much like Peyton Place for you?

The review of the finale show in USA Today talked about the episode really dropping the ball with a leap of faith and the Peggy pregnancy was that and more. Not a good idea and not in sync with the whole season's brilliance.

Yes, jumped the shark.

However the Kodak pitch (and I'm an agency pitch guy) was nothing short of brilliant.

Oh no! How will I get along till summer 2008 without Mad Men. This is the best series on TV in years. LOVE IT. Please hurry back Don!

I thought it was a great shocker that Peggy had a baby! I think we all knew all along that she was pregnant and not just getting fat. Did you hear the doctor ask the nurse to call the psychiatrist before they took Peggy upstairs? Even the doctor knew something was wrong with her reactions for him to call in a psychiatrist. She was obviously heavy into denial and focusing on becoming a woman exec. She's even denying the baby now that it's born. This isn't what she wants. I thought the whole sales pitch with the carousel was riveting!

And oh wow, that presentation.

Kudos to that writer.

Maybe I'm missing something that the writers intended but this last episode is so implausible. It asks to viewer to leap too far in a series that has been aching for authenticity.

No, there is no way a woman doesn't feel a child moving within. Ridiculous -- and so disappointing. She had success but then had to be punished for it? It wasn't that bad being a woman in the 60s.

Betty reaching out to the boy? She's not and hasn't been that desperate throughout. Simply ridiculous and what's the point anyway.

The phone bill -- what did Betty find out except that Don was calling the shrink? Does she really know about the affairs? He never called his women from home.

The alternate endings were good though. And the Kodak presentation was brilliant.

Yes, there are plenty of unanswered questions at the end to qualify as cliffhangers -- but for the most part, this episode was completely out of character with the rest of the series.

How could they be so off the mark for an otherwise great series? By contrast, the Sopranos ending was simply perfect.

I thought the baby was way over the top - it would have been a better plot line (and almost as shocking) if she'd been a four or five months pregnant - then she'd have had to struggle with what to do and how to conceal it.

The scene with Don presenting the new "Carousel" ad campaign was absolutely beautiful, and more than made up for the wacky Peggy story line.

Best scenes in this episode were: Don's "carosuel" presentation and the production booth scene with Peggy and Ken...Also Betty's scene with the shrink...

I thought the baby was way over the top - it would have been a better plot line (and almost as shocking) if she'd been a four or five months pregnant - then she'd have had to struggle with what to do and how to conceal it.

The scene with Don presenting the new "Carousel" ad campaign was absolutely beautiful, and more than made up for the wacky Peggy story line.

I thought the baby was way over the top - it would have been a better plot line (and almost as shocking) if she'd been a four or five months pregnant - then she'd have had to struggle with what to do and how to conceal it.

The scene with Don presenting the new "Carousel" ad campaign was absolutely beautiful, and more than made up for the wacky Peggy story line.

I fully expected that Peggy was pregnant but definitely did NOT expect the baby to appear so suddenly...I was surprised that this was supposed to be over 9 months too.

I thought the baby was way over the top - it would have been a better plot line (and almost as shocking) if she'd been a four or five months pregnant - then she'd have had to struggle with what to do and how to conceal it.

The scene with Don presenting the new "Carousel" ad campaign was absolutely beautiful, and more than made up for the wacky Peggy story line.

Yes!! I thought Betty planting info with her therapist was brilliant. She wants Don to know she knows but without her confronting him. She's hoping he'll straighten up and be the family man she wants him to be, she doesn't want to leave him. And yes!! the neighbor knowing what Don is up to and basically saying so to Betty while Betty pulls the "Why would I know what to do?" That was great! And I agree with "ME" with Betty talking to the little boy. Depression and loneliness will make people do strange things. Especially a lonely and let's admit it, desperate housewife. I've been there, and you will reach out to anyone who's there. I feel bad for Betty and Don both. They are both very lonely people who I think could help each other if they would just drop their acts.

Betty's encounter with the little boy

Glen was just creepy. she's very messed up.

This show is like a juicy novel. I was a teen during the 60's and I find the whole thing plausible.. the stealth pregnancy etc. Mad Men is the best thing since chocolate. I'm amazed that the writers, who all seem to be so young, have nailed the characters and the relationships of those times.

People, in general, were in denial in the 50's. i think it is totally believable that Peggy wouldn't know she was pregnant. She is totally naive when it comes to sex, and women knew NOTHING about their bodies in those days.

My Mom had major post partum psychosis after my older brother was born, then in 1950,when she became pregnant with me, she was told to have an abortion, because she had such a hard time the first time. After my younger brother was born, she flipped out again.

People knew NOTHING about depression, bi-polar disorder, post partum depression.....none of it. She spoke to many psychiatrists for year, who just sat and listened and did nothing for her. For all i know, they told my Dad everything that was wrong with her.

Of course Betty is depressed! Her husband is gone all the time, no one takes women seriously, Don sabotaged her return to some kind of career. Haven't any of you read "The Feminie mystiquye" by Betty Friedan? What do you think started the Feminist Movement in the late sixties. Women were in limbo in the 50's at best. They were literally going NUTS and n9o one took them seriously.

peggy totally destroyed annie's confidence. was that intentional? the scene with glenn (who my wife thinks looks like peter lorre jr) was creepy and out of place. is rachael menchen pregnant also?

I can't believe so many of you thought that Peggy wasn't pregnant. I knew she was and I think she did and so did Pete. I felt so sad at the end when Don showed the carosol with his family's pictures and then went home to an empty house. can't wait til the summer!!

Well, what can I say? Mr. Weiner has a WINNER. In the 60s I worked for a large insurance company and later for a real estate developer. The characters as portrayed by the fine actors are so true to life and remind me of the "old days" and people I knew.

I'm so impressed with the authentic details that are included in each episode, especially the reference to ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand. An up and coming attorney introduced me to the book back then and it has had a lasting impact on my life.

I suspected that Peggy was pregnant but didn't think she was that far along. When she started cramping I thought she'd have a miscarriage. Looks like Pete's in-laws will have their Christmas wish.

This last episode had me laughing and crying. The last scene of the fantasy Thanksgiving trip and what really happened almost broke my heart. What an ending!!

Betty is manipulative bitch! She really is! And really looney, to reach out and beg for advice from a 9, 10 year old child?! Hell to the naw! Again!

If I NEVER see Henry, Harry or whatever his name is in his draws again, that'll be too soon!

Quite an interesting turn that Betty now knows Don's knowledge of her psychiatric visits, and is feeding the psychiatrist with info to get back to Don...sort of a "shooting the birds" moment. I've been riding Pete's lack of manhood pretty hard, but I actually felt sorry for him tonight. Great series...looking forward to next summer!

Yah, that Rachel thing.

All of a sudden she's incognito for the next few months.

Where was abortion legal in Europe in those days? Any historians know?

Peggy not only pregnant, but having the child... awesome! For those of you "non-believers" that this could happen, you must be awfully young and inexperienced. Happens all the time, and esp. considering the symptoms of the pill, and again esp. when the pill was first introduced and the strength was very high. Let that be a lesson to the teenagers that the only 100% birth control is abstinence! Yes, it is still possible to get pregnant while on the pill and lets not forget the time-line from the first episode, she and the weasel had sex before she had sex before she had been on the pill for a full month (which would have been the norm with the estrogen in the pill of the 60s).

Now the question is what will happen with the child? See Don's parents in Pete's life now? Neat twist!

I almost feel sorry for Pete (almost...). He can't score an account on his own, and he wants to be successful so badly yet he's not able to do it on his own. Even when he does get something tossed his way, he can't control it - and he's simply not smart enough to realize that the proper decision for the company is to involve Peggy. He's too greedy, which is why I can only almost feel sorry for him.

Peggy will probably give the kid up for adoption and, as she will work with Pete on the copy for Clearasil, Pete will find out he was a Dad... I just hope Don finds out. My guess is Peggy will look to Joan for help. Joan can keep a secret and secretaries know everything... I just wonder how Don will find out (and he will).

Now, did Harry confess his affair w/the secretary (can't remember her name)? Is that why his wife won't let him come home? Looks like all the affairs are coming out and the pain that an affair inflicts is being realized. The writers have done a GREAT job of making this true to the time! It was the beginning of the sexual revolution and women's lib. The "man's world" is beginning to crack!

I can not believe that I have to wait until next summer to enjoy new episodes! For those of you who feel let down, I don't know what you expected... This episode surprised me and set up expectations that have me on the hook desperate for the winter to hurry up and pass. I can't wait for next season!

Yeah, Harry's wife must have given him the keys to the road. He's living in his office.

"Can someone please explain to me what that scene at the end with Pete and Trudy and her parents was about? I didn't quite understand what was going on."

The only thing I got was that, like always, when Don gets the best of him, he turns to the drink. Don embarrassed him in front of his new boss, his co-workers. And the prick deserved it.

So he came home, drunk obviously, and his wife went to kiss him and noticed he smelled of alcohol, played it off in front of the folks that he was at a work party.

The FIL is being an ass about wanting a

grand child...

I love everything about this show. The writing is fantastic! I was not familiar with alot of the actors prior to the show, but each and everyone of them are a good fit for the part. I know the show will be around for a long time...Hurry up SPRING!!!!!! PLEEEEEEEEZE!!!!!!!!

Me and my friends just finsihed watching the shw and were confused about Peggy... there is the posibility that the season starts out on early spring and fisnished on thanks giving/ christmas, but we also have the thoery that she misscarried and the way that they help her cope with the loss is have her be near a baby like they do with post partum moms, well we are not sure because we aren't that familiar with medical practices in the 60's but it is the only thing that makes sense since she wasn't that big and when the Dr touched her tummy we didn't see much of a bump, does anyone know forsure if she did have the baby either way it is convinent that she already has it and gives it away or that she misscarried

Has anyone noticed the similarities between Don and Peggy? She is becoming a "Don Draper". This unwanted and apparently unknown pregnancy is just the first part of her new secret life. Adoption of course.

I'll take two Kodak Carousels please.

Don's wife and the creepy kid better not turn into a Mary Kay Laterno thing. sheeesh

Maybe Peggy wanted to destroy what she wanted to be (Annie)

And that scene with Peggy in her bed up in the maternity ward.

Not a friend in the world, nothing.:( A horrible way to spend the holiday.

Here is a great review of the epi!

http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2007/10/mad_men_the_time_machine.html

I felt that Peggy was pregnant. My guess is that she will give up the baby for adoption and focus on her career...representing a time when you could not have career and baby.

I really want to know where January Jones was at the wrap party...probably intentional to have folks wondering where she is...if she is coming back since she was not home when Don entered the house....she is WONDERFUL!!!....so is the entire cast..I can not wait for next season!!!!

Oh I forgot...

Whore child

Was that over the top?

Kinda feel this show was already written before the series was picked up for Season 2...seemed to clear up some issues, but still had some feel of "what's next?".

Agree with you Visan, couldn't stand to look at the TV when Harry sat in that chair in his "briefs". I think it was intended to make us a little sick. I'll bet there were more than few laughs on the set that day. Ugh...

Really missed seeing or hearing about Roger.

Otherwise it was a really good episode. Can't wait for season 2! :)

I would love if some one could explain the in -law scene at the end...was pete just nervous about telling his FIL about a woman working on his account?--And COME ON with peggy--when she gets back to work every one will say she must be using her weight loss contraption too much-- All that weight gone over night--that poor girl--I love the changes her character has made--so naive--i guess that was her end of innocence,hm?--I hate that I have to wait a year to see how this pans out--damned tv season ritual--can't we come up with a better way? I Want my season 2 now!

I guess it was possible, though rare, to be a single working mom back then. Betty's neighbor is one after all. Though not with a new baby. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Am I the only one who thinks that it was brilliant of Betty to have Don find out indirectly that she's on to him by telling her shrink? I'd love to see her play with his head.....

Thoughts??

2 things about Betty:

1. Women who are depressed and are desperate, will talk to ANYONE who they think will listen. She is NOT manipulative. Nuts? Maybe. Grasping at straws because she has no one to turn to? Definitely.

2. Does anyone else feel that the actress playing Betty is not very strong? I know Betty is supposed to seem like a flat character, but from the beginning, I have felt that the actress just isn't very good. She sounds a bit robotic when saying her lines.

I am really, really disappointed with the Peggy/pregnancy storyline. Someone above used the "jumped the shark" phrase, and that's exactly what it is. Peggy is supposed to be sharp...anyone who has ever been pregnant..much less carried a baby to term..knows there is NO WAY that you don't know what's happening. My God, I used to sit and watch my stomach roll as the baby moved around...I could even see the elbows and feet poking and kicking! That's why the doc called for someone in psychiatry when Peggy went into labor. He knew that there is something terribly, terribly wrong with this girl if she's in that kind of denial. Face it, people. Everyone has been picking on poor Betty for being nuts. Peggy is the real looney here. Wouldn't even look at her baby. Guess she'll put it up for adoption.

Wasn't it hilarious when Don called Harry into his office in his underwear...man, I roared! Just the kind of unexpected moments that this show is wonderful for. Couldn't ask for anything better.

Was it a girl or a boy?

I think zi-glitterati may be onto something. I don't see how Peggy could have been full term. In order to deliver in November, she would have to get pregnant in February. I don't remember what month the show was supposed to start in but I don't remember it being that cold. I actually hope zi-glitterati is correct because the show lost credibility for me. And, I think it is a better story line.

Francine seemed to know about Don - "I figured you would know what to do." Everyone apparently knew what kind of cheat he was, but didn't want to act like they knew. Betty suspected, but didn't really want to know for sure (kept the phone bill till later). Decided to test the waters with the therapist, knowing he would turn around and tell Don (HIPPA violation???) That way she wouldn't have to confront Don directly. She had already expressed her feelings on the subject of indiscretions at the kitchen table - guilt trip! Maybe she will stay on with her parents after Thanksgiving and never come home. Instead of Don leaving his wife and kids, she will be the deserter.

Peggy - I thought she was just going through a miscarriage, not a birth! When exactly did Pete get married - he and Peggy did the deed the night before he either got married or had his bachelor party. Maybe that was 8-9 months before Thanksgiving. Baby could have come early, though.

How did Harry's wife find out about him?

Incredible episode! Gave you a double ending - one of which was happy, one that was sad. With little Bobby Dylan and "Don't think twice, it's all right." Totally blew me away.

But PEOPLE! So many of you are obsessing about how could Peggy not know. Easy. Number one, she was eating like a horse. Figured she'd just put on weight. Number two, she was on the Pill and therefore it was "impossible". Finally they only did it twice, for God's sake! Guess she sorta forgot the girls who'd had to drop out of school after just doing it once.

Just don't know if she's going to be keeping it (whoa, just imagine those complications) or giving it up for adoption. I tend to favor the latter option. Big city hospital, they gotta know all the options.

As far as Pete's in-laws visiting - Daddy got the Clearasil account to Pete and he'd gotten that fat $100 bonus. So it's time to celebrate, right? Plus Trudy, being a dutiful daughter, probably told them that she and Petey were going to working on a grandkid.

Pete was wiped because all the thinking, the campaign, had been handed over to Peggy - the little secretary (okay, she's big as a house now) he'd bonked twice. Sure, he was the account exec and she was now a junior copywriter but Don had just cut Pete out of all the attaboys for a great campaign. Totally bummed him out.

The carousel presentation just blew me away, using Don's own slides to impress the Kodak people. Harry, who'd been kicked out of the his little love nest by his wife because he'd forgotten the first and second rule of a cheater - Deny, deny, deny and if she's got the goods on you, Lie, lie lie. Anyway he got so choked, he had to leave the room.

And Betty. My God! Now she's got a backdoor to Don's mind! She believes anything she says will go out of her mouth and indirectly into Don's ears. So anything that bothers her, she doesn't need to confront him. All she has to do is tell the shrink. Can you believe it?!!

And Don gets a double whammy. First, he finds out about Adam and then realizes by the Carousel presentation, how much his family means to him. So M. Weiner & Co., not knowing if the series would be picked up, gave a double ending.

Glen? Jeez, I don't know about that kid. Or Betty. If she loses it all in front of him. I mean, what's a kid supposed to believe in? The prettiest girl/woman he knows is asking him for comfort? Why did she go to that place for anyway?

Francine? Well, you could have seen that coming although the poisoning the entire Thanksgiving celebration was going a bit over the deep end. Call it post-partum depression.

Well, those are my first impressions. Will have more after I watch it again.

Bless you, DirecTV.

I was moved to tears twice during this episode. Once when Betty reached out to Glen. Yes, it's strange for an adult to seek out a child for emotional comfort...but to me, it just showed how deep Betty's pain really is. It was wrong for her to lay that on Glen, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

The other time was when Don gave his "carousel" presentation. "Returning to a place where you know you're loved." But don't get me wrong..I'm not naive enough to believe he's cleaned up his act and ready to be a good boy. It was, however, a very poignant scene.

D Langerman

You nailed it. I was a teenager then also and remember if women complained they were told they didn't "accept their feminity", or in other words, accept it and shut up. I had an aunt, a very creative women, who went to a mental hospital every few years, and nobody talked about it. She was "just tired" or it was "her nerves". A lot of women were just put on tranqualizers to shut them up.

And when I see the row of secretaries at SC I still shudder. I had dozens of jobs like that and hated them all. People thought I was a flake but I just didn't fit the mold. Most women had 3 choices: secretary, nurse or teacher. Model or stewardess if you were hot. I ended up a chef. Think it's funny that Betty is named after Freidan. LOL

I love this show. It's the first show I've looked forward to since "Six Feet Under".

The season started in March 1960 and ended in late Nov. 1960. So 8 1/2 months. Peggy got pregnant in the first episode.

I suppose psychological denial and the pill's side effects could explain this, but little Pete Jr. is still the first time the writers have allowed something rather predictable. In Season 2, we'll have fast-rising Peggy haunted by the baby she gave up.

BTW, I loved someone's wrap party comments are EP. 1 of Season 2 being amazing. Right now, Season 2 is a few unconnected thoughts in Matt Weiner's head.

For real Mad Men, this episode had a few gems. Loved the VO recording for the weight-loss system with benefits. Getting the voice right is a lot harder than you think. Peggy mangled that one, but had the sense to retreat and do the right thing. And the Carousel pitch was brilliant: I grew up with one of those things.

My problem with this show now is that I've lost a lot of admiration for Don Draper. Instead of being a decorated soldier, he's a deserter. He's a real screw-up with his private stuff: in his scene with Rachel, he was a sniveling coward. I guess that's good writing showing the Alpha Male with clay feet, "where the truth lies" indeed.

That Carousel scene was pure magic, a quintessential example of why this show is the best on TV in a long, long time. But the entire Peggy pregnancy and delivery storyline is a REAL stretch. Come on: She didn't know she was pregnant? It would have been much more plausible if she was suffering a miscarriage, not delivering a full-term baby. I guess that explains why the lobster had more meat in the tail, though! :) Still a great show -- can't wait for Season 2.

When Don called the cheap hotel in Times Square and the manager or guy at the desk told him that Adam had hung himself, he said something about the money - who took it - the Post Office?

Apparently whoever found Adam was honest and didn't keep it.

Why can't Weirdo Betty talk to sanctimonious Francine? Talking to a kid about her issues? The little boy is already creepy as hell! It was little too Mary Kay Letourneau for my tastes!

Oh, wonder if Rachel went to Europe for an abortion?

WAS IT A GIRL OR A BOY??

What drew me to this series was the emotional impact it made on me. I acutally was so angry the first time I watched the show. I forgot how we (women) were treated at home and the workplace. It is hard for anyone under 40 to realize just how different things were then. I got over it and started viewing it as "thank God things have changed" and isn't Don Drapper a hunk! Oh yea...of course Peggy was pregnant!

And Rachel? What became of her? A slow boat to Europe and a long vacation? Obviously, she cracked and told Daddy about Don..and without coming right out and saying so, Daddy Mencken told Bert Cooper how he felt about it. So Don was busted. Have to say I was sorry not to see Rachel in the season finale...also wonder if it's in character for her to break and run away, even in the throes of heartbreak?

I was a female executive in Advertising in the early 70's. Mad Men rings true I'm embarrassed to say. I can relate to everything in this show. Even the carousel presentation was great. Although, I don't think men were as free with their emotions. What's with creepy storyline with Betty and the kid?

Laura, it was a boy. The nurse asked Peggy if she wanted to feed her little boy.

The baby was wrapped in a blue blanket too.

Have to say I was sorry not to see Rachel in the season finale...also wonder if it's in character for her to break and run away, even in the throes of heartbreak?

This usuallly means contract issues, although why an actor wouldn't want to be associated with this show for its entire run is a mystery to me. So we'll see if she shows up in 08.

I'm thinking this. Adam'suicide literally cut the last strand to Don's past. Although he didn't want to acknowledge his past before, "the box" brought something to the surface for Don, hence the phone call to touch base.

I didn't quite get what the conversation with Harry's fruit of the looms did for the Kodak presentation, if anything, but Adam's suicide, combined with Rachel's rejection, made him realize he did have a family that loves him (awww..)

OK. I'm watching the second run, and I have to say I LOVE Joan's dress. Those angled lines, those curves! She looked good.

I was thinking ectopic pregancy when Peggy doubled over with pain in the hospital.

I can't believe all the negative comments. I absolutely loved this episode. The carousel scene made me cry; I think Don is really good inside, but he's self-destructive. He's his own worst enemy. The fantasy scene at the end was heart-breaking. But he deserves to be alone if he doesn't want to be a family man; maybe he's learned a lesson. But Betty better wise up because she's so annoying.

The Peggy pregnancy was very strange; we all suspected it, but she had quite a day, didn't she? New account, an office and a baby!

I hope the new season picks up close to the same time period. Also - love the outdoor scene with all the beautiful cars!

Can someone tell me what the last scene featuring Pete, Trudy, and his in-laws was about? Why did the father-in-law tell Pete that it's okay to rest now, but to make sure he's awake later? And then Trudy snapped angrily, "DADDY!" And Pete slunk off to the bedroom. What was that about???

I can't believe all the negative comments. I absolutely loved this episode. The carousel scene made me cry; I think Don is really good inside, but he's self-destructive. He's his own worst enemy. The fantasy scene at the end was heart-breaking. But he deserves to be alone if he doesn't want to be a family man; maybe he's learned a lesson. But Betty better wise up because she's so annoying.

The Peggy pregnancy was very strange; we all suspected it, but she had quite a day, didn't she? New account, an office and a baby!

I hope the new season picks up close to the same time period. Also - love the outdoor scene with all the beautiful cars!

What a great finale - so many great story lines to be answered next year...some of my favourite moments in the finale:

- Don's Carousel pitch: the guy's a god

- Peggy 'directing': she was so evil and cold, I hated her

- Pete assigned Peggy by Don, hilarious: whenever Pete thinks he's at the top of the world, Draper brings him right down

Oh yeah, shocked about the Peggy baby thing - it's not something I wanted to see, but let's if they can handle it as well as the rest of the show.

Awesome series, AMC. Can't wait til '08. This show is art.

Look, my Mom was so out of it after we were born in the early 50's that she tried giving us Drano for dinner. She didn't know what she was doing. She tried to put my brother in the washing machine because he needed a bath.

Post Partum Depression (AND PSYCHOSIS) is real! Peggy's denial, and her rejection of the baby (This "thing" that has come out of her body) is VERY REAL! Y'all need to stop bitching about "jumping the shark." I could tell you bizarre stories of what my Mom did while I was growing up that would make this episode seem like mild every day life. Mental illness causes people to act in VERY strange ways. And it goes on in many families. People just don't talk about it....ESPECIALLY in the 50's. It was misunderstood and taboo.

As for Betty.....she, also is in her own little world. I'm afraid that the marriage is doomed...she doesn't really know who her husband is, and he doesn't understand what she is going through.....and now there is all this distrust. That's a LOT to overcome.

"When Don called the cheap hotel in Times Square and the manager or guy at the desk told him that Adam had hung himself, he said something about the money - who took it - the Post Office?"

The city took the money.

Ok, the thing with Betty confiding in the child... she can't talk to anyone else because to everyone else she's perfect and she doesn't want to ruin the facade so she's trapped completely alone, and the quiet, awkward child is the only one she feels she can tell and no one else will find out.

Secondly, about the end scene with Pete and his wife - I think she's pregnant now too.

Uh, to the poster who said it happens all the time that women get pregnant and don't realize it until they go into labor (ala Peggy), NO IT DOESN'T! The poster intimated that you have to be very young and apparently naive to not know this is going on! Say what? I admit that we oocasionally hear of the poor dolt who claims not to know she is pregnant until she suddenly pops out a baby on the bathroom floor, but here is the straight scoop: I don't care how NAIVE or YOUNG you are, after a certain point in pregnancy a woman FEELS LIFE INSIDE HER! That's right folks, no one, and I mean NO ONE, can go nine months (or even six or seven) without feeling "quickening," i.e., the movement of life inside the womb. I always suspected Peggy was pregnant but NOT that she would give birth in November! If she and Pete had sex in April right before his marriage and that is when she actually became pregnant by him, then by November she would have been at most seven months along, and folks, she would have felt the baby move by about month four. Has anyone thought that she was pregnant BEFORE she had sex with Pete? That would make more sense that she would deliver in November. However, for her not to realize she was in labor or have any clue that she was even pregnant, well come on, the writers are really reaching here. ANd that baby the nurse brought into Peggy at the end was certainly no preemie! That kid looked hale, hearty and robust! Again, I think the writers blew it here. Also, I didn't intitially quite get whether Don was imagining that he joined Betty for Thanksgiving, or dreaming, or what. Then, it was obvious his family was gone and he was on the stairs alone. That was all clumsily done and not really clear from the outset. And what is the deal with the character Paul? I mean, suddenly he is running around in his underwear. I really lost track of whatever the writers were attempting to convey. I liked the series up to this point, but this was NOT a very good episode. Betty's sessions with her shrink are just downright boring, as was the scene with her friend who discovered her husband's infidelity. I am sorry the series had to end the season with this episode. It wasn't one of the better ones.

then realizes by the Carousel presentation, how much his family means to him.

This us usualy called in english literature classes, the "growth of the character", something that never happens in commercial tv. Imagine Jack Bauer growing as a character. This whole show is like if Dreiser wrote a novel about the ad biz in the 60s. Amazingly rich and weird at the same time.

Rachel was on Grey's Anatomy tonight.

I wanted to see Rachel too but flipping channels I saw the magnificent Maggie Siff on Grey's Anatomy! Anyway, Daddy Menken knew probably from having daddy instincts and an instant dislike for Dapper Don. Then Cooper slyly warning Don to not shit where he eats! LOL!

D. Langerman...don't know if you are male or female. Many women have post-partum depression..although trying to feed your kids Drano is post-partum psychosis, which is a whole different matter. But the point is...the word "post" means after. You have the break with reality AFTER you deliver the baby. Peggy was in denial for the entire pregnancy, and yet going on with her life and career at the same time. This is not post-partum depression. She was psychotic during the entire pregnancy. She was disturbed before she ever got pregnant, apparently.

Just saw the second airing. The baby the nurse came with was a boy, and the nurse asked if she wants to try to feed him, but she had a bottle. And Peggy's stomach was down alot. Does that mean she miscarried half-term? How about all that pain she had and was holding her stomach? Did they not try to get them to breastfeed then? I think she miscarried and the nurse was trying to cheer her up or something by getting her to bottle-feed someone else's baby.

"Can someone tell me what the last scene featuring Pete, Trudy, and his in-laws was about? Why did the father-in-law tell Pete that it's okay to rest now, but to make sure he's awake later? And then Trudy snapped angrily, "DADDY!" And Pete slunk off to the bedroom. What was that about???"

FIL wants Pete to get his daughter pregnant. He wants Pete to focus more on family than on his career, because in his mind, and his wife's and daughter's, Pete doesn't have to worry about money.

Read closely because this will be the only compliment I'll give Peter Campbell. (I can't believe I'm doing it!). Pete wants to do it all on his own merit, not family money, not some talented female copy writer. He wants to call the shots, make it happen. I can respect that.

(Oh God, I think I'm getting nauseous...)

Laura...it was a boy! The blue blanket, and a pretty big kid at that. She didn't feel that big baby at all? Denial! However I have heard that that happens...

Peggy 'directing': she was so evil and cold, I hated her

This was a great scene but the unexpected baby angle was genius. The budding young talented woman who sees craetive possiblities opening before her is "punished" by the pregnancy, putting a 19th century moral touch on this whole affair. "Do not overstep your limits woman"..these writers are really clever aren't they?

No, I think that the in-laws were excited and satisfied that Pete had secured his job and gotten a bonus and felt that Pete and wife could move on to making babies. That's why the fil made the comment about him being awake "later." and the wife was trying to cover for Pete but was disappointed in the further delay of parenthood. Pete was humiliated and disappointed at having to share his glory with a secretary and couldn't face his in-laws. I also loved the irony of Peggy being pregnant by Pete at the time his wife and in-laws wanted them to have a baby. And to divadee-- great comment about Peyton Place!! Anyone else get that?

Erans...no, no, that was Peggys baby for cry eye! I thought she was going to have a miscarriage, next scene the nurse wants her to love & feed the baby, & Peggy just turns away...next year...Peggy is raising that kid herself, and Pete has one on the way!

To Meeshy: No "disrespect" but I guess your "timeline" was wrong!

EranS., the nurse very clearly asked Peggy "don't you want to feed your little boy?" And if someone had lost a baby...they certainly wouldn't be bringing her someone else's baby to feed! Wouldn't that be just a tad cruel? And there was not the crusade to breastfeed back then that there is now.

EranS, back in the fifties and early sixties the trend was to bottle feed babies with formula. You can thank the Mad Men of the era for selling mothers on how convenient it was to be free from the burdens of breastfeeding.

I KNEW a young girl who didn't realize she was pregnant and dlivered one month after she was told she was by a doctor. If you have never had a kid inside you, how would you know what the baby's movements were? Maybe you would think it was just bad gas, or cramps of some kind, or butterflies, or stomach gowling. You would have nothing to compare it to, especially if you didn't know you were pregnant, nor understood your cycle or periods.

So, to all of you who can't believe that Peggy didn't know:m BELIEVE IT! GET OVER IT!

Rachel was on Grey's Anatomy tonight.

The show opens up other work for these folks. Hard to resist. Guess she took a cruise to NBC

Whoops, I meant Harry when I referred tot he guy in his underwear in my last post. Not Paul. Harry. Anyway, again, this was not one of the better episodes. And to the postre who is angry and claiming Peggy is now suffeirng post-partum depression: Dear, she has not yet had time to do so. If she didn't even realize she was pregnant (again, ridiculous because regardless of what anyone CLAIMS, a woman feels "quickening" which is the movement of life inside her womb), delivered, and that evening a nurse is coming to her witht he baby and the bottle, well, post-partum depression generally takes at least a few days to fully set in and be accurately diagnosed as such.

I should have posted this when there was only 30 comments! Anyway, I was shocked by the ending for Peggy. I can't believe that some people in the 60's were so naive!! I can't image a time when they did not teach sex ed... I remember having to sit in a class learning about periods ect.. when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade.

She'll most likely give the baby up for adoption so she can continue with her career. What a shocker for her to get so soon after getting her promotion.

Sorry, Connie, but I disagree! I think almost any woman who's been pregnant, myself included, will tell you that you might mistake the early movements for indigestion, especially if it's your first. But a full-term baby feels like a little gymnast rolling around in his/her increasingly cramped quarters. A teenage girl like the one you mentioned might have been confused, but Peggy is not a teenager, and was shown to be functioning in the world like a normal person..but she was anything but normal!

Connie: Chill, dear. Most who speak of pregnancy know where of the speak, myself included. Most so-called tales of girls or women claiming not to know they were pregnant are just that: tales. Yes, it can be so at the outset, but trust me, eventually you feel movement and unless you are in complete denial, you KNOW you are pregnant! many who claim not to have known were in denial and they remain in denial even in the face of their baby being born.

A couple of comments:

Rachel. I don't think she's pregnant. Just that she talked with Daddy and said she had to get away while the 3-month construction was going on. Daddy made the connection. Or not. On the other hand, three months...

Lots of women in those days, if they had the money, would have the child secretly and then give it up to a family member or someone else who wanted to adopt. Which is what happened to my cousin - whose mom was an unmarried relative.

Cooper, surprisingly didn't make the connection. When he talks about "preferences", he's assuming Don made some anti-Semitic or remark that caused Rachel to "jump ship". Remember, Don said "not on my watch" when Roger asked if they had any Jews in-house. So he thinks that is why Papa Menken called him, not Don to mention that Rachel will be gone.

Although, after this episode, I wouldn't put it past M. Weiner & Co. for her to be pregnant with Don's love child.

No kidding, huh Erin. i thought that was pretty good. Although I agree the scene with the doctor was a bit dragged out. I loved the end, how Don had this image in his head and was going to sweep Betty & the kids off, & bam,,,hello, anyone home...kinda sad. I really loved this episode, as the producer said, he didn't think it would get renewed so he didn't leave us hanging...in other words...didn't go to his head...like that damn DAVID CHASE from the Sopranos..true!?

Well-said, Winjammer! You and I are on the same page! Whatever Peggy's mental problem is...post-partum depression is not it!

Okay ....about the scene with Peggy in the production studio...I thought that scene was an excellent example of this way in which someone who is a new manager,etc expresses (1) a new level of authority (2) ownership of an idea or concept (3) responsibility for directing the execution of that idea (4) finally acceptance of someone else's ideas as valid and an indication of the concept of teamwork. Sure Peggy made some mistakes and was a bit harsh with the "talent" but her recovery and suggestion to Ken(?) was excellent.

In this episode Peggy "gave birth" not only to a baby but also to her new career...I anticipate that Season 2 will provide a believable resolution of both situations...

Just read an interview with Matt Weiner from the Chicago Tribune. Info from the source. I guess Betty knows about Don's affairs and was using her psych sessions to deliver the message to Don. It just seems that she was so clueless throughout the series that she would be smart enough to manipulate the psychiatrist. Sorry, this finale was off the mark. They tried to wrap up, resolve, shock, tempt, confuse and most of all ensure that we will all tune in next time. In spite of tonight's missteps, I will.

BJ: HIPAA was over thirty years away. A husband would very likely find out about his wifes sessions from a Psych he was paying back in 1960.

Windjammer: Again, women who speak in absolutes about pregnancy are either too young to know any better or have never been pregnant (or pregnant only once). Every pregnancy is different and denial can go a very long way. My wife had no idea she was pregnant with our second child until she went to the doctor because we thought she was anemic. She had her periods and everything. She was five months...

No offense to the larger people, but also some women you'd never know were pregnant unless they told you.

For those who find this episode disappointing because of the Peggy pregnancy, you are entitled to be disappointed. The story is plausible; I know that. I personally find it brilliant.

How about some kudos for January Jones great cigarette work, a true lost art..sooo sexy

I think Don got back at Pete and really put him in his place by giving copy to Peggy. Don was letting him know that his little game didn't work and FIL money is not going to get him far. Now Pete knows he is stuck in a loveless marriage and he has to deliver a baby in order to keep the money train rolling

In this episode Peggy "gave birth" not only to a baby but also to her new career...

Very perceptive, but note how her new career is stillborn

Loved the show tonight. Soooooo sad its over till next summer. Love Jon Hamm. He is a hottie.

Loved the show tonight. Soooooo sad its over till next summer. Love Jon Hamm. He is a hottie.

BRAVO AMC!!!!!

Devin, if there's one thing that pisses me off, it's a man talking about pregnancy like he has any clue what it feels like! Your wife might not have known she was pregnant at 5 months. Most women don't feel movement until at least 20 weeks anyway. But you can bet your wife would have known something was up by the time your unborn child was rolling around, kicking her, and keeping her up at night with its movements! Oh, and BTW...I have been pregnant three times, and I'm sure Windjammer knows whereof she speaks, too!

Well, I have been pregnant and DID feel the baby, etc., so if you think I am naive, then you are wrong. I just think you don't recognize that people can be in so much denial that their brain will disassociate and shut off. There are also women who think they are pregnant and are not.

I think it is also possible to be functional in some parts of your life, and to shut off other parts in which you don't want to dwell. And it's true, there was no sex education like there is now.

And no one knew how to diagnose post partum depression in those days, so being able to make an "Accurate diagnosis." is a moot point.

Pandora: Right on! I don't know where some of these people get this stuff they come up with, i.e., post-partum depression, tales of women who claimed to have never known they were pregnant (as we both know, even those in total denial about their pregnancies cannot deny the feeling of life inside their own wombs at or shortly after four months of gestation), and all the rest they spout. I always laugh at the stories I read here or there about women who steadfastly claim they had no idea they were pregnant until the delivered their baby! They thought it was bad indigestion, or constipation, or something as ridiculous. One word: DENIAL. That's like when some young, unmarried girl states, "I can't be pregnant! Well, maybe only a little bit." Oh brother!

Pandora: I also agree with your anger against men spouting information and experience with pregnancy. It's a real life, isn't it!

Doesn't anyone remember the early episode where Joan warned Peggy about the "office fifteen" - the weight gain that goes along with sitting stationary in an office all day? The writers were setting us up for the pregnancy all along - Joan's advice, the birth control pills, the jokes about Peggy's weight gain. All these things combined to make both Peggy and the audience believe she wasn't pregnant. I'm not sure I like this plot twist, but in the context of the world created by these writers it's entirely believable.

I haven't even seen this episode yet as I'm a work (I work 1 to 10 since it enables me to golf in the morning) and it doesn't come on till ten out here (Phoenix) but what I’m reading here has got to be total bullshit. This can’t be for real.

I'm an engineer and a scientist. I find this television program by accident (I'm channel surfing after I get home from work one night) and I'm completely fascinated by it. It's unique, completely unusual, and doesn't fall into familiar patterns. The characters are multi-dimensional and the lead is an anti-hero in the best Clint Eastwood, man with no name tradition. It also has bad guys, hot chicks and plenty of sex and makes no moral judgments, it just rolls. I’m completely hooked.

Now these clowns are expecting me to believe that a woman can either not know or forget that she's pregnant. What a crock, I knocked up my girlfriend six years ago and she knew, was absolutely sure, that she was pregnant four weeks later. Since there are some people on this board that have sort of gotten to know me I guess I have to finish this story for their benefit. I have friends in France and we went there to have her take RU-486 to end the pregnancy.

Unless you’re retarded there is no way on earth that you can deliver a baby without ever having realized that you’re pregnant. Why did she think she was blowing up like a frickin’ whale. This bitch can write great copy on multiple ad campaigns yet didn’t notice anything going on with her tits? What did Peggy think was happening The Breast Fairy was making them bigger because she’s been a good girl. I’m shattered and amazingly disappointed. I’m not even sure I’m going to watch the finale when I get home now. THIS SUCKS!!

Pandora: Can't type tonight. Make that a real laugh about the men who spout pregnancy experience.

Okay, guys. Who cares?? This is exactly what they want us talking about for the next 6 months or so til the new season. We've already been discussing this for over an hour, so I guess Matthew W. and co. are getting what they want. I'm impressed with the show overall and the clever and honest angle they have taken. I'd like to see more of Betty like when she was shooting the birds and enjoying her washing machine. Those were probably rare moments when we've seen her real self. Great writing, great show! All this will make more sense next summer, we just have to wait it out. Kudos to AMC and the show's producers!!

EranS: I guess you do since you commented.

And Dennis, you're hilarious!!

Dennis, I knew we could count on you for some common sense, and am so pleased that you agree that there's no way Peggy could have been in that kind of denial...unless she is psychotic! The Breast Fairy remark was funny, and pure Dennis. And very true, I might add. I'm kinda sorry you had to read any of this before seeing the finale. You've got to watch it!

Pandora and Windjammer: I really don't give a damn that it pisses you off that a man would talk about pregnancy...

Was your O.B. a man? Even if not, I can guarantee that there are men who are and educate women on what to expect. Get over yourselves! Men, despite your beliefs, can empathize with the experience through what their wife's tell them and what others have written. Your over-defensiveness is ludicrous, esp. since we are talking about a T.V. show here.

Just one comment:

Peggy in the booth with the talent - don't be too hard on her. This is the first time she's done this and she's still learning the ropes. At least she told Ken to go out and ahem, make her feel more confident. The "talent" (can't remember her name now) had a tear running down her cheek. At least that was sensitive on Peggy's part. She knows Ken's the stud who can get the job done. Yeah, girls.

Give her a Relaxerciser and a couple of days. I assure you the "talent" will come back to work with a whole new attitude.

Three triple Makers' Marks starting at the beginning of the 10:00 showing. I hope I spellled everhtin korrekly. . .

Damn, I gotta get up in five hours. . .

Windjammer, You busted me out! This is the first blog I've ever been on and I'm addicted to this show and hearing what everybody else has to say. Nobody else I know is into this show, I'm sorry to say, so I have to get my fix here!

To you folks upset with Peggy's pregnancy story line: Oh, come on! Haven't you been watching the episodes? She had a one-night stand with Pete, and the following episodes began "getting fat". Put 2 + 2 together! It was pretty obvious she was pregnant. Watch the final episode again...the scene where the doc puts her hand on her belly and she pushes it away...see the look she gives the doc? She KNEW she was pregnant but was in denial. I don't think it "Jumped the Shark" at all. It was logical to the story line, and typical of a naive young woman in the early 60's (The Pill was NOT in widespread use. And as far as drinking...pregnant women both drank and smoked back in the 60's). I also thought the playing of Dylan's song brilliant. This is a show that anyone under 40 may not "get". The show accurately portrays how life and attitudes WERE back then. But more importantly: why are they making us wait until Summer 2008 for the next episodes? Finally an intelligent TV show to watch, and they suspend it after only 13 episodes. How disappointing! I urge everyone to e-mail AMC at info@amctv.com and ask that they bring the show back sooner than 8 months from now. Otherwise, it may send us all back to reading books. . .

What a show.

Poor Peggy was in denial. She kept saying that it was not possible. So, she denied/ignored any symptoms she had. She has to give the baby up. If she keeps it, the show will lose all credibility. Those things just weren't done. I am adopted, born in NYC in 1960. I know my mother was 22, worked as a secretary and had 3 years of college.

Betty is just as trapped as Peggy. Glen is creepy. I think that Betty is showing more depth each episode.

Pete's father-in-law's comment meant that Pete was supposed to make sure to be ready to make a baby... How ironic.

I thought the Kodak ad was brilliant. I have at least a dozen Kodak carousel slide trays in storage from my parent's house.

Don is finally realizing what his family means to him but is it too late? Why didn't he get on the train to meet them for the holiday.

What is up with Rachel though? Are they both going to be pg?

Peggy is the female version of Don. She is dropping her past (truck driver) for the illusion of a better life.

Can't wait till next year. I know the season is available on iTunes, but any idea if it will be released on DVD?

I LOVE this show.

Bravo!! This is the most delicious new show I've ever seen. I graduated high school in 1960 and went to work in an office. This show depicts the era wonderfully, with all the warts and wholesomeness intact. I can explain Peggy. She is simply a very naive young girl who believed the pill would work. She was in denial about reality (pregnancy symptoms) and completely absorbed in being the best she could be at work. It all makes sense to me. My first thought is that I don't think she will be able to keep her baby. But it won't surprise me if she manages to and keeps it a secret from work. Believe me, it would not go over well at work! I think somehow Pete is going to know that he is the father....just don't know how it will all work out. I can't wait till next season. The cast is perfect!

I guess I'm angry with all of you who are so damn sure of your own reality that you cam confuse being retarded with mental illness.

Denial, post partum depression, depression in general, post partum psychosis, has nothing to do with a person's intelligence. It has to do with the brain not functioning properly. We are now just starting to understand these things.

For those of us who have lived with people who have mental illness (who imagine, believe, and act upon all sorts of things that are not real) and have had to be the caretaker for those people and had to try and get help for them, when we hear that YOU are in denial about the possibility of someone having it, it proves what a long way we wtill have to come in understanding these illnesses.

But that's what this show has been about all along. Weiner keeps saying that when people watch this show they simultaneously think about how far we have come, and at the same time how we haven't changed at all.

Devin, I'll say this, and this is all I'm going to say on the subject to you. Having empathy is one thing. But in your earlier post, you spoke quite dogmatically about how women who don't believe the denial thing are naive or have been pregnant only once. This is not true in my case or in Windjammer's. We've been there, buddy. You basically were saying that we don't know what we're talking about...and we are women who've had kids, and you are not! We know every pregnancy is different. But one thing is the same: if the baby is alive, it's moving, and you can feel it. There is no way that Peggy could be well mentally and not know that she is pregnant.

Absolutely wonderful! I sincerely thank the writers, etc for a show of this caliber. I can hardly wait until next season. This is not what you expect of TV. Don's carousel presentation was mesmerizing.

Pandora and Windjammer...the mind is a terrible thing to underestimate...you all were obviously ready and willing to be preg..so you anticipated all the stages, etc...if you are a young woman relatively ignorant about your body and how it functions especially in the state of pregnancy and you are not anticipating this condition; do not want to be pregnant and otherwise are disinclined to giving birth...denial will get you into the situation that Peggy found herself in...I know because it happened to a close friend of mind and her now 36 year old son is the result of that denial.... Ya'll need to be a bit more gracious and understand that others can have experinces that are dissimilar to yours and still be vaild...and Dennis ya need to stop referring to women as bitches...one can be creatively intelligent in some things and totally ignorant in others (please forgive my spelling)

my review of the finale ... http://paullevinson.blogspot.com/2007/10/mad-men-13-double-endings-lascaux-and.html

I agree about the problem of Peggy's pregnancy ... I had a few other problems with this show ... but it nonetheless had some superb moments ... the double ending, the Kodak moment, Lascaux ... all in all, a wonderful time machine of a series, and I'm looking forward to more...

Talk to your Doctor, watch Trauma life in the ER, watch the news... There are many women who do not know they are pregnant until they have the baby. I also believed this was BS, however an OB/GYN told me it is possible to go through an entire pregnancy and not know you are pregnant. I find it crazy, but hey it's possible.

Paul, I enjoyed reading your review! I agree with your thoughts, especially regarding the sort of "dual ending" scene with Don.

One of the best things about the show was that it had a certain common sense to it! IMO, it's very weird for a grown-ass wife and mother to go to a child for help with her mental health issues!

The Peggy scenario was just totally over the top! Totally! I pray it was a dream Don had while he was tokin' with Midge! LOL!

Yes, the formerly wild-ass Midge is coming across as one of the saner characters after tonight's episode! Bet Don wishes she was still playing his horn now that Rachel's ship has sailed!

Personally, from being there, I find it hard to believe someone doesn't feel a baby for a whole pregnancy, but I've heard of enough stories to accept the possibility, especially when there's denial and naivetivity involved (though I figured out I was pregnant when I wasn't expecting or wanting it...). It's a stretch in reality, but this IS a TV show and a good storyline!

I seem to recall that Peggy went on the pill. I don't know if anyone here remembers what the first version of "The Pill" was like, but it would cause you to have irregular periods and/or cause you to go a while without periods.

At any rate, many years ago when I worked the weekend patient check-out at the local county hospital, I noticed this one woman who was admitted with appendicitis and she left with a baby and her appendix.

She was an older woman and had several grown children. The grown children came to pick her up and when they arrived at my window I couldn't help but ask what happened.

She said when her periods stopped she thought she was in menopause! What she thought were gas bubbles she now knew was the baby moving. She was a thin woman and said she had only gained about 10 pounds so she didn't think much about it.

Thankfully, she and her kids were thrilled and still in a little shock about the baby.

It can happen! Even to women who have had babies.

Anyway, this is a great show and I'm sorry it's over. Next summer seems like a long time away.

Only one episode of Damages left - I'm going to be going through withdrawal symptoms. Waaaah!

First, Betty is very manipulative. The little boy ( Glen? ) clearly has some emotional and/or developemental issues. She is using this child toward some end, the same way she is using the shrink. We just don't know why yet.

Next, I don't think Peggy ever was all that innocent. Remember how she came onto Don in episode 1 ... and he rebuffed her? She may have been in denial about the pregnancy, but she was no innocent, naive little thing. Pete may not be the father. She may have come into that job, already pregnant.

And finally, when birth control pills were first issued, the side effects were awful. Weight gain was the least of it. The literature just told you that being on the pill "caused the symptoms of pregnancy" ... and that's it! So if Peggy was missing her periods and gaining weight, she may have thought it was all part of it. Another thing is that antibiotics, particularly Tetracycline, would render the birth control pills useless. Most women did not know this.

OOOH...another Damages fan....great writing,cast and videography/photography...

...about Betty's scene with Glenn; better for Betty to have had that rather awkard,albiet sensitive and compelling scene with Glenn than to have taken an overdose of sleeping pill which is where she was headed...I thought that scene demonstrating her total isolation and Don's scene with rachael in which he wants to run away with her are fine examples of folks pushed totally to the edge with no where else to go yet still being able to "find a way back"....congrats to the fine actors and writer of MM

Eeeenough already. She knew she was pregnant on one level, but probably told herself if she didn't acknowledge it, maybe it wouldn't really happen (the birth). Anyone who's been pregnant knows that not knowing is impossible. SHE KNEW, OK?

I think everyone needs to get over the Peggy thing. She is a young girl in a new atmosphere with different rules and pressures. She was obviously in denial, and yes she did feel nauseas in one of the epi's. It's plausible. As for the size of the baby, did you really expect them to get a two-week newborn on set? Yes the show tries be very authentic but allow them some latitude.

I went up to the last week of my pregnancy before I felt any real movement. The baby was constrained by the cord around it's neck so he didn't move much. Up until the last week, what I felt could have been explained away as gas or nervous stomach, especially if you really don't want to face the possibility that you could be pregnant. There are plenty of women who can go full-term without anyone really noticing. Not all pregnancies manifest themselves the same way.

Regarding Rachel: Who knows? In the 1930's, Loretta Young got pregnant by Clark Gable. She went to Europe and several months later, returned with her "adopted" daughter. It sounds like a badly written soap opera, but it's true. So who knows which way the Rachel thing will turn out.

Thank you, 1956! Couldn't agree more.

Michele, I didn't think antibiotics like Tetracycline were around in 1960. Obviously, penicillin was. But even if such a drug had rendered Peggy's pill ineffective, if it's Pete's baby, she hadn't been taking the pill long enough for it to even start working. Also, we're not questioning HOW she became pregnant. What some of us have been saying is that there's no way she wouldn't have KNOWN she was pregnant.

And about the conversation with Cooper; he knows that Draper had an affair. He didn't think it was something anti-semitic or derogatory that Draper said, as someone suggested.

Although I'm a man and know nothing of the mechanics of pregnancy, it wasn't hard for me to believe that Peggy was in denial of her pregnancy.

Throughout the show, her career ambitions have veered on the maniacal. Ever since Draper gave her the golden lance of acknowledgement, she's seemed focused on attaining her goals in the workplace. After distancing herself from her peers at the office (and rightfully seeing justification to do so) or the way she was so cold to her trucker date, even her overzealous direction of that poor actress in the studio, it's not a stretch to believe that she'd try and push the thought of pregnancy to the side. Hell, even after having the baby, she looked resentful of it being born. I'm sure she saw it coming.

I sure didn't want to see it coming, but the signs were there: The prosthetic makeup, the constant lines about the coffee cart, eating all the liverwurst...LOL

To all of you who questioned if Peggy was showing, those awful empire-waist, pleated tent dresses and skirts she's been sporting for the last few episodes could hide a small home from view.

I'm 100% sure that she's giving that baby up. I cannot wait for the interplay between her and Pete in the next season.

I've read that about Loretta Young and Clark Gable's baby, too. I wonder if that is what will happen with Rachel? Why a 3-month trip, after all? Why not just a few weeks or something?

I just realized an ironic twist. When members of my family have had psychotic episodes, or did strage things, we would always say,"If this was the plot of a TV show, no one would believe it." Guess we were right.

And as for supposedly smart people being in denial? Just look at the current administration in Washington DC.

Wasn't 3 months the amount of time the store needed to be closed for renovations?

Good point, MadaboutMM. I had forgotten that the store was to be closed for 3 months. Maybe that's all it is...no pregnancy, just wanting to get away and nurse her broken heart while the store is undergoing renovations.

Two things....YodaBert figured out Don slept with Rachel because he mentioned something about Don "knowing" Rachel went on a cruise. Plus, he kept mentioning Daddy Menken's tone of voice. Yoda has just put Dapper Don on notice about shitting where he eats! Lastly, I swear if next season Rachel comes back (and I pray she returns to the show!) with an "adopted" European kid, I'll scream! I'll scream that a great show looks like something out of Jerry Springer/Maury Povich!

Why didn't January Jones (Mrs. Draper) attend the wrap party? If she was there, she wasn't in any of the pictures or the video. Does anyone know?

Plausibility aside, Peggy's pregnancy makes for some very interesting possible storylines. Now not only does she have to work with babydaddy Pete (whom I will assume she will hate with a vengence), but on his FIL's account!!! Outstanding!

And did anyone think that Don figured out about Peggy and Pete and that was another reason he put her on the account with him? I thought that when Pete said "Come on Don, that's my Father-In-Law's account" as Don smirked knowingly!

Visan - Reruns again in an hour, but I really need to get some sleep. I didn't catch Cooper saying that - I thought Don said he wasn't aware that Rachel had left?

Since Matt Weiner's thing is writing what you don't expect - maybe it's not Pete's spawn? Would help explain the short time line.

Visan and Pandora, You girls are the best, and I'd gladly do either or both of you, but, this Omen Baby crap has really bummed me out. To me it was sort of like when you've got a good rhythm going with a girl and she's moaning just right and you find out later that she was faking it. You just feel so used. Being the sensitive guy that you know that I am I don't think I can continue with this blog so I'm going to give it a rest. Bye girls. Love ya.

I've enjoyed reading the incisive comments here, and have almost finished reading them all. Before I finish, I have to throw this idea out here. It's a bit far-fetched I know, but here goes. In the first episode, when Joan is showing Peggy to her desk, Ken and Pete and maybe Don, too, are walking in the opposite direction. Just after they pass, Ken says, about Peggy, "I heard she took down more sailors then the (insert ship name.) Could it be that it's not Pete's baby?

One more thing, I could swear that in their chat, Glen said this his mother and FATHER told him not to talk to Betty. Am I mistaken?

Visan,

I totally agree with you about YodaBert knowing about the Don and Rachel affair! He was too knowing in his comments to Don.

The scene with the Carousel and the poetic manifesto was marvelous. I loved how the one writer ran out of the room in tears. Very well done & poignant.

No question Bert knew. That's why he called Don "Cowboy."

DAGNABBIT! I love this show!

Betty may be hurting but her brain is still working. Betty was smart enough to keep quiet that she learned Don was talking to her shrink and used the shrink to communicate with Don.

BRAVA! BRAVO! to the cast and crew of Mad Men.

Following the birth, the notion that Peggy may have been pregnant when she arrived at S-C briefly crossed my mind too.

Bert Cooper knows what hanky panky is going on at his firm. I laughed when he let Don know that fact.

Don definitely reminded Pete just how small and insignificant he is when he assigned Peggy to be his copywriter. Pete was feeling all pumped up only to have Don deflate him in the worst way.

I'm a little confused on why Pete has to be coerced into having a kid. He attributes it to finances. In some business environments being married and having kids would have usually been the sure-fire ticket to getting promotions/raises. Those guys were viewed as grounded and stable.

It was amazing to see the Kodak presentation. I couldn't help but laugh and wonder where is THAT loving couple hiding. They certainly didn't resemble Don and Betty as we've seen them.

Joan must be seething at the rapid rise of her former protege'. Peggy's goals may not necessarily be Joan's but just the same she can't help but react to how far Peggy has moved up.

Ah, surprise, Rachel...away for several months in Europe, and her dad called #1 at the agency and not Don! And the boss' remark was kind of curt. Oh-oh, I smell another baby coming along...for Don!!

"One more thing, I could swear that in their chat, Glen said this his mother and FATHER told him not to talk to Betty. Am I mistaken?"

Posted by: Alicia | October 19, 2007 at 01:47 AM

ALICIA::

You are not mistaken, Glen did say father and mother. I wonder if Helen is back with her husband?

Helen would have more entree into the neighborhood social life as part of a married couple. With the history between Betty and Helen, and existing social loyalties, situations could get interesting!

Don't you think it odd that instead of just telling Betty everything will be okay like she asked him to, Glen looked troubled, and then said "I wish I were older".

I can't wait for season 2.

A little bit off the subject......but I think the actress who plays Pete's wife is a young Elizabeth Taylor without the hips.

She is going to be a great actress.

Pete: Fantastic acting. I loved hating you!

Don Draper: You carried the story with precision and skill.

Roger: Please come back!

Peggy: Your acting is incredible. You have a great way of telling a story that is real

Joan: Keep being you!

All the writing and acting has been first class. Thank you! Bravo Bravo Encore

PS: I knew "Mayag" was a part of Cooper's client base :)

Ken did make the negative comment about Peggy's reputation.

Hmmm...come to think of it...Ken also had the scoop on Duck before he came onboard.

Glen did say that his mother and father didn't want him talking to Betty.

Damn it...I love this show! That was a great episode. The fact that they ended with one of my favorite songs of all time just sealed the deal; I will be waiting with baited breath until season two. I'm glad to see that so many people feel the same way I do about Mad Men; no one else that I know is watching despite my concerted efforts to convince everyone that they are missing out.

Comments: Yes the Peggy thing is a little unbelievable, but as someone once said “never underestimate the power of denial.” The look that Betty gave Don when he was saying “who knows why people do what they do” was DEVASTATING! I also noticed that Glen mentioned his Dad. I thought he was out of the picture? I also loved the scene with the slide show, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for Don. He made his bed, so to speak.

Being on the left coast, the show just ended, and there are alrady several hundred comments, mostly from east coasters. This is one great show, with every episode seeming to outdo the last.

The finale was as tense and surprising as a bow string about to snap. Betty, who we have at times almost dismissed as an adolescent child in a Grace Kelly body, went to the front of the line in this episode as we realize that in some way she always knew what was going on subconsciously at least. Didn't you always wonder if Don remembered to wash off the perfume from his escapades? Bettu may now be the most interesting character to anticipate for next year. She may now be fully awake.

And Peggy is in fact with child. This blog has been arguing this point for several months. Whose child, we can only ponder: Pete's?

Had to LOL at the Kodak moment-the carousel!. But the poignancy of the slides with respect to what was going on in Don and Betty's lives made it so bittersweet. I'll bet some still find this show to slow for their taste, but I applaud the manner in which the pace lingers on each moment, extending the pathos to the point of pain.

If several of this cast don't get emmy mention something is amiss. I can hardly wait until 1962. Congratulations AMC. You just put the big three or four to shame.

I guess I can believe that Peggy was in denial about her pregnancy. But it's a stretch. Also, I know all pregnancies are different, but they made her look just plain FAT, not pregnant. The fat (usually) distributes differently.

Also, in retrospect, gives a nice little double meaning to that nasty trashcan she was washing out the morning after the big party. That could have been her episode of 'morning sickness'.

I am not surprised at all that Betty reached out to Glen. He's safe, he won't tell anyone, and he isn't putting up a front around her. I doubt she did it actually expecting *support* - it was more a spur of the moment outburst.

Can't wait for season 2!

Laurie B., et al....

I begin with you because you were the first to poster to concede that there were quite a few of us that still felt Peggy was pregnant in spite of all the protestations and consensus taking there was going on! Now, I will go back to read the first 204 messages to see if any of those same posters who tried to "puff and blow" their ideas past all those who disagreed have owned up to their error.

I wondered why no one on this board asked me why I felt the way I did. I would have revealed that I had an unusual pregnancy myself, one that included a menstrual cycle in month five and a full term delivery after a total weight gain of 25lbs. I would have reminded everyone that pregnant women often munch a lot and have cravings for foods that contribute to extra weight gain. I would have admitted that at 21 I had no clue about how the body changes and what to look for while I was pregnant. At some point my body did feel movement (beginning with flutters in month 5 or so to full kicks and wrestling matches at full term), so I can't explain why Peggy didn't feel it at her size & weight. What I do assume is that she did not carry the baby full term, and the baby they carried around in the scene is much too mature to be the tiny boy she would have delivered.

So all those that stuck to your guns, congratulations! Those that stood strong are too good mannered to say to naysayers, "I told you so!" But, then again....all we have to do is go back and read all the posts...your faux pas is recorded for posterity whenever we want a good laugh!....

P.S. I don't think Rachel is pregnant. She is just using the time off from work as a great excuse to get the hell away from Don. Didn't you see how mortified she was when he suggested they run away together even though it meant leaving his children behind? I do hope they find a way to bring her back though; she is a very interesting character.

1) Come _on_--Peggy was sharp enough to get on the Pill but she didn't know she was _pregnant_?!?!? Not buying it...

2) Betty's working the game. Wait till the doc makes his weekly report to Don, "She thinks you're having an affair." LOL!!!

3) And boy did Don look _too_ pressed during his and Betty's conversation--a real squirmarama for him. Eheheh...

4) I honestly didn't get the scene in which Betty gave the "Rejuvenator" actress such a hard time. What was the deal?

5) Betty turning to Glen for comfort isn't as weird as it seems. When I was a kid, I was so adult-acting that I occaisionally got confidences I probably shouldn't have.

6) An "ostrich," indeed, eh, Betty--or should I say "Birdy?" :)

7) Did Rachel book outta Dodge or _what_? And does Cooper have near-supernatural divining powers in figuring out why--or did Roger give him lotsa practice in spotting a rounder? LOL!!

8) Double props to Don and Pete going at it again. And once again, Pete has no props. ROTFL!!

9) Aww. Didn't Don look cute in those family photos? He must not wear Brillcream at home, I guess...:)

"p.s. I still can't believe that I have my dad's carousel collecting dust in the garage."

My dad still has his in his old desk in the basement--complete with stacks of slides he never did get around to organizing...

"And talking to a child is not too far off if you have EVER been depressed to her extend."

Yep. There are biographies galore out there of parents who turned to kids as confiders/secondary spouses when their marriages were troubled. Jacqueline Susann's father practically regarded her as a second wife, for example...

Peggy pregnant and not knowing it..Believe me the early '60's were another world, many women were sheltered beyond belief. Besides she just went on the "New birth control pill" which put pounds on many women...

As for Don's fantasy being shattered?! Hope he wakes up sooner than later...I'd hate to think he's a total idiot

Wow, what a great finale. While most of the posts seem to debate the "Peggy" pregnancy, I don't think it's so far fetched. When the attending doctor calls for a psych consult it made sense in that context.

I have to feel some measure of satisfaction in regards to an earlier post I made here a month or so ago, predicting the up coming influence of society from the birth of new folk music, mentioning Bob Dylan in particular. When that song started playing in the closing scene I thought aha! Yes!

I thought the pitch to Kodak was the high point of this episode. Seeing Don's family pictures and the look on his face was like watching him experience an emotional epiphany. Well done & bravo!

meems...

From what I have read in various magazines and interviews, the season does not equate to a year (exactly). And...

when the show returns next season, it will pick up at some point in the future. Not necessarily exactly where the finale left off. It may be several years or a different decade. All they promised was that all the characters will return.

I'll be waiting....

I thought Peggy not knowing about her pregnancy was kind of hard to believe. Of course, she had sex right after she got the pills, so there wouldn't have been enough time for them to be effective. But as she appeared to be gaining weight, I thought she might be, but never guessed she wouldn't know.

There have been these sorts of cases, where the girl didn't know she was pregnant until she went into labor. Probably more often with younger girls.

I started at a large Mid-Western university in the early '60s. A girl I knew said some freshmen girls in her dorm didn't know where babies came from. Guess they found out.

From a Labor and Delivery nurse:

http://itsababynotbrainsurgery.blogspot.com/2007/10/other-side.html

>This show is like a juicy novel.

Werd--this show is truly the heir to PEYTON PLACE and THE BEST OF EVERYTHING and all those "rot beneath suburbian bliss and city gloss" novels.

Betty KNOWS Don's been talking to the Doc after opening the phone bill...I think she's feeding him to see what he'll tell Don...Can't wait 'til next season!!

"Let that be a lesson to the teenagers that the only 100% birth control is abstinence!"

...which has been proven in a couple of recent studies to not be a viable option. *snort*

Wasn't Don irresistible enough?? We now find him vulnerable and sensitive as well!!

When Peggy first went to the creepy OB/GYN, there was a calendar on the wall reading March 1960. Her baby was born the day before Thanksgiving; late November; could easily be Pete's. If not, maybe the potato chip truck driver is the daddy--were he and Peggy ever intimately involved?

It's great to see all the new posters on this blog--does anyone know if the number of viewers is up significantly?

When can we buy the DVD--it's a long time until June!!!

Wasn't it hilarious when Don called Harry into his office in his underwear."

This show is so great at deadpan moments where strange behavior is just...disregarded. Don didn't blink an eye at Ken running around office in underwear; Ken didn't think the normally smooth-and-controlled Don was acting kinda weird.

"Joan must be seething at the rapid rise of her former protege'. Peggy's goals may not necessarily be Joan's but just the same she can't help but react to how far Peggy has moved up."

Posted by: CRM | October 19, 2007 at 02:02 AM

CRM::.

I agree that Joan may be less than thrilled about Peggy's unprecedented and meteoric rise. I was impressed however, with Joan's professionalism.

Joan's suggestion that Peggy remember where she came from and take care to maintain friendly relations with the other women was good for Peggy, good for Joan, and good for the office as a whole.

Someone said... sorry I don't remember who at this moment... someone said Superman is different from other superheroes. The difference is that all the superheroes, except Superman, started human, and then had something done to them to make them "super" and they often wear a costume to do their super-deeds

Superman is already "super" and he puts on a costume to blend in. Superman's persona as Clark Kent tells us how Superman perceives humans.

When Peggy was in the sound booth I found myself getting annoyed at how she was acting, as Ken later described Peggy's behavior to Don, Peggy acted like she had more balls than some men.

Women are reacted to differently. The show itself offers many examples where a man is rude or dismissive in the workplace and it is part and parcel of a "this is business, not personal" attitude.

Peggy looked surprised when Ken told Peggy she could have gone out and told the girl she was fired more personally. What a hypocrite! Ken wouldn't say a few nice words to help the girl sound more confident all because more confidence would make her less of an easy target for sex!!

I think Peggy, like Superman, is mimicking the behaviour of the population they want to blend in with, be a part of.

"Francine? Well, you could have seen that coming although the poisoning the entire Thanksgiving celebration was going a bit over the deep end."

Damm--Betty dreams of shooting birds; Francine wouldn't mind pulling a Jonestown during a family holiday. No wonder feminism had to come about--better a bloodless revolution than the alternative...:)

"This was a great scene but the unexpected baby angle was genius."

Ugh--that plot twist sucks. It would have been a fresher move to just have her gaining weight to fend off harassment/distract people so she could have time to prove herself.

I know it's inconceivable to us, but to this day there are still women who don't know they are pregnant. I offer this insight from experience. I work in health care for a large hospital in LA County. I can off hand think of at least three cases in the last eleven years where women have come in to our ER, in labor, at term, completely unaware of their condition. It's sad, but it still happens, in the 21st century, in a completely urban environment.

As for Peggy, it's 1960 - almost 50 years ago - and women actually knew very little about their own reproduction at that time. She believed she was covered because she was on this new miracle drug, the Pill, but she had sex with Pete the same day she went on the Pill and was therefore not protected.

Remember that Peggy's very young and very naive. If she had any questions about her lack of periods, she probably chalked it up to being on The Pill; although the fact is, being pregnant on the Pill could have resulted in some episodic bleeding.

I honestly don't think women analyzed their cycles in 1960 like we do today.

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks, Pandora!

"Peggy in the booth with the talent - don't be too hard on her. This is the first time she's done this and she's still learning the ropes."

Problem is is that the talent delivered what Peggy was asking for--three times, in fact--but Peggy for some reason wanted to seemingly give her a hard time. I didn't get what Peggy's deal was here. As well, were Rita and Annie from the SC secretarial pool? If so, no wonder Joan was pissed...:)

My thoughts on tonights show:

1. Peggy indeed did not know she was pregnant- I am 50+ years old and have witnessed this in real life. I think the viewers under 35 have the hardest time comprehending this since sex was not as taboo a subject for them growing up as it was for my generation. Remember- these women were amazed at the book Lady Chatterley's Lover, tame by today's standards. And writers weigh every sentence they write- the doctor indeed asked for a psychiatrist for Peggy.

2. Don was amazing with the Kodak pitch- it was magical, lyrical. Don is a man whose life is a carousel- a hazy group of memories, ones he only wants to revisit if they are beautiful-his early years with Betty & the children. It isn't his fault that he was emotionally abused as a child. How can a man not be twisted with a beginning like his? There was no 'self-help book aisle in the bookstores in the 60's. No Dr. Phil, no Oprah.He is trying to find that perfect world that advertising tries to sell us all.

3. Betty & the neighbor child- very sad & strange. He reminds me of a serial killer in the making; collecting trophies (her hair) and being inappropriate in his voyeurism (watching her in the bathroom). On a certain level Betty likes that someone is that fixated on her- she sees his 'crush' as an affirmation that she is desirable. She is very childlike in her emotinal development and is more comfortable sharing her emotions to an 'equal'.

4. The neighbors postpartum depression. Wow! Poison all the relatives? Wow! Hope Betty doesn't get any ideas. Doesn't take much for her pent up rage to find an outlet (shooting birds, getting off with the washer,breaking down to a child).

5. I disagree that Pete is trying to make it on his own merits- he uses everyone around him. He trys to prostitute his wife to get an article published, he uses his father-in-law to bring in a big account, he tries to get Don fired so he can get a promotion, he beds a naive young girl before his marriage, he berates his secretary for not doing his personal bidding, he steals other people's mail. The man has no soul.

That's it for now- gotta love this show and the brave writing by its creators.

"One more thing, I could swear that in their chat, Glen said this his mother and FATHER told him not to talk to Betty. Am I mistaken?"

No, that's what he said. Boy, Helen must have _really_ been rattled to bring ex-husband into this.

I was a little disappointed that the writers has Peggy pregnant without her knowledge It seems way to hokey even for 1960. I understand how they need to move the story along. What will she do now with a baby? You know she can't just leave it at the on Pete's doorstep? Or could she???????? Don finally figured it out that what was at home is what he really wants. But was he too late?

Thanks to whomever posted the Sepinwall MM review. I was wondering if the possible upcoming writers' strike would delay Season 2.

People, people... yes, it does occasionally happen that women don't realize that they're pregnant. At the same time, waterski jumping over sharks while wearing a leather jacket IS plausible, but is nevertheless groaningly bad writing.

I'm not disappointed by the implausibility of Peggy's pregnancy, but I am disappointed by such a hackneyed plot twist that belongs on daytime tv, not on a show as fine and subtle as this one.

Let's hope there's more carousel moments and fewer over the top "gotcha" theatrics next season.

Susie-Que...

Peggy's pregnancy gave the writers the opportunity to write about the issues having to do with pregnancy. Career choices, pre-marital sex, sex in the workplace,...they avoided the abortion debate by having her deliver the baby. However, the do get to present the issues surrounding adoption, career choices vs unmarried motherhood or career advancement, and you can bet Peggy will have life-long angst regarding the child she gave up and never told the father about. When she becomes the female whiz of the ad world, she will deal with the laws that shield her identity. Watch, Pete and his wife will continue to have trouble conceiving and Peggy's baby will be the only heir to the empire his father-in-law will leave behind when he collapses in a health crisis.

The writers know where the doors are...they left the doors open to more interesting issues as we watch the lives of the characters expand. The new season will now be even more interesting than watching Peggy simply 'lose weight.'

"Don is a man whose life is a carousel- a hazy group of memories, ones he only wants to revisit if they are beautiful-his early years with Betty & the children."

Unfortunately, Don relates better to images of people than he does to real people. He was cold as hell to Adam when he last talked to him, but got all misty-eyed from photos of them together. He's been estranged from Betty, but he gets all nostalgic and loving when he sees their family pictures. Again, he's selling the lie and living it at the same time. It will be interesting to see if he ever has to be real--or if he ever can be.

OOOooo...Pete will hate working with Peggy so badly he will try to dig dirt up on her.

He will find out that she gave birth and discover he is the child's father. I betcha he and his wife will continue to have conception issues...and that child will be his only son....

LOL...my imagination is going wild! Xcuse the ring!....lol

It is completly plausible to me that a young girl in 1960 would be unaware of her condition. Just because she is intelligent and had a head for business, did not mean sh was worldly. Considering that the pill was brand new then, I'm sure women didn't know what to expect as far as how their bodies would re-act. My mom said when she went on the pill in 1960 after my sister was born, she ended up with my brother.

I was surprised by the pregnancy too, but I think she is just in serious denial and don't think this show has jumped the shark in any way.

Does the thought of another little Pete running around creep anyone else out too? LOL!

At the beginning of the show, Francine tells Betty she checked the phone bill and called the number that kept showing up. That's how Betty got the idea to check the bill and when she called the # she didn't know she was calling her shrink...she was checking up on Don.

Her therapy sessions aren't boring...they're chilling. She is treated like a child, condescended to by her husband and her faithless shrink. Glen idealized her several shows ago, thinks she's a fairy princess (Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty) and when she starts unraveling, she turns to this person who thinks she's beautiful and it is transgressive. There was a book in the early 70s called, Women and Madness, about how housewives who asserted themselves were made to feel crazy and got sent to mental wards. This really happened.

Someone made a comment that women's lib was happening. Nope. Consciousness raising, as we called it then, didn't happen till 1968 at a march on Washington and even there "radical" women booed the "feminists" off the stage.

Women had no precedent for speaking the truth, knowing themselves, seeing themselves as anything but extensions of male need. Peggy is in denial and essentially modeling herself after men, probably Don, her boss. She doesn't know how to deal with power differently. It's very likely she'll give the child up...I don't see her as a single mother in any way, shape or form, it wasn't done...and become a very powerful women at SC.

There was no sex ed back then...it was called Hygiene...boys in one class, girls in another. We learned about puberty and periods. We didn't learn about birth control. Women were still expected to marry and sex outside of it was risky business. One thing that feels unreal to me about Madmen is that women were thought of as tramps if they had sex if they weren't virgins when they married. Even though the pill had just come on the market in '60, shame and sex outside of marriage (and in) were stiil coupled for women and remained so for many years. The Beatles, drugs, hippies, etc, which really revved up in '65, started a cultural shift. Remember, the Beatles first hit here was "I Want to Hold Your Hand." Two years later Lennon was singing, "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away." Big change.

One thing that itches: Everyone's talking about how emotionally connected Don's slide show presentation was. What no one has mentioned is, he put the show together in the first place. Where'd that come from...that awareness of love and family? That "returning to a place where you know you're loved." Did Rachel's rejection, standing up to Pete and Cooper's acceptance turn the trick? I wish something substantive had happened between Betty and Don to anchor the change. It didn't feel believable to me.

I love the posts here and watch the show because it takes me back to my youth (I was 13 in '60, but worked at an ad agency on Madison Ave. as a secretary in '65), to a time before all the changes blew that world into the air like a tornado.

Final song, Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" wasn't written till 1962, and appeared on the 1963 album, "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. so it was out of place and time.

DEERING said, "Unfortunately, Don relates better to images of people than he does to real people. He was cold as hell to Adam when he last talked to him, but got all misty-eyed from photos of them together. He's been estranged from Betty, but he gets all nostalgic and loving when he sees their family pictures. Again, he's selling the lie and living it at the same time."

Actually, Deering, the emotional reaction to photographs while being reserved with people is quite understandable.

With a photograph, the emotional impact can be chosen...is controllable.

Interacting with unpredictable people is so blasted messy.

Do you know any of those people who barely accord other humans any civility, but will completely suiblimate their lives to pets.

The relationship is more satisfying than with a photo, but is still as controllable. With a pet and with a photo, if you don't want it anymore, it is easy to be rid of.

Andrea--aiiieeeeeee!!! :) And on an episode thread a bit back, someone even speculated that if Peggy was pregnant by Pete, the baby might as well be Damien. LOL!!

Wow, I didn't know America had so little to do with it's time! No wonder we have so many problems in this country. Everyone is watching television, then spending endless hours commenting on a series. People don't discuss ANYTHING this much! And besides, it's just a televsion show. It's OK but not THAT great!

For someone who plays such a pivotal role in "Mad Men", shouldn't January Jones (Betty) be in the still shot promo?

There are quite a few still shots of the various actors but none of January Jones.

Take a look at the voting for the fan's favorite scene in "Mad Men"; Betty was the favorite. She sums up what is so special about Mad Men; one never knows what to expect.

What a high quality show this is. The show set in the sixties is like television in the fifties. The golden age of television with shows like Playhouse 90, See it Now. MadMen could never be put on the major networks. It can't compete with reality slop like Dancing With The Stars, Survivor, Deal or No Deal.

Don's hatred of Pete will continue to grow and no matter what Don does he will have to sit there and take it. Don will torture him at ever turn. How does Pete explain to his father in law that his account has been given to a junior copywriter.

Peggy can't support her child on that meager salary. The baby has to go up for adoption. It will affect Peggy just like Don's past affect's his. I'll bet those two comfort each other in their secrets. Not romantically but they will develop a close relationship.

If not, maybe the potato chip truck driver is the daddy--were he and Peggy ever intimately involved?

============

Peggy walked out on that date, didn't she? She left that guy sitting there, so nah, he can't be the daddy, I don't think.

Just a couple of notes:

First, what happened to Glen's front teeth? Looked like he was missing a couple of them and he's a little old for losing his front baby teeth.

Second, Don & Rachel's first hookup was Labor Day weekend. It's now the end of November. That's not even three months. If she's gone on a three-month cruise, that still leaves the final three months of any pregnancy when she's back in NYC. Nope, I think she wanted to get out of Dodge as another poster put it.

Char is absolutely correct in her assessment of the era. The pill was not only new, it was not available to just anyone who wanted it. 99% of ob-gyn's would only prescribe it to married women, or possibly if you sported an engagement ring. I tried to get it 1968 when I was 20, and no go! My doctor looked at me as if I were a wanton hussy! And now they're giving it to 11 year olds!!!!! I wanted to move from my family's house and get an apartment on my own. My father told me only hookers lived by themselves. Mote that Peggy has a rommate.

I have recollections of reading about overweight women giving birth to a baby they hadn't a clue they were carrying. Great twisty script writing. She'll have to give it up for adoption, there was no way to be a single mother in the 60's without a huge red A on your forehead....then again, this is the new edgy world of advertising, and the writers may give us another curve in this twisty country road story line. Bet Pete's wifey won't get preggies?

Pete's success will be his father-in-law's Clearisyl (sp) that was a big thing in the 50's 60's, before we got Retin A....unless Peggy steals Pete's thunder with her ad campaign.

Pete's father in law in that scene is giving Pete the Clearasyl advertising. He has his "jelly bean's" happiness in mind.

I can't STAND network TV! I started watching Mad Men after the advertising got my attention in the paper. The graphics are great! I've given up on any TV, till Mad Men. It'll be a long winter....

Pete: "Do you know how hard I worked to get this account?"

Don: "Liar, liar, pants on fire."

The pill was not that reliable, I have a wonderful 40 year old to prove it!

To the abortion for Peggy advocates; if you wanted an abortion in the 60's, you had to get a plane ticket to Sweden. There was no abortion on demand in the US of A for the average girl/woman.

Betty Friedan & Gloria Steiman were not even ready to burn their bras.

Obviously Glen's parents are back together. A divorcee's life was hell even in the 60's. There was no child care, few women went to college for anything other than to catch a husband. The shame of divorce was the result of how many of our mothers staying in rough marriages "for the sake of the children".

Yeah, Ritt, isn't that the truth.

Have just a minute here but just a couple of thoughts. First, I was 100% about just about everything, especially Peggy. Wow!

You do hear of women giving birth who say they didn't know they were pregnant. With Peggy, I think denial played a big part. Hard to believe she didn't know, with all the ways your body changes during pregnancy, but I'm going to assume that without close friends or medical attention, she allowed herself to make a lot of incorrect assumptions about the physical changes she was undergoing.

The scene with Betty and Glen was just about the saddest thing I've ever seen. I've always thought Betty was shallow, self-centered and a bit dim (and she may very well be) but she's also alone and scared and desperate, and I feel very, very sorry for her. I wanted to reach into the tv and take her hand.

Correction: I meant to say I was 100% WRONG about everything. Not even one of my predictions was right.

As a physician who works in the emergency room, I can DEFINITIVELY say that I've seen women in the middle of labor who had NO IDEA that they were pregnant. Most of them always had irregular menstrual cycles and thought nothing of it. The issue is that Peggy was taking birth control pills, which make the cycles completely regular. Not to mention the adverse effects these would have on a developing fetus.

But it DOES happen. More often than you'd think.

WOW Peg was P.R.E.G.!!! The nine month time line fits perfectly. Remember this all started when Peg got hired and the references to the seasons and election campaign proves it. And yes women did have babies without knowing they were pregnant.

And what a great birth date. The evening in a big city hospital on Wed night before the long Thanksgiving weekend. She'll be back at her desk on time and no one will know. And where will that baby turn up next????

I live in a small town and these things sure happened in small town USA before, then, now, and will continue in the future.

And Peg-- went for the right voice in auditions while Ken went with his pants. Great scene.

Betty, you are the "manipulator". Good--get the shrink's sympathy and shock the Don next phone call.

EXCELLENT AMAZING article on Mad Men and Damages (another fave) in today's NYTimes ... Alessandra Stanley totally gets the show and is obviously a big fan.

It's called: 'Mad Men' and 'Damages': No Time for Heroes.

Here's to a long Winter/Spring without MM ...

LINK

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/arts/television/19mad.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

In spite of Peggy's shocking delivery, this episode had some great writing. The scene with Betty and shrink was sheer mastery. When she dropped the line about wishing her husband was faithful ... and the side look at the shrink ... the line about Don making loving the way somebody else wanted it ... mama mia!

Another fav scene was Don promoting Peggy, the men's reactions, especially Pete's!

Then this followed by the scene with Peggy and Joan walking to the new office ... and the comments by Joan - what a beyotch!

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DATE: 10/19/2007 08:59:32 AM

I believe Peggy knew she was pregnate, why

would she have gone to a hospital and not just home for a stomach ache.

What a crappy ending to an otherwise interesting show. I do not usually watch or get hooked on series programs...but loved this one. The Peggy pregnacy thing was stupid...wasn't she taking the pill..remember the first episode in the cigarette smoking Gyno's office.....What a major let down for the season finale....

Will wait to see what happens make summer...but, don't hold your breath.

For a great review of Mad Men BEFORE the finale, check out Tim Goodman of the SF Chronicle at SFGate.com. He really gets it also, and is lavish in his praise. Has been from the start.

Ok. True story. Believe it or not. My college education friend did not find out about her pregnancy until she had her annual physical one month before the baby was born. She thought her periods stopped due to menopause. I found the episode 100% believable. Also, that baby did not look like a 7 month-er. He looked full term. If Peter is the father, Peggy and Peter had something going on before the April start of the show.

The Peggy's baby thing was definitely not in keeping with the rest of the season. If anything, though, I'm optimistic that the fairly soapy plotline there will come back in a clever, insightful way. Blind faith, I guess.

Don's pitch: Priceless.

Pete continues to fascinate ... love that bastard.

The scene where Cooper dismisses Don with "That's all, Cowboy." Minimal and brilliant.

The Betty/kid in the car scene was very poignant, I think. Not the best writing of the season, but well played. Kind of a twist on Betty's hopelessness that was both surprising and inevitable.

WHy do we have to wait until next summer! Can't you guys start filming sooner???? I absolutely love this show!!! I stopped watching this trash they call television more than 10 years ago. Madmen is an excellent show. The script, the cast, the set,the wardrobe, its all BRILLIANT! I love looking forward to Thursday night! My husband and I watch together, one of the rare opportunities we have for just us. Thank you for an amazing show. Again, why wait until next summer?

Julie, I don't recall ever giving a "timeline" in any of my posts. You must have read the wrong name.

To me, the best part of the whole show was when Don called Peggy in and made her junior copy writer. Excellent.

The carousel thing, I thought, should have contained a lot more black and white photos. Almost all the wedding photos I've ever seen from the late 50's were in black and white. And my family's photos were in black and white until I was about 3, in 1964. Even years later, also, depending on whose camera was being used. I just thought the color and poses in Don's photos looked a little unreal.

Didn't Betty say something to Glenn like "I want to help you" ? I thought I heard that. Can somebody recount the dialogue of that scene, please?

I thought this episode lumped too much stuff in, for a finale. Same with Damages. Suddenly we find out everything all at once. I think both shows could have stretched things out a little more. Wasn't too impressed with this as a finale for Mad Men.

JMHO.

it is feasible for a woman to be pregnant and not know it - a number of posters have explained this very well, including mention of the effects of the pill.

Also, let's remember this is fiction and as with all fiction we need to have a -- say it with me: willing suspension of disbelief.

so people, suspend your disbelief just a bit and let's move on.

Now, can we talk about coping strategies till next summer?

The finale ended with a great point that underscores the entire Mad Men series...ever hear the expression: 'photographs don't lie?'

Don, the whore child, has to "pimp" his way through each day, save for when he's with his mistresses...to maintain his position in the advertising world and his home life. He's lived his truths from the past...yes, just like a hobo does, and also true to Bob Dylan's song: bouncing from house to house, from product pitch to pitch...from person to person...until he (and, many of the others) will be bound to see glimmers of what must become the essence of where all our truths lie: the reality that our hearts are centered around our families, despite their dysfunction...much like a carousel, the cog in the wheel, to the end. And, why not? We might well become soul-less drifters, too ~ marking our territory, as Betty does when threatened by the neighbor that he'll shoot the dog if it wanders into his yard...she "shoots back" at his bluff, albeit only shooting blanks, just for now. She's being protective of what she realizes matters to her, remaining true to this in the form of being territorial...as all the characters are doing, despite their projected images.

They're all learning where it's at...as we had to during these years, and FAST. We had to grow up and manage the many shifts in culture, like perhaps no other generation before this time. Her character shows it's all she'd been allowed to be up to this point, though truly, all a woman in her place could be back then, if she wanted to keep the peace within the family she loves. She was taught an image to promote, just as Don's instincts have shown him. Betty has been truly human, poignant, and only "real" with those who don't matter to her in the long run, and this is just as her husband has behaved, as well. Both of them have been marking their "post"...staking their claims, whether it's on each other...on their clients...on their homes...as is truly primal....with their inherent skills, or lack thereof ~ and this is perfectly woven to a well-honed point throughout each episode.

Running themes are brilliantly portrayed throughout the series...despite our lack of understanding until we're shown where many of the allegories are eventually placed; I love that it seems to occur only when the writers are ready to show us the puzzle pieces. It's just as it is in life. They're much more neatly tied in, of course, fashioned together like reminiscences from any book in college English Lit class. Mine took place in White Plains, NY (in Westchester County, as is the case for this particular setting), and I was born near there in 1960...so, I am trusting in what feels rings true these past weeks, in all exquisitely executed episodes... I lived many of these insights from differing angles as the daughter of a father who worked for Vicks in Mount Vernon, and a mother who worked for Young & Rubicam in NYC...from the gorgeous colors on the set to the decorum of each well-defined personality -- with emphasis on image v. truth behind what sells...in advertising, in behavior, to the promises of many presumably improved products. It creates a belief for us all, a "lie" for sure...that things will provide the substance instead of people, in place of being true to ourselves through personal growth. What a common thread woven throughout, and so pertinent as ever to our lives today, despite generations of effort to overcome this sort of influence over us.

I did have the sense that perhaps Peggy knew Pete before coming to work at Sterling & Cooper ~ and, the moment he showed up at her door that pivotal night seemed to indicate the possibility that this "nice" girl from Brooklyn wasn't sleeping with a man for the first time by any means, by accepting him into her apartment right away, the way she did. Peggy certainly could have slept with him long before then. Perhaps it was he who got her the job. At any rate, it's more fun to do the math this way in the time frame we've been given, as indicated by his marriage, and her pregnancy. Just a thought I'll use to mull over during the long winter hiatus...

Such an overall GREAT job has been done, AMC! I respect that the sexual scenes were being subtly portrayed so as to remain a "classic" on your family-based channel...for years to come. I applaud those connected to this terrific piece of art for their hard work, ALL-around. The faces of the actors ~ and the face of this show, a true keeper...is an image I don't mind letting be burned into my brain since it appears so very valid, completely timeless and intimately real for so many of us who can "see" the light, behind the lie.

My warmest regards to you.

Fantastic episode! It's going to be a long winter/spring waiting for the return of MM. Loved it!

Gotta say in reference to Peggy's pregnancy - I knew someone who was married for about 10 years and tried to have a baby but never got pregnant. She was told by her doctor that chances were very slim. She never had regular periods (hormonal problem) and she was overweight. She and her husband never chose to adopt and just accepted that they would never have children. One day she thought she was having a gall bladder attack and drove herself to the hospital. She called her Mom 2 hours later to tell her she just delivered a baby. Because of her weight and her doctor's diagnosis, she never suspected she was pregnant. She thought she was having gastroenteritis. It was a total shock to the family that she never suspected she was pregnant but everyone was overjoyed with the birth of her son. She had never experienced being pregnant - could she have just been naieve?

legoh -

"Now, can we talk about coping strategies till next summer?"

Given AMC's penchant for replaying old movies again and again, I suspect we'll see the entire series at least one more time before the next season begins.

Yeah, I know. Think of it as methodone.

I think Peggy may be a few months pregnant, but she dreamed that she had the baby.

When she 1st went in doctor's office to get on the pill, the calendar said April 1960. It's now November, which means that the baby would have been born @ 7 mos if she got pregnant the 1st time she and Pete had sex. I just had twins 4 mos ago @ 7 mos (8 wks premature), and my babies were in the hospital hooked up to machines for 1 mo. In 1960, a baby born that premature probably would not have survived. I remember reading somewhere that when Jackie Kennedy had a baby born 6 weeks premature in 1963, that baby died--and I'm sure she had better doctors than Peggy Olson. Also, that baby they brought to her looked full-term and healthy.

I think when the new season starts, she will be a few months pregnant, or she will have miscarried.

yeah - actually, I'm looking forward to a marathon weekend - a madmen carousel with lots of yummy shots of The DON.

I think Peggy really didn't know she was pregnant.. She seems like she is very naive when it comes to the real world..Like sex and men and things. And the baby might have come early...not really early but maybe a couple of weeks...and If you think about it.. Pete and Peggy hooked up in like one of the first episodes. I hope the writers plan to keep the baby in the show...

Betty gets no slack! She's a self-centered manipulator! She goes to a child for mental/emotional help. That was creepy enough. But then she keeps talking to the boy even after he said he'd get in trouble for talking to her....So what if the boy gets punished; Betty needs a shoulder to cry on, even if it's a child whose a future serial killer!

Betty then talks to the shrink and on the not-so-sly reveals Don's having affairs. She complains about perfume on him. Always thought Don was a bit too slick to not wash off evidence....Bitch, please!

Pregnancy was a total shocker! However, no way she keeps the baby. Total non-starter in 1960. Unwed mothers just didn't exist -- the young girls were forced into putting the babies up for adoption. Also, there were absolutely no support systems in place which would help a young unwed woman to keep her baby: day care (with subsidy), flexible work hours, social assistance for unwed mothers, parenting classes for unwed mothers, etc. etc. All the things we take for granted today.

Surprise births happen every day. Just because you haven't heard of it doesn't mean it is not possible. Don't be an "osterage".

This show has so many twists, turns and subtleties, I don't know what got me the most. Beautiful Betty, drinking, smoking and using the doctor to get back at Don--wow! Preggers Peggy being promoted, made to work with Pete, and delivering an unexpected baby--never saw that coming. Based on how my family handled single mothers and pregnancies in the early 60's, the baby could easily be passed off as someone else's without Peggy actually giving it up. Don Draper and his carousel made me cry--absolutely amazing.

Did anyone hear the rumor that the show will jump forward 10 years for season 2? I hope not because so much of the early 60's and the Camelot years needs to be explored. Plus, I've got to see how they deal with African-Americans and the Civil Rights movement.

I'm really going to miss the show until next summer.

The pregnancy is not as far fetched as you all claim.

Denial is as common as pregennacy, and can be very powerful. Even when she was told by the doctor point blank that she was pregnent she wanted to get up and leave like it wasn't true.

Focus on the emotional aspects of the pregancy rather than the medical aspects, it becomes far more believable.

WOW! I love this show. Hey for all of you who can't believe a woman can be pregnant and not know, it does happen. I've been a nurse for 28 yrs., was in high school 1960-1964, and my big sister worked for a big time ad agency in 1960. I knew Peggy was pregnant awhile back. This show is so right on. Can't wait for next season. Excellent! Intelligent! Creative! Great acting!

I Love it. I really think Peggy is a great character and Don Draper WOW! This is some of the best television I have ever watched! I don't know if I can wait until next summer! What on earh wil I do?

>The carousel thing, I thought, should have contained a lot more black and white photos.

Kodachrome was introduced in 1935, and was mass marketed, so it must have been in wide amateur usage by 1960. The widespread use of color negative film and prints, however did come later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodachrome#Official_Kodak_information

I'm envisioning the scenes next season where Peggy is presenting copy to Pete's father-in-law. Can't you imagine him making some well-intentioned comments about Pete giving him some grandkids? Poingnant looks all around.

The scene with Betty at the shrink's office was terrific. I actually think Betty is the most compelling character in the show. She's Carmella in crinoline.

My first post...as soon as last night's ep ended, I said "Wonder what the bloggers will have to say about Peggy's pregnancy/baby?" WOW! Lots of diverse opinions.

Did anyone notice that when Betty was in the parking lot talking to Glenn, her hair was combed straight back and she was wearing a headband, but when she got into the doctor's office, it was parted to the side with no headband? (I watched the second airing just to make sure.) Watch the continuity!! Love this show and can't wait for season number two.

I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!! I can't believe Peggy's pregnancy! I know that she will give the baby up because she is very career driven and she has NO help. She will not tell Pete and she will work her way up the ladder and become Pete's boss, which is gonna drive him nuts!!!

Betty going to a child for support!?!?!?! She really creeped me out. That kid is a future serial killer! She is too inappropiate with him. I also think that she told the shrink about Don beacause she realized that Don was speaking to him and that the Dr. would share this information with Don. She is very egocentric, but Don has not helped...she will probably have an affair next season, maybe with a salesman.

I LOVE this show and I wanna thank AMC for renewing it. What am I gonna do until next summer for entertainment!?!?!? I refuse to watch Grey's!!! I guess I'll just have to hit the sack right after The Office. Or I might get hooked on that new series you are having...Breaking Bad...seems like another great show.

PS-I think I have a crush on Don Draper ;)

wow! was I wrong. I have to say that I felt somewhat disappointed and manipulated by the show writers. It kind of felt, after thinking about last nights finale, that the writers were not sure if they were going to make Peggy pregnant or not. There was that feeling that she was just getting fat. But it seemed to much like a coincidence to have her, decided suddenly to go to the doctor and then go into labor pains.

Nine months without a period, Peggy is in some deep denial. Remember what the doctor said to the nurse, when Peggy started to go into labor, get a psychiatrist also. Peggy is more troubled than viewers were lead to believe. She reminded me of these teenagers who end up pregnant, don't know it and have the baby in bathroom stalls and dump them in garbages.

That scene when they were using that actress in that studio. How Peggy purposes shredded her apart, so she can get the girl she really wanted while also giving her coworker the chance to come on to her. Who would have thought that Peggy would be capable of that.

As for the rest of the show, the two major scenes, for me was Betty at the shrink after she realize that Don talks to him, and Don in at the conference room, while pictures of his family is projected on the screen.

In both scenes, I kept wondering if they mean what they say. What Betty said to the shrink, it was like she was telling the truth about somethings, but not really aware that they were the truth, which I thought was brilliant.

Don there seem some realization about his children, but even though he missed them when he got home, he still go meet with them. He knows where his brother-in-law is.

But loved how Don, who has not forgiven Pete, gave Peggy the assignment to work with him and his father-in-law. This was after that sentimental moment in the conference room.

Since Peggy was pregnant now I am wondering if Rachel is, who goes to Europe on a three month tour. Now that shows a difference in status and how it can help you with choices. Rachel gets hurt by Don and goes to Europe, Peggy gets hurt by Pete and still has to go to work everyday and see him.

Intrigued by theme relation between Peggy's baby and Don's start in life.

Loencia, posted at 3:00 a.m. The person you are quoting is David Carradine's character, "Bill", from "Kill Bill vol. II"

For all the folks who did the psychoanalysis of Peggy's weight gain . . I guess we all got a lesson in "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar". Or Occam's Razor. I tend to agree with a few of the posters here who have suggested that Peg was preg on arrival at S/C. Recall her unhesitating invitation to Pete at their first sexual encounter. I thought then, and still think that her reaction was one of a woman who is sexually sophisticated - not a scared, naive near virgin.

But man, do I LOVE this show! I haven't been this hooked on a series since "The West Wing"! Brilliant writing, evolving characters - Mad Men has it ALL. Can't wait for Season 2 and I will be haunting Amazon.com, Borders, Barnes & Noble and just about every place else waiting for the DVD.

Peace, Out everyone!

OMG!!! Peggy had Pete "the little sniffling prick's" baby. She'll probably put the baby up for adoption because you know Pete's broke a$$ don't have any money, plus he told his wife. . ."I can't afford to take care of a baby on what I make." Ooops! Too late, because it looks like his wife is also pregnant. Umm, 4-mouths to feed (his wife, their child, Peggy and their baby together). I love Peggy and hope that she not only shares her "news" with Joan - but pleeeeeze, let Don find out as well so he'll have something on Pete to get rid of him for good!!! Kudos to Don too for promoting Peggy to Junior Copywriter (for 1960s that was a positive move toward the future or corporate America in general).

I really hope Don's wife doesn't come back because she is pret-ty boring and what is up with her and the little boy down the street??? Dag, if she's starting to get hot-in-the-pants, bring back that Door-to-Door Salesman. I cannot WAIT for Summer 2008!!

Oh, please show reruns AMC.

I thought it was a great last episode. I'm not even particularly bothered by the pregnancy. It just shows how seriously disturbed Peggy is, at least in some dimensions and aspects of her life. It is not possible to carry a baby to term and not know it [if that's what happened] without being seriously disturbed.

For all of you who cant believe Peggy wouldnt know she was preggers- put it into context...its 1960 and she isnt very experienced- and the idea of her being an unwed mother is unthinkable in her day...so she would be totally in denial to any physical signs she might see within herself...i think its plausible- especially Peggy isnt very outgoing she doesnt seem to have any real girlfriends- that she would confide in- or anyone that would know her well enough- i think she will put the baby up for adoption- she has no other choice in 1960...especially since she is single and didnt even know she was preggs...i dobt Campbell will do much to help her- i think Peggy will really go nutty after this though- how can she not lose it! oh my goodness what a deliciously tragic turn of events....

There has been an elegiac and melancholy tone to this wonderful program, and last night I saw one of the most moving moments in television history. That was when Betty, desperate for some kind of connection, seeks out Glen,the strange young son of the divorcee, for consolation. Of course, like a character in a Greek myth, she will not find what she so desperately needs.

At its roots this show is about the struggle to find meaning in an increasingly artificial world.

Unlike Roger, Don is not interested in sex per se; he uses sex to try to find love. (He had a chance to have sex with the other twin but seemed genuinely repellled by the notion. When he realized that Midge was in love with her beatnik friend, he broke off the relationship. ) His emptiness as a person can never be filled, but it pushes him relentlessly to try to find consolation.

The irony is how similar Betty and Don are in many ways. As in every great tragedy, the tragic flaws of the characters make them compleeling figures to watch.

Peggy, by the way, may become a tragc figure also, in the feminist mode, as her desires to act in a man's world may cut her off from genuine human attchment, including with her own child.

Betty is by far my favorite character. How can anyone call her manipulative when Don is the asshole? He not only cheats on her.....he sabotages any chance of a modeling career she might have and he is talking to her doctor. He is the culprit!

Ok, I've waited until the end of the season to express myself. The pregnacy is a bit far fetched, but this is tv after all. It adds to the mystery of what will happen next. She'll give the child up for adoption. Her career is taking off and she can't keep a married man's child. It's the 60s and it wouldn't be allowed. What a coincidence that she now has to work with Pete.

Betty is really depressed. Her life is empty and she knows it. The one time she had a fulfilling activity in her recent life was the modeling and that was taken away. It was so pitiful to see her projecting her problems on a child.

Don had bad moments last night, but I think he will push it away as he has done since switching identities. That was a weak moment(guilt) from Adam's death and he will recover. He and Betty will continue to dance around each other until she goes off. If Rachel is pregnant, she will have a discrete abortion while she is away and not see Don again.

When the doctor puts Peggy into the wheelchair, he says to the nurse "call psychiatry" - clearly she was in complete denial and had blocked out the pregnancy.

It was a curious and (for me)unexpected ending (although it circles back to Don's unwanted birth). Regarding smoking and drinking while pregnant - typical for the times.

Betty is just too creepy with seeking solace from a little boy! That reeks of lunacy! And she's very narcissistic! Treated like a queen at Don's office? Bitch, please! Yet attempting to manipulate Peggy into speak negatively about Don.

Betty's a grown-ass woman and she needs to get compassion from other grown-ass people, like the rude Francine!

Don't you see? The producers had us (the viewers) in as much denial as Peggy. The blogs prove our denial. This show is brilliant.

Superb show! Peggy seems to have Asperger's syndrome, plus the creepy gyn may have given her placebo birth control ...or because she's weight obsessed..may have quit the pills right away with a water weight gain. Thus the baby!

Either that or with her evil looks is crazy and into Greek Drama revenge.

I'm in love with Betty AND Don (looks like a young Kevin Kline). Both startling good actors too. Not to mention the rest of the cast. Hope the show builds on its excellence next summer.

Does anyone think that the reason Pete came into his apartment looking so drunk and depressed is that he knew about Peggy having his baby? Just a thought ...

So geez, AMC, we ask for numbered Comments and now we don't even get to know how many comments there are? We're going backwards here. I'm curious as to how many posts are here already.

Alright....

1. What was the place Betty went to when she ran in to Creepy Glen?

2. Why was Peggy so godawful MEAN to that girl auditioning? Kept telling her to be more confident... over and over again. I thought the girl was great, what else could she have done?

and one more thing, I do not believe the Baby is Pete's. Perhaps it is the son of that man she had dinner with a few weeks ago who she has known a long time.

What a fantastic season finale!!! Thought I was going to die when Mr C called Don "cowboy" and let him know that he was aware that something was going on between Don and Rachel.

The thing with Betty and Glen was a little too much, he's a creepy little kid!

Loved it when she told her Doctor that she knew about Don's affairs and she felt sorry for him. Maybe she's hoping the Doctor will let Don know during their next conversation.

Glad to see that Don was capable of some emotion when he found out about his brother dying. The Kodak presentation was a real tear jerker. Maybe Don realizes now what he stands to lose if Betty would get a backbone and boot him out.

What is it with Harry staying at the office? The underware scene was a great. Why did Harry get all teary-eyed and rush out of the presentation though?

I'm not surprised about Peggy although I was confused over the time line of things. I guess I didn't realize that it was going to span several months. I can understand her denial over the preganancy, I think she'll give the baby up for adoption.

It was great when Don told Pete that Peggy was going to help him. And then for her to be promoted to junior copyright in front of everyone was fantastic. I love it anytime Don can get under that little worm's skin! He deservess all of the grief that Don can give him. Wonder if they'll ever let Pete find out he's already a Daddy????

Hate it that this was the finale. What am I going to do now on Thursday nights until the new season starts? This is one kick-ass show and I absolutely love it!!!

wow -- that hour was up in a blink.

don to cooper as he enters his (coopers) office " is that the legendary book of secrets you're reading?"

make no mistake old coop has the goods on everyone including dick whitman and by now peggy as well---of course he knew all about don and rachel

many people think betty is wooden -- she has to be (she's a form of stepford wife)--but the scene with the analyst was great--- she let him know right of the bat that she was wise to the conversations between him and her husband--yes in a hesitant and subtle way --- but the analyst stoppped writing and listened--- he got the message-- he resumes writing only when she starts talking about don.

the carousel scene was beautiful-- what can you say it was perfect

when will petey realize that don will always chip at his power base while he is there and will NEVER be impressed by him.

actually petey should just be cool and not take it so seriously -- he should have started from day 1 with "yes i have a lot of connections in the right places lets see if i can use that to help US" --keyword US--- I don't think everyone would have resented him as much --its all in the approach.

the dylan song at the end --- just brought to mind all the changes that are coming up -for don personally and society in general

peggy -the story was a bit of a stretch--but the rest of it was so good -- i'll go along

bravo -- amc for standing behind good writing, good acting and finally bringing us all some good tv!

Peggy’s sudden delivery? And she didn’t know that she was pregnant? Give me a break! I’ve been pregnant twice and you can claim all the denial in the world and that’s not going to stop your baby for moving all over your stomach and, no, it’s not the same as having gas. If you’re pregnant, you know you are pregnant and that’s the long and the short of it, so her saying “I don’t understand it” just didn’t cut it for me. This scene was not belieavable.

Ok, putting that aside, the scene about Don explaining why we like to see pictures, why we seek to go back to that place that meant something, why we feel nostalgia, well that just hit home and I was almost in tears..that’s all I’m going to say about that.

So Pete’s a daddy now, ha! I can’t wait to see how he’s going to lose it, I just can’t wait, I know that at one point he’s going to find out. I’m also wondering what Peggy is going to do, she doesn’t even want to hold her baby, that type of detachment is not good news, I’m wondering if she’s going to give it up for adoption.

I can’t wait for next season but please Mr. Weiner, no more unbelievable plots, this show is a step above anything else; we don’t want to bring it down to day-time soap-opera drama.

Char 13's post was very good. I was 12 in 1960, and the only sex ed we got in school was a film, in gym class, shown to the girls, about menstruation, produced by Kotex. From my parents? My mother asked me once if I knew about getting my period and I said yes. That is the sum total of my sex ed, except from an older cousin who filled my in on a few more details.

I read the book that Char refers to: "Women and Madness" by Phylis Chesler from 1972.

http://www.amazon.com/Women-Madness-Phyllis-Chesler/dp/1568580967

That and "The Feminine Mystique" should be required reading over the long hiatus of this series.

WOW! This is the most incredibly stylish, nuanced show since the first seasons of The Sopranos! Kudos, AMC, for hosting such a beautiful, stylish show! The scene where Don introduces The Carousel made me ball. It was absolutely beautiful! And, yes, Peggy's pregnancy was a little much, but just shows how naive girls were back then. Remember, good little Christian DID NOT get pregnant. I love this show. So glad it's coming back next year!

As far as Peggy's pregnancy and her not knowing it, this is what I think...

- she wants to succeed in the advertising world and nothing is going to stop her. I believe she didn't know she was pregnant. It has happened in real life, so please don't critize - maybe not in your lifetime, but it has happened - Peggy just had a really short labor and a really hard heart - I believe she will give the baby up for adoption - I thought they would approach the subject of abortion with her character, but I guess that would be for later episodes.

- Peggy has a much thicker skin than we think and she's not easily intimidated by the men in the office - she knows right from wrong (firing of the security guard) but she did not hesitate to stand at the head of the conference table and present on that pleasure machine - same with that women that were rehersing - Peggy took charge - she just made junior copywriter and nothing is going to stand in her way.

- I was pregnant in 1970 - at that time the doctor did NOT tell you NOT to drink - he said to drink in moderation - take asprin in moderation - they had no sonograms and they gave you anesthesia when you delivered the baby.

- As far as Don is concerned - as much as I love him - I'm glad he's alone - did he need to see his beautiful family on screen to see what he has - I really want to see him work to win Betty back - but who knows what's in store.

- Betty knew all along Don was cheating - so she's no fool - by telling her shrink, she now knows that Don will find out - so much for doctors and confidentiality in the 1960's - but in this case, I approve.

I'm pretty sure that the first episode was set in March. I remember Peggy looking at the calendar in the doctor's office when she was first prescribed the Pill, and it was March. Which means the first time she slept with Pete when he showed up at her apartment was March. That must have been the time she got pregnant - not the time on his office couch. So it makes sense that she would be ready to deliver in late November. A lot of women go a couple of weeks before the full nine months are up.

I had guessed that Peggy was pregnant, but simply can't believe she'd be so unconscious that she'd give birth before realizing what was happening.

women clearly weren't involved in writing that plot line. i could believe she'd be pregnant and deny it, but not that she'd give birth as her first clue.

abortion would have been a great issue to deal with because it was such a huge issue at the time of the show.

i loved the series but hated peggy's finale.

Sorry Meeshy, It was TaraJane who posted that silly blog

I found a theme in the finale episode.

Don's fantasy of his reconnecting with his wife and kids and acknowledging their importance and value in his life. But the last scene shows him sitting on the stairs ALONE - his fantasy was just that.

For a moment, please indulge me: The scene just before Don's was Peggy with a newborn - that may have been a fantasy as well. The whole pre-delivery episode with the MD, the stethoscope, and the request for the psychiatric evaluation brought to mind a condition called psychokinesis (where all of the symptoms of a pregnancy are displayed but are nothing more than a fantasy in the woman's mind.) Physical examination proves there is no actual fetus to be found. The condition is a psychiatric disorder and more common than you might think.

One point that still has me laughing is the red coat with the black fur collar, long front lapels and cuffs that Pete's mother-in-law was oddly still wearing while standing in his living room. I owned that coat and ran to the closet to find that I still have it. Perhaps it should go to auction on Ebay with the provenance it now has.

WOW! Please AMC, start season 2 next week. Next month even. No way I can wait for Summer 08.

The only thing I didn't like was Peggy being pregnant. This was predicted on here by many, but it seems wide artistic license to say that a woman can carry a baby to term and not know she is pregnant. First off, no periods. Secondly, a bulge, followed by kicking. Even an ignoramus would consult with a doctor about such signs. Put it this way. Even women from New Guinea, with no outside world infulences, no doctors, etc know when they're pregnant.

But I do think it sets up next season. Imagaine Pete, now moving up, having to work closely with the mother of his child that he will deny. If he assumes responsibility, his entire world will crumble. He'll be disowned by his wife and her wealthy family, as well as likey his own parents. The man you love to hate will spend season 2 do whatever it takes to make you hate him even more. Beautiful set up.

As for Don, don't see him as being hurt by being alone for Thanksgiving. He sees this as his destiny.

Hopefully Roger comes back. I miss him.

What a wuss Ken is. Never would a man in 1960 let a woman who is his junior talk to him like Peggy did. HIs character needs more oomph.

You know, it never occured to me that the baby the nurse brought in at the end was Peggy's. She could have had a miscarriage, and as someone said earlier, the nurse was just trying to console her by bringing out a baby. That could account for her not knowing she was pregnant--maybe she was only a few months along? I think the writers on this show have thrown many curves, and next summer we may find out Peggy never had a child...

Woman wakes up to see Patrick Duffy in the shower.

Ahhhh it was all a bad dream

Peggy and the baby....WOW. So I guess Betty knows about Don?!!!! Gosh that chika needs open a can of whoop you-know-what! overall pretty good season finale.

I don't know why everyone has to read so much smut and/or "creepiness" into the Glenn Betty thing. He is just an awkward adolescent boy who yes, probably finds Betty attractive in the way many boys facing puberty would, which is why he wanted a lock of her hair. She is a desperately lonely person, and the line "Glenn adults don't know anything" shows that the reason she reaches out to a child is precisely because of his innocence, his lack of cynicism and the inevitable tainting of the spirit that comes with growing up. I took " I wish I was older" simply to mean he wishes he could understand or help her more. I thought this was an incredibly touching scene. January Jones showed a quiet desperation that was very well acted. She really doesn't have anyone to talk to. Her husband is a stranger, her shrink is not on her side and is revealing her confidences, her best friend has her own problems, her children are small, her mother is dead. To my mind, nothing creepy about it. Why can't people understand that children and adults can understand each other sometimes?

MAN I love this show! What an awesome season and an awesome season finale! Can't WAIT for Season 2!!!

BT -

"Maybe she's hoping the Doctor will let Don know during their next conversation."

That was the whole point of the Draper phone bill. She knows Don's calling the doctor regularly so it's not just a hope. It's an expectation. She didn't want to acknowledge that he was having sex with other women to his face but her comments to the doctor say she's known for a while. Unlike Francine who only found out because of their phone bill.

"What is it with Harry staying at the office?"

Did you watch the last episode? Harry and Hildy got it on after the party. Harry also broke his glasses. His wife handles the bills so she'll want to know how they got broken. Second, I'll bet he's a terrible liar about sex. Busted! You're outa here, buddy! So, rather than spend the money for the hotel, he's sleeping in his office. Oh, did you also notice he's gone back to smoking rather than having a sucker in his mouth?

A point. If Peggy gives up the baby, as I and others suspect, she'll have a guilty secret, just like Don has. Not exactly something you brag about to the girls in the office.

If, as some people opined in one of the early blogs, Pete was a virgin until he knocked on Peggy's door in the first episode (Trudy wasn't a virgin)... Home run his first time at bat. {virtual head shake}

ROTFL!! ????

Deering -- Most of us are old-ish. What does that stand for? My 17 year old would know, but I need you to spell this stuff out g'friend.

Laurie B -

I'm not Deering or a g'friend but ROTFL stands for Rolling On The Floor Laughing.

Then there's the longer ROTFLMAO - the same but with My A** Off.

Just wanted to chime in on the Peggy controversy. "Our Bodies Our Selves" was years away. Sex Education consisted of a filmstrip on menstruation. And the original Pill seriously messed with your body. Peggy was naive & in serious denial. What could she have done, anyway? Tell the married creep she was carrying his child? Look for a backstreet abortionist? Nope.

And there were no "single mothers" in 1960. There were widows with children & divorcees with children; look up the phrase "broken home." Then, there were Unwed Mothers. Beyond financial support--there was the issue of Shame. Even if Peggy wanted to sacrifice her career, would her mother welcome her & the baby back with open arms? So she will probably have to put the kid up for adoption--no wonder she didn't want to "bond" with him.

I just found this excellent show & will at least be able to catch up on previous episodes in the long wait until next season.

Loved the finale as I've loved every episode. Peggy's pregnancy and childbirth was a surprise. And yes, it is possible to be pregnant and not be aware, especially if there are no symptoms other than weight gain. I always knew there was more to Betty than the "perfect housewife" portrayal. There are so many psychological and social aspects to the writing,one could blog on and on. Anxiously awaiting the next season.

Excellent Eposolde.

1. I personally know someone who SWEARS she had no idea she was pg until she want into labor. Peggy may have had an inkling she was pg but but was in denial.

2. Was she actually on the pill? We never saw her fill the prescription or take a pill.

3. DivaDeeDee60s - fascinating storyline about Pete and wife adopting the baby without knowing it is actually Pete's!

4. I can't see Peggy keeping the baby, she can barely support herself and is not emotionally prepared at all.

5. Peggy will show up at work after a two week severe "illness" with a huge weight loss - Joan will know the scoop, but will keep it to herself for now. Bert "Yoda" might even notice too. It will get back to Pete eventually.

6. Good scene with Betty talking to Don through the therapist. She was in denial too, until confronted with Francine's reality. Hell, it seemed even Francine know about Don's cowboy ways! She was coming to Betty for advice!

7. Glen is one creepy looking kid! What the hell is going on with his teeth? A nine year old should not be missing any of his front teeth.

8. Brilliant about Harry running out of the presentation - he knows he messed up big-time. Now he's living in the office and all. Don made no comment about him walking around the SC in his briefs - just called him in for an impompteau meeting about the Kodak account!

9. Don finally realized he is about to lose his family. Excellent fantasy/ reality at the end. Hope it is not too late for him to make it right.

Recurring theme - denial

Loved the finale as I've loved every episode. Peggy's pregnancy and childbirth was a surprise. And yes, it is possible to be pregnant and not be aware, especially if there are no symptoms other than weight gain. I always knew there was more to Betty than the "perfect housewife" portrayal. There are so many psychological and social aspects to the writing,one could blog on and on. Anxiously awaiting the next season.

Char13, I also thought "Don't Think Twice" was out of place. If they were trying to hint at upcoming changes in society I think they might have made a better choice - something that would have been current at that time among folksingers, something like Pete Seeger singing "Tarrytown".

I guess I don't quite understand why people like that song at the end so much.

Peggy popping the baby at the end was a bit of a stretch but I must admit I was one of the people mocking those on this message baord who were so obsessed with her possible pregnancy, so Bob's my uncle.

I loved the bit about the carousel projector. Interesting to see that the product was in fact introduced in 1961, according to the Kodak website. And to think I just bought on on E-bay a couple of years ago...

The evolution of the characters during the season especially Don Draper has been a truly worth watching. Reality is that life and people are truly complicated and we are confronted with decisions and consequences for our actions daily. I have been in Don Draper's shoes a number of times and have made good and sometimes not so great decisions but at the end of the day all that is left is that you have to live with the consequences of your actions. Don Draper does that and herein lies the credibility of his character. As individuals we make choices and then we have to continue living and make the best of them... Don has made some choices that have and will have repercussions we just don't know what they will be and that is why I can't wait for next season... Thanks for a great effort from actors, writers, director, costumes, sets everyone that has had a stake in the predictable success of this project. Job well done!!! Can anyone say Emmy's!!!

Please stop calling little Glenn a future serial killer. He's a child for pete's sake! I'm sure he's directed to just stare at Betty like he does(because she's the crazy one, not him). I mean I haven't seen him torturing animals or the like. Has anyone else?

Betty knows that she cannot truly trust Francine enough to confide in her about suspecting (or knowing) Don is cheating on her. I think Betty gets short-changed in a lot of the discussion here. Some say she is not three-dimensional. I think a lot of it comes from her lack of a confidante. This automatically limits the amount of dialogue she has about herself. We are expected to clue in by her actions more than her words.

The statement Fancine made, "I thought you'd know what to do" was very telling in this regard. If Betty never KNEW before, she knows now that the other women in the neighborhood gossip about her. Look at the way they all talked about Helen Bishop at the birthday party, while she was in the house even. Betty is alone, and she knows it. She is still depressed by the death of her mother, and hasn't even passed through the first holday season without her yet. Her father already has a new girlfriend. Her husband is emotionally distant. She has a lot going on to make her emotionally conflicted.

The scene with Glen, the desperation, the awkwardness, the danger that Helen would catch them...I just squirmed.

The scene with the shrink was her best moment yet, at least I thought so. So cleverly passive-agressive. Don will find out that she "knows" he's cheating, so if he confronts her on the subject she's innocent of being the instigator, and if he doesn't she can mess with him indirectly. It may be an unhealthy way of dealing with problems, but you can be sure it would take her mind off of some other things, occupy some time, and provide a fleeting sense of satisfaction in an otherwise unsatisfying life.

I knew a girl that carried almost to term and did not know she was pregnant. She was on the Depo-Provera shot. She gained weight, but did not look tradtionally pregnant. She felt the baby move and chalked it up to gas. It does happen. I also knew another girl that was on the pill and ceased having periods. I myself didn't realize I was pregnant until I was well over twenty week. I was nursing, it was effective birth conrol. It does happen.

However, I think Peggy knew something wasn't right and was in denial.

I run hot and cold with Betty, but I really felt for her this episode. Besides being a mother to young children, which can be very isolating and lonely, grief can be devestating (the loss of her mother).

I don't think Peggy will give the child up for adoption but rather have her Mom or some relative raise it for her and she will send financial support. This way, in a year or two, if Pete and his wife prove unable to concieve or she and Pete get involved again, then she can reveal the child.

I wouldn't read too much into the baby looking big. It is very rare for a TV show to cast a true newborn or preemi so most babies are bigger and more perfect looking.

The other thing to keep in mind with Peggy is that she has definite social deficit issues. She may be smart but she lacks the ability to make friends or get along in her environment. I don't think it occured to her that she was being harsh with the voice over girl. Joan seems to recognize this in her and that's why she reminded her to be nice to the girls once she moves up.

As for Betty, I thought the conversation with the little boy showed her hitting rock bottom and the conversation with the shrink was her attempt to try and climb out of the hole, both by finally saying out loud the reality of her life but also trying to let let her husband know that she knew and might not be willing to keep pretending that everything was perfect. I'm curious to see next season if it is too late for Her and Don.

I think Proud Mama of Twins, who posted at 9:29 this morning, is on to something.

It was a dream.

Actually, I think there were a few dreams going on in last night's episode:

1) Betty dreamed of her encounter with Glen in the parking lot of the bank. This scene came after she called the psychiatrist and figured out that the doctor has betrayed her. She says I can't talk to anyone (reference to the psychiatrist). At the end of the scene, Glen says "I don't even know how long 20 minutes is anyway" which I think may refer to the length of a session with the psychiatrist. Dream or not, the scene was heartbreaking, and I think January Jones does a terrific job as Betty. Betty is turning out to be a pretty smart cookie (her passing of the message to Don through the psychiatrist, her statement to Francine: "He doesn't know you know.") and we should not underestimate her.

2) Don dreamed of coming home and finding Betty and the kids and they go over the river and through the woods for a Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving, the perfect complement to his Kodak carousel campaign. I think he might have fallen asleep briefly on the train or at least became lost in thought, and envisioned this happy scene. But the reality was a cold, dark home, no Betty, no kids, no Thanksgiving turkey.

3) I believe that either Peggy or Pete dreamed the pregnancy. Pete walked in the door of his apartment to find Trudy and the inlaws. He says he needs some rest and the father in law gets in one last dig about getting Trudy pregnant. Pete drops his coat on the floor. He is obviously bothered. He doesn't have a promotion, he hasn't gotten his wife pregnant, and Peggy, the mousy little secretary he slept with on two occasions is now going to be working on the big account Pete "landed." It was all too much to take, and he went to bed and had a fevered dream about Peggy and a baby. Peggy also might have had a dream while at the hospital.

Of course Peggy will give up the baby for adoption. In 1960 there was no other choice.. if you had a baby out of wedlock you gave it up for adoption or an close relative pretended it was their own. Abortion was not an option it was not legal until the 70's.

(regarding Harry's undies ...)

White! Who had white?!

It amazes me how these blogs have grown with each episode. The addiction is spreading! Unfortunately, I can't take the time to review 300+ posts re: a certain subject but I'll just throw my comments in here...

"Cooper, surprisingly didn't make the connection. When he talks about "preferences", he's assuming Don made some anti-Semitic or remark that caused Rachel to "jump ship". Remember, Don said "not on my watch" when Roger asked if they had any Jews in-house. So he thinks that is why Papa Menken called him, not Don to mention that Rachel will be gone."

Nah, he knew. BUT! How? You don't really get an idea of how close Roger and Bert are as partners. But Roger knows about Don, hence, there had to have been some conversations re: Don, and I think you have to assume that at least Roger believed Don's charm toward Rachel could/DID help get and keep the dept. store account.

BTW, my wife, who doesn't watch the show, was floored when she found out Don kept tabs on his wife's therapy. I reassured her I didn't want to know what was discussed in HER sessions.

Peggy was definitely in denial and I agree that there are many reasons she may not have known she was pregnant. She may have thought it was due to the pill and some women have almost no pregnancy symptoms. Also, I've known women who never had to wear maternity clothes and weren't even as heavy as Peggy in their ninth month.

The baby is definitely Pete's and, oddly enough, his in-laws are pushing for a grandchild. I think Mrs. Pete is going to find out she can't have children and then Pete'll find out about Peggy's baby...in some sort of bitterly ironic twist. Peggy will probably put the baby up for adoption because she's clearly very ambitious and smart (aside from her abysmal knowledge of her own body).

Also, Betty is obviously not as naive as everyone thought. She's now a woman who feels she has nothing to lose...which makes her dangerous. I think Don studly is going to be going through some attitude adjustments.

That "Peggy as Virgin Mom" scene better be just a thought bubble (like Don's litttle coming home fantasy), or maybe a painkiller induced hallucination... because if not, Mad Men has gone mad treating its lead character and its audience like complete dummies!!!!

Great season finale...I can hardly wait to see everyone's reaction to the newborn baby, especially Pete's. Don's Carousel pitch was priceless as was his realization that wife and family are real and have value; they are not advertising devices. The recording booth scene was fantastic--it seems Peggy has learned a thing or two about advertising; now, if only she could learn a thing or two about men and relationships.

I really can´t understand why they would bother to have a pregnancy and the in-laws storyline if the baby wasn´t Pete´s.

This is bound to give him much grief in the future. Maybe Peggy ends up blackmailing him. That would be fun.

Also, why "give" someone elses baby to Peggy to feed? I never heard this happen. It would be consider deeply unethical and is forbidden.

Ooh!

New baby = increased strain on work relationship between Peggy and Pete = pete becoming more desperate to control his situation = making a bigger ass out of himself! Can't wait!

Phew... just read the board...

[breathing heavily]

DIVADEEGEE60s: Let me tweak the Peggy-Pete love child adoption theory... Have Peggy TELL Pete he's got a kid so they can SHARE a secret and forever keep Pete off her back (sorry) AND THEN have Pete adopt the kid knowingly BECAUSE it turns out his wifie can't bare children...

MARIA: The Betty-Doctor monologues becomes her conversations with Don, via the doctor... it will be manipulation AND confession... she FINALLY finds a way to TALK to The Don-ster about anything and everything... amazing...

Betty-Glenn...

1. The kids like 9/10 and he's sitting in a car in a parking lot (of the school?) for 20 minutes alone... great mommy-ing... any way she's in the school talking to the Vice-Principal about little Glenn's odd behaviour... loved that inference

HARRY TOTALLY told his wife (ELIZABETH) about his tryst, remember he's a big softie and he REALLY DOES love his wife and is in the DOG HOUSE BIG TIME... she kicked him out... one of those crazy contradictions "why the hell did you tell me" rants followed by his suitcase and wardrobe all over the front lawn/hallway!

DIVADEEGEE60s: Great point about Peggy's DOUBLE BIRTHING her kid and her career...

PANDORA: men talking about being pregnant... I agree...

MEMO to ALL THE GUYS ON THE BOARD "shut TFU about all reproductive issues, UNLESS speaking theoretically or your name is ARNOLD!" :)

Peggy Preggers=Kid=narrative chaos=Pete's in deep goo-goo do-do=enjoyment for all true MM-scopers...

THE LAST SONG when Don sits on the stairs dejected/rejected... should have been Jack Jones' 1959/60 release of "Where can I go without you?"

SO THAT'S how Peggy gets her figure back... I told you all she would be sleek and ripe for sexual adventure for season #2...

VISAN, darling: I am getting to understand your frustration with Betty AND YET her odd ball quotient is worth all of the frustration, because she's ready to explode (as many of us have said) and that alone will redeem a lot of the dreamy eyed self-absorption she's put us through, I hope...

LAURA B, darling: Peg's power tripping at the radio auditions=being professional from the get-go... she ain't foolin' around, even with a smile on her face!

I need a drink...

P

Chock -

You could be right about Cooper knowing but remember, back before the presentation to Papa Menken? Roger warned him to stay under tight control, a reference to Don and Rachel's first meeting when Don blew up, said some choice words and walked out on her. Not good form.

Even after the presentation to Papa Menken, Rachel was cold to him. She'd also asked for someone else to handle the Menken account, not Don immediately after she found out he was married.

So Roger would have passed on to Cooper that there were ahem, "conflicts" between Rachel and Don for either anti-Semitic or anti-woman reasons.

This is not to say she didn't give Papa Menken certain facts (although not the real specifics). All she'd have to say to him was that they'd had an affair, he was married and that marital condition wasn't going to change. So she was going to take the three months off while the renovations were being made to "clear her mind."

Papa, who'd been looking forward to easing out of active management, finds himself back in the driver's seat and isn't really happy about it. So he calls Cooper to tell him the news.

Folks, this is not new or innovative television in any sense of those words! This is nothing more than a rehash of shows like Peyton Place (some of you may be too young to remember the book, the movie, and the television show). It's total Soap Opera through and through. In fact, if you dare to admit you watch the afternoon Soaps on TV, you will note that the story lines, characters, and all the rest are VERY familiar. Mad Men is nothing more than a routine Soap all done up in pretty packaging. And frankly, to all those who are debating Peggy's pregnancy, possible dream sequences for her, Don Draper, and Pete, if I have to sit and try to figure out if some character is having a dream or a flashback, then frankly, the show is not worth my time. It was fairly good up to the season finale (at least it was better than the rest of the garbage on TV), but the finale dragged in my opinion, and again, I could not tell if scenes were "real," or the characters were imagining them. Either way, this is pure Soap Opera and nothig remotely new or innovative.

I've NEVER assumed Betty was dumb! I think she's a loon but she's definitely not stupid. She's slicker than Don! And just like what would happen IRL, she gets away with inappropriate behavior because she's very Grace Kelly-looking.

I'm sorry to say it but I'm glad Francine was embarrassed and humiliated in front of Betty. She's been so arrogant and mean-spirited in every scene she's appeared in. And I'm not sure she was trying to tell Betty that she knew (or suspected) Don is cheating. I think she just looks up to Betty because on the surface she appears to have everything under control. Betty always looks drop-dead gorgeous, no matter what's going on, while Francine is willing to leave the house in her robe and slippers! Betty would never do that, even under the worst of circumstances -- Betty is always impeccably dressed and groomed. And inside she's a better, kinder human being than Francine.

The place Betty went to when she saw Glenn in the parking lot was an indoor farmers market -- typical in the NYC suburbs where they live. Remember, she was making a list of things to buy for Thanksgiving, including squash. Betty is a very sympathetic character. She's a 60's version of Charlotte on "Sex and the City". Betty no doubt grew up believing that marriage and family are sacred. She went to an Ivy League women only college, which in those days was really just a finishing school for finding a rich husband, with a little study of humanities added in.

A subject that hasn't been covered at all is how she and Don met. Considering that he "has no family," it's surprising that Betty would have considered marrying someone "with no connections" as Jane Austen would have said. Apart from the fact that he would certainly have been the most drop-dead gorgeous guy in sight. I hope season 2 reveals more of their past through flashbacks or whatever.

The scene with the carousel was stunning. I was literally breathless, and the Director did a great job of conveying it through the reactions and facial expressions of the others in the room. Someone asked above why Harry ran out -- because his wife threw him out and won't let him come home (probably because in a fit of guilt and shame he told her what happened). He's desperate to get her back and repair the stupid mistake he made.

I thought for sure Peggy was going to have a late-term miscarriage. Shockeroo when the nurse brought that baby in. What will that girl do next? She's way smarter than she looks; she'll figure something out.

Thanks, carocat, for the sensitive comments about Glenn. I agree he's just a kid. But his mother was cruel to leave him in the freezing cold car for 20 mins. at the end of November!!

I'm hoping Don's eyes really were opened by the carousel scene and Adam's suicide and that spending Thanksgiving alone will help him understand even more deeply about what it means to love and be loved.

I was surprised that Adam just left the money to that Times Square hotel he lived in -- by the way in the early 60s Times Square was NOT like it is now. It was a seedy rathole of one den of iniquity after another. Considering that he mailed the photos to Don, I would have thought he would also have returned the money -- Adam seemed like that kind of guy.

Long post, so much to say. Surprising finale and really looking forward to the 2008 season. Can't wait for the Emmy's!

I just realized maybe there is nothing on the board today... you are all still in bed hung over and I am just making all of this trafficking of emotionalised confessionals up in my head...

P

The shrink's certainly been functioning as a recording device for Don, but I suspect he's going to leave out Betty's adultery ramblings. I'm guessing the shrink isn't going to want to lose a patient over a little thing like telling her husband "all" the truth.

I like your comments, pink63, but here are a few additional suggestions, alternatives to your analysis.

The recurring theme of denial, definitely, but a sub-theme of isolation fueled by untold secrets.

Don't forget that the series writer wrote for the Sopranos, so characters are multilayered and contradictory. Peggy is a smart ambitious girl, but woefully naive and inadequate at the same time. I find it believeable, especially for that time, that she did not know she was pregnant. Betty is fragile and neurotic, but also smart (telling the shrink what she wants Don to know). At the beginning of the show, Don was slick and commanding, but we were gradually shown the cracks, followed by his almost complete breakdown at the prospect of Pete revealing his secrets. And so it goes with all the characters, that's why they are interesting.

Peggy will give up the kid. But consider the possibility that Pete was so dejected when he got home because Peggy has already called and told him, and said she needs help with medical bills. Another possible outcome: Peggy tells Don about it, Don knows he can destroy Pete with it, but decides not to. Or (and this is my personal favorite), the baby could be like the Russian in the Pine Barrens episode of the Sopranos: never to be heard from or seen again, but always thought to be waiting in the wings...

Don made no comment about Harry, because he accepts other people's weirdness, as long as it doesn't get in his way.

One final thing -

If Betty's still looking for a job as a model, she could do a lot worse than knock on Clairol's door. Her hair looks like an ad for it every time we see her.

I loved last night's episode but then again, I've loved them all. One thing I missed was the part with Pete's father-in-law wanting him to have a grandchild in exchange for an account. I saw it here on the boards but missed that part (eventhough I watched the show at 10p and again at 11p).

I felt sorry for Betty when she was speaking to Glen. She just seemed so lost. Also I think that scene was symbolic of her "child-like" demeanor. She may think like a child in certain areas. Maybe she thinks she isn't smart enough to relate to adults. Remember the scene with her friend/neighbor and she asked why she came to her for advice about her cheating husband. Like "Why come to me? What do I know?".

I also felt bad for Don at the end when going away for Thanksgiving was just a dream. When he looked at the slides during his presentation of he and his family I think he realized, finally, all that he has.

As for Peggy, I think she will give the child up. She didn't even want to hold him when the nurse came in. Maybe Don and Betty will adopt him. Wouldn't that be a plot twist?

I enjoyed the Wrap party too. It was neat to see the actors as they are today. I really thought the actor who plays Pete is cute and he seems very sweet and humble. And the actress who plays Joan is much prettier in the 21st Century than her character.

To "Backstory" -- if you dislike the show so much and think it's just "pure Soap" -- why do you waste your time watching it and posting on this blog? I'm old enough to remember Peyton Place, and it was all the rage in its time. I'll take Mad Men's kind of thought-provoking and exceptionally well-acted drama over the idiotic stupidity of "reality" TV any day!! In fact, I hope that shows like "Mad Men" raise the bar for what intelligent viewers expect from TV producers and directors.

"...like Peyton Place (some of you may be too young to remember the book, the movie, and the television show)."

For a long time I understood the reference when calling somewhere a "Peyton Place", but had not seen the movie. I was excited when I finally had the chance. "Now I will know what that REALLY means"!

So, I'm watching the movie, and Lana Turner is on the stand saying something along the lines of, "I've just got to get out of THIS PLACE!" I thought to myself, "I would too if I were stuck in such a boring town". I was let down by how UN-scandalous it all seemed to me.

Not trying to be argumentative, just some digressive musing.

MM, to me, is a little more scintillating.

Peggy didn't get pregnant by Pete. It's far more sinister and something that has to do with her "family".

I don't think that Peggy being pregnant and having been in denial is as far-fetched as people are saying it is. She probably knew in the back of her mind that she might have been pregnant but choose to ignore it. Think about it...what were her options? The likely father of the baby is a married man who is repeatedly cruel to her aside from the 2 times that he has had sex with her. It is 1960. There is no going to a Planned Parenthood and getting a safe abortion. She has no one to turn to. OF COURSE she would be in denial of it and not tell anyone about it. Perhaps she chose to ignore the pregnancy and conceal it so no one would find out about it and then she knew that once she had it she could just give the baby up for adoption.

I can't even imagine what it must have been like back then being a young girl dealing with an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy. It's hard enough in 2007, even with all of the options available and the stigma being gone.

Pregnant Peggy? I knew it. I knew it. I knew it! Bravo.

That Kodak presentation literally brought tears to my eyes. Don Draper, you heel, you don't deserve such a wonderful family.

Betty isn't as clueless as we all thought. Good for her.

Loved it! And I am wondering about the Pete scene myself. This what I think:

1. His wife is pregnant and the parents know. They were waiting to tell him.

2. He was a little tipsy so his wife covered for him.

3. I think he might know about Peggy and the baby. His reaction was so strange. It made me think he'd found out somehow.

I'm so looking forward to season 2. Does anyone know why the actress who plays Betty wasn't at the wrap party? I really wanted to see her interviewed.

Julie, no problem with the name mix-up.

S and John Thornton, nicely written comments.

Can someone please recount the dialogue between Glenn and Betty? I think I heard it completely wrong.

I initially got the feeling from that scene that Betty was trying to help him. Am I totally off base? It didn't seem to change until she started crying.

The location looked to me like the phone company. I thought she went there to pay the bill. Wasn't there a Ma Bell symbol on the side of the building? Maybe I imagined it.

Anyway, someone PLEASE recount the dialogue of that scene for me! It's bothering me now that I don't think I heard the scene correctly!

P.S. Patrick Kehoe, everybody used to leave the kids in the car back then. Weird, isn't it?

My mom used to leave us in the car when she went to the grocery store. We never thought anything of it.

Once my sister hurt herself badly and we had to go to the hospital. My mom left me alone in the car (age 5) while she was in the emergency room with my sister for what seemed like hours.

It was common practice back then.

~ meeshy ~

To those who say Peggy's baby can't be Pete's because "they just hooked up recently" -- how do you know how recently? It was a few episodes ago, so the timeline over those episodes could have been nine months. If it is Pete's child, which I am betting on, it will greatly complicate his life and his role on the show. I look forward to Season 2!

Ritt, totally agree with your assessment of Rachel's 3 month trip.

Mad Men is brilliantly written, perfectly cast, and somehow seems to top itself each week. It's the best thing that's happened to "TV" in many years.

Although difficult to imagine, I suppose it is possible that a woman (especially in denial, and in that era) could not realize she was pregnant. I love the growth of Peggy's character, and that she - among few if any - is a woman climbing up the ladder, being mentored and defended in many cases, by the Mad Men.

Regarding Betty, I knew she had it in her. As one commenter mentioned, she's 'slicker than Don Draper.'

Lastly, Don Draper: I

It'll be difficult waiting until next season; thank goodness for On Demand.

Can we PLEASE quit speculating about the reasons Peggy may have been in denial, and the stories about a friend of a friend not knowing she was pregnant. Enough already. I think through 300+ posts now, we've beaten that issue to death.

And no, it is not DEFINITELY Pete's baby. There is still plenty of background about these characters that we have not been privy to. Peggy had sex with Pete the first week she worked at SC but that doesn't mean that he was her first. Probably is, but not necessarily.

And Dennis. Quit being a baby and get back on the blog. So you're mad because the "Peggy's pregnant" storyline was too obvious? This show is going to deal with all kinds of social issues... did you think an unexpected pregnancy wouldn't come up with one of the characters? Why are you so put out that it's Peggy? And just because they SHOWED us a baby at the end, doesn't mean it's hers. She could have miscarried as several posters have opined. Dennis, stick with us. The best is yet to come...

The reason people refer to "Peyton Place" is because it was a 1960's soap opera.

Hopefully, Rachel will return next season with a fine-ass European she's married on the rebound! A foreign hubby can add flavor to the show!

Peyton Place was a movie, but it was also a prime-time soap opera that ran from September 15, 1964 to June 2, 1969, starring among others Ryan O'Neal and Mia Farrow -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peyton_Place_(TV_series)

Danny B -

Peyton Place was originally a book by Grace Metalious. Really steamy - sex, rape, murder, suicide and incest in a mill town. A huge best seller in the late fifties. Check it out from your library sometime. It's bound to be well-read. You can probably identify all the "hot" scenes by looking at the pages with dirty fingerprints.

It was made into a movie and later a prime time soap starring Ryan O'Neal, Barbara Perkins and Mia Farrow. The series lasted for five years.

Well said, Cathy!

I was 4 in 1960, so my memories of that year are centered around family and home. "Mad Men" gives me an idea of the wider world in that year.

"Posted by: cathy | October 18, 2007 at 11:25 PM

This show is like a juicy novel. I was a teen during the 60's and I find the whole thing plausible.. the stealth pregnancy etc. Mad Men is the best thing since chocolate. I'm amazed that the writers, who all seem to be so young, have nailed the characters and the relationships of those times. "

PS--John Ham as Don/Dick bears an uncanny resemblance to my late father, my late mother was as blonde as January Jones/Betty, and their house seems very similar to my childhood home in NJ.

It's possible Peggy had a miscarriage. But a nurse trying to cheer her up by bringing someone else's baby would be some pretty strange medical protocol, even for then!

I've come to the conclusion that Peggy is an emotional idiot savant. Her little exchange with little Glen was pure idiocy, but then using the therapist to get back at Don (for cheating and spying on her)was brilliant.

This episode wasn't as good as I needed it to be, but it was very good, and did resonate like a Sopranos season ender - figure in the shadows, alone with his thoughts.

Don's Carousel pitch was brilliant, and made me fall so back in love with this character.

The past few weeks have seen him drop one mistress, then another (by choice or not), and his carousel ride (that *he created*) reminds him and us of where he is truly loved. He is set up to triumphantly return home to fidelity.

Betty, on the other hand, only wiht Psychiatrist phone bill evidence in hand, has pieced together that Don _was_ unfaithful. In his mind he will be squeaky clean, and is rededicated to his marriage. In her mind, she is wounded, and he is a stranger.

I believe she will keep quiet about her "discovery," and punish him. He will be driven away in season 2, perhaps to another mistress.

Such a pity he returned to an empty house.

Producers: I felt cheated that the happy ending Don imagined was not the real ending.

But like I said, I feel satisfied.

The timing or editing of the show bothered me in 1 way. After Don's Carousel pitch (which, again - I loved), they all meet in his office for drinks. He does seem hesitant at first - maybe thinking ahead for his ?punishment? for Pete. He may have conjured this idea of Peggy as the perfect person who *needs* advertising (her life is imperfect (skin, clothes, body type (now)), so she is will be pitch-perfect to write the Clearisil campaign. She knows Pete will be bothered, and he launches in to assign Peggy to him.

Pete (little boy) cannot enjoy his triumph even briefly, and has to act out about Peggy. If he was a true schemer, he would accept it, and work around it later. Here, he is revealed before everyone as too immature for the promotion.

As for my timing / editing comment, it just seemed to soon after the brilliant slide-show for Don to be considering how to annoy Pete.

I can't wait for next season and hopefully many more.

I've been reading the posts all morning . . . if I loose my job, will someone out there hire a highly qualified PR girl? Oops - A highly qualified PR executress (smile).

Here are my thoughts:

I loved the final epi and spent the last ten minutes with my mouth hanging open in disbelief. I, too, was one of those that thought Peggy was gaining weight from the pill. Thanks AMC for sucking me into thinking that you would not do the obvious - then you did! Brilliant.

As for Betty, I didn't get the thing about her reaching out to Glen. And how old is he? I thought you had all of your permanent front teeth by age 10 - why was he sporting a missing front tooth? However, I did enjoy how she baited the therapist. Can't wait to hear his next conversation with Don when he reveals that she "knows" about his extra marital affairs. Which, I don't think she does, I think she's just fishing. . .

Can someone explain to me why Peggy was so rude to the voice-over talent? At first, I thought Peggy was being rude to her because she (the talent) was not her choice, but Ken's. Then when I watched the epi again, it appeared that the talent WAS her choice and she was being rude to her in an effort to make concessions with Ken. Help me out, someone?

I, too, thought Francine's comments were obviously based on post-partum depression. Would she have been that distraught about her husband's infideility, had it not been because she had just given birth? After all, didn't most stay-at-home trophy wives (during that period) just ignore their husband's infidelities out of fear of giving up their comfortable lifestyles?

Okay, I understand now after reading all of these posts that Pete was probably drunk and irritated by his in-law's presence when he got home. I thought he had somehow been contacted by the hospital and found out he was a "new" dad, or I thought he was feeling queezy (male pregnacy symptoms) like some men experience when their spouses or girlfriend's are pregnant (silly me!).

So much to comment on. . .I'll stop hear and wait for others to reply.

Great going AMC! Thanks for my 14 week romance with Mad Men (including the re-run week off).

Some reviews:

http://tinyurl.com/25s7jk

http://www.suntimes.com/business/lazare/610406,CST-FIN-lew19.article

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/arts/television/19mad.html?ref=television

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=24&entry_id=21282

I in no way am dwelling on Peggy's pregnancy. But ... why do we all assume the child is Pete's?

She may have gone for the pill on her first day at work, who says that Pete was her first time?

My mom would always take us into the bank and wait with her in those lines that seemed to go on forever... ditto the grocery store... or "the meat market" with the saw dust on the floor to absorb the blood and the pungent smell of coffee grounds being churned... my mother used to think "those people are stange" she would say... but I agree you would be passing a car in the parking lot of a downtown office building, being led by your mother (never dad) by the hand and looking into the glinting, curature of a back windshield you could see the siluettes of a kid or TWO standing up in the backseat alone in the car, sometimes with the windows rolled up and sometime not... I remember that like it was yesterday...

P

Nfromthe60s:

"Can someone explain to me why Peggy was so rude to the voice-over talent? At first, I thought Peggy was being rude to her because she (the talent) was not her choice, but Ken's. Then when I watched the epi again, it appeared that the talent WAS her choice and she was being rude to her in an effort to make concessions with Ken. Help me out, someone?"

Peg's is a perfectionist... learning about having control...

P

Has to be Pete's cause who cares about it being the crumb of the chip man?

P

LEGOH WROTE: "I've come to the conclusion that Peggy is an emotional idiot savant. Her little exchange with little Glen was pure idiocy, but then using the therapist to get back at Don (for cheating and spying on her)was brilliant."

Betty... yes... and I agree with you about the "emotional idiot savant" and I LIKE BETTY too... go figure!

P

Who would have guessed three people experiencing post-portum depression, all in one episode - Francine, Peggy AND PETE!!!

Betty is boring! I hope she doen't come back. Also, maybe Don was sitting back on the step thinking about how it will be with Betty gone! I hope Peggy calls Joan for help.

Judy....I totally agree!

Windjammer,

YOU ARE WRONG. People do get pregnant and not know it. My second baby had so little movement that I made special appointments with my doc to make sure all was ok. Her birth weight was 9 lb 6 oz.

I felt somewhat fatigued and fat, but had no other symptoms of pregnancy. Not all pregnancies are the same.

The writers are right on.

I hope Don calls Joan and we get to see a real heavyweight smack down... (never happen, of course)

P

I need to watch the episode again to hear what the nurse said to Peggy. If she got pregnant in March and delivered a baby in late November, then wouldn't it be in an incubator because it was premature? Could she have been pregnant before starting at Sterling Coup? Could the scene have been a dream? Could the nurse have walked into the wrong room? Can I wait until 2008 to find out?

thanks PK - yes, I meant Betty.

Peggy on the other hand - simply clueless, but she's learning fast.

Hey Washo, that would be pretty cool if Peggy actually had a miscarriage and the nurse brought someone else's baby in there by mistake. I'd buy that as a reasonable plot line. (As opposed to "golly gee, I didn't know I was with child.")

Enjoy reading all these comments. Proof that Mad Men is a smashing hit. There are so many other interesting characters and their stories will be developed and woven into the script eventually. Don's Kodak moment was brilliant. Jon Hamm can really deliver his lines. He is so believeable, he deserves an Emmy. For those of us that don't have "In Demand" available, I hope Mad Men will be repeated during the winter season so we can drink in the wonder of the whole picture again The ending was a little strange, at first I didn't quite get it...so Don didn't go on the Thanksgiving trip? That scene was fantasy? After reading comments here, guess that clears it up for me. Well, I remember episode 1 when Peggy got the pill from her doctor. I suppose the next series will answer a lot of our questions about these issues. Congratulations to the writer/producers, cast & crew for a marvelous new show. I hope it lasts for years. We all got to know these people and we care about them. We want more, more, more.

All drama (the narrative realism of the shows concept) has elements of melodrama (Peggy having the unfelt pregnancy, the Don Draper time line relativism)contained within it... the oscillation of the believable (factual, credible) against the fantastic (fanciful, almost irrational) creates the dynamical forces of the fictional, the created, flowing as cinematic concept from image to the imaginable...

P

Sorry if this is a repeat of what someone else already said -- not enough time to read every comment --

Meeshy asked if someone could recount the scene between Betty and Glenn in the parking lot. Here's how I remember it:

(Crossing the parking lot, Betty sees Glenn sitting in the VW bug. She motions to Glenn to roll down the car window. He does.)

Glenn: I'm not supposed to talk to you.

Betty (frowning): Who said that?

Glenn: My mother and father.

Betty: I don't care.

Glenn: My mother will be coming out soon.

Betty: I don't care. I don't have anyone to talk to.

(Betty tears up and cries a little. Glenn reaches his mittened hand to the open window in a gesture of sympathy and kindness and says...)

Glenn: I wish I was older.

Betty: Glenn, grown-ups don't know anything. I feel so sad. Please tell me I'm going to be alright.

Glenn: I don't know. I don't even know how long 20 minutes is.

(Betty walks away from the car, brushing the tears away with her gloved hand. Glenn rolls up the window, looking forlorn and resigned.)

Joanne....Thank You for providing those review links!

Helene...(et al)

Your comment made me take a moment to stop and respond. From many of the comments being posted, the finale disappoints. I agree with you that the lives in this period were very much like the show is portraying in the characters. The show, like you said in your post, "...is just like a juicy teen novel." How right you are.

Too many have made the mistake of thinking this television show is being presented in a linear manner. If more of the MM fans would take every opportunity to read some of numerous articles and interviews away from this board, they would get information from the producers mouths that really enrich the experience of watching the show.

In an interview I read with the writers/producers of the show, they said the show is being told in snapshots that move the timeline rapidly along. A good novel does this and readers are experienced in being told a story this way. The things that will signal time passing will be subtle and will make you pay attention to the details. There was a calendar in the doctor's office said (March) according to one poster, we know this last episode occurred in November because they were talking about Thanksgiving. Pete was Peggy's only experience and she carried that baby eight months. Where in this storyline are things implausible? I'm becoming frustrated with viewers that complaining that there isn't enough action and use this forum as a social network and succeed in only spotlighting their desire for the mudane or repetitive pre