Nah, I don't think so.

Serial killers were rare in the early Sixties: the only serial killer I can remember was the Boston Strangler.

What about Ted Bundy--- and that nut who dressed up like a clown and buried the bodies in his basement (name?) or were they later on? Maybe they were in the '70's huh?

I know, but if there WAS a killer on MM, it would be Pete. Some may think Don would be more likely. In addition to the Boston Strangler there was Richard Speck in the 60's - one of the creepiest serial killers ever. And the Zodiac killer. Not many in the 60's. Late 60's, of course, we have the charming Charles Manson.

Hi Glamara! I can't see Pete as a serial killer, but, who knows? He may be more of a serial sex fiend, when he can't get his way!
Serial killers have been around since records were first kept. I think we are just more aware of them today.
Probably the most famous from a while ago was Jack The Ripper, if he was the only one involved in those killings.
I don't think Richard Speck would be considered a serial killer, maybe more like a mass murderer, because he killed all those women on the same day. But, who knows? He may have killed others we don't know about.

God what a creepy topic!
I know one thing---Pete has that cut-through-you stare/glare down pat and if they ever need an actor to play a serial killer/mass murderer in some movie...Vincent K would definitely be their man.

....at the risk of sounding like a giant nerd, there is a scene early in Season 4 ("Slouching Toward Bethlehem") of Angel, where Vincent is pouncing on another character, holding a huge knife, with the campiest, funniest "serial killer" expression on his face.

clearly he was having huge fun with it.

they freeze-framed it, and it was pretty hilarious. i think, like any good actor, that vincent is well aware of his strengths and weaknesses. playing a guy like pete is a big gamble. by design, pete is not likeable.

vincent's a very bright, insightful guy, and in life doesn't really seem anything like pete campbell.

I think Pete looks like Audie Murphy, the actor and war hero. When I saw Pete in the first episode, I even thought the writers must have picked him for that reason..to pair a sweet face with his less than heroic actions.

The creep factor tells me Pete could be a serial killer if they wrote one, but really, he doesn't have the nerve. He'd get caught in the middle of his first one, for lack of planning.

He'd have been much more successful winning the promotion if he had threatened to tell Don's family about Dick Whitman.But he didn't think it through, to quote Don.

Pete creeped me out when he was mesmerizing Peggy with the hunting story, remember? How he would kill the animal, clean it, cook it and make her watch? That was Season 1 after he bought that rifle. He seems so repressed, in a way.
At the bachelor party, he kept staring as the stripper left the stage. He stares at Peggy when she's being "racy" (in his opinion). He stares at himself in the mirror and smiles. I've always thought he was a little psycho.

Glamara,
Are you Tamara, one of the 18 finalists? If so, ooops, sorry, I'm really glad. About Pete, I don't think the writers will go that way. Although, I'm wondering about his purchase of the shotgun? I've wondered this before! Also, others have done worse things for not being accepted by their families. And the reception he got from his family was the worst. I really felt for him. This inconclusive talk about needing money and his father saying he already gave and that was his name. It leaves you cold. But, of course, we find out later that his family is really broke....

I just found it interesting that Pete chose the S/M bondage magazine to provide his inspiration in the doctor's office. Linking that to the darkness in the story jolie10 mentioned, and the recent argument between Pete and Trudy makes me agree that Pete's psyche is veerryy dark. Not to the level of serial killer I don't believe...but, definitely in the dark side.

When I saw the rifle in the office, I thought of how that wouldn't be allowed now and the intent did seem to be showing us that Pete is a personality that would match some of the work place shooters. I also notice how much he and his brother don't look alike and since finding long lost family secrets is a theme, I wonder where Pete got his start in life. It could be the writers are making a comment that many so called every day people are dangerous and we just aren't aware of it. We know far more about Pete than we do about the person in the cublicle next to us.

jolie10 I'm glad you brought up the hunting story! It had the markings of a serial killer's ritualistic nature. And I recall Peggy's strange reaction. After listening intently she said something like "that would be amazing." And I'd forgotten about the bondage magazine choice at the doctor's office. I don't believe the writers will go so sensational in making him a psychopathic killer, but like I posted earlier, IF they did, he fits the bill. I definitely think we'll see more deviant sexual behavior and sadistic tendencies. And yes, I am Tamara now Glamara.

Yes, that hunting story was weird city!! Maybe Pete thought it would turn Peggy on? If that's his idea of foreplay, we are all in for a treat this season!

Oh yeah,
Remember when his brother came for lunch, and he asks him why he doesn't go on vacation? Pete replied, that it wasn't the money, but that he held a very important position at the office and they couldn't do without him. Ahem... Well, he wants so much to be acknowledge and I keep going back to his father's dismissal of him. Sizzie you have a point, Pete doesn't look like his brother, and I wonder now was his family really broke? Any way it goes, he certainly got the short end of the stick. His behavior with Don and needing his acceptance, you could go on and on....
greytone magazine point and jolie10's hunting point all make for a very eeerie story to unfold.

Interesting, the comment that Pete and his brother don't resemble one another. Yeah, I know, they're actors but... maybe Mama Campbell, nee Dyckman...

Perhaps there's a reason Daddy wasn't more fond of Pete than because he went into advertising. In Mama's papers, Pete could find a picture of someone with his arm around Mama who looks a lot like Pete. Someone with really active "swimmers." :-)

Greytone: As soon as he chose that bondage magazine, I thought oh, of all the subject material, leave it to Pete to choose THAT one.
Picking up strange women (the girl in the elevator needs her head examined!), going to Peggy's, at night, unannounced and just his low view of women in general makes Pete a suspicious character.
That shotgun purchase came on the heels of the guys poking fun at Pete for returning the chip and dip bowl. Oh yeah! He tried to pick up the department store clerk! He came back to the office with the gun to prove his manhood? Anyway, he's weird.

Well, remember him and his 22 rifle in the office? He was sighting the women.

I don't know about Pete the serial killer, but he's definitely insecure, selfish, and cruel. Pete's a guy who craves power but often lacks it. A common way miserable people create power for themselves is to make someone else powerless under them. Pete does this by demeaning the women in his life - Peggy, his wife, etc - as long as he's in control of one of them, he feels a little better about himself.

When Peggy got the promotion and gained a little self-confidence, he lost desire for her because she no longer needed to go to him for approval and attention. He liked having power over her and was irritated when he lost it. I've always been creeped out by the way he brutally grabbed her by the hair before kissing her and pushing her toward the couch in their second encounter in season 1 - it was clear that he liked to be the aggressor and was maybe into hard-core stuff.

He was cruel to his wife last season when he pretty-much suggested she prostitute herself with her old lover so that he would publish Pete's magazine. At least she stood up for herself a little.

Last week, when Peggy showed him she was bored with him and didn't value his opinion on their campaign, be decided to make himself feel better by scoring with the model. He loved that he could flash his business card and make her see him as someone important, then cheat on his wife with her.

Serial killer may be a stretch, but major slime ball is not.

I think that in the 60's and prior, "serial killings" were called "stranger killings". I'm not sure when this sort of activity got its current moniker.

I agree with Hanna, Pete's an insecure "slimeball".

Shoot! I did not realize that Pete was Connor from Angel! I watched that show religiously. Not as good as Buffy, or Mad Men, but crap. Didn't see that at all. Must be the hair.

....Christina Hendricks and Patrick Fischler also had small roles on Angel, and the list goes on and on. For some reason, the same actors, producers, writers, directors, etc., seem to appear over and over in the best shows on television and in film too.

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