Peggy's asking Roger for Freddy's old office was a great scene -- preceded by the great scene with the Xerox "repairman" --which I loved!

The very proper "repairman" -- and by the way, when was the last time you saw a repairman in coat and tie---?? (the 60's!) --- says to Peggy:

"And you can tell your little friends...
This is a delicate piece of machinery.
You don't just shove paper into it, you
don't bang on the buttons...you don't
sit on the glass...If you want it to work
you have to treat it with respect."

Peggy stares wide-eyed and speechless at this little lecture, and then, perhaps "bouyed" by the fact that an objective "outsider" sees the pettiness of "her little friends" (the men in the office?) --
and with the "symbolic content" of his speech resonating in her subconscious, she proceeds to
approach Roger with her request!

Next, the degrading sexual scene where the Dr. treats Joan as badly as the Xerox man's metaphor for the mis-treatment of the copy machine.

I loooved the Xerox man's pocket protector!!!

Peggy might wear those God-Awful little girl clothes, but at the end of the day, she's got more guts than my favorite red-head, in that she doesn't use her feminine wiles to draw attention to herself, all ecause she doesn't feel quite comfortable with herself as such -- not because she's so liberated.

The present hairdo is just mildy passable past that Betty Anderson/Father-Knows-Best-Sandra-Dee ponytail. Her wide-eyed directeness landed her the office the others [men] were afraid to even ask of Roger.

As for the copy machine technician, the shirt and tie thing was dead on; that was how all white-collar men dressed and were expected to dress.

It was a 60's thing; even now, when a copy machine tech shows up where I work, they're required to wear ties. Yep. I notice men who have a thing for machines, are like folks who prefer dogs over people: Unnaturally protective to the point of being anal...

I was SO disappointed in Joan's character -- both after the rape and then later on when they were in bed and he refused her advances because she was the aggressor. She should've kicked him in the nuts, then threw his engagement ring in his face, THEN beat the crap out of him -- but of course, that would've messed up the whole episode.

RobinDee

If you want to see the Xerox (or other copier) repairman go on a rant, let him find the cause of the breakdown is a paperclip inside the copier.

During the same era, all IBM computer repairmen were required to wear suit and tie as well.

"And you can tell your little friends...
This is a delicate piece of machinery," The Xerox repairman said duplicitously.

Oops, wrong thread.... :)

That creepy Xerox repairman really talked down to Peggy and that was the last straw for her. Good for her for having the nerve to ask for her own office. Poor Joan looked pretty envious of Peggy and her new office and the position she had. Quite a role reversal there. Joan was talking down to Peggy when she first started there as a secretary and now Peggy has surpassed her. I just loved it.

Joan's boyfriend the doctor is a real creep and she should dump him. He clearly sees her as his property and nothing else. He thought that she was "more knowledgeable" in bed and was threatened by it. Then he figured she screwed all the guys in the office and he had to screw her too in there to assert his authority. That she was his property. He's reallly not a big man at all. What a little s---t he is. I hope she wises up and dumps him.

What I saw in this episode was Peggy really putting to good use all that Don has taught her. First, she uses her personal experiences to present a knockout popsicle presentation. Her initial gut reaction, "I love popsicles", turns out to be exactly on pitch.

You'll remember near the end of season 1 when Peggy asks Don for a raise, and in his opinion, does it in a coy manner. He says to her, "You just presented like a man. Now act like one." With Roger, Peggy is much more direct than she was with Don before, and that was the key to making the pitch work on him. It's not just that women are so aggressive these days, as Roger thinks. It's that Peggy learned how to be aggressive (yet appropriate) from Don.

It's interesting to recall that advice of Don's from season 1, since Bobbie gives Peggy differing advice ("You can't be a man. Don't even try. But you can be a woman, And when done right, it's powerful stuff"). Peggy does take that advice to heart: she calls Don "Don" for the first time, instead of "Mr. Draper", just as Bobbie always makes a point of doing.

The other part of Bettie's advice was to treat Don like an equal. Don was really telling Peggy the same thing in season 1: he just expresses as "be a man," while to Bobbie, being an equal can still be being a woman. Presenting herself on ann equal level as the men was really the lesson that Peggy put into pratice, in any event.

That's really true -- that Peggy has learned from her mentor, not only by observing him (as in how he used personal emotional experience), but also by listening to his advice.

Interesting the mentor/"mentee" roles that have been touched on--the most consistent one being Don/Peggy. But Peggy has also "been mentored," as you pointed out, by Bobbie...and also...by Joan, by Freddy, and the latest one (in my opinion) by the Xerox "Repairman." (Albeit, his "mentoring" was more of an "unintended consequence" of his need to express his disgust with how the "liberal arts" majors have no respect for what the technical/engineering types hold dear).

Very good point (and memory) regarding your observation of Don's chiding Peggy's coy manner when she asked for raise earlier. I remember being intrigued by his comment, and also by Bobbie's, while not quite "getting it" at the time.

The "role-play" aspect of MM is interesting, as is the issue of "timing." (Or snychronicity, as I like to think of it, because "timing" seems to me something you have to be "good at").

No doubt that Peggy's timing was actually "good" catching Roger when she did -- it forced her whole presentation to him to be brief, lent an urgency to it, (Roger likes brevity), and it made it easier for him just to say "yes." -- After all, he was in a pretty good mood, on his way out to dinner with that other "cute young woman..." Had Peggy gone into his office in the middle of the day, with him sitting behind his desk with lots of time to think about the reasons to deny her -- the outcome might have been different.

But you're right...Peggy has achieved "equal status" while still being her own person (a woman), and without having to "try and be a man,"
(which I'm still not sure what that would have entailed...but maybe it would have been like standing around the water cooler and saying to the guys..."Hey, how about them Mets?" (or Dodgers back then).

Peggy does seem to use advice well. I wonder if that's a staple of a good business person? In any event, Peggy seems to be learning and progressing, which equals taking good advice. I see Freddie as an unoriginal fellow who held his position because of seniority, and being one of the good old boys. I don't know that he ever gave Peggy important advice, but maybe he mentored her in general. The characters whose advice worked (Don, Bobbie, and Joan) can all be seen as wise. Peggy doesn't seem to have learned anything from the other copywriters and account executives, who might not fall into the "wise" category. I suppose they give her advice, too, but usually of a demeaning nature, that she should mind her place. Peggy's mother gave her boy advice in season 1, which she shunned. Her character actually has a stubborn element to it, so it's interesting she is as receptove as she is. It seems in real life that it's more difficult to separate the good advice from the bad, and even when one is able to implement good advice, results are usually less instantly affirming of the value.

Peggy has seemed to take Don's advice indiscriminately, judging by her "move forward" and "pretend it didn't happen" approach to her child. It would be accurate, I think, to say that she worships Don. Her statement that "whatever Don does or doesn't do, I'm sure it is with good reason" was extraordinary, taken atface value. I wonder if she's more inwardly critical of Don than she lets on, or if she is going to learn to view him more critically?

It might not have any effect on her own perception, but watching Peggy do Don's job as well as he did has to lessen some of the aura around him for everyone else. It seemed it was a shock that everything went on the same without Draper. I could feel everyone waiting for the other shoe to drop. But if you do the same things that other people do, you will get the same results. Peggy isn't limited by the conception of who she is or is suposed to be. She just does her job, and we can see where it takes her. The same belief enables her to speak to Roger.

The way Roger responded to Peggy's request definitely seemed in keeping with his character. I thought his cavalier response also showed that he is losing interest in the business, which his vote in favor of the merger indicated. He wants money and an easy life, and is even less interested in getting his nails dirty than before. His lack of interest in Peggy's procuring a new account was more notable than his lack of interest in who got an office. Perhaps part of his dismissal of the achievement was disbelief that a woman could really have effected that, but his reaction also showed me that his mind is no longer on the day-to-day business.

Re:..."Perhaps part of his dismissal of the achievment..."

I didn't read Roger's reaction quite that way.

#1: I think that the high quotient of "cool" inherent in Roger's personality would automatically prevent him from appearing impressed by anyone's achievement. He may be impressed, but he's not going to show it --(at least that's the way I read him). I can't at the momemt remember any instance in which Roger has complimented or praised anyone (except his female sexual interests). To my mind, if Roger doesn't sarcastically put you down all the time --then he's impressed with you. (I'm excluding in my generalization the "good-natured sparring" that Roger engages in with those he considers his "equals" --Don, for eg.--as well as Alice Cooper).

#2 I just assumed that Roger already knew about Peggy's procuring the popsicle account (even though he was not going to let her know he knew). I base my assumption on the personal knowledge that in a "typical" office situation gossip--(let alone on-the-job achievements or failures)-- travels faster than a high-schooler's texting network.

As far as Roger's "cavalier response" showing he's losing interest in the business...my arguments would be similarly based: Roger's whole personality is cavalier...and I'm not so sure he's ever been seriously interested in the more mundane, day-t-day aspects of the business --like procuring accounts. Some of my evidence for this would be Roger's self admission to Bert that..."I know you think I never got my hands dirty..." (some quote like that).

Additionally, didn't Roger kind of "inherit" his position from his father? If so, it might have been a situation where he never was "driven" to the work by burning interest in it anyway.

That's not to say that Roger hasn't shown, at times, keen managerial skills, business sense, shrewdness, and an abiding concern to have the agency make as much money and be just as prestigious as he can stroke it along to be. In fact, I think he has richly enjoyed that part of the business --schmoozing people (clients, others) when he feels like it, feeling superior to the "lesser hoards" beneath him (the 100-or-so employees), and just in general "playing God" while making a very nice living in a "profession" that enables his drinking and skirt-chasing.

BUT YES, I agree that everything about the business is getting (or has gotten) a bit stale to Roger, and that "the fire in his belly" has been pretty much extinguished. (I guess two coronaries can do that, depending on the individual).

On second thought, having just re-read what I've written, I have to take back the part about Roger' s not having been intersted in procuring and keeping accounts. I'm wrong about that, and I think you're right-- he doesn't seem that inerested ANYMORE.

Re: Peggy and advice...

I only included "Freddy" as one of her mentors because I believe that he was the copywriter who early-on offerred to "look over," something she'd written (so that would make him at least an encouraging, friendly element to Peggy in an initially "semi-hostile, prove-yourself" environment).

BTW, since I've recently become aware that there's evidently "posting etiquette," I've simultaneously become self-conscious about my "verbosity." Thus my somewhat ridiculous attempt to "hide" by breaking this treatise into 2 posts. (Smile).

I have been thinking about the uniqueness of a female (back then, and maybe now too) being able to attract a male mentor who doesn't have an ultimately sexual motive (even though it may be unconsious to the male initially). I think it just doesn't happen very often. (Maybe this is the reason posters speculate about a Don/Peggy "hook-up," -but I've never seen any hint of that from Don). Which makes that part of this story-line a bit incredulous to me.

I think being "mentored" by the right person is a large component of personal success in the businss world; and in that vein, because it is so critical, I would say that in many cases "the mentored" probably does "worship" the Mentor, and would be inclined to put almost unquestioning faith in their "advice." Well, that's just my view...but when I think about it, "Mentor-Mentee" is a pretty special relationship, involving "being chosen, and accepting the invitation." And in that sense it's kind of a mutual admiration society. I don't think it's extremely common -- just on the fact that you're going to have basically one "top dog" in an organization who will select one "best and brightest" to take an interest in. But I'm doing a lot of speculation here, so I would welcome other input on this. But usually, the mentoring I know about personally is between two people of the same sex.

Btw, does anyone remember Mary Cunningham and that big male/female, high corporate Mentor story? I forget the corporation, but it was definitly in the Forbes Top 50--and it was a huge feature story --happened in Chicao, I think but it made all the newspapers. He was married CEO (might have been Westinghouse), and she was his young, beautiful "assistant," who rose quickly to a high post under him. End result was his getting fired, divorced, and instant celebrity for both of them. (They did marry). But lots of articles were written about them at the time --and this had to be back 20 years ago, I think.

Sorry for the digression, but I bring it up just because I remember it, and at the time I remember wondering why the press was making such a big story out it. (Like to my thinking at the time it was "What's the big issue..doesn't this go on all the time...?" Well, evidently not).

Good observations, Jackie, and clearly written, which may be more important than posting etiquette. I think Roger may have said "you know how much we want you here" to Draper when Draper was being recruited by the other company, but that was savvy business-wise. You're right that he never compliments anyone, at least not in a way where he pours his heart out. He doesn't gush; neither does Draper, either, for that manner. So I'm not sure exactly how I would have wanted Roger to react to Peggy's achievement. I just think there may be some incredulity that she's doing what she's doing. Although she has taken Freddy's position, it's not clear to me that she had to be the one who organized and presented to the popsicle people. With Don's absence, she's just the one who has taken charge. The executives might realize that things are going smoothly, but they may not know why. Peggy's statement of bringing in the account just seemed to me like that of a precocious child who makes claim of some achievement or another that her mother doesn't believe until she has witnessed it for himself.

A couple of tidbits I remember that give me some idea of Roger's role....I remember Draper grousing to Betty about how Roger is "sales" and receives all of the credit, while "creative" is a lesser rung. This was after Draper won the award that eventualy led to Adam's tracking him down.

The other exchange I remember is Roger saying he "held [Campbell's] hand for 30 phone calls" before the California outing. Those were apparently to further "contacts," however, judging by what Draper said to Campbell once they got to California. So the phone calls were of a sales variety, which of course doesn't necessarily mean they involved less strenuous work.

I have some question whether Draper has really singled Peggy out as someone special to mentor, or whether he has actrf the way he has towards her in the due course of doing his job. The attention he has given her has certainly not been an embarrassment. This is why (to me) it seems realistic, and not excessive or requiring a special motivation. I think at first he was incredulous about a woman copy writer, but he's gradually come to believe in Peggy, and now she's ascended to the point where she's a pet ("Did you [Campbell] read anything she wrote? Maybe I should send her to California."). His sympathy for her disappearance from work, and delivery of child, was borne from the personal difficulties he has had. I think he could sympathize with what happened to her because his mother was a prostitute. Don wasn't going to look askance at a bastard child. because he was one.

The way he has disappeared from work now certainly seems similar to the way she disappeared at the end of season 1, at least to an outside observer. Peggy's reason was unavoidable, however, and Don's seems like a veritable melt-down.

Yes, Roger did go pretty far (for Roger) in verbalizing to Don that he didn't want Don to leave SC. (Was that when Roger cut him in for 12.5% of the company)? That "gesture" (ha) said alot in itself. (Maybe in the sophisticated atmosphere of Madison Avenue, that's how "praise" is doled out)?

Maybe the fact that Roger instantly granted Peggy the office was "the proof in the pudding" that in Roger's eyes Peggy "had arrived." Peggy had to be gratified (and thrilled) at the ease with which that all happened. (I noticed she seemed to be formulating her next sentence to Roger, and she was almost "stunned" when Roger cut her off with "It's yours." Being as smart as she is, Peggy knew that she didn't need to hear any verbal praise.

Analyzing Peggy's "tentative," (or, in your analogy, her "Mommy-look-what- I've- done") approach
to Roger, I think you're right in that Peggy herself wondered if Roger was going to "believe" what she'd done. ( Among Don and the other guys on the creative team, we've seen initial incredulity give way to acceptance of the novel phenomenon that this woman has talent). But Peggy had never had much inter-action with Roger, so she was shooting in the dark as to how he would react to her request.

But I'm now convinced that Peggy was pleased with Roger's reaction --had he "gushed," or even acknowledged verbally, he would have been acting out of character for Roger -- indeed, Peggy mighy have seen it as "patronizing," or treating her differently than he would have treated a guy in that situation.

I don't mean to belabor the issue, but the more I think of it, the more facets I see. Namely, one of the critical skills for sucesss in alot of instances is being able to quickly "decipher" or read the non-verbal cues, the "MO," the unwritten signals and unspoken "code of behavior" that certain groups -- and in this case the "powers that be" use. It's almost like a first-rung "test" that they (maybe unconsciously, but instinctivly) use on new-comers (think high school). It's a very efficient test, as it quickly, silently, and decisively "weeds out" many--and with very little trouble and no formality. And I believe it's a skill one has to have in addition to raw talent and intellectual ability. I think Peggy has it.

If she had been dejected by not getting verbal praise from Roger, it would have been a sign that she was not up to playing in the league with the Big Boys. (At least that's my "take'). But she's shown her emotional toughness, and that she does not need "pats on the back." (And that's in contrast, I think, to some of the guys on the creative team).

I don't know why she got to "present" the popsicle pitch to the clients but can think of 2 possibilities:
(1) either it's customary that whoever comes up with the core idea gets to make the pitch, or (2) the others are so impressed with her now (after she saved the day with the Samsonite clients) that they feel she can do it better than they.

Whatever the reason, Ken Cosgrove "cautiously" presented her to the clients as Don's "fill-in," and you could see that the 2 men were "put-off" for the first few minutes, until she got them to focus on her pitch, not her sex.

Like you, I don't believe that Don has a special motivation, or that he's consciously decided that he's going to "mentor Peggy." I think it's more amorphous than that -- just has kind of happened. (Like love...(lol)...people don't "make the decision"). But like love, I feel that once the "die is cast" so-to-speak, then "others" are kind of excluded (not intentionally, but just invariably) from this one-on-one exclusive relationship. (I may be going way out on a limb here).

In short, I think it's even possible that Don (subconsciously at this point) may be "grooming" Peggy to be his replacement, or at least "fill in" in his absence. I think that the "ease" with which Don is able to just not show up at the office for a period of time speaks to the enviable "freedom" that a Madison Ad Executive/Partner must have had back in those days. Roger has his back completly! (As do Joan and Peggy). He's not worried about getting fired, called on the carpet, or anything else. Imagine..."A thing like that!" --as Pete would say. (And Don may give this easy life up...? Wow! I'm impressed). :)