sab4ever,
Pete will bounce back. He is temporarily shell shocked, but he has some positive strengths that counteract his often juvenile and petty behavior.

He is good at his job. (Remember the Secor laxative air time he bought during the Nixon-Kennedy election campaign?)

He knows what clients want, and he delivers. (Well, yes, including after-hours bar parties and women.)

He has an excellent relationship with Don right now. (He gave Don a heads-up on that meeting with Duck Phillips and the Brits.)

He is discreet when it matters. (He kept quiet about Don’s disappearance in California.)

He is feisty. (He didn’t hesitate to initiate office fisticuffs when the guys made insulting remarks about Peggy.)

He has courage and perspective. (If the world is going to come to an end, he prefers to stay in Manhattan rather than try to escape to the shore with the family silverware.)

He knows he can father a child. (Good morale booster for any man.)

He can still fantasize about Peggy. Now that the prize is more out of reach, it might be more tantalizing than before. Pete’s been dissed before, by Don, his father, his mother, and he doesn’t give up easily.

Oh, yes, the gun! The office is deserted. The Russians are about to send missiles and ships our way. Trudy has left town. Peggy has dropped an emotional “bomb” on him. He is sitting in his office alone and confused holding the rifle. It has fueled past fantasies (masterful hunter delivering his kill to his woman for cooking), so maybe it will inspire him anew to start fantasizing about a future conquest of Peggy.

Pete is down but not out.

I agree, Remembering...Pete is a mixed bag.

You hate him----but you can't help liking him.

The mark of an excellent actor (Vincent K). Just like Jon H., and John S., and Robert M., and Christina and Elisabeth and January and....the whole MM bunch!

.....The thing that jumped out about Pete and Trudy in that episode is when they were talking about her getting out of the city to stay with her parents for the duration of the crisis.

Her statement to him "If you loved me, you would want to be there, too," followed by him agreeing with her, but failing to agree to go, and NOT going, shouted volumes about their marriage.

Basically, he was telling her that he really didn't love her, which leaves the marriage in question for Season 3.

Saddest of all is that many marriages go on and on for years even after such a betrayal.