Thirteen,
It’s interesting that you caught that because I just thought Trudy was first, telling him to give it another college try; then, working up resentment against the SC management and looking for ways for him to be tough about the whole thing, but supporting him all along.

But apparently she did undergo a change while they were watching TV. In the video (see home page) Matt Weiner discusses how the assassination was worked into Episode 12. He said, “When Oswald is shot, a kind of nihilism takes over. The system does not work ... institutions (marriage, government, JUSTICE) are supposed to take care of you but they don’t.” Pete says “he’s not even going to have a trial, just throw him over to the mob.” Trudy says, “Those people don’t care about you ... and honestly, what’s the difference?”

Good point, A-Line. That "What's the difference" echos Betty's "What's the point" sentiment.

I guess the idea being that since the institutions aren’t taking care of us any more, we have to take things into our own hands. I was a little confused when Trudy said “You’re holding all the cards”; I guess that must mean Pete can quit and take all his clients with him.

There is also the perspective that the crisis brought people together; that people “returned after a fairly short time to normal patterns of behavior, often with a sense of rededication or moral obligation.” (from The Kennedy Assassination and the American Public - just found it online)

Pete has a chance to become wildly successful in his career because he has the “uncanny” ability to perceive the significance of events before they occur (even though Ken has the “uncanny” ability to make clients feel like they don’t need anything). He is unappreciated at SC but that has alot to do with his envy and arrogance.

I think that the JFK assassination forced them to grow up and out of their normal way of doing things. Interesting that they seem to move closer to each other during this scene than ever before.

My one hope for Trudy is that she wises up like Betty did and kicks her stupid husband to the curb.

13, very perceptive, there is not telling what Pete and Trudy are capapble when they work together. I think we saw a bit of foreshadowing with the gun in his office!

@ Loves--"My one hope for Trudy is that she wises up like Betty did and kicks her stupid husband to the curb."

You really can't help projecting yourself on these women, can you? Or being clueless about the relationships you're seeing? Trudy leave Pete? Never going to happen. Pete is perfect for Trudy because he's enough of a prodigy at work to make it big, but stupid enough to need her beside him for guidance and moral support every step of the way. The one thing Trudy does NOT want is a husband who doesn't need her, and a smart husband wouldn't need her.

Guaranteed, they'll not only still be together forty years down the road, but Pete will probably be fondly calling her something like "Mother," as Pres. Reagan called his wife, Nancy, "Mommy." This is very much that sort of relationship.

Trudy doesn't need to wise up. She's in exactly the sort of relationship she wants to be in. The one where her husband is totally reliant on her and pretty much does what she tells him to do. Sounds very wise to me.

Granted, Pete has some terrific insights but he's hardly irreplaceable at SC. He knows he almost got fired in S1 and still thinks (courtesy of Roger) that Don saved his job. I doubt he knows the real reason he still had his job was because of his mother and her ancestral connections to the city, even if poorly worked.

Trudy doesn't know he was almost fired in S1 and she does believe he's a powerhouse at SC. She may have what she wants in Pete but, like Betty, she has large illusions based on what her husband has told her. And not told her.

BTW, Ronnie sometimes called Nancy, "Mommy" because they actually had two children... It's a parent thing, such as "Ask Mommy" rather than "Ask your mom." Unless Gudrun comes across in the next episode, it's unlikely Trudy will become a Mommy except figuratively with Pete.

@Ritt1>"it's unlikely Trudy will become a Mommy except figuratively with Pete."

I meant it as figuratively. And there are many men in childless marriages who refer to their wives as "mother" like when the woman say, "On your way home pick up--" and they answer, "Yes, mother," jokingly. I don't know if that's what he'd end up calling her, but I could see it.

And yes, I agree that Trudy has a skewed view of her husband as he doesn't admit everything to her and tends to lie or exaggerate to make himself look like the victim. Nothing is ever his fault, right? But there is an interesting difference between Trudy and Betty. Don acts the part of a "Dad" with Betty, saying things like "you don't have to worry--" and "I'll take care of everything" or, as in this episode, "Everything's going to be fine." In other words, he doesn't want her involved, and he doesn't let her get involved with him and his world.

But Pete does the opposite. He tells Trudy every unpleasant thing that happens to him in order to gain her sympathy and support at least, and usually her input as well. He even told her--with his body language and attitude, about cheating on her, something Don would never do unless backed into a corner.

Pete makes Trudy feel involved with him, invested in him. When you make someone feel that way, then they become your partisan, and want to see things the way you do. We see just that in this episode as she takes his side more and more. At this point, if someone told her the truth, even caught Pete on film lying, she'd find a way to excuse it. Pete, ironically enough, has done the right thing where Don did the wrong thing. He's made Trudy feel like it's the two of them together against the world in every aspect of life--work, home, etc. Don, on the other hand, made Betty feel like a stranger in his world, and he a stranger in her world. They were never a team, which means she has no reason to support or defend him, or believe his lies over the truth.

Earlier this season, after Trudy talked to the children in the elevator, I was surprised to hear her say that she was okay with not having a child. But if we follow Thirteen's logic, we could explain it: Trudy has chosen to focus all of her motherly energy on Pete. And Pete seems to need that type of consolation, direction, and attention. I'm still not sure I buy Trudy's statement given how much she longed for a baby last season, but I can see how she is compensating by mothering her husband.

I agree that Trudy is focusing her maternal energies on Pete. If you imagine that Pete is a little child, Trudy's way of speaking to him falls in line with actually being a good mother. She listens and sympathizes long enough to show solidarity, and then hits him with the positive reinforcement and her expectations. She always paints the silver lining around his dark cloud.
This time when Pete complains about the bad treatment he's getting at SC (like the playground bullies are picking on him), Trudy goes into Mom Mode and totally takes his side. She gave SC the benefit of the doubt, but no more (not that he doesn't deserve to complain...I think he's right.). Trudy is very loyal and sees Pete's shining qualities (while trying to get him to rethink the temper).
@thirteen: I agree. Unlike Don and Betty, at least Pete and Trudy talk about things. Pete is not afraid to confide in Trudy about his work life because he knows she'll build him up and not let him pout for too long. He has at least one person in the world who understands. That's probably the basis of most strong marriages: true intimacy. Don could have had the same thing going with Betty but that would mean letting down the guard and being honest and faithful.

To me, Pete and Trudy are like Adam and Eve dancing the Charleston in the garden of Eden. Unaware that the world is going soon end. To them when JFK died, they ate the apple of knowledge and was cast out of the garden. Where like a broken boiler room, things aren't 72 degrees. There angry that there king has fallen and they won't go to the wedding and do what their told. In other words, they are becoming grown ups and their minds have become free.

Hi everyone!

I think Trudy is wonderful. She really loves Pete, and that isn't always easy.

I thought it was interesting that she was going to the wedding until she asked Pete if he had been drinking, and he replied "the whole world is drinking".
I wondered if she decided to stay because she was afraid he would do something weird because he was drinking? Just a guess...

@Adam>"To me, Pete and Trudy are like Adam and Eve dancing the Charleston in the garden of Eden."

Nice point bringing up Roger's first party as compared to the Wedding. You're right that Pete and Trudy are happy innocents at that point. I think Pete actually lost his innocence when he got that first bad news--and JFK's assassination made him feel even deeper that he'd been betrayed, assassinated, etc. So why show loyalty to anyone belonging to SC? Why Dance at one of their celebrations?

@60's Child: I'll have to re-watch. but it seemed to me that Trudy was more inclined to back out of the wedding after Pete implied that the SC people had been callous about JFK's killing. The reason I say this is that she gets on-board with him about not going, joining him on the couch like they're in this together. She doesn't act like she's merely worried about taking her drunk husband to a wedding.