I love this scene. First of all, I love seeing such a juicy Peggy. We’d never witnessed her quite like this.
I suppose she does this from time to time. What did Harry say in the first season–it is about learning to enjoy the company of women in the limited way that a married man can? Peggy has learned to enjoy the pleasure of men in the limited way that a woman who got pregnant by a married man who treated her horribly the first time she had sex can.
She seems so together in this scene. I like her a lot. She is straddling the worlds between party girl and jaded, or at least heavily guarded. And also new discovery of herself as sexy. And she is not so guarded she doesn’t get herself some serious smooching.
Is Peggy, at this point, actively wanting a boyfriend? By the end of the season she confides her desire for something along those lines to Kurt. Was Eugene an audition, or did she already know he was a going back in the water? And so was his presentation set up, by Peggy, to disappoint her, just so that she could be cruel to him?
I may be alone in this, but I think Peggy, even at this stage, is seduce-able. I just think he blew it.
I also wonder…is she on the pill? An IUD? Does she have a diaphragm? Or is her solid plan to re-virginize? She is certainly no longer innocent to the ramifications.
And three cheers for Janie on that dress (she discusses it here).
26 Responses to “Peggy in the hall”
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After watching the clip again, I don't think Peggy had any intention of going anywhere with Eugene. I think she just wanted to have some fun and set up a chance to use her Joan-esque exit line. She wanted to experience the power of intentionally being a tease.
It was indeed a great scene. For me, it served to set up that Peggy thought she had succeeded in putting her old life behind her, so that the phone call from her mother (which led her back to church and spending more time with the family, which led her to befriending Fr. Gill, which led her to realize that she really hadn't put it behind her) was even more of a bucket of cold water.
The red dress was such a great visual, too.
I thought this scene mirrored Don and Rachael's first kiss on the roof of Menken's.
Don/Peggy kiss then back off the encounter with an excuse which centers on the other person.
Peggy is learning a new skill set.
John, your imagination frequently goes in directions that I don't follow. I don't see any parallels in those scenes other than, well, the smooching.
I am standing by my hypothesis that if he asked for her number or tried to make future plans she would have been more impressed with his presentation. After all, Kurt arranged for her to see Bob Dylan perform promising that it would wake her smile and she gave him her home address. She is boyfriend open, but unless they demonstrate that they respect her like spending time with her regardless of inibriation and want to make her smile they are simple not canedates. Making out with some because she enjoys his attention at a party is one thing- going to bed with him is something else.
I think she wants to treat a man the way that Pete treats her: something to consider, but ultimately something to reject. There is so much power in being the rejector, and so much shame in being the rejected.
The problem is that he went directly from kissing in the hall to let's go have sex. Couldn't he at least have offered to buy her coffee first? It's the same today. Guys want something for nothing, and they want it right now. Give a girl a minute to assess the situation, will you?
Eugene wouldn't have offered an invite if he didn't think it might work. Some women do respond favorably to this kinda thing, otherwise, men wouldn't do it. One look at that primly buttoned up (although red) dress should have told him not to try. That dress shows a flash of sexuality, but the peter pan collar just puts it in lockdown, IMHO.
hull, I agree with you. It's like what I posted the other day about Paul. She liked Paul, but all of a sudden it was "let's pull the couch in front of the door," rather than, "let's get together after work."
I agree as well, and should have specified that.
Pete left his bachelor party and looked her up and took two trains and told her he had to see her. That is seduction. Pete could have said Hey, why don't we go inside. He would have wrecked it.
Exactly. Even though Pete had been a cad, he wasn't just drunkenly picking out a random girl at a party that he thought he could get with. For whatever reason, he specifically wanted her, and that's obviously appealing. But to have some guy think you're going to sleep with him like two hours after meeting him just because you make out with him, ugh, there's nothing there. While Pete wasn't exactly romantic, this guy was just so blunt about it, which just makes him gross. Same for Paul.
LOL that we think Pete's got game. But you're right. He demonstrated to Peggy that he wanted HER at that moment. Not some random girl. That says a lot. Then he followed it up with something along the lines of "do you know how hard it is for me to sit in this office knowing that you're 10 feet away." Again, there's real desire in that statement. Then he also saw her as a confidante. That's appealing, too. It tells her that he trusts her enough to share secrets with her. That means he respects her opinion and judgment. I love it when a man does that. I think that's how Don landed Rachel — sure he's handsome and charismatic, but that he valued what she had to say must have been a major turn on for her.
And Hull, I know. I couldn't believe I was even writing it. But think of how rough he was with the girl in the strip club, and how really gentle he was at Peggy's door. It's interesting. For the first time today, I'm not selling anything.
So Janie Bryant went with a black petticoat for photographic reasons… but it's also a little Hitchcockian.
You know what Matt said to us about all the Hitchcock references that were never deliberate? That basically it’s about having the same instincts. Matt knows how to build suspense, and if it looks Hitchcockian, it’s because they’re sensibilities are similar. And maybe same for Janie.
Now there is no way of knowing what the sensibilities of film/television makers in their 30s and 40s would possibly be like had their been no Hitchcock; his influence is so all-inclusive. But I found Matt’s statement fascinating, if a bit cocky
Karl,
I don't know lots about Hitchcock. What's special about the black petticoat?
Part of becoming the new Peggy for the season, more confident.
Am I the only one who thought the reference to Eugene's "presentation" was also about his kissing? He finished his pitch alleging that talent, and although Peggy seems to be enjoying herself, I got the impression she was hinting it was not his best feature.
Anyway I do love this scene because of the confidence we see in Peggy. Of course, some of that confidence in this instance undoubtedly came out of a bottle (aside: Moss plays tipsy utterly perfectly here), but we see it in other ways throughout the season – particularly in her dealings with her family, the priest and the Bobbie situation. Having gone through a pretty shattering experience, she's been able to pick her life back up and not only go on, but to be successful. That's bound to give anyone confidence.
CPT, if his kissing was no good, she wouldn't have been kissing him. Her "presentation" remark was about going further.
I'm new to this site, but it's great to have somewhere to discuss this show!
In regard to why Pete took two trains out to see Peggy, I always thought he chose Peggy because she was Don's secretary. Pete is so obsessive over Don in ep1. In some warped way sleeping with Peggy might have been something to make up for Don snubbing his bacholor party. As for why Peggy chooses to sleep with Pete, I think the fact that he was very drunk and she was sober might have been appealing, in the sense that Peggy got to be in control. She is in control with Eugene here too.
I think Peggy in S2 needs to feel that she is physically and emotionally in control with boys, since there were times she lost control with Pete, getting her feelings hurt and also getting pregnant. I do think her flirtation with other boys is quite empty though. Like Peggy says about her lipstick "I'm very particular". She could have hooked up with any number of the SC guys when she was still the new girl. Instead she kept Pete's postcard in her desk draw because she had chosen him. Even now that Peggy has shut down her feelings for Pete she is still finding it hard to find a boy to replace him. Not because Pete is Mr Wonderful or anything, just because there was a spark between them that isn't there with others.
Welcome falafel! For a newbie, you have some very unique insight! I think "I'm very particular" definitely applies to Peggy and men, and I like your thought about Pete going after something of Don's. I think you're contradicting yourself, though, when you say Peggy invited Pete in because she was in control, and then in the next paragraph point out that she was out of control with him.
Thanks! It's good to find this site. I'm an English MM fan and S2 has only recently finished over here. This place is good for my withdrawral symptoms.
What I meant was Peggy believed she was in control that night when Pete showed up at her door. She had her birth control pills (that she didn't realise wouldn't work straight away). Pete was drunk and more humbled than in the office, describing himself as a creep rather than trying on the charm. The decisive way Peggy takes Pete hand and leads him inside makes her seem like the one in control. Of course, the reality was she was still naive. Her pregnancy and her crush on Pete that followed took away her control. So that was a learning curve.
I think Peggy would only want a man in her life on her terms. One of the things I loved about the Peggy/Pete scene in the S2 finale is how she says "I could have had you" rather than "You could have had me".
falafel, I gotta echo my sister's sentiments that you are full of fresh insights.
I never considered this: She is a new girl who has had a particularly stressful first day. But she did go on the pill, and that is just so sophisticated, so Manhattan. And then Pete shows up at her door, all humbled and wanting her. Wow. That is quite grown up for someone who was 'in her room listening to records' (she sounds about 15 when she says that). Pete showing up is like her reward, proof that things are gonna get brighter, starting now. What a rush.
Also, going on the pill was like being handed the keys to the car. Only until Pete showed up, she didn't have a car.
You are good.
LOL. From now on I'm always going to think of that moment as Peggy grabbing her keys and taking Pete for a test drive!
I'm very sucked into the Pete/Peggy dynamic. In a world that is so structured by gender roles, we often see them the emasculated man and the defeminised woman. Neither of them quite fit their conventional gender roles. With all the power play between them their relationship often transcends the accepted social norms of male/female dynamics.
I think it's interesting to imagine how that scene would be viewed if it was a drunk girl at the door of a sober man. I think in that case people would say the man took advantage. In a sense I think Peggy is taking advantage of an opportunity to empower herself; both sexually and advancing her status at the office. I think (and hope) we are going to see more of Peggy asserting herself over her male collegues.
I have nothing more to add. Just wanna say, great insight! I love this site SO much. ugh. Can't wait til August 16th. I mean, I really can't wait. haha