Despite the title, this episode is less about rejection than it is about separation, and walls being drawn between people. In the episode’s central set piece, market research consultant Dr Faye assembles a group of unsuspecting secretaries and manipulates them into discussing their deepest insecurities (which revolve, by and large, around rejection from men), whilst being clinically observed through a one-way glass wall by Don, Freddie and Peggy.
There’s a voyeuristic element to this entire setup, recalling the Basket Of Kisses sequence from the first season, but it serves largely as a means for Don, finally, to be forcibly confronted with the consequences of his behaviour, and the fact that “this actually happened." In contrast to the second episode where he was letting Allison read Sally’s letter out loud to him, he’s now slamming those walls right back up between them, snapping at her when she inquires about his letter from California (though we know there’s a good reason why he’d want to keep that to himself).
So Allison, meek and diminished, is pushed to breaking point by another secretary’s agonised musing on an ex; “I feel like I gave him everything”, and ends up bursting into tears mid-market research. She later resigns her position, but not before throwing a heavy object at Don’s head after his horrifically callous suggestion that she write her own letter of recommendation for him to sign. Even at this moment of crux, he’s totally unable (or unwilling) to articulate her value to him. While I totally agree with her sobbing declaration that Don is “not a good person”, I’m sort of surprised by her naivety. Especially given what we’ve seen of her in the past – cavorting around with Ken in Nixon vs Kennedy and so on – it seems as though she should have more nous than to expect anything more from Don.
The most intriguing reaction to the whole incident, though, was Peggy’s. Though initially kind to Allison, she turns on her viciously after her (quite innocent) suggestion that Peggy must have experienced the same thing with Don. This has always seemed like a real raw nerve with Peggy, who’s understandably frustrated by the assumption that she must have slept her way through the glass ceiling, but here it resonated doubly because of Pete’s situation. Much though she probably wishes to deny that she was ever in the same category as the male-dependant, emotionally vulnerable secretaries, Allison’s dead right when she says Peggy “must have gone through everything I’m going through”. The difference is she went through it with Pete, the sex, the ambiguity afterwards, the hopeless pining, and crucially came out of it far worse off than the presumably birth control-savvy Allison.
Peggy’s reaction to Trudy’s pregnancy – clearly profound, but underplayed to perfection – gave rise to the episode’s other great “glass dividing wall” image. Peggy heads out to lunch with her new, liberated crowd of beatnik pals, Pete remains in the office with the old boys’ crowd, and they share a look acknowledging everything that still binds them, as well as the things that overwhelmingly separate them. Gorgeous. That’s probably as close as they’ll ever get to closure, though such a thing probably doesn’t exist in situations like theirs.
I’ve talked a lot about how Pete seems to have matured this season, but really. My God. I was totally blindsided by his response to the pregnancy news – especially given that he had to hear it from Trudy’s father, it’s hard to imagine the Pete of yesteryear reacting so calmly or with such sincerity. But after a patented “Jesus, Mary and Joseph!” he’s overwhelmed with joy at the prospect of fatherhood and goes home to share a really lovely scene with Trudy wherein he tells her he doesn’t care how he found out, and they’re both a bit teary, and she’s happy he’s happy, and it’s literally just really so adorable.
Who’d ever have guessed these two would grow into such a functional, emotionally healthy couple? They feel so much like partners, too, on equal footing – she understands how business works, and has no problem with Pete’s news that the company has to ditch her father’s Clearasil account: “You needed him, and now you don’t. He’ll be fine.” Trudy’s awesome. And so, it turns out, is Pete. Buoyed by the news and by Trudy’s support, he turns a horrendously awkward and potentially upsetting situation into a massive $6m coup for SCDP. Even Don’s impressed. Sure, there’s something a bit Machiavellian about it, but then his father in law had no qualms about basically blackmailing him into getting Trudy pregnant, so whatevs.
- It’s noticeable how much more balanced this season has been in terms of rounding out everybody in the office. The focus on Betty’s story, and the Ossining stuff in general, really overwhelmed last season to the point where it felt as though we learned barely anything about, say, Peggy or Joan all year. Now, everyone gets to take centre stage on a semi-regular basis, albeit at the expense of January Jones these past couple of weeks.
- Although Lee wasn’t in this episode, his noxious presence was felt in that hilarious tag-team phone call. The Lucky Strike situation is surely going to come to a head before the season’s end – in my personal dreams, Pete (and maybe a newly recruited Ken?) will eventually bring in enough new accounts that they can tell Lee Garner where to get off, and then hire Sal back. Is that too much to ask? Yeah, okay.
- Speaking of Cosgrove, he was looking a lot less chipper and bright-eyed than I remember him from Sterling Cooper, and definitely didn’t seem like his old so-laid-back-he’s-horizontal self. Clearly he’s not at all happy in his current position, which is what’s making me wonder if Lane won’t see an opportunity to bring in more accounts by taking him on. I think Pete might have an actual, legitimate nervous breakdown. Much though he’s matured, I think that’s one grudge that runs pretty deep.
- How, oh how, is Vincent Kartheiser the ONE major player not to have received an Emmy nomination? Ever? This episode alone makes a great case for him.
- This is probably just the paranoid, Joss Whedon-influenced doomsayer in me, but I have this weird inkling that something is going to go wrong with Trudy's pregnancy. Surely a couple can't be happy and functional on this show for long? Plus since she's had so much difficulty conceiving, problems with carrying to term would be very plausible. Hopefully, I am way off base with this.
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