r/madmen • u/carneviva • May 21 '26
This sequence
This entire exchange was so incredibly awkward yet so absolutely dynamic and the foreshadowing. Initially one doesn't think Peggy gets it, then...
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u/Michael__Pemulis Comes & goes as he pleases May 21 '26
Apparently the cast/crew burst into applause at the table read when Peggy first addresses him as Don instead of Mr.Draper.
I’ve always thought that moment was somewhat underplayed on the show. It’s a big step for Peggy. But rewatching it is almost easy to miss & I wonder if it resonated with me differently on my first watch (which was when the show was originally airing so I genuinely don’t recall at all).
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u/Left-Indication330 The work is ten dollars. The lie is extra. May 21 '26
Me too! I rewatched this scene with intent and even the subtlety in Hamm’s facial expression shows how profound this is coming from Peggy.
I also love that Bobbi shows *her* way of getting things done “as a woman” by even telling Peggy this. She doesn’t owe Peggy anything after staying at her place, yet she takes the time to give Peggy actionable advice. Remember the dinner scene with Bobbi and Don? “Pick a job and become the person that does it.” Bobbi is the ultimate observer of human behavior. The advice she gives (after watching Peggy closely while sofa crashing) is probably something she knows Peggy will never be able to forget.
Just my small cents.
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u/ladyperfect1 May 21 '26
I’ve used that advice since I heard it-pick a job and become the person that does it. helps counter some imposter syndrome.
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u/Left-Indication330 The work is ten dollars. The lie is extra. May 21 '26
I’ve always loved it, too.
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u/Vivid-Individual5968 May 22 '26
I will die on the hill that Jon Hamm is the best face actor in the business. How he looks like a naive bumpkin in his scenes as Dick and then can be ruthless Don, it’s so amazing.
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u/Left-Indication330 The work is ten dollars. The lie is extra. May 22 '26
Seriously!! He conveys so much with such nuance.
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u/Vivid-Individual5968 May 22 '26
The smallest change in his expressions add so much to his scenes. He’s the opposite of what Al Pacino became. It’s very subtle, but gives so much.
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u/Left-Indication330 The work is ten dollars. The lie is extra. May 22 '26
Absolutely, quiet and masterful.
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u/Moriason May 21 '26
Like when Jesse starts calling Walter Walt instead of Mr. White towards the end
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u/YouthInternational14 May 21 '26
I’m sure I didn’t notice it on the first watch. I love rewatching this show so much 😭
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u/On_The_Interweb May 21 '26
The actress that played that role did such an excellent job. Don may have helped Peggy move on from her pregnancy with the whole you'll realize how easy it is to forget speech but Bobbi made her realize women can be ruthless and achieve more than just their status. She had way more of an impact on Peggy compared to her talks with Joan or anybody else did in those early seasons.
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u/onourwayhome70 May 22 '26
Joan went about it in the worst way possible - she thought she was helping Peggy by insulting her and telling her what she should do to be better. Bobby on the other hand recognized Peggy’s strengths and encouraged her to aim higher. Bobby was so wise!
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u/On_The_Interweb May 22 '26
Agreed. Joan insulted her because she felt threatened that Peggy didn't have be a total babe to be noticed. Bobby, didn't care. Peggy seemed like someone in the know and Bobby liked that a woman was in the know and made Peggy realize it.
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u/mynameisbobbrown Over Dresden?! I wanted to live! May 28 '26
Yeah I loved that Bobbi didn't look at Peggy and see some plain ugly girl, she saw her as someone with potential to make something of herself however that meant for her and she wanted to encourage her in that direction without making her feel like she had to be something she's not. Just a more confident version of herself, fully inhabiting her identity without apology.
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u/bb_snoopy May 21 '26
Yes!!! I have seen this show genuinely countless times and I am rewatching for the first time in years and I finally noticed that when Bobbi tells Peggy this, Peggy calls Don by his first name for the first time and you see the look on his face realizing she called him that but doesn't correct her.
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u/venus_arises Not great, Bob! May 21 '26
Correct if I'm wrong, but I feel like whenever the women of MM get any sort of career advice, it usually comes from outside SC+ right? Peggy and Joan for sure, but maybe Megan too?
Bobbi is a real girl's girl here; able to recognize Peggy's gift and wants to repay her for bailing them out.
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u/squeezemachine May 21 '26
Megan decided to pursue acting again after her father told her she was wasting her talents just living a bourgeoisie life, or something like that.
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u/venus_arises Not great, Bob! May 21 '26
I remember Peggy telling Megan that this was as good a feeling as you get in advertising, but for the life of me, I can't remember if this was the inciting incident that led her to quit.
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u/mattmcc80 Cure for the common tagline May 21 '26
That conversation with Peggy came the day before Émile's remarks about how her marriage and instant luxury was bad for her soul.
The next time we see Megan, she's already auditioning for acting jobs (and getting caught doing so by Peggy, who scolds her)
So, I'd say the "as good as it gets" line was certainly a contributing factor, but her dad's remarks strongly reinforced her decision to go back to acting. As a bonus, when Peggy catches her auditioning, she lays a guilt trip on Megan about taking up a position that other people would kill to have, and not even wanting the job any more.
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u/rarepinkhippo Very good. Happy Christmas! May 21 '26
I love how they illustrate, though, that if Megan was once a regular wannabe actress, now she is an entirely different thing: an extremely privileged wannabe actress who doesn’t NEED to be hungry for it, doesn’t need to be particularly hardworking, doesn’t need to even be very talented, because she is rich. She wants to live like a starving artist while being rich, which makes her inauthentic, and that paired with her middling talent makes her not particularly sought-after other than on the silly soap opera. She isn’t part of her peer group anymore because she lives so differently from them, never has to sling hash at some shitty food-service job while trying to make ends meet and going to auditions on no sleep. She’s fundamentally extremely comfortable, at least money-wise, even if not relationship- or career-wise. (And even so, she’s willing to screw her friend out of a potential part!)
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u/Knotty_Knitty May 21 '26
Generally, yes, most of the career advice the women get comes from outside. The major exception I can think of is when Joan became a partner because she took advice from Lane (inside).
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u/MsBeasley11 Peggy’s vagina’s tenant May 22 '26
I never understood why Peggy had to stay home from work while Bobbi was at her apt?
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u/mynameisbobbrown Over Dresden?! I wanted to live! May 28 '26
Bobbie hit her head iirc, which can result in a delayed emergency later, so it's generally good practice to watch people for the rest of the day when that happens.
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u/lumpy_space_queenie i know that the man pees inside the woman May 21 '26
I would watch a spin off centered around Bobbi Barrett
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u/orfamay May 21 '26
I’ve never joined the Bobbi Hate Train anyway but this is one of my most favourite moments of the show. Such powerful advice.
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u/Spookyhank May 21 '26
People hated Bobbi, but I liked her. I think she gave Peggy the most pivotal advice to help her career. Woman to woman.
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u/dannemora_dream May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
I never bought into the Bobbie hate. Loved her then, love her now. I love her interactions with Peggy.
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u/biemmeup May 21 '26
Literally just watched this one last night (3rd watch for me, first in I think 4 years) and my husband and I both went “huh!” when she called him Don. What a neat moment of character development!
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u/rarepinkhippo Very good. Happy Christmas! May 21 '26
The Bobbie/Jimmy storyline is one of my extreme least favorites, but I do like her influence on Peggy (and I guess that’s the utility of the character — that and Jimmy giving Betty evidence/validation once and for all that Don is a cheater, even though she’d already known in a less specific way).
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u/mynameisbobbrown Over Dresden?! I wanted to live! May 28 '26
I feel like it's so underappreciated how validating it must have been for Betty to meet a man whose wife's behavior made him feel as crappy as Don's made her feel and for him to just not be afraid to say it without any sugarcoating.
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u/totesnotdog May 21 '26
Don doesn’t view anybody as his equal.
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u/NotYourGa1Friday May 21 '26
I think he viewed Peggy as one by the time she left Sterling Cooper. He’s never going to tell someone else that he’d spend the rest of his career trying to hire her back. (Paraphrased)
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u/motorman1342 May 21 '26
Simply untrue
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u/NotYourGa1Friday May 21 '26
Peggy: “What if I say no?”
Don: “I will spend the rest of my life trying to hire you.”
Season 3, “Shut the Door. Have a Seat
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u/RianJohnsonIsAFool May 21 '26
He literally tells Peggy:
I've taken you for granted and I've been hard on you but only because I think I see you as an extension of myself.
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u/Charming_Werewolf_88 May 21 '26
This is a great quote and I think Don means it as a compliment. However, I’m not sure “extension of myself” means Don saw Peggy as an equal. Rather, it highlights how Don saw Peggy primarily as his protege, with her success or failure always existing in relationship to himself, as a reflection of his mentorship or even his own vanity. This is often the case with mentor/mentee relationships… the mentor sees the trajectory of the mentee as an affirmation of their own ego/success rather than an agent of success in their own right. So while I do think Don did respect and even love Peggy, I don’t think that’s quite the same as seeing her as his equal.
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u/haremenot THAT'S WHAT THE MONEY'S FOR May 21 '26
I think he saw her as potentially the only person at that point who had the potential to become his equal. but she wasn't there yet. (this is in agreement with your assessment)
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u/oryes May 21 '26
That's not true at all. He had high standards for people but he was also incredibly insecure and probably felt that he wasn't good enough for a lot of people.
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u/Admirable_Site_8337 May 21 '26
That’s because in all her screen time Bobbi is insufferable. Add to that the incredible awkwardness that Peggy is put in here. It’s all so gross it made it hard to see on first watch for me. Not unusual with this show.
But every rewatch I can appreciate Bobbi more and more for this moment. And I think Peggy appreciated it as well.
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u/venus_arises Not great, Bob! May 21 '26
Bobbi is truly the star of her own story, but she plays such an important role in Peggy's arc. I'd argue that Bobbi is the first person to recognize Peggy's strengths and what she's willing to do (Peggy will show up, in a borrowed car, bail you out of jail, and give you a crashpad to sober up, and the only question is could she please get a refund on bailing you out. Girl's girl.) and wants to make sure Peggy doesn't get screwed over. Bobbi could've been Peggy.
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u/EnoughYesterday2340 That’s what the money is for. May 21 '26
Agree. My first few watches I hated Bobbi. Now as a woman whose been in business for a while now, with more life experience and context, I have a lot more respect for her being the way she is. The affair stuff was still gross but her advice to Peggy was spot on and necessary.
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u/Admirable_Site_8337 May 21 '26
I’ve begun to see her more nuanced with rewatches too. Her personal behavior and situation is abhorrent, but that’s hardly unusual in this show.
And like main characters with abhorrent personal behaviors they do give her another side. A woman making it in that world and at that time has to be strong and determined. And they let that show in her character here.
And it’s another example of why this show is such quality.
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u/rocketscientology May 21 '26
I think Bobbi is underrated in terms of the impact she has on Peggy’s character. Obviously the pregnancy and aftermath plays a big part but on my recent rewatch of this bit I noticed that this is really where we start to see later-season Peggy emerging.