Mad Men: Lady Lazarus Rewatch

December 21, 2014 11:35 AM - Season 5, Episode 8

Peggy has to keep a secret while Pete covers for a friend.
posted by Sweetie Darling (9 comments total)

If Megan would have stayed at the agency, I think her relationship with Don would have lasted (longer at least). To keep from cheating, Don seems to need someone who can appreciate what he does for a living, and effectively praise him when he hits one out of the park. Don and Megan's relationship fractured during the HoJo incident, but breaks in this episode (or maybe hangs on until the end of the season)

This leads into my first theory for how the series is going to end. When Megan quits the agency, the first person he visits is Joan. There is the possibility it was for practical reasons, but it could be foreshadowing that Don will end up dating Joan. They both know each other very well, and are intimately involved in each others work. Joan knows Don's past and wouldn't care, and I don't think Don would care about Roger's child.

If Roger gets back with Mona, I think Don and Joan start dating.
posted by drezdn at 12:24 PM on December 21, 2014 [1 favorite]

Which reminds me... Does Don know about Roger and Joan's relationship? My guess is that Don saw her wearing the fur he sold Roger at some point, but I don't think the show has made it explicit.
posted by drezdn at 12:45 PM on December 21, 2014

I noticed this earlier, but can't be bothered to find the right episode:

Lane is a Mets fan. As everyone knows, the Yankees are America's team. But rooting for the Mets (as a New Yorker) is easy, in the mid-60's. It's a symptom of how much he wants to fit in in his new home.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:03 PM on December 21, 2014

It was funny how incomprehensible it was to Peggy that Megan didn't love being a copywriter. For Peggy, there is no better job. But when Stan said, in reference to Megan, "Come on, reality got her. You work your ass off for months, bite your nails, for what? Heinz Baked Beans," it cut to a shot of Peggy looking like reality got her as well. Peggy seemed to have the realization that not everyone thinks, as Peggy herself does, that being a copywriter is the best possible job.

This leads into my first theory for how the series is going to end.

You know, it crossed my mind towards the end of S7 episode "Waterloo" that Joan and Don might end up in a relationship. I haven't picked up on any foreshadowing of this, but, and you have already said this, it would make a lot of sense considering that each is somewhat aware of the others' past sexual history and the fact that they both are deeply involved with the agency (and there is an attraction between them). I think it would be reasonable, plot wise. So yeah drezdn, I'm with you. Entirely possible.

And since we're engaging in a bit of speculation, I think Roger will be dead by the end of the show. I got that feeling when Cooper passed away and Roger said to Joan something along the lines of "Is this what's going to happen when I die?" He was referring to the machinations of Cutler, with Joan backing Cutler up. That's no evidence, but like I said, I just had a feeling. Intuition?

Note: Someone commented a couple of episodes back that Peggy answered the phone with "Pizza House." It was this episode she did this. I thought I hadn't been paying attention and had completely missed it. It's easy to get episodes mixed up because you can't help sometimes watching a few episodes in a row.
posted by cwest at 5:17 AM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

One of my favourite Peggy moments is the little grimace of questioning disgust she gives herself after PIZZA HOUSE.
posted by yellowbinder at 7:57 AM on December 22, 2014 [5 favorites]

Also the title of a Sylvia Plath poem about her suicide attempts.
posted by brujita at 2:25 PM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

This is definitely the beginning of the end of Megan and Don's marriage.

Pete is such a toad. Ugh.

I don't see Joan and Don ending up together after she voted to fire him from SC&P. That's an even bigger betrayal than Megan quitting advertising. And Joan is a peer to Don at this point. He needs someone to worship him, and that's not going to be Joan.
posted by donajo at 8:19 PM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

I know we talked about this episode (re rewatching) but I thought Megan and Don were over during the HoJo episode when she wore that Orange Sherbert dress - but then she was wearing it in "A little kiss" as well.
posted by tilde at 11:33 AM on March 22, 2015

My only thoughts about this are in regard to Emily VanDerWerff's shitting on Alexis Bledel's performance. Bledel is someone who I think is easy to take shots at, because she's in a class with people like Keanu Reeves, who have a pretty limited range of motion, acting-wise, but who are able to convey a greater amount of nuance within that range than they are given credit for. Here, Bledel has to convey a lot with quite little (her home life, her mental illness, her conflicted feelings regarding Pete, and the subversive thrill of making him give chase) and do it through a depressive haze all the while. I think she kills it, personally.
posted by Navelgazer at 6:47 PM on February 19, 2020