945 replies to this topic

[American Snob]

Discuss Peggy, the newest of the Sterling Cooper secretaries who is engaging in apparent pre-marital sex with Pete, using birth control and being broken in by Joan in as we speak. Played by the very lovely Elisabeth Moss, aka "Zoey Bartlett" for all you West Wing fanatics.

[Snowden]

In the Babylon episode, did anyone appreciate how feel of the show changed for a moment when Peggy was hit with inspiration during the make-up testing. The scene only lasted a few seconds, when Peggy gazed at the woman blotting her lipstick, but I was impressed with the way the director showed how something turned on in her head in an artsy way.

Edited by Snowden, Aug 29, 2007 @ 7:41 PM.

[Refresh]

I liked that scene a lot too. Elizabeth Moss a good actress. (I only really know her as Zoey Bartlett). I just wish they’d figure out her hair. Those bangs look like she’s using a rake as a hat. In the pilot, her bangs were fuller/thicker and it was more flattering. I don’t know what’s more “authentic” though.

[dreamy]

Peggy is an interesting character - she's surprised me a few times. First, with the hand on Don's in that first episode, then allowing Pete in to her apartment, then with the basket of kisses. She's still remarkably naive in some ways (especially in the way she trusts Joan), but there are certain depths to her.

[unclewiggly]

I chuckled at your comment about Peggy's bangs Refresh, because last week, I couldn't help but give props to the stylist who has kept her looking the way a girl her age, on her own in the big city for the first time and living on limited means, would look. Joan's hair is "done" -- you know she's got a standing weekly appointment at the salon for a shampoo and set -- but Peggy's flat, sparse bangs and curled ponytail (which gets limper as the week wears on) speaks of a girl who stays in to wash and set her own hair once or twice a week.

As for her character -- I'm ready for the deer-in-headlights bit to be over, and am looking forward to this new copywriting storyline. Should be interesting to watch her hold her own with Peter, Paul & Harry.

[Pepper Mostly]

Peggy has ability but she's very naive. She'll learn some hard lessons. Pete will surely steal her copy and present her ideas as his own. But I don't doubt she'll learn them, and when she writes her memoir in 2017, having retired as the head of her own highly successful ad agency which she built from the ground up, she'll look back ruefully on those days when she was so young and green.

[stillife]

I've watched "Red in the Face" twice and I'm still trying to figure out Peggy's reaction to Pete's rabbit-killing fantasy. Was she turned on or nauseated? She's holding herself in very tightly in that scene, and her reaction was hard for me to read.

I do think that Pete is going to try to steal her copy-writing ideas, but I wouldn't be surprised if she found a way to turn the tables on him, adding to his ever-increasing humiliation.

Edited by stillife, Aug 31, 2007 @ 4:20 PM.

[AuntiePam]

Peggy's bangs -- I think they were more authentic in the first episode. They were thicker and looked like she had set them in rollers and didn't comb them out. That's how I remember 50's bangs -- they were either flat and straight or rolled like a little log.

But lately they have a more current look -- almost like Buffy bangs. Her hair's too thin to make a good pony tail, but it's also too thin to wear down. What's a girl gonna do?

She doesn't seem at all uncomfortable with Pete, and I like that, even though I don't understand it.

[Moniker]

Peggy's makeover is already starting. Did you notice her tight short sleeved sweater over a less poofy, knee length (!) skirt? She was definitely dressed more maturely in this episode than in any preceding one.

[Auntie M]

I posted this over in the "Red in the Face" thread, but when Peggy dashed for the sandwich (and succumbed to a danish as well), I had a feeling that she might be preggers. Several other posters had noticed her increasing bust, and this morning Matthew Weiner confirmed that there's definitely something going on with that:

NPR interview with Matthew Weiner

[stillife]

I'm listening to the NPR interview right now - thanks for the link!

It's possible that Peggy's increased bustline is a result of taking the Pill, which simulate the effects of pregnancy.

[Baby Girl]

Or the fact that she got a mega bra, following in the footsteps of Joan. It's obvious that Joan got where she is by throwing her sexuality around. Peggy knows what will get her ahead, so to speak.

[stillife]

Or the fact that she got a mega bra, following in the footsteps of Joan.

Also a possibility. I just hope they're not going to go the pregnancy route - it seems like such a cliche. Girl sleeps with guy one time and gets knocked up. I do trust Matt Weiner to handle even that hackneyed storyline with an original twist, but the only realistic outcomes that I can think of would be for her to have a miscarriage or get an abortion, and both alternatives reek of Lifetime Original Movies. I hope they don't go that way, so I'm rooting for either improved padded bras or side effects from the Pill.

[HoneyDaff]

I immediately thought she was pregnant upon seeing her getting the Danish. She slept with Pete almost immediately after starting birth control, far too early for it to have worked. The scene was less subtle than the producers might have thought, but definitely far better than the cliche "show the woman throwing up". I have enough faith in this show right now that I think they will use the pregnancy storyline to enhance the program and show another side of American culture in 1960.

[Atlantaloves]

Okay, I just listened to Weiner's interview (God, I can not believe I am so addicted to this show) and he said, yes, there is a reason Peggy's bra size is becoming larger, it is physical and it is coming from upstairs. Okay, does that mean that she is using her brain and boobs to get ahead, or does Pete work upstairs? Please folks, do not let her become preggers, it is such a tired story line, and personally I am sick of women always paying for their so called sins in film. So, what does upstairs mean to you all? Discuss!

[poppy82]

I really hope Peggy's not pregnant. There are so many other more interesting stories they could do with her.

[unclewiggly]

I took Weiner to mean that she was transforming as a result of her new life -- she's maturing from the "girl from Bay Ridge" into the "woman from Manhattan." That might come with an upgrade in her choice of undergarments. Joan practically told her to start wearing a push-up in the pilot episode. I don't think her woozy walk to the lunch-cart was meant to be indicative of anything but her hots for Pete the Mighty Hunter.

[Moniker]

I think so too. Pregnancy would be too obvious.

Her skirts are getting shorter and less voluminous. Her sweaters are getting tighter. It makes sense that she'd get the push up bra, and I'm sure she'll eventually get a haircut from that guy that Joan recommended to Roger's daughter.

[Trapicia]

Peggy seems so socially inept. I get the impression that she slept with Pete because she thought that it was what she was supposed to do. When Joan sent her to that gyno, I think Peggy interpreted it as this was what was expected of a secretary. She seems to closely watch the other women for cues on how to behave, like she has no idea and has lived in cave for most of her life. For a while I thought Joan might be supposed to be a Helen Gurley Brown type character, but now I think that she is "Cosmo Girl"; the kind of girl that Helen Gurley Brown admired and that she modeled herself on. I now believe that Peggy is based on Helen Gurley Brown, a self-described "mouseburger" that transformed herself. The clincher: Helen Gurley Brown started as a secretary and became a copy writer.

[Simonator]

I get the impression that she slept with Pete because she thought that it was what she was supposed to do.

I would say that she thought that it was the grown up thing to do. This is probably the first time in her life where she's been on her own. Back then, even when she was off at school, there would have been dorm mothers, and curfews, and, and no boys allowed in her room. After all, college (or did she go to secretarial school?) students WERE minors. How many college freshman did YOU know who had never had to find their own moral compass and so turned into the Wild Woman of Wongo once they were on their own? This is just the same thing delayed a few years. She's never been in a position where she didn't have the moral guidance of some sort of parental figure, and now she's got.... Joan. Who is perfectly willing to push her off the rails because it validates her own choices. I dind it interesting that Don really is taking a fatherly sort of interest in her, rather than the creepy, stalker-y interest that she's engendered from the rest of the guys. It's not like he's unwilling to add another to his harem, but "mousey-shy girl" is so obviously not his type.

[Baby Girl]

Her skirts are getting shorter and less voluminous. Her sweaters are getting tighter. It makes sense that she'd get the push up bra, and I'm sure she'll eventually get a haircut from that guy that Joan recommended to Roger's daughter.

Maybe she took Joan's advice and looked in the mirror with a bag over her head to determine her best assets. She took a lot of flack her first day because of her long skirts and dowdy sweaters. It's obvious that as she continues working at SC she'll get a little more sophisticated and become a more experienced and worldy woman. The other characters have been at SC awhile, but it's Peggy that we are witnessing being "reborn" from the ground up in their image.

Edited by Baby Girl, Sep 6, 2007 @ 12:54 PM.

[chickieloveknit]

I've enjoyed reading these posts because I find myself very confused by Peggy's character! She just seems so spacey, daffy & clueless to me. Half the time I feel like she's going to look around and say, "where am I??". And yet at other times I feel we are supposed to see her as a confident seductress and I am just not buying it. I find her extremely homely as well and yet feel like she is being sold as a head turner. Is she girl next door or town tramp? Aghhh...my head is spinning!

[DarkVamp70]

I knew "Peggy" was a closet "freak!";P "Joan" may sway around and flaunt her, ah, assets. But mousy "Peggy" is probably the more...adventurous! LOL!

IMO, the Fellas (after this many eppys I'm still cloudy about most of their names) will probably call on her to write copy for tampons and other feminine products....

[toomanycupcakes]

I think Peggy may be making herself less "cute" so that she'll be taken seriously for her "upstairs" business. She sees Joan as all "downstairs" and even confronts her about it in the preview for next week. Perhaps she's trying to be the opposite of Joan? We already know she uncomfortable with advances from the men when she thought they were just being friendly. I think she wants to be equal to them and believes being attractive will get in the way.

[poppy82]

I like that explanation, toomanycupcakes (love the name! Mmm).

I don't think Peggy is that mousy. I thought she looked pretty when she did that sexy sashay over ot Pete.

I definitely want a backstory for this character like we've started to get for Pete and Don.

[qtmcwhiskers]

I think she wants to be equal to them and believes being attractive will get in the way.

How does that fit in with her wearing tighter and more revealing clothing of late, though?

[pomme de terre]

That's what Joan told her to do to get ahead, so she tried that. But she sees that it has a downside, so she's going another route.

Shoot, it's 2007 and I can barely figure out what to wear to the office to command respect without appear like a complete frump.

[toomanycupcakes]

How does that fit in with her wearing tighter and more revealing clothing of late, though?

Well, I think her outfit at the end of episode 8 was rather matronly and the red one in the preview was as well. Not really form fitting just more mature. More like a church dress. Not sexy at all.

I'd rather think it's an attitude change than carrying a spawn of Pete.

[Auntie M]

I am myself slightly suspicious of my own theory that Peggy is preggers, particularly since she seems to be packing on the weight ALL OVER and not just where one would expect. I don't think it's an illusion caused by a closer fit, when she sashayed back to the group after Pete's nastiness, there was a quick closeup of her behind and it was definitely padded out.

I'd agree that her wardrobe is moving away from school-girly, but she's not quite hitting the mark of stylish and instead veering into church-lady territory. That red dress for next week is just horrible. I have a coworker with a closetful of awful suits (bought in the mother-of-the bride section?) my favorite is a seafoam green carpetbag-fabric number. Maybe Peggy can borrow it in Episode 10.

Edited by Auntie M, Sep 7, 2007 @ 11:43 AM.

[Pepper Mostly]

Well, now we know why Peggy was all shook up by Midge's "pull my hair, ravish me" phone call. It got her all hot and bothered. Her own fantasy, being lived out by another! Maybe that's why she got so bold.