Claudia D. Christian

Estimated reading time: 5 – 8 minutes

Given my writing proclivities it comes as no surprise that I would enjoy the tormented dynamics between Mad Men characters Pete Campbell and Peggy Olson. Angst junkies who have never seen Mad Men and are on the fence should take this post as a shove. Take these mini-spoilers to heart, watch Seasons 1-3, become obsessed, and squirm with me as we all wait for Season 4.

AMC’s site describes Pete as “a Partner working in Account Management at the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce advertising agency. He held a similar position at the original Sterling Cooper. A descendant of New York’s venerable Dykeman family, Pete lives with his wife Trudy in a Park Avenue apartment financed in part by her parents.”

Peggy is given similar treatment by stating she is, “a copywriter at the newly formed Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce advertising agency. The Brooklyn native began at the original Sterling Cooper as Don Draper’s secretary; he promoted her to copywriter in recognition of her contributions to two successful campaigns.”

Very dry, yes?

No.

Let me make this perfectly clear. We do not have a predictable devil and angel on our hands here despite initial appearances. Yes, Pete can be manipulative, moody, and hateful. Yes, Peggy can be meek, soft-spoken, and naive to the point of irritation.

While that flat dynamic could contain its own charm, thankfully, they are so much more than that.

Many Maddicts (doncha just love this moniker for Mad Men fans?) are quick to dismiss Pete as a vile, little snake and mark him as an easy villain. On the surface, I can see why he’s characterized as such. After all, he does very little to endear himself to anyone except Peggy and even then it’s awkwardly cruel.

However, his very awkwardness is what inspires my intense fascination.

Pete comes from a lofty set where working is seen as plebeian and must be avoided at all cost unless said work is universally considered genteel. Rather than taking pride in their son wanting to make his own way, Pete’s family treats him as if he were peddling shoddy wares on Madison Avenue instead of ideas. While adoring, his wife Trudy continuously trots out his New World aristocracy to any who’d listen and basks in the appropriate murmurs of appreciation. Pete finds his progressive ideas unwelcome at Sterling Cooper and is often slighted for daring to think beyond tradition.

Pete has everything that should matter but doesn’t. On some level he knows he is lost. Lost to expectation, lost to a world where everything he’s ever learned is now held against him. He’s snobbish out of habit and yet wants so badly to be accepted, valued, not for his lineage or connections, but for himself.

On the other side, Peggy comes from a lower-middle class family where religion dominates all and where women should be spiritually bonded to Almighty God first and physically bonded to a nice boy second. Peggy’s world at Sterling Cooper dictates she should be lovely, quick, and accommodating—not just professionally. Much speculation is given to why she succumbed to Pete’s drunken overtures the night of his bachelor’s party. Some say it’s because she felt it was expected. Others wonder if their first disastrous meeting in Don Draper’s office wasn’t the first.

Everything in Peggy’s personal life should mark her future as predictable. However, she wants to be more than just good daughter, Catholic, and lay. She wants a choice and finds it in Pete’s arms. Like all complex matters of the heart, their affair is punctuated by surface indifference, vulnerability, longing, and painful honesty.  They are a combination of desperate submissiveness and careful aggression.

I love Pete and Peggy because they are both so much the same even in their differences. They can just be with one another. There is no room for family or social expectations. Pete and Peggy are not just two sides of the same coin—they are the same side of the same coin. It is their likeness that brings out the best and worst in each other.

They are both strangers in this Madison world they want to be part of so badly. They are both young, ambitious, and let instinct guide their way. Neither of them have familial role models to pattern themselves after. They are unique within their own little worlds and that uniqueness is not cherished. Because of this they often make mistakes, in their professional and personal lives, but they never stop trying to be the people they dream of being.

Peggy accepts Pete’s boorishness and still sees the man he wants to become. She offers advice about honesty even when choking from her mute dishonesty. Pete recognizes Peggy’s copywriting talents, in turns petulant and admiring of what she is able to accomplish. He sees his hand in causing the dismissal of a colleague as inconsequential because it helped Peggy. When the end of the world is imminent Pete chooses to spend those moments with her.

Unfortunately, betrayal is a cup both must drink of deeply and affairs aren’t meant to last.

I can dissect this pair for pages but instead I leave you with this—while Season 3 saw them conspicuously distant from the other, I believe this silence said everything. I don’t believe Pete and Peggy are through with one another and I am wildly looking forward to Season 4.

Thankfully, I am not alone in my Pete and Peggy adoration. Here is a video by quadrophenia718 which coincidentally sums this post up quite nicely. I invite the uninitiated to watch Art (Lust. Obsession. Lost.)

NOTE: The original audio to this beauteous Pete/Peggy montage has been silenced due to copyright infringement. Please feel free to watch it in silence, or if you prefer a little mood music, you may press ‘play’ on this little vid below first before watching Art (Lust. Obsession. Lost.) which follows right beneath.