Peggy, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship

So here is what I SHOULD be doing early this morning: working on my work presentation that's due in a few days that I procrastinated the hell out of (no, I don't actually watch TV all day long, I have a day job, and yes, I realize it's Labor Day and it's sad I will be, in fact, laboring).

Here is what I'm ACTUALLY doing: writing a recap for what I think might be the best episode of Mad Men I've ever seen. It may be the combination of having been completely wired on sugar and coffee and, oh yeah, I HAD DINNER NEXT TO JON HAMM AND JENNIFER WESTFELDT LAST NIGHT, but I couldn't sleep for about 2 hours after I finished watching the episode. (I won't elaborate too much because this isn't about me and my celebrity sightings, and if I did elaborate you would just think I'm a crazy stalker but: 1. He looked goooooood. 2. Despite patently avoiding eye contact with him for 2 hours straight I can remember exactly what he was wearing. 3. At one point he was discussing Justin Bieber with his dinner mates 4. This was the crowning glory of any LA celebrity encounter I've ever had.)

Okay, back to Mad Men. Usually I try not to read any reviews before I write these things because even though this is mostly for fun and it's not like a ton of people read this anyway, I don't want to advertently or inadvertently steal anyone's ideas or thoughts. However, with the whole not sleeping last night thing, I read whatever I could find. The first thing I read was the recap from NYMag, which I always enjoy, but I have to say I'm really surprised that so many people seemed to think this episode pointed at a burgeoning romance between Don and Peggy because I didn't really get that vibe at all (although, the end of this episode was the first time the idea of it didn't immediately make me feel like retching). I think it was definitely a sign of a shift in the relationship to a deeper level but I think your mileage may vary on whether it was romantic (I lean towards platonic, personally).

I figure if you're reading this you've already seen the episode so I won't bother rehashing everything, but basically this was all Peggy and Don, battling it out over all their issues (and boy do they have a lot). They were figuratively locked in together overnight, not by silly circumstances like a stuck elevator or a locked door that would happen in a sitcom, but because they WANTED to be together, for whatever reason. There was a reason Don made Peggy stay behind. And how many times could Peggy have left the office, even after being heavily berated by Don, but didn't?

The AV Club said it was very much like a short story, which I totally agree with. It was perfectly structured with a beginning, a middle, and an end, and in a mere 50 minutes they've managed to show how these two people's relationship has changed overnight (literally!). I love how it started with Don being, as per usual these days, a raging ass to Peggy. This culminates with that awful conversation where he yells at her about her supposed ungratefulness, causing her to cry in front of him. Next, they very gingerly bond over Roger Sterling's hilarious taped memoirs, and then at dinner and in the bar, they actually talk about things that they've never talked about with anyone else, even if they do so very obliquely. They're both completely screwed up, but they get each other.

And of course, that moment after Don finally makes his dreaded phone call to California, hangs up, and then we get that shot of Peggy on the couch just staring at him. It's like when you have things bottled up for a long time and you see someone who looks concerned for you, and then the dam breaks. It was a huge shock to see Don cry and it was about as close as I've ever come to crying while watching this show. Jon Hamm really killed it here. I know we're always saying he deserves an Emmy but really? He deserves an Emmy for this.

I spent nearly the entire episode thinking, please don't have sex, please don't have sex, but the end floored me even more than that would have. I thought for a second, is Don really going to completely ignore the events of the previous night, but then when he put his hand over hers, I think my heart grew three sizes. I really think their relationship is BETTER because it IS platonic--it's a lot more complex. And I think we all know a relationship doesn't have to be romantic to be very, very important to the parties involved. It seems pretty clear to me that Peggy is the new Anna Draper and I'm okay with this. I'm really glad Don and Peggy recognize that they have someone who gets them, for better and worse, and they're friends. It's like in first Harry Potter where Harry, Ron, and Hermione fight the troll and decide you can't really fight a troll without becoming friends in the end. You can't really have a night like Don and Peggy did and not come out of it besties. Yes, I just added an HP reference here, WHAT?

Now I'm genuinely curious where they're going to go the rest of the season. We're officially at the midway point now. Previously I'd said we were definitely headed for a Don Draper meltdown but now it seems like we're heading in the opposite direction. This episode ending was hopeful in a show where that doesn't happen very often (hello, the opening credits have a Draper-shaped figure tumbling off a roof for goodness' sake). I really hope they don't backpedal too much and have Don hit rock bottom again. Or was last week rock bottom at all? Is there more to come? I can't imagine the hopefulness sustaining itself much longer (that's not how Matt Weiner rolls), so where do we go from here?

I think this season has been really hit or miss but damn it if they haven't reeled me back in. Matthew Weiner might be a huge blowhard in real life but he knocked this one out of the ballpark. And if I'd seen this episode before seeing Jon Hamm at dinner? I would have had to restrain myself from genuflecting at his feet.

I love this show but it's really rare that I finish an episode and immediately think, I need to watch that again right now. Unfortunately I only caught the encore presentation, having missed the original (BECAUSE I WAS DRIVING BACK FROM HAVING DINNER NEXT TO JON HAMM--ok I'll stop), and I didn't get to watch it again until today. To date this is the only episode I've ever fully rewatched. To me this could easily have been a season finale (or dare I say, even elements of a series finale?). I've always thought this show to err a bit too much on the bleak side and if the eventual series finale was half as hopeful as this episode was, I'd be really pleased.

Things I LOVED:

-"You know you're cute as hell." Aw. Awwwwwwwwwww. Okay, fine, maybe a teeny part of me would not object to a Don/Peggy hookup. A teeny part!
-I love how Peggy looked completely disheveled when she walked into Don's office at the end and he looked fresh as a spring daisy. I'm glad some things never change.
-The Simon & Garfunkel. I know what I'm listening to all day.
-The look on Pete's face when he sees Peggy and Trudy exiting the bathroom together.
-Roger and Mrs. Blankenship. Cooper's lack of testicles. Sterling's Gold.
-The acting. Someone, somewhere (sorry I can't remember who!) wrote that it's a testament to Jon Hamm's great acting that you can always tell when he's being Dick Whitman--he's looser and open, but it's subtle--and you can see bits of that character leak through here.
-Enough about Jon Hamm, how about Elisabeth Moss? I've always liked her since her days as Zoey Bartlet on The West Wing. This was like watching a play with two great actors who know their characters very well.
-I just love when things come full circle or call back to earlier seasons. So I loved the hand holding that mirrored the first episode and how they both saw each other cry and the discussion of Peggy's baby and Don visiting her in the hospital.

Things I Liked:

-Trudy Campbell's "You're still very young" to Peggy. Bitchy, but Trudy's not a bitch. She's just a product of her time. And Trudy likes rare steaks and watching two guys fight!
-Peggy's mom hates Don because she thinks he was the one who got her preggo.
-Happy birthday Peggy! You're officially so awesome I will no longer make fun of your clothing. Your dress was cute this week, in fact. Don't worry, you CAN have it all!
-Maybe this is due to the fact I actually saw Jon Hamm in the flesh prior to watching this episode but I still thought Don looked pretty good for throwing up all night and being completely wasted.

Things I Could Have Done Without:

-Duck attempting to take a poo on Roger's couch. Ew. This is almost as bad as when he left his dog in the middle of Manhattan.
-Don's barfing noises were quite authentic but they went on a smidge too long for me, ughhh.

(P.S. I'm so SORRY this is so long, but I felt like I had to get this all out there before I could do anything real-life productive today. Thanks for reading!)