Is Pete actually that dense that he could listen to the guys talk about the possibility that Peggy was pregnant and not question whether or not she had his baby? His conversation with Peggy later on didn't seem to indicate that he was even thinking about it.

Is Pete actually that dense that he could listen to the guys talk about the possibility that Peggy was pregnant and not question whether or not she had his baby?

Pete is so unbelievably arrogant and selfish, that I honestly think it wouldn't occur to him. At the point at which he was first sleeping with Peggy, remember, his wife and her family were pressuring him into starting a family and he was adamant that he couldn't support one and of course, that the underlying emotion is that he didn't want someone else around who could potentially supplant him and knock him down another rung in power and level of importance. He gets that at work, at home-- I think that's part of what Peggy's attraction was for him initially-- she was someone he was actually "better" than.

And personally, I think that while Don promoted Peggy to piss off Pete, there's no way he would've have done it if she didn't have the chops. Just prior to calling her in and telling her she'd been promoted, Ken was praising her abilities, not just as a writer, but in how she handled the situation with the actress.

Peggy's more instinctively savvy than she even realizes right now. I think her and Ken working together make for an interesting team.

Pete is so unbelievably arrogant and selfish, that I honestly think it wouldn't occur to him.

I agree.

there's no way he would've have done it if she didn't have the chops.

Oh, totally. But Don is a very political animal and has been known to do things for spite. Plus, even though she produces, if push comes to shove and it's she or a man who has to go, she will lose. If she doesn't, I'm going to question the writers of the show, because they've gone overboard with the misogyny, sexism and prejudice in this show. Why make an exception for Peggy, because it sure was a rarest of rare things back then for a woman to be successful in this or any other high powered position. My mother quit a secretarial job in 1965 in an investment firm because they wouldn't let her work with accounts. Mainly because (their words), women didn't have families to support, men did. Uhm, did working women not work to support families, too? But, yeah, it was the common POV of most men; women worked for fun, not for money.

Peggy's more instinctively savvy than she even realizes right now.

That scene where she says all the "Daddy" stuff to Don gave me the serious creeps.

Mainly because (their words), women didn't have families to support, men did. Uhm, did working women not work to support families, too? But, yeah, it was the common POV of most men; women worked for fun, not for money.

Sadly, there are still people today that think this way.

That scene where she says all the "Daddy" stuff to Don gave me the serious creeps.

Yeah, but again, so very telling. She knows, somewhere in a gut, reptilian brain sort of place, what will affect him. It's absolutely fascinating, because it's the opposite of how Joan operates-- Joan knows her level of power and how to exploit it. And I think Joan realizes, again, more than even Peggy herself does, the potential Peggy has, which is one reason she needs to keep Peggy in her place as much as possible.

And Sail, you're right-- push comes to shove, Peggy's out. But I suspect it would be require a big push. It would be interesting to see. But we have to remember that fourteen months has elapsed in show time, so she's been at this for a while now. I think the beauty lies in the mystery of not knowing yet just what Peggy's learned, being on the fringes of the boy's club. I suspect that, being men of the time, they maybe talked around/over her sometimes as if she wasn't even in the room and she's probably picked up some interesting tidbits about her bosses and coworkers.

But we have to remember that fourteen months has elapsed in show time,

I keep forgetting this. A lot can happen in that amount of time.

I think the beauty lies in the mystery of not knowing yet just what Peggy's learned, being on the fringes of the boy's club.

So far as we can see, only how to be arrogant around the women. Heh. You're right, that's going to be one of the big mysteries of the season. At least, I hope!

But we have to remember that fourteen months has elapsed in show time

I know I read that here, but is this confirmed in the episode somehow?

Yes. Jackie Kennedy's televised tour of the White House was on Feb. 14, 1962 and we left off last season on Thanksgiving of 1960.