Oops, my bad. No leverage. But you can still contrast Peggy's choices, though in many ways Joan's choices and circumstances make a better comparison with Betty.

Peggy seems to think she could have forced Pete to divorce Trudy and marry her instead, but I'm not sure how realistic that was.

Give Pete's "passing along his blood" issues, she might have had a shot. Not saying a great shot, but a lot bigger than zero.

Don't know if you want to branch your thesis like this, but there is an interesting comparison to be made between Pete and Don. Both were raised in their own way by wolves. Both are trying to learn from the social norms of their time. (There was the scene when Petey's father died, and he wondered how he was supposed to feel about it. And Don told him not to worry too much about what he felt, but to take some time off. And Pete asked (paraphrase) "is taking time off really what a normal person would do at a time like this?" And Don tells him it is. Both Petey and Don are users and manipulators. But Don is better at it, because he has enough empathy to other people to have some idea of how they will react. Pete understands the world better than Don, but Don understands individuals better. And where this might tie into your thesis is the contrast in how Trudy deals with Petey and how Betty deals with Don. Betty plays the traditional housewife role, and earns Don's contempt. (Don loves the marriage, but once Betty stopped being a fashion model no longer loved her. Or if that is too simple at least no longer respected her. Betty wants to be a real partner, but chose to accept a role where that was the last thing she was. Trudy used her connection from the beginning to make a power play - getting a loan from her parents for the co-op apartment she wanted. Though Petey occasionally reduces her to tears, she treats him like a child, scolding him when he does wrong, kissing him when he does something she approves of. She preps him to act like a human at work, and use repetition to drill him in behavoir that is not natural to him. Given Don's Madonna/whore complex, something like that might have worked for Betty. But Madonna is a role she can't play. She is not much of a mother to her children, and is even less able to play Mommy to a grown man. Both Don and Petey had awful parents. Don I think has managed to move past looking for a father, but not past looking for a mother. (Look at his relationship with the real Don Draper's widow - a pretty strong maternal vibe. )

Speaking as the mother of a two year old, there's a big difference between loving babies and loving parenting. Betty does not enjoy her older children.

I don't doubt that, but I think Betty wanted kids before she understood how much work it is being a mother. She might not like the reality, but I get the sense that she wouldn't have wanted to go through life not having kids.

That's the tension, right? There are things Betty wants(ed) and she doesn't quite know how to deal with the reality of the choices she's made.

Joan wants the same things that Betty wants - the marriage, children, money. But she's actually happier in the work place, where her ultra-competentence is appreciated. And she's closer to learning that than Betty is.

That's probably because Joan didn't get married until she was in her thirties, versus, Betty getting married in her early twenties. And dabbling in modeling aside, Betty has never had the types of responsibilities over a workplace that Joan has had for so many years. Joan's natural competence and acquired skillset translate to a better ability to negotiate marriage than Betty.

Betty kind of reminds me of a shark-- very narrow, very focused, and very savage when it comes to getting what she wants.

Gingerbread Mad Men

Leverage promo. I heard there's one with Eliot in eyeliner, but I haven't seen that one yet.

I heard there's one with Eliot in eyeliner

::thunk::

I think I just found a new happy place.

And apparently with Hardison giving him shit for it.

I just don't watch much on TNT. Maybe they'll advertise during The Closer. That's TNT, right? Wanna see.

Rewatching Mad Men from season 1. Boy did Joan and Peggy have an interesting relationship.