The family power struggles were interesting and went to great, painful lengths: Don brought a troublesome man whom he dislikes into his home merely to prevent his brother-in-law from moving into/taking over the family house. Meanwhile, Roger admitted over a martini that he didn’t care about his own daughter’s wedding, he just wants to ‘win’ the battle it evoked.

I don’t get Peggy. Her singing in the mirror looked a little like mental instability. And her hook-up seemed out of character. Could she be schizophrenic? Her mental state following childbirth certainly looked like a psychotic break.

This also makes sense for the next scene, when he stands in front of Peggy’s door and just watches her for a second. He seems to be thinking about how much things are changing, having a woman be one of his top copywriters. And a woman who’s often right and forward-thinking (she, after all, gets it right about that campaign, not Ken Cosgrove).

But meanwhile, Peggy, too, seems to have given Don a point. She told the young man at the bar “I work for a jerk.” But she does take his advice and acquiesces that maybe men do want an Ann Margaret type, and she even does her best to put that role on.

So I love, love, love the stalemate they have in the very last scene. They just sit there quietly, both probably realizing the other is right. They are an interesting set of characters to have growing together!

I think the maypole scene is about his longing for a time of innocence and joyous youth. As he watches the young teacher dance barefoot in the grass around the maypole, he lets his arm sink to the ground and his fingers touch the grass. That was the closest he could get to feeling that freedom and carelessness.

Granted, it will tie in to the show, but to run that scene in slow motion was deliberate. Whether the viewer realized it or not, we knew we were watching something truly significant about Don and the show. As a result, we are all talking about it.

So, beyond generating buzz, what did the scene mean? Well, as Don faces change in his home life (child on the way, father-in-law moving in), and at work (bought out by the British, no longer knowing who is really in charge), I think the true meaning will play itself out in a flashback scene in a future episode. Whatever that memory turns out to be, it is going to trigger something in Don (not unlike the Kodak Carousel did) that leads to inspiration. Don’s fixation on the Earth Mother in the Maypole scene was, in my opinion, the embodiment of what he told Peggy: guys want to be with her, women want to be here. There is a lot of drama in Don’s life because of his relationship with Betty. We saw in season 1 when he wanted to run away with Rachel when there was turmoil at home. I think Don is wishing things could be simpler and he saw that in the Earth Mother. Does this make sense? I feel like I am babbling now.

I agree with you that Don and Peggy had a pivotal moment in their relationship. What really struck me is that nobody ever challenges Don’s ideas at work except Peggy. It seems to me that Don doesn’t really respect women, as evidenced by his philandering, yet Peggy is the the only woman that has thrown herself at Don that he has turned down. I think on some level Don has a respect for Peggy and that respect manifests itself in a type of mentor-protege relationship. I also think that Don’s respect gives Peggy confidence and we saw her carry herself with confidence at the bar. Peggy seems ripe to embrace the upcoming sexual revolution. I would like to see more scenes with her and Don matching wits.

Can’t wait for the next episode!

Draper is always working, even when he seems to be enjoying himself in the moment (which, in itself is rare). In that maypole scene, I noticed he had a can of soda on the ground near his chair. My sense is he was analyzing the grass and the joy and the whole scene as a potential way to pitch the diet soda campaign. Give the show another few years, and it’ll be Draper pitching the “I’d like to teach the world to sing” campaign to aging flower children.