i finished the series for the first time this week, some thoughts

do you think that both peter and peggy are kind of foils for don?

i think it's really interesting that they both look up to him so much initially. it seems like they both acknowledge that he is a genius, but that the way he moves through the world has invisible consequences that they are impervious to. this is in part because they both (pete moreso than peggy) see that when they try to replicate his behavior that goes unopposed and unaddressed, they are unsatisfied with the repercussions. they can't escape them. don has enough money and prestige that he can kind of talk his way out of most of those things and still look like he is in control until the final season.

i'm still figuring out how i feel about peter, but i keep reading that peggy was the most transformed in the end. to me it look like pete has a couple of come-to-jesus moments where he realizes his ambition might actually be very simple minded and poisoning the well, and makes good with trudy to opt for life outside of nyc. i really believe he's learned some lessons here and isn't just making a last ditch effort to retain some modicum of respectability. peggy has kind of a similar moment where she thinks of starting her own agency with joan but then reconsiders and stays at mccann.

these moments feel radical because someone like don is always trying to out smart the system to retain a level of individualistic freedom that kind of winds up destroying him. i think about that scene where joan is scolding him and tells him that she never hears him use the word "we." he only talks about himself and his needs in the context of an agency where plenty of people have made sacrifices to get it up off the ground. i've been trying to figure out how i feel about his ending, and it actually makes a lot of sense. the very individualistic kind of feel-good self help movement of the 60s that folded in on itself in the 70s. i was so disappointed that he didn't go back to be with the kids during such a tumultuous time, like he couldn't even consider one person besides himself, and betty called him on it. i was mad at her when she did, but clearly don can't change, at least by the end of the series.