Mad Men: "At the Codfish Ball" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

Of all the storylines this week, I felt Peg was the one that felt a little weak, as it played out a bit more predictably than the others. With Peg nervous that Abe was going to break up with her and Joan suggesting he was going to propose, it wasn't hard to guess that it would be neither of those extremes. Still, Peg deciding to move in with her boyfriend is a notable thing in an era where her mom still refers to it as "living in sin." And it was hard not to wonder if her mom might not be right about Abe using Peg "for practice" until he finds a woman he really wants to marry – and hope she isn't wrong.

This was a big week for Megan, who really proved herself at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, coming up with a homerun idea for Heinz – and one that ended up really saving the day, when Heinz was going to leave. It was great seeing how complicated the situation is by Megan being Don's wife – how she was rightfully nervous to tell people it was her idea, and then seeing Stan clearly think it was probably really Don's when he heard about it.

It's all about knowing your audience for these people, which is why it was especially shrewd (but of course also sad, since it was her concept), when Megan did ultimately let Heinz believe it was Don's idea – almost certainly the right call after how they interacted with Peggy the week before, and the old fashioned viewpoint of women that was implicit there.

I am a bit puzzled by Megan's reaction after her idea saves the day though and how she came off as a bit melancholy – noticed by Peggy too, who was very sweet and complimentary to her ("This is as good as this job gets. Savor it."). Her problem didn't seem to be that Heinz didn't think it was her idea - and it was nice for Don to at least make sure to credit her for one portion, regarding the family in the future. Was it perhaps that she felt a surprising lack of fulfillment because this simply isn't what she really wants to be doing? Her conversation with her father later, in which he accused her of "giving up" by marrying Don certainly made that a possibility. Of course, this was her great idea whether she was married to Don or not… but it also probably never would have been heard if she hadn't married Don (and was presumably still just his secretary). I'd be curious what you all think about why Megan seemed so unexcited by her success, if you want to chime in in the comments.

Meanwhile, it's very funny to discover that Roger truly feels his LSD trip has changed and enlightened him and led to much more self-discovery beyond his marriage ending – Don's little snarky comment about it made it clear he won't shut up about it.

On the other hand, it was nice to see a different, warmer side of Roger (who is after all a father himself) in his cute interactions with Sally. Some may raise an eyebrow at him calling her his date and being mock-flirty with her, but it never felt lecherous, but rather genuinely sweet…

…which is why it was so sad to see poor Sally so traumatized when she caught Roger getting a blow job from Megan's mom! Sally is still very young and hopefully is not going to start "acting out" in that way anytime soon, though given her conversations with the older Glen, it's not hard to worry… The second I saw Glen in the "previously on" segment, I got nervous, because man can Glen bring the creepy. However, it turns out he wasn't a major presence in the episode. Still, knowing Sally is still in contact with him is notable, especially after she turned to him at the end for comfort.

I also have to put the spotlight on a couple of amazing lines in this episode. The first was Megan's father's "accidental" (or was it?), translation screw up: "One day your little girl will spread her legs and fly away." The other was another classic Roger Sterling line: "For all we know, Jesus was trying to get the loaves and fishes account."

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