Peggy Olson.
A hero for the modern
woman. She reminds me of a few women I
know who entered the working world –a working world once populated almost
exclusively by men. Peggy Olson embodies
a pioneer of workplace equality. She put
up with a lot of nonsense perpetrated by her male co-workers. But Peggy Olson persisted and she made
it! And she opened the door for other
women in the workplace. I will miss you,
Peggy Olson.
Initially I did not
watch Mad Men. I liked the idea of the
show, but for reasons I can no longer recall, I did not tune in. I started to watch Mad Men in the fifth
season of the show…. an episode titled “At the Codfish Ball” (S5E7), about the strained relationships
between parents and children, and between people in general. I was intrigued enough about little Sally
Draper, that I continued to tune in week after week, and watched marathon
showings of Mad Men, trying to catch up.
Finally, in preparation of the final episodes, AMC showed the entire series
in 3 or 4 episode segments on Sunday mornings, and I have been able to see the entire
story. Those are some crazy Mad Men, and
women!
I will miss every one
of them, Don Draper, Joan Holloway, Roger Sterling, Peggy Olson, Sally Draper,
and Ken Cosgrove –all of whom I like. I
will miss Betty Draper Francis, Pete Campbell, Megan Draper (she should get her
teeth fixed!), Stan Rizzo, and Paul
Kinsey –none of whom I like in any way. I already miss Lane Pryce and Bert Cooper.
I will miss the
drama. I will miss the intrigue of the
Don Draper character. Most of all I will
miss Peggy Olson, the endearing, aggravating, wonderful “modern woman”.
The final episodes have
only begun, we have no idea where these few episodes will lead or leave off…. but
already I am wistful and a little sentimental about saying a final “farewell”
to the idea of watching Mad Men forever.
