Mad Cap: "The New Girl"

Left to right: Jon Hamm, Melinda McGraw and Elisabeth Moss

Welcome to Mad Cap: a daily rundown of every episode of the acclaimed AMC series Mad Men. During this time, I will be compiling my thoughts and highlights as we travel through every moment and season of the Emmy-award winning drama that has come to define modern TV. The goal is to be a refresher on every moment for Don Draper and his band of advertisement executives leading up to the final season. Stay for all of the shocking moments and the brilliant acting performances, and make sure to chime in with your thoughts and criticisms on why the show means something to you.

Season 2, Episode 5

"The New Girl"

"Why can't daddy have salt?"

- Sally Draper (Kiernan Shipka)

"Because we love him."

- Betty Draper (January Jones)

Plot

Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) and Trudy Campbell (Alison Brie) are having trouble determining whether or not they want to have children. At Sterling Cooper, Don Draper (Jon Hamm) gets a new secretary named Jane (Peyton List), who dresses too attractively and gets Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks) overtly defensive on wardrobe. Don decides to go out on the town with Bobbie Barrett (Melinda McGraw) only to end up in a car crash that breaks his arm and get arrested when his alcohol blood level is a little too high. He has Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss) pick them up and demands that she doesn't tell anyone. Peggy and Bobbie live together for a few days, determining whether or not Peggy likes Don. Joan announced to Roger Sterling (John Slattery) that she is getting married. Betty Draper (January Jones) gets upset that Don didn't call her after the accident. Billy Barrett (Patrick Fischler) decides to have a meeting with Don to discuss his recent acceptance back into promoting Utz (and his recent pick up for a series called Grin and Barrett). In flashback, Peggy is in a hospital bed while pregnant. Don comes to visit her and demands that she terminates it as to allow her life to move on without any conflict.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Moss

MVP:

Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss)

It is easy to think that upon the completion of season one that Peggy was going to keep her child and raise it. However, in this episode, there is plenty of talk about making new beginnings. Don believes that it is best to look forward and don't think about the past. It is how everyone plays the game in this. Joan chooses not to look back on her affair with Sterling. Don tries not to think of the car crash. The only person thinking is Peggy, and it allows us to get a look into her psyche. While she has adjusted to life at Sterling Cooper, she still has a few things to learn. People are cruel and make stupid mistakes. Their success predicates that they don't get caught up in it. In the best scene of the episode, she has to make the decision to have an abortion and ends up seeking Don's advice. It is a sad moment, but in an episode where Peggy's intuition to be accepted by her peers is brought into question, it is her own version of shock equivalent to when when Don went from being Dick Whitman to the modern success story.

Hamm

Best Scene

Throughout the episode, there are flashbacks to a time when Peggy was passed out in a hospital. This is reminiscent of her season one arc end in which she faints from a pregnancy. As the episode comes to a close, Don appears and provides her advice. She simply needs to keep going and not think about it much like the car crash from earlier in the episode. The consequences are severe and life changing. They're also a shock given that Peggy has been seen adoring children for most of the season. The symbolism becomes immediately clear why she would be uncomfortable around them. It is an excellent summary of these events and shows just how slowly she is turning into a Don Draper-esque employee. She can't have these things slow her down no matter what. It also summarizes Pete and Trudy's problems, which are equally about having children.

UP NEXT: "Maidenform"