What was the final indignity, the insult that sent Peggy running? Perhaps it was when Don threw money in her face after she won a bit of new Chevalier Blanc business. Or perhaps it was watching the agency boys eat lobster from the Palm while she slaved away on Secor Laxative and the other unglamorous accounts. Or perhaps it was the years of abuse from Don, who has been taking her for granted in ways big and small. When you think about it, we’ve witnessed so many reasons for Peggy to make this decision—culminating in last week’s episode implicitly comparing SCDP to a cult—that perhaps we should cheer Peggy’s resolve in breaking with her charismatic leader. Certainly the exhilarating closing music—the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me”—brought the episode out on a high note, suggesting that Peggy is movin’ on up to bigger things, to a place where she’ll no longer be seen as “some secretary from Brooklyn who wants to help out,” as Freddy Rumsen put it. But I’m sad to see her go. And her final goodbye with Don—her proffered handshake, the moment when it seemed he might reject the overture, and then his tender, strangely chivalric kiss—had me weepy. Goodnight, office. Goodnight, room. Goodnight, Peggy, jumping over the moon. [Slate]

geminitactic:

“Peggy, this isn’t China. There’s no money in virginity.” - Joan Holloway, season 1, episode 9