For MadMen followers, we enter the bittersweet time of watching the show wind down, but for all my searching this morning, I couldn't find the most important line repeated anywhere. It's as though everyone simply ignored it. Of course, it was Peggy who noted the stunning truth after going on a blind date that went remarkably well.
The young man followed her to her apartment, and he assumed they could just hop in the sack -- like everyone else. Peggy was raised Catholic, but embraced the zeitgeist with both arms: giving birth to an illegitimate child (which she placed for adoption), agreeing to cohabitate when she clearly wanted marriage, and alienating co-workers and family because of her success at work.
What does she say to zealous Stevie? When she stops him from fumbling with her clothes, he grumbles: “You’re so old-fashioned,” to which she answers: “I’ve tried new-fashioned.” And her follow-up line is tinged with hard-won wisdom: "I thought you were a fling and now I think you're more." So he kisses her sweetly and leaves. And she smiles.
No wonder everyone wants to pass that over -- it's the starkest truth uttered on the show thus far.
(The exchange of plates was priceless -- and laden with meaning!)
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