Peggy Olson's Promotion in "MAD MEN" (1.13) "The Wheel"
PEGGY OLSON'S PROMOTION IN "MAD MEN" (1.13) "THE WHEEL"
Many fans of the show have made a big deal of Peggy Olson's promotion in the "MAD MEN" Season One finale, (1.13) "The Wheel". Actually, many have focused upon Peggy's upward mobility from the secretarial pool to her new position as one of Sterling-Cooper's copywriters - a professional. I had just finished watching this episode and another thought came to mind.
It finally occurred to me that the firm's Creative Director, Don Draper, had given Peggy that promotion in order to spite Pete Campbell, an Accounts executive who wanted to fill in the position of Head of Accounts. When Pete learned that the firm's two partners - Bert Cooper and Roger Sterling - had directed Don to find a new Head of Accounts for the firm, he made sure to inform Don that he had acquired the Clearsil account due to his father-in-law being an executive of that company. One could say that Pete was simply being an asshole by trying to shove the achievement in Don's face. But I think that it was simply another tactic of Pete's to win Don's approval and gain the promotion to Head of Accounts.
Unfortunately for Pete, the tactic backfired. I suspect that Don - feeling satisfied and perhaps a little smug over winning the Kodak account - decided to strike back at Pete for the latter's blackmail attempt in the previous episode, (1.12) "Nixon vs. Kennedy". Pete had not only discovered that Don was an identity thief, but also the latter's real name. But when Pete informed Bert Cooper, the latter dismissed the former's revelation and maintained Don's employment at Sterling Cooper. In an act of vengeance, Don promoted Peggy to copywriter and handed the Clearisil account over to her in order to embarrass Pete. He also found someone else - namely Herman "Duck" Phillips. It was one of the most childish and despicable acts I have ever seen on that show. And yet, because Pete was unpopular with many of the series' fans, a good number of them failed to notice that Don had used Peggy to get back at Pete.
I find it amazing that both the critics and fans have accused both Betty Draper (Don's first wife) and Pete of being immature characters. Time and again, Don had proven he could be just as childish or even more so than either of these two or any other character in the series. But so many had been blinded by his "man's man" facade and good looks that they have failed to realize how emotionally stunted Don could truly be.