About ten years ago, I directed a production of “Romeo and Juliet.” The central conceit of my interpretation was that the Capulets and Montagues didn’t grow up as enemies; rather, they evolved into opposing sides in a type of ritual coming-of-age ceremony. They fights between the younger generation were spectacle, masked to hide the true kinship under the surface. But as they grew older, as responsibility and adulthood approached, people turned from individuals into archetypes. While the children wore clothes of all shapes, sizes, and colors, all of the adults in the world wore identical grey robes and white masks, essentially indistinguishable from one another. In short: people turned into the role they were supposed to play, rather than evolving into the person they might have become. Bright yellows, reds, and oranges turned monochromatic throughout the play, until a sea of colorless people stood over the corpses of the titular couple. Romeo and Juliet were a chance to break the cycle, only to have that chance tragically undercut.

I bring all this up not because I think it was a particularly ground-breaking production of the Shakespearean classic, but because the impulses behind that production overwhelmed me as I watched tonight’s episode of “Mad Men.” I’m starting to wonder if we should be shifting out attentions fully from Don Draper and Roger Sterling to Pete Campbell and Peggy Olson. While not quite Romeo and Juliet, the fourth season of “Mad Men” seems very much about the war for their souls. Both started off the series desperate for inclusion in the world of the elder statesmen of advertising, and found a mutual, if unexpected and albeit brief, companion in that journey. But “The Rejected” showed just how far these two have strayed from the formerly singular path, to the point where they are now traveling down two entirely different roads.

Since, as always, the title of tonight’s “Mad Men” is so loaded with meaning, let’s break down this recap by looking at everything rejected in this episode, along with those rejecting it.

Rejected: The Old Way of Doing Business
The Rejectors: Faye, Allison, Harry, Kenny

Dr. Faye Miller was back on the scene tonight after a brief absence, conducting a focus group on young Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce female employees. Ideally, the group was meant to test buzzwords such as “routine” and “ritual,” but the ladies only confirmed Freddie’s anachronistic and sexist attitudes about women and marriage. (However, this devolving into an impromptu support session did let Freddie fire off the classic line, “How the hell did this get so sad, so fast?” So, I guess some good did come from it.)

The fallout from the meeting was twofold. Firstly, we saw the seemingly casual banter between Don and Allison last week hid mountains of pain behind her eyes, mountains that crumbled as fellow employee Dorothy droned on and on about her ex-boyfriend never noticing her. This led to multiple awkward conversations, both with Peggy (Allison assumed she and Don had slept together) and Don himself. As if this wasn’t bad enough, Allison asks Don to write a recommendation letter. His response? Having her write it herself and let him sign it. In a way, Don probably thought he was doing her a favor, in that she could craft the letter exactly the way she wanted. But since Don is a Class A A-Hole this season, that was in fact that absolutely worst move he could have made, sending her into a rage and then out the door. Bloody hell, Don. At this rate, you’ll never be 107 years old and asking your wife repeatedly if she got the peaches.

The second fallout occurred at the end of the episode, when Faye confirmed that the buzzwords were not overtaking the preconceived notions of the female employees about marriage. Don’s answer to this was instructive about him as both as businessman and as an individual. Essentially, he argues that such preconceived notions only exist due to a lack of viable alternatives. In other words, people think a certain way because they don’t know of another way to think. His opposition to Faye’s methods are that they extract from the mind what 1) already exists and 2) shouldn’t be unearthed. His preferred method, of course, is to plant new ideas in people’s minds. He’s like Leo DiCaprio in “Inception” that way. Of course, it makes sense that a man so unwilling to face his past that creates his own present would be so anxious to get people looking towards the future.

Outside of the office, Harry brought Pete to lunch with Kenny Kosgrove, looking slightly rounder but otherwise the same. Pete doesn’t want to do lunch with what he perceives to be “the enemy,” but Harry sees their generation as one big company unto itself. Pete thinks this is because Harry’s always looking for his next job and is always marketing himself. However, while Harry isn’t the smartest cookie in the world, he’s also one of the least devious cookies on the planet. (He only took his newest job at the end of Season 3 after being essentially kidnapped by the senior partners.) Kenny and Pete tepidly break the tension between themselves, but you can tell the former’s heart was far more into it than the latter’s. One need only look at the final shot inside the office tonight to see that. Pete isn’t interested in sticking with his own generation: he’s anxious to be at the table, literally, with the elder one. But he wants to be there on his terms.

Rejected: The Elder Generation
The Rejectors: Everyone under the age of 40 except Joan

If Peggy’s descent into The Factory-esque lifestyle seemed a bit abrupt, I think it only goes to show how the counterculture didn’t emerge overnight except in terms of overall media attention to it. But Allison’s insinuation about Peggy’s past with Don certainly send her hurtling towards it. She’s always felt slightly isolated in the world of this show, and while one assumed her role in the newly formed agency at the end of last year would have made her feel more integrated, it’s clear in the early part of this season that she’s more adrift than ever.

I’ll deal with her Pete-related issues summarily, but for now, let’s look at what Allison’s words did to her. Peggy looks at her own generation in the office in much the same way that Don looks at it: with a curious gaze of someone looking at a different species. That Allison assumes Peggy MUST have slept with Don in order to get her current position is no different than the focus group that still linked beauty products with the approving gaze of a man. Peggy senses that other ways of succeeding in life must exist, but she’s without the vocabulary to express it. It’s not that she doesn’t want marriage and kids, but she’s looking for a path that includes what society deems “normal” and what she feels is “right.”

Her dabbling in counter-culture is both an expression of self and expression of a creativity that’s currently only employed selling hams and hand cream. But it’s also an expression of sheer trial-and-error: in trying to follow in Don’s footsteps, she’s denied herself the ability to leave any prints behind. In giving herself sexually to a man she doesn’t love, she’s denied herself any form of personal pleasure. So I’m sure people that put together art films and say words like “swelligant” and seem impervious to any commercial impulses for their creativity seem like a good idea. For now. Not sure we’ll see Peggy end up writing lyrics for Bob Dylan or anything, but it’s certainly interesting to see herself temporarily align herself with the colorful crowd in the office lobby while the monochromatic masses take (almost) no heed of them on the other side of the agency’s glass doors.

I had to stick in that “almost” up there, because Pete did catch a glimpse of Peggy as she left. But he stayed behind because he successfully flipped his father-in-law’s small Clearisil account for one over four times larger. He was forced into motion by a perceived conflict-of-interest on behalf of Pond’s, who wished the firm to not have two apparently overlapping accounts. This meant Pete telling his father-in-law the bad news. Up until this point, we’ve only seen Trudy’s father as the couple’s meal ticket: without his money, they would not have their lush accommodations. In essence, Pete lives under Tom’s roof, not his own. (Home is not the only real estate he finds lacking: the posts that encumber his office are not fun either, the sacrifice he makes for closer quarters to Roger.)

During the first attempt to break the bad news, Tom accidentally informs Pete of his impending fatherhood. This takes the wind out of Pete’s sails, but soon emboldens him to come out from Tom’s heel. At dinner the following night, Pete essentially says, “I’m now the man of this household. Not you. And I’m not only firing you, but demanding that you give me an even bigger account. Otherwise, you’ll be starving your grandchild to be.” Pete plays it off as it he’s growing a pair, but essentially, it’s familial blackmail. It’s a brilliant stroke as far as business goes, but a pretty piss poor one in terms of bonding with the in-laws. Of course, with Trudy and her mother in the other room, the two men will play nice, just as they do the following day as Peggy walks out the door with her new friends.

So we’re back to that Pete/Peggy gaze. Let’s talk about that, shall we?

Rejected: The Child That Never Was Yet Always Will Be
The Rejectors: Pete, Peggy

Don Draper once told Peggy that she would be shocked by how much her pregnancy didn’t happen. And he wasn’t kidding, because it took me a few moments tonight to register that Pete Campbell was already a father after Tom broke the good news. It wasn’t until Trudy questioned why Pete thought the news would make him feel “different” than it did that it hit me like a ton of bricks. Considering that storyline consumed a large chunk of the first two seasons, I shouldn’t have forgotten, even momentarily. But I did. Shocking, no doubt.

After revealing the existence of their mutual child at the end of Season 2, the pair really never dealt with the issue again. Until tonight. It’s clear that while the topic may have slipped the mind of yours truly, it’s never been far from the thoughts of these two. The pair’s thoughts about future children are forever entwined with the child that already exists. Even if locating that child may be impossible, its presence still casts a shadow over them both. As Trudy’s belly grows, so too will the shadow of that former child.

So here we get to the crux as outlined at the top of this recap: the war for the souls of these two imperfect people trying to be good without knowing what they truly means. Both are searching for a balance that does not yet exist to satisfy both what the world demands and what they desire. There’s no question that Pete excels at what he does, but it’s often unclear how willing he is to go in order to get it. He may have spent months learning the Charleston for Roger’s garden party, but he was unwilling to attend Margaret’s wedding in the wake of JFK’s death.

With a child, things get complicated for Pete. His power play over his father-in-law yielded his greater success at work but also bound him more tightly to it. When everyone in Pete’s generation looked up to the Dons and Ducks and Rogers and Berts as heroes, this was all well and good. But Pete’s part of a generation that wants to stick together, either professionally (Harry/Kenny) or culturally (Peggy/The woman that wants to rent Peggy’s lady parts). Pete’s left hanging with the old generation, laughing at their jokes and wearing their coats, playing the part of a senior ad executive. But it’s clear from his look to Peggy that he’s not 100% in.

Peggy’s unencumbered, which yields some great rewards but also contains gaping holes. And she hates herself for wanting to fill those holes with the traditional roles that every female around her seems happy to fulfill, taking their place in their part of the neverending cycle: there’s nothing “routine” except marriage+children for these women. Peggy wants more, but she’s unclear what that “more” is. Having a child didn’t really work out the first time around for her, and having botched that so badly undoubtedly gives her pause for a second go-round. But she’s also unsure if a second go-round is what she actually wants, or if it’s what’s simply expected. During her hilarious peep-show viewing of Don after Allison leaves, she sees where “marriage+children” can lead. Hanging out with this new crowd is her way of introducing some sort of new routine and seeing if it takes.

As the two drift from each other ever more, it’s useful and instructive (if often painful) for Pete and Peggy to see the other on a daily basis and measure what could have been against what is. Perhaps, in comparing and contrasting, they can both find new ways to grow out gracefully and with their souls intact.

What did you think of “The Rejected”? Leave your thoughts below!