mad women

When Mad Men Went Lesbian Without Going All The Way

On last night’s Mad Men, we had some gay flavor even without Bryan Batt. But it was the absence of actual lesbian contact that was most capturing. (Possible spoilers ahead.)

I sort of love the way the NYDN‘s Joe Tacopino puts it: “But it’s Peggy Olson who makes the most dramatic foray into the social revolution. While watching the focus group through the looking glass, Peggy fiddles with a wedding ring. Don looks on and scoffs (he knows her better than that.) Shortly after, Peggy meets a lesbian in the elevator, and takes a wild ride into a stoner loft party. There’s another universe outside the straight-laced hierarchy she works in, and Peggy may soon find herself more comfortable there.”

But it’s not because Peggy is a lesbian. (Maybe she is! I don’t write the show.) She’s just hipper than those stodgy straights, and aren’t all queers?

NY Mag‘s Logan Hill: “One would like to think that Peggy will thrive in this new bohemian world — that she’ll finally find a place where her dry wit (“Well, he’s renting it”) and smarts are appreciated, a place where people don’t assume that she became successful by sleeping with the boss, as she’s reminded by Allison. As yet, she’s just a naïve tourist in this world, who’s just learning the barest facts about Malcolm X and art and people who don’t just do things for money. She’s a quick study.”

Maybe Peggy and Allison will head down that road, and give Peggy her first lesbian experience. Or maybe she’s simply found a new hep friend whom happens to be gay, and wouldn’t that be the real bombshell.

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