"Mad Men" Week 3: Roger's Deep Pockets

Here's another (thankfully less-winded) analysis of Roger Sterling's insufferable antics from week three of "Mad Men". 

Roger Sterling's ineptitude and toothlessness were played up for laughs this week, albeit for only a few minutes of screen time. Having totally neglected his day-to-day management of the Mohawk account (to presumably spend all day lounging in his office in what appears to be a dentist's chair), Roger is forced to find a copy writer to craft an entire corporate image campaign over the weekend for a Monday morning conference call with Mohawk. With "genius" Ginsburg out of the office, Roger is forced to turn back to the penis-free Peggy to handle the creative grunt work. Of course, he needs her to sacrifice her weekend and to lie about her sudden role in the campaign.

Roger thinks a simple $10 bribe will buy Peggy's silence and compensate for the sudden overtime, but Peggy is not about to be manipulated so easily. Roger dismisses her protests over this raw deal by pulling rank and threatening to fire her if she doesn't comply, but Peggy sees right through these hollow threats. Roger's back is firmly against the wall and she lets him know it, giving him no choice but to sweeten the deal by upping the bribe. As Peggy hustles Roger for the $400 in his pocket, his lack of power is laid bare in a most embarrassing fashion. (This begs the question that Harry asked in week 1 — Why does Roger always carry so much money? And more importantly, how does he continue to have so much cash in light of his divorce and the lean times the agency is experiencing?).

Because Roger is effortlessly hustled by a woman who moments earlier he scolded like a child for having her feet on the desk (not to mention the whole lack-of-penis dig last week), the scene is another hilarious yet powerful example of Peggy's subversion of the prevailing gender dynamics in the offices of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. And thanks to Pete and Peggy, Roger is receiving his due karma, no doubt to the satisfaction of the viewing audience.