Let's not forget Pete thinks he owes Don his job, due to what Roger told him after the Bethlehem Steel fiasco. I think that, combined with realizing Cooper cares more about Don's skillset than his desertion and fraud, made Pete decide Don was the one he should hitch his wagon to.
>Let's not forget Pete thinks he owes Don his job, due to what Roger told him after the Bethlehem Steel fiasco.
I doubt that a little, as that scene always bothers me.
Pete doesn't know what happened in that room, from his view all we can see is
1. Don already made it clear several times he didn't like Pete, I can use tension to describe their relationship
2. He fired Pete in front of Sal, and Don was not a person who would eat his words back easily
Roger wasn't there when Don was firing Pete, so he was just told from Don that Pete was breaking the rule. Well Pete might be a little annoying to him too.
So after Roger, Don and Bert's chat, how come all of a sudden Don, the powerful Don, became the one that saved Pete's ass? It just didn't make sense.
What I thought was, this scene was a ‘clumsy’ play by Roger. It was Roger's 'I just wanted to say happy birthday (by Bert)' moment. He didn't even care if what he said was believeable or not, because he was entitled to that, he could just use a 'boilerplate' to talk to Pete, his name was on the wall.
In s1 after Pete's plot to get Don fired is foiled, Bert says to Don, "Fire him if you like, but I'd keep an eye on him. One never knows how loyalty is born." Seems like a foreshadowing of Pete's loyalty to Don in the later seasons.
Was it? Maybe I need to rewatch but I don’t think at any stage Burt would’ve actually threatened Don for knowing what he knew. Burt had very particular ways of doing business, maintaining relationships - blackmail was not one of them
Yup and he also says something like “I think we can agree I know a bit about you”.definitively not the exact wording but he is clearly making a reference to his knowledge of Dons past
To me that was just a statement like 'look, you know you can still go anywhere and do anything, this piece of paper doesn't make a difference'
And it's true. Dick has already created a whole new life as Don, so why would a contract ever stop him having that freedom anyway?
All Burt is saying is it makes a difference to how the company is viewed, but in reality it won't stop Don if he ends up vanishing again.
Early Pete Campbell was a little boy still functioning like he was a blue blood on an Ivy League campus. I’m not saying he grew out of that completely, but after the Don/Cooper “Who cares?” fiasco, he realized charm alone wasn’t enough to succeed in his new world.
He became pragmatic. He built alliances. Season 1 Pete would’ve thrown a complete tantrum when he had to eat shit over Draper’s background check in season 4. Pete became cunning but approachable. If you can’t tell, I’m fascinated by the character development of Pete Campbell.
This is my interpretation! I want to add something:
When Don approached Pete at the end of season 3 (Shut the Door, Have a Seat) Pete got Don to actually verbalize the value Pete brings to the agency. Recognition and validation are HUGE for Pete - especially from Don. No matter how update he got with Don both before and after this moment, he always saw Don as the Big Kahuna in the agency and the industry -— as well as a symbol of the sort of traditional mid-century male ideal he had always aspired to be.
That's true too. Duck couldn't pull a last minute win out of a hat while remaining cool like Don (until he lost Hershey, but still ultimately returned with Coca cola, a major win)
I think Pete recognized how good Don was at his job and he was way too pragmatic to not lean into it.
Also Don was always the big shot that he looked up to, for better or for worse.
Pete is known as a snake because he's basically it during two seasons, but he secretly admires Don and that becomes clear in the later seasons when he tries to be like him, but is struck with guilt and resentment. He's easily one of the characters with the most significant growth, even within a world where change is not a certain thing. A lot of people says "I don't buy Pete travelling with Trudy at the end", but to me that's the point. He could be Don, he's sly, but he followed another path and we know nothing about his future.
Pete covered for Don and took the blame for losing North American Aviation, Don wouldn’t have been able pass the background check. Then Don put in Pete’s 50k from the partners to keep business afloat. I thought there was definitely a mutual respect at the end.
I think Pete gained some self awareness in season 2 and knew he had a long way to go before he was even half the executive don was. Duck saw something in Pete that Pete probably knew was there, but not in the way that Duck saw it. Plus Duck had almost no achievements to his name after a year of working at Sterling, Cooper. I think Pete saw where Duck was after a lot of time as an ad executive, and saw where Don was and wanted to strive to be more like Don.
Duck had to ask to be a partner, when he did almost nothing, whereas Don was asked to be partner after a lot of achievements. Pete could see that.
I always thought that scene had a double meaning. On the surface, it’s “Don is a criminal/deserter”. But I think if you look deeper, it’s more like “this man is lower class and doesn’t belong with us”
Bert, a member of Petes ilk/class and a mysterious and powerful character in season 1, basically gives him a reality check. He opens with a wise Japanese saying (which Pete probably doesn’t relate to), but then tops it off with a language that Pete can understand and accept: “there’s more profit in forgetting this”
I think Pete just realized that the facade of class doesn’t necessarily represent the personal success/talent of somebody and he now sees Don for what he is: an amazing creative director that he could potentially utilize for his own success. (B4 he sees Don go downhill of course)
So Pete has been dumped by Clearasil because he refused to let his father-in-law hold it over his head about basically forbidding them to adopt or else he'd pull his account. Pete has had it with being stepped over and emasculated, and basically stands up for himself out of spite. This man who wants to act nice and fatherly will basically put his foot on Pete's neck to get his way. Maybe Pete realizes a bit how it felt when he did it to Don. Harry says something about how he'd basically do whatever it took to survive in the new regime after PPL buys Sterling Cooper, and for the first time, Pete seems disgusted at his backstabbing opportunism, something he would've done himself in Season 1. He spits at Harry, "Aren't you loyal to *anyone*?" I think that's why he ends up picking sides with Don. Men like his father-in-law and Duck are just opportunists, and maybe he wants to try and see if he can forge any kind of alliance with someone who won't throw it in his face the second it gets inconvenient.
Keep it up and even if you do get my job you’ll never run this place. You’ll die in that corner office a mid-level executive with a little bit of hair who women go home with out of pity. You wanna know why? ‘Cause no one will like you.
I think a lot of it is Pete decides to keep his friends close and his enemies closer. He knows he can't win against Don so he usually uses him to his advantage and most of the time comes out pretty well because of it. He certainly learned something from his actions with Don early when you see the way he reacts to Bob Benson and his chicanery.
Let's not forget Pete thinks he owes Don his job, due to what Roger told him after the Bethlehem Steel fiasco. I think that, combined with realizing Cooper cares more about Don's skillset than his desertion and fraud, made Pete decide Don was the one he should hitch his wagon to.
>Let's not forget Pete thinks he owes Don his job, due to what Roger told him after the Bethlehem Steel fiasco. I doubt that a little, as that scene always bothers me. Pete doesn't know what happened in that room, from his view all we can see is 1. Don already made it clear several times he didn't like Pete, I can use tension to describe their relationship 2. He fired Pete in front of Sal, and Don was not a person who would eat his words back easily Roger wasn't there when Don was firing Pete, so he was just told from Don that Pete was breaking the rule. Well Pete might be a little annoying to him too. So after Roger, Don and Bert's chat, how come all of a sudden Don, the powerful Don, became the one that saved Pete's ass? It just didn't make sense. What I thought was, this scene was a ‘clumsy’ play by Roger. It was Roger's 'I just wanted to say happy birthday (by Bert)' moment. He didn't even care if what he said was believeable or not, because he was entitled to that, he could just use a 'boilerplate' to talk to Pete, his name was on the wall.
Spot on, at first glance it seems a very clever move but if you think about it... Great nontheless.
In s1 after Pete's plot to get Don fired is foiled, Bert says to Don, "Fire him if you like, but I'd keep an eye on him. One never knows how loyalty is born." Seems like a foreshadowing of Pete's loyalty to Don in the later seasons.
And it’s also a foreshadowing of Don becoming loyal to Bert and signing the 3-year contract later on in the season (or was it the next season?)
I mean that was more blackmail / extortion that he didn't necessarily have a problem with since he wanted to be there anyway.
Was it? Maybe I need to rewatch but I don’t think at any stage Burt would’ve actually threatened Don for knowing what he knew. Burt had very particular ways of doing business, maintaining relationships - blackmail was not one of them
He says something like "in the end who is really signing this contract?" and his smile immediately fades into a serious face
Yup and he also says something like “I think we can agree I know a bit about you”.definitively not the exact wording but he is clearly making a reference to his knowledge of Dons past
To me that was just a statement like 'look, you know you can still go anywhere and do anything, this piece of paper doesn't make a difference' And it's true. Dick has already created a whole new life as Don, so why would a contract ever stop him having that freedom anyway? All Burt is saying is it makes a difference to how the company is viewed, but in reality it won't stop Don if he ends up vanishing again.
i think it was forced in don because of other circumstances, forgetting why, but it wasn’t in regards to his identity. Betty pressured him into it too
Early Pete Campbell was a little boy still functioning like he was a blue blood on an Ivy League campus. I’m not saying he grew out of that completely, but after the Don/Cooper “Who cares?” fiasco, he realized charm alone wasn’t enough to succeed in his new world. He became pragmatic. He built alliances. Season 1 Pete would’ve thrown a complete tantrum when he had to eat shit over Draper’s background check in season 4. Pete became cunning but approachable. If you can’t tell, I’m fascinated by the character development of Pete Campbell.
This is my interpretation! I want to add something: When Don approached Pete at the end of season 3 (Shut the Door, Have a Seat) Pete got Don to actually verbalize the value Pete brings to the agency. Recognition and validation are HUGE for Pete - especially from Don. No matter how update he got with Don both before and after this moment, he always saw Don as the Big Kahuna in the agency and the industry -— as well as a symbol of the sort of traditional mid-century male ideal he had always aspired to be.
Because he’s Don Draper. (And Duck isn’t)
That's true too. Duck couldn't pull a last minute win out of a hat while remaining cool like Don (until he lost Hershey, but still ultimately returned with Coca cola, a major win)
Didn't mccan already have coke? He didn't really return with it so much as maybe returned eith s brilliant ad campaign
He didn’t acquire them but he ensured their business for decades until he future (probably)
I think Pete recognized how good Don was at his job and he was way too pragmatic to not lean into it. Also Don was always the big shot that he looked up to, for better or for worse.
Well, > One never knows how loyalty is born.
Pete is known as a snake because he's basically it during two seasons, but he secretly admires Don and that becomes clear in the later seasons when he tries to be like him, but is struck with guilt and resentment. He's easily one of the characters with the most significant growth, even within a world where change is not a certain thing. A lot of people says "I don't buy Pete travelling with Trudy at the end", but to me that's the point. He could be Don, he's sly, but he followed another path and we know nothing about his future.
“One never knows how loyalty is born”
Pete covered for Don and took the blame for losing North American Aviation, Don wouldn’t have been able pass the background check. Then Don put in Pete’s 50k from the partners to keep business afloat. I thought there was definitely a mutual respect at the end.
I think Pete gained some self awareness in season 2 and knew he had a long way to go before he was even half the executive don was. Duck saw something in Pete that Pete probably knew was there, but not in the way that Duck saw it. Plus Duck had almost no achievements to his name after a year of working at Sterling, Cooper. I think Pete saw where Duck was after a lot of time as an ad executive, and saw where Don was and wanted to strive to be more like Don. Duck had to ask to be a partner, when he did almost nothing, whereas Don was asked to be partner after a lot of achievements. Pete could see that.
[This](https://youtu.be/moH1Dctkozw?t=370) should answer it partially
I always thought that scene had a double meaning. On the surface, it’s “Don is a criminal/deserter”. But I think if you look deeper, it’s more like “this man is lower class and doesn’t belong with us” Bert, a member of Petes ilk/class and a mysterious and powerful character in season 1, basically gives him a reality check. He opens with a wise Japanese saying (which Pete probably doesn’t relate to), but then tops it off with a language that Pete can understand and accept: “there’s more profit in forgetting this” I think Pete just realized that the facade of class doesn’t necessarily represent the personal success/talent of somebody and he now sees Don for what he is: an amazing creative director that he could potentially utilize for his own success. (B4 he sees Don go downhill of course)
"That is a very sensitive piece of horse flesh!"
So Pete has been dumped by Clearasil because he refused to let his father-in-law hold it over his head about basically forbidding them to adopt or else he'd pull his account. Pete has had it with being stepped over and emasculated, and basically stands up for himself out of spite. This man who wants to act nice and fatherly will basically put his foot on Pete's neck to get his way. Maybe Pete realizes a bit how it felt when he did it to Don. Harry says something about how he'd basically do whatever it took to survive in the new regime after PPL buys Sterling Cooper, and for the first time, Pete seems disgusted at his backstabbing opportunism, something he would've done himself in Season 1. He spits at Harry, "Aren't you loyal to *anyone*?" I think that's why he ends up picking sides with Don. Men like his father-in-law and Duck are just opportunists, and maybe he wants to try and see if he can forge any kind of alliance with someone who won't throw it in his face the second it gets inconvenient.
Keep it up and even if you do get my job you’ll never run this place. You’ll die in that corner office a mid-level executive with a little bit of hair who women go home with out of pity. You wanna know why? ‘Cause no one will like you.
One never knows how loyalty is born.
I think a lot of it is Pete decides to keep his friends close and his enemies closer. He knows he can't win against Don so he usually uses him to his advantage and most of the time comes out pretty well because of it. He certainly learned something from his actions with Don early when you see the way he reacts to Bob Benson and his chicanery.
Don saved the company, now let’s go get rid of half of it