Hanna Rosin comes through

It took a whole day for her to get it up but I have to admit that Hanna Rosin really delivers with her comment today. Read the whole thing: it's the best commentary you'll read anywhere other than right here.

I would only quibble with one thing: her take on Ted.

And Ted, the creepy little tease, tells Peggy he’s just another cliché, in love with his protégée, and the next day pretends that confession never happened, merely because he’s decided that being in love with her might get in the way of his productivity. The scene in his office is chilling. He doesn’t explain himself to Peggy, or brood, or show any signs of longing. He just bullies an alternate reality into being. “Ready to get to work? It’s Monday morning, Peggy, it’s a brand new work week,” he shouts, opening his office door as if he’s starring in an ad about a nifty new typewriter. “Round up the team.”

What Rosin misses is that Ted is married. Yes, he has behaved badly, yes he has teased Peggy, yes he shouldn't have kissed her and he should not have confessed to thinking about her that way. But, when it comes time to make things right, Ted's obligations to his spouse dwarf anything he owes Peggy.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say Ted gives a clinic on just how you should break up a budding romance with someone other than your spouse. You owe everything to the person you made vows to and next to nothing to this other person and that should be painfully obvious to them.

In a way, Ted is merely telling Peggy exactly what Don told her at the beginning of the episode: there is a right and wrong and sometimes you have to stand up for the right no matter who gets hurt. Don meant this in a purely aesthetic way but it applies to ethics as well.