May 30, 2014 3:30 pm

The Many Faces of Mad Men’s Peggy Olson

By Margaret Lyons

Photo: AMC

Mad Men gets a lot of mileage out of Jon Hamm’s now-iconic silhouette. But it gets even more mileage out of Elisabeth Moss’s expressiveness. Peggy Olson makes a lot of faces, and they’re all pretty fantastic — the scoffs, the smirks, the rare grin. More so than other characters on the show (except maybe Ted Chaough), Peggy’s very expressive. Don’s often unreadable, at least when he’s sober; Joan tries to operate within the narrow bounds of what she considers decorous; Betty’s perfect facade isn’t compatible with frequent emotions; and even the reactive Pete tends to either pout or gloat, and not much else. But of all the secrets Peggy manages to keep, she’s not someone who often hides how she feels. And as the following journey through all of her great moments shows, she often feels disappointed, slighted, marginalized, or skeptical — and with good reason.

It's her first day at work, and Peggy's giving everyone — including her new gyno — the side-eye. (It's well deserved; everyone is terrible to her.)

Peggy spends a lot of time in season one seething.

And being horrified by other people's bad behavior. Particularly Don's.

As is Pete. Those are some real pleading eyes, Pegs.

And now the tables (well, desks) have turned, and Peggy's the one who can be a little testy.

Go ahead, pretend like you haven't made this exact grouch-face at work.

People give Peggy unsolicited advice an awful lot. Bleh, Bobby Barrett.

World's most incredulous character: Peggy Olson.

The haircut that changed everything! But also: Yikes.

Like, for example, Duck. He is one big bad idea.

Don't listen to Duck, Peggy. Do. Not. Listen to him. He abandoned a dog!

At a certain point, Peggy needs to stop being surprised by the horrors she encounters.

In season five, when Megan accuses Peggy and the rest of the people who work at SCDP of being cynical, she says, "You don’t smile, you smirk." Now where did she ever get that idea?

She also dates dumdums, but luckily she can shut down this one's nonsense with a serious glare.

She's not really making a face here, but notice she and Don are often framed as a matching set of some kind. They're like matryoshka dolls of advertising brilliance.

But eventually they make up. Again, not quite a smile.

Peggy disapproves of a lot of things, but not out of any kind of personal sourness; she usually is the smartest one in the room.

Scoff scoff scoff scoff scoff. Infinity scoffs.

Don't anger Peggy. You won't like her when she's angry. (Just kidding, you will still like her because she is the best person.)

And if you sit next to her at the movies, you might get an anonymous hand job.

Don't you want to buy what this lady is selling?

This is when Peggy tells Don to "shut up." Ha-ha! Shut up, Don.

On average, how many bad ideas do you think Peggy hears every day?

Somehow her hate-stares seem more vibrant when she's wearing a hat.

Please, for the love of God, someone just listen to her.

And how surprised she is when someone offers her a lot more money? Sometimes it's terrible to be Peggy, but sometimes it's good.

Think about how far Peggy's come. That's what she's thinking about right at this moment.

And this is the searching-for-approval glance where we all realized Peggy had the hots for Ted.

And this is the scene where we realized Peggy has Daria's mom's hair.

Yet again, Peggy's confronted by exactly what she didn't want.

But luckily she has this cute coat, so ...

Oooh, that's a good "you've got to be kidding me" face.

As is genuine surprise Peggy. No, no, Ted and I aren't having an affair and going to see Rosemary's Baby in the early evening!

Oof, she's got it bad. Be worthy of this love, Ted!

Peggy's as surprised as we are to hear Don Draper's words coming out of Freddy Rumsen's mouth.

Add Lou Avery to the list of people Peggy finds unspectacular.

The hats really bring out Peggy's emotions.

Even when no one can see her, she's still making a face.

Barf, Valentine's Day is terrible, and so is being into your married boss who moved to California to run away from your love.

But at least she hasn't lost her ability to be surprised.

This is the face any of us would make if a distressed Ginsberg knocked on our door.

Making mean phone calls to Don is not, ultimately, very satisfying.

But getting kinda tanked and asking for a pep talk is.

There, there, Julio. No one wants to go to Newark.

Just before she realizes there's no liquor.

And perhaps the most satisfying Peggy Olson face of all: the sweet smile of success.

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The Many Faces of Mad Men’s Peggy Olson

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