We all know that Don is trouble. And yet, if reading the comments or the boards is any indication, no woman is ever right for him. Faye was too ambitious. Betty too stiff and cold. Suzanne was too flighty. Of all Don’s paramours, Rachel garners the most audience approval, but she was too level-headed to stick around. Now that Megan has finally snagged Don, many are openly suspicious of her motives, to the point that borders on controversial. Did she go after Don with an agenda already in mind? Many assert that this is exactly what motivates Megan, and they point to her behavior with Don’s children as proof.

After Megan’s wonderful turn as Maria Von Trapp in Tomorrowland, Sally in particular now shows ambivalence toward her, if not outright dislike, as evidenced by the cold smile she gave her new stepmom over breakfast. Presumably, if Megan were really interested in the kids, she would’ve already won Sally over. This is simplistic. Megan is now the stepmother. This is an entirely different role than the one of carefree, fun, pretty babysitter. Babysitters are the one-night-stand of caregivers. They let you stay up late, eat as many snacks as you want, and then they’re gone in the morning.

It stands to reason that the relationship dynamic between Megan and Sally will change. And Sally’s reaction is not just due to Megan’s personality. Sally’s own feelings of jealousy play a part as well. This is yet another woman she must share her Daddy with, and this time around it’s permanent. At least for now. As a child of divorce myself, I clearly remember that feeling of possessiveness I felt toward my mother’s boyfriends. It was one thing to play with them on a beach outing; it was quite another to wake up in the morning and see them in bed with my mother. Even if I was too young to know what went on, I knew for sure I didn’t like it. Even for adults it’s hard to deal with the idea that our parents are sexual beings.

As a child of divorce, Sally knows that love can end for reasons that are utterly unfathomable. If it can happen between Mom and Dad, who’s to say it can’t happen between Dad and her? And who can say this new strangely alluring woman won’t drive a wedge between her beloved Dad and her? Megan is in a difficult position, and even if she is out of her depth in office politics, she knows kids well enough to realize that trying harder backfires. When’s the last time you were won over by someone who desperately wanted you to like them? Sally wouldn’t buy it.

Complicating matters further, Sally is on the cusp of puberty, with her own questions about sexuality. And Megan is not only attractive; unlike Betty, she is at ease with her sexuality. Sally may not understand the hold Megan has over Don, but she’s smart enough to intuit that this woman’s appeal differs from her Mom’s. Sally’s at the age in which she is beginning to ask herself what being a woman means. No matter what commercials of the era want you to believe, this goes beyond having the right equipment and the proper undergarments to hold them in place. It’s about having this weird power you didn’t have before and knowing how to handle it so that it doesn’t backfire.

Interestingly, Megan’s sex appeal is another point of contention for viewers. I find it disheartening to read people’s confusion about Megan’s sex kitten behavior and her maternal instincts. I don’t understand. Can’t she be both sexy and maternal? I mean, she’s married to Don. I bet even Andrea Dworkin wouldn’t mind giving him a private cha-cha in her gatkes. Did we go through Women’s Lib, and the sexual revolution only to decide that you can’t feel maternal and still want to have hot sex with your husband? If so, this says a lot about our own age’s Madonna/Whore conflict. But that’s a different post altogether.

I don’t deny that Megan is confusing. However, I don’t know if this is all due to guile. Instead, I posit that Megan is confusing because, quite simply, Megan is confused. This is true for many women Megan’s age, but it is especially true for women in that age group at that particular time in history. She says she wants to do what Don does, yet she comes in late and wants to go home when she’s upset. This is not to say that Megan does not want to work. At least she’s respectful enough of Peggy to deal with her directly about the work, instead of going over her head and going straight to Don. Lots of people would do just that in her place.

I think that Megan does not understand just how hard you have to work in order to get what you want. This is the reason Peggy’s comment at the party stings. It’s rude, but Megan knows she’s right. I don’t think this makes Megan bad. Lots of people want to attain something, but most people don’t have the spine or the drive to work hard enough to achieve it. After all, few of us possess Peggy’s grit and sense of calling. And let’s not forget that even Peggy didn’t start out knowing that she wanted a career in advertising – she was just lucky enough to recognize this is where she belonged when someone else saw she had a knack for it.

Does this mean that I think Megan is an innocent, devoid of guile? No. Definitely not. Her friend’s comment about her talent as an actress, and her chops onstage, made me wonder about her past. Her take on a traditional French maid’s uniform was certainly manipulative. However, I think she comes by her manipulations honestly. Like most of us. Or am I the only one here to have engaged in manipulative behavior unconsciously, only to wonder how I didn’t see anything so obvious until someone pointed it out? (And that someone only enlightened me because I paid him to tell me the ugly truth.)

Megan strikes me as a believable precursor to the modern woman. Like most of us, she has wants and ambitions, but often takes the path of least resistance. Haven’t you? This is not always likable, but it is human.