Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) is hands down the most inspiring character in all of Mad Men. Transformed from a vulnerable young ingénue to a confident woman fully in command of herself and her career, her growth epitomizes both the terrors and triumphs of the 1960s –– and the struggle women underwent to be taken seriously in the workplace and at large.

Here are some of Peggy's most memorable episodes to revisit if you're itching to rewatch some episodes of Mad Men.

RELATED: 10 Supporting TV Characters Who Deserved Their Own Spin-Offs

1. "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" (Season 1, Episode 1)

mad-men-s1e1-elisabeth-moss
Image via HBO

Mad Men’s phenomenal pilot introduces us to Peggy Olson, a wide-eyed young woman beginning her job as a secretary at Sterling Cooper, a prestigious ad agency –– which, like many workplaces in the 1960s, proves to be a sexist minefield. Dealing with barbed advice from secretary manager Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks), and not-so-subtle sexism from her male colleagues, particularly Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser), Peggy finds herself thrown into the deep end of Manhattan’s transactional commercial world.

Matthew Weiner’s unflinching look at the grueling gender dynamics of the period sets the stage for Peggy’s long and storied battle both to value herself and to be taken seriously by her male peers. Her sexual encounter with Pete at the end of the episode, despite his earlier rudeness to her, highlights her emotional vulnerability and her shocking naïveté regarding her soon-to-be-married colleague’s motivations.

2. "The Wheel" (Season 1, Episode 13)

mad-men-s1e13-elisabeth-moss
Image via HBO

To everyone's shock, Don Draper (Jon Hamm), in a calculated jab at Pete Campbell and a gesture of support for his female protégée, promotes Peggy to junior copywriter due to the catchy tagline she’s developed for the Belle Jolie lipstick account. She even gets her own spot in the office. But in a heartbreaking turn of events, Peggy ends up going to the hospital with what she believes is severe stomach pain –– where she gives birth to a baby boy from her sexual encounter with Pete at the beginning of the season.

Peggy’s fateful decision to give up her son for adoption demonstrates the terrible sacrifices that forward-thinking women were forced to make in the early 60s when it was nearly impossible to both raise children and have a career. Her choice, however tragic, is what enables her to pursue a rewarding path in advertising, breaking free from the constraints of mid-century motherhood and finding a way to flourish despite the oppressive expectations of others.

3. "Three Sundays" (Season 2, Episode 3)

mad-men-s2e3-elisabeth-moss
Image via HBO

Peggy, grown ambivalent about her family's Catholicism, is approached by a progressive young priest (Colin Hanks), who asks for her advice on a sermon. However, her sister enviously reveals the story of Peggy's hidden pregnancy to the priest during confession. His disapproval and subtle reference to her secret pregnancy precipitate Peggy’s distance from her family. Ultimately, her childhood religion’s embrace of the Madonna/Whore paradox has become off-putting and offensive to Peggy: going to church has become an exercise in shame and judgment that she’s unwilling to take part in. Again, Mad Men’s increasingly confident heroine finds that she must give up a key aspect of her background for both her sanity and her career.

4. "Shut the Door. Have a Seat" (Season 3, Episode 13)

mad-men-s3e13-elisabeth-moss
Image via HBO

Peggy, feeling increasingly alienated by Don’s erratic behavior in the midst of his disintegrating personal life and the shocking assassination of President John F. Kennedy, initially refuses to join her boss in forming a new company. However, referencing her brilliance as an employee and their shared sense of cynicism after catastrophic current events, Don persuades her to follow him. The episode evokes not only the incipient instability and upheaval of the 60s but the strength of Don and Peggy’s platonic working relationship. Both are ambitious. More importantly, both are outsiders in some way or another.

Don grew up poor and stole another man’s identity, while Peggy is female and Catholic in a WASP-y male world that often rejects her. Their shared desire for personal and professional success, juxtaposed with their alienating social reality, is what binds them together throughout the series and eliminates the possibility of romance. Weiner’s admirable decision to avoid a clichéd employer-employee love story places Mad Men a cut above the less clear-eyed workplace dramas that began to dominate television in the early 2010s. Crucially, Peggy doesn’t want to be with Don; she wants to be him.

5. "The Suitcase" (Season 4, Episode 7)

Peggy and Don in Mad Men "The Suitcase"
Image via HBO

This suitably wacky and heartfelt episode again highlights the remarkable nature of Don and Peggy’s relationship. Deciding to work on a frustrating ad campaign rather than attend her birthday dinner with her childish boyfriend, Peggy expresses her anger at Don’s lack of appreciation for her efforts, and the pair argue over whether he’s been sufficiently supportive. But after the appearance of Peggy’s drunk ex-boyfriend, Duck Phillips (Mark Moses), they have more important things to worry about.

Ultimately, Don and Peggy deter Duck. Later, exhausted, they discuss Peggy’s pregnancy –– Don was the only person to visit her in the hospital after the child’s traumatic birth –– and address the common misconception that she and Don are romantically involved. When Don later learns that his dear friend Anna Draper (Melinda Page Hamilton) has died, Peggy reassures him. The episode’s emotional intimacy highlights the pair’s unbreakable bond and commitment to work even amid their increasingly messy –– and often disappointing –– personal lives. Their sense of alienation and loneliness means that work is often their only solace.

RELATED: 7 Shows Like ‘The Morning Show’ to Watch for More Addictive, Thought-Provoking Drama

6. "The Other Woman" (Season 5, Episode 11)

mad-men-s5e11-elisabeth-moss
Image via HBO

Constantly at the whims of their male superiors’ toxicity and ambition, both Peggy and her older counterpart, Joan, endure unique professional humiliation –– and success, though at a tremendous cost –– in this episode. Peggy, frustrated by her subordinacy to Don in light of his callous treatment of her, finally takes her fate into her own hands. By finding a new job at a competing ad agency that offers her more money, she insists on her literal and metaphorical worth as an employee, even if it means abandoning Don to his self-destruction. Her strategic career move bruises Don’s ego and her departure ends on a sour note.

And though both Joan and Peggy have historically managed to thrive in the damagingly competitive world of advertising, "The Other Woman" highlights, as Matthew Weiner said, the very real struggles that women face in the workplace as they try to “get ahead.” Indeed, Joan’s horrific sexual commodification in the episode proves to be the nadir of her experience at the company. By contrast, Peggy’s insistence on her own financial and creative value suggests the pair’s generation gap and their differing attitudes towards their own sexual powers in a misogynistic work environment.

7. "In Care Of" (Season 6, Episode 13)

mad-men-elisabeth-moss-peggy-olson
Image via HBO

Don Draper’s downward spiral, spurred by his distance from his young wife, Megan (Jessica Paré) and his generational irrelevance amid the social upheaval of the 60s, becomes ruinous to the people he loves the most, thereby severely fracturing his relationship with Peggy. In this episode, Peggy learns that Ted Chaough (Kevin Rahm), the man she adores, has agreed to work in Los Angeles in Don’s place. Ted, despite his love for Peggy, feels guilty for cheating on his wife and longs for a fresh start in California.

However, Peggy believes that Don engineered the departure and feels profoundly betrayed by –– not to mention furious at — Don’s ongoing disregard for her feelings and his impulsive and self-destructive behavior. "In Care Of" explores the consequences of this self-destruction, and it also addresses Don’s belief –– admitted much earlier in the series –– that Peggy is “an extension of [himself].” Because of his previous mentorship of her, Don interprets Peggy’s efforts to escape his shadow as a personal attack. In reality, his ego and overwhelming insecurity are the greatest threats to his professional success –– not Peggy or her love for Ted.

9. "The Strategy" (Season 7, Episode 6)

mad-men-s7e6-elisabeth-moss-jon-hamm
Image via HBO

Peggy’s hesitance about the Burger Chef campaign is rooted in both her frustration with Don and her skepticism about the wholesome “nuclear family” imagery that the ad campaign demands. Interestingly, her career has required her both to promote this idyll professionally –– happiness sells –– but reject it personally, as it would mean the death of her working life. But Peggy knows that change is coming for women and questions the feasibility of domestic bliss. “Little Katie’s pregnant and Jimmy got drafted, but there’s still fries on the table? Does this family exist anymore?” she memorably demands.

However, as usual, Don and Peggy’s innate cynicism proves to be a boon for their creativity: they decide to portray Burger Chef as a safe haven amid the political violence and profound alienation America underwent in the sixties. Their bond is sweetly emphasized by Peggy’s anxiety about turning thirty and their later dance to Frank Sinatra’s "My Way." The lingering bitterness between the two over Don’s selfishness and Peggy’s impatience has finally evaporated.

8. "Waterloo" (Season 7, Episode 7)

mad-men-s7e7-elisabeth-moss-jon-hamm
Image via HBO

Following the history-making moon landing, a newly inspired Peggy makes a phenomenal ad pitch to Burger Chef’s team, reducing one man to tears with her wistful yet poised delivery. The “It’s Family Supper at Burger Chef” tagline ultimately demonstrates America’s craving for connection and solidarity amid years of darkness and violence. And it also evokes Peggy’s sadness for what she’s missed out on: she remains distant from her own family, and romantic happiness has thus far eluded her. Ultimately, though, "Waterloo" is an incredibly touching episode about the enduring appeal of family bonds even as America undergoes convulsive changes. It’s also a story about triumph over failure and optimism over pessimism.

10. "Person-to-Person" (Season 7, Episode 14)

mad-men-s6e13-elisabeth-moss
Image via HBO

In the phenomenal series finale, Peggy finally enjoys both romantic and career success. She realizes that she’s in love with Stan Rizzo (Jay R. Ferguson), the humorous, scruffy, and outspoken art director with whom she’s been sparring for years but who has gradually become her confidant. He’s also the only other man at the ad agency besides Don who respects her creativity and the sacrifices she’s made for the company.

Chiefly, though, "Person-to-Person" is a meditation about the personal journeys each character has undergone. Peggy began her time at Sterling Cooper as an ingénue, subject to sexual harassment, condescension, and contempt. Now, she’s the star employee of the creative department and the heroine of the series. The last time we see her, she’s strolling down the halls of her new workplace in one of her signature plaid dresses and a pair of sunglasses, casually smoking a cigarette and carrying a box. She’s the epitome of confidence and cool, the person we all aspire to be.