OK very strange episode. Not sure what to currently say so I am going to hold off on most my comments and wait for all you to get this going.

My only comment is the symbolism of Don, or should I saw Dick Whitman now, entering the Pacific Ocean after being told of a "rebirth" from Ann. I do not believe for a second that Don is going to stay in California permanently and leave New York behind. The show would obviously be hard for new people to watch and get a grasp of if there was a split storyline.

I was hoping that Don was going to embark with the "Jet Setters"... I hope to see them again; they were weird but very fun at the same time.

I'm glad the Jet Setters are gone...they gave me the creeps.

Yes, I think the ocean scene mixed with the music is symbolic of a baptism...that perhaps Don/Dick is aware that he is not alone in this world and he can be all right.

I think Betty is pregnant...that's what the whole "I can't go through with it" comment meant in the scenes for next week.  It's common when women are first pregnant to experience a little bit of spotting which is what I think the bleeding was referring to.

If you remember, the episodes are supposed to be a month apart.  That means two months ago was when she slept with Don at her dad's house.  Would make sense.

I saw his bath in the Pacific (with the music underscoring it) as a baptism of sorts.

I didn't see the entire tarot reading that Don got, but he also got the Wheel of Fortune in the "greatest hopes and fears" position. He wants change. But he fears it. But change is the only way he'll be resurrected.

Anyway, with the Judgment card and the baptism thing, I think Don wants to be reborn. But as who? Does he just want to wash away his sins and start again? Or does he want another persona?

Betty may have cancer. Or maybe she's pregnant. From the look on her face, it wasn't her time of the month.

In my opinion there are too many story lines going on with too many characters. I too am glad the jet-setters are gone.  There are other characters I also wish would vanish, such as Duck, Glen and his mother, Betty' father, and a couple of others. Anyway, I think Don is acting so erratically it's a bit bizarre. As far as Betty's predicament, I think she is having a miscarriage.  She may not have realized she was pregnant (occurring the time she seduced Don on the floor of her father's house), and she has been doing a lot of horseback riding.  I think she is having a miscarriage, or will go to the doctor and discover she is still pregnant.

I felt Don's swim in the ocean was a symbol of baptism.  Atonement for his past life of sins and begin a new.  Will Don fully open up to Betty regarding his past?  He may have to in order to make his failed marriage work.

It's very jarring to see Betty's narcissism become so prominent.  The worst thing Don could do, would be to give her anything she could use against him.  She's certainly shown what a nasty piece of work she can be, even to her "friends".  I'm finding it difficult to sympathize with her on any level, at this point. 

I was glad to see that Dick had developed such a great relationship with the real Don Draper's widow.  Of course, for Dick, it is a question of survival to keep her happy, but he seems to really want to help her, which redeems him a bit, in my eyes.

I wonder what Don's "baptism" at the end of the show signifies.  Is he a new man?  Is he going to start a new life?  Or has he had his vacation, purified his soul, and is now ready to face his current responsibilities head-on?

Poor Joan.  She's settling financially, but she already knows that she will be desperately unhappy in her marriage to the doctor.  On the bright side, she should be well-taken-care of in the inevitable divorce.

And Peggy gets an office!  Hopefully the new company taking over SC won't try to push her back down the ladder.  Maybe she can find her real strength in playing politics in that process, though.  I'm not too keen on the storyline with her and the reverend, I hope that gets resolved soon. 

Peter needs something new and juicy to work on.  The childless-couple storyline is dragging the show down a bit, in my opinion.  He needs to get involved with a government contract, something in the military-industrial complex linked to his trip to LA.  Don't know where it might lead, but I think there's a story or two lurking there.  He might be our upcoming connection with Vietnam, as well.

How dare he fix ANN's CHAIR!!!! Betty beat a chair to peices a few episodes ago because of her frustration with Don and his disinterest in thier life together.

I have to say that this episode pissed me off! Everything that he is supposed to be doing and sharing with his wife and family, he shares and does with this Ann.

He is his authentic self with Ann! I hope his rebirth in the ocean caused him to meld these two personalities together and move into living in the truth.

Tarot cars or none, DD is certainly a GEMINI!!!

One of the things that makes this show so good is the depth of its writing.  So many allusions...

Don's whole journey west is a great example, capped as it is by "The Mountain King" (don't know what episode 13 will bring but the arc of Don's journey west logically ends here).  The difference between Peer Gynt and Mad Men is that when the onion is peeled back, Don has a center, and that center is Dick.  Unless Don is running from something that could be solved by changing identities, most of his difficulties stem from trying to live up to the "Don" persona when he's really "Dick" inside.  Think of the last name - "Draper" - it suggests a drape, a covering, something that when pulled away reveals what has been hidden.

The Jet Setters reminded me of the Lotus Eaters Odysseus encountered, caring little for anything else but their own pleasure  This is the life Don could devolve to if his wealth continues to increase - apathetic, driven only by a search for pleasure. Principles, after all, are for people who can't afford not to have them.  Had Don become absorbed into their retinue, he would have ultimately become a discarded plaything.  In the end, I think he's trying this lifestyle on, to see if it fits.

Did he deliberately bump Paul from the trip so he could see Anna?  I think so.  In some respects, I think he sees Anna as a "mother-confessor".  She's the only person in the series who has had a personality of sufficient force to make him admit it when she caught him in a lie.

The beaming look on his face when he told her about first meeting Betty said it all.  She is a confidant - and she feeds that - "You love her - it doesn't mean you have to tell her everything."  Posing the obvious question - is there something about love between men and women that requires a certain amount of cognitive dissonance to permit it to survive?

What a great show - certainly the best TV has offered - rivals "Deadwood".  Hopefully it will come to a more satisfying conclusion (but not for a looooooong time...)

Does anybody think much of Betty saying to her daughter that one day her daughter would want something that she couldn't afford?

I took it as Betty having already made the decision to leave Don and knowing that she wouldn't have the same kind of money anymore. Also we saw Betty getting ready to deposit Don's paycheck. Could she be setting up an emergency account for the day she leaves?

I just find it bizarre that there are only slight mentions of Don's absences at the office.

What ever happened to that "Deadwood" show?
HBO sucks and is so overrated.  I agree that Deadwood had some pretty good writing but I think Mad Men is superior because it absorbs the viewer without using profanity and violence.  The sex is pretty hot, though.

I so much prefer the little snide asides such as the exchanges between Roger and Alice much better than a thoughtless vulgarity.  It takes a lot  more thought and intelligence to come up with something truly snarky without resorting to common gutter talk.

One of my favorite insults comes from the old movie The Women.  One of the women says to the others "There's a name for you ladies but it's not used in polite society.  Outside of kennels, that is..."

So much more OOMPH than "You bunch of b*$%&#s..."

A real smarmy poster would boast a big “told you so” about Don hooking up with the woman from the car lot and sending her the book from episode one.  ( just being sort of smarmy there)

A few thoughts on the Popsicle campaign tie in.  The poster looked very much like the Tarot card of the woman Ann showed Don.  The slogan of “broken, shared and loved” is what may be in Don’s future.  He’s spilt into, he will share both parts of himself and will hopefully be loved.

I recorded the show and watch it Tuesday so I’ll re-watch and see how close the Popsicle poster matched the Tarot card.   I think Peggy made the woman in the poster look like Mary BUT there’s always that weird bleed over from Catholicism and the occult so it could also match the Tarot card. 

And poor Joan.  Did Doctor Kill Dare think he was marrying an almost virgin?  She’s 35? She checked out in the rape finding something in the room to focus on as if she's done that before.  It doesn't look like she's recovered chating with Peggy.  She had on her Christmas outfit when she said she would be getting married in Cristmas.  In the DVDs extras they said they tried to make her look like a Christmas tree with her outfits. 

Peggy must have went shopping with her gay pal.  That’s three new fashionable outfits – she needs to get a raise next to afford new clothes.

Pete’s an ass but I’m glad he stood up to his father-in-law. 

So Don’s now worth a half a MILLION DOLLARS ( I said like Doctor Evil with my pinky on my lip)  That’s how much today $5 -7million?  No sign of Duck when the deal went down – he won’t be a Duck much longer he will be a Phoenix when the Brits take over.

James, you totally nailed it with the lady from the car lot!

Really good symbolic thinking with the Popsicle, both with the "tear it, share it" and with the similarity to the tarot card. Now it makes it even more interesting when the client said "the woman looks familiar".

I can see similarities between the popsicle ad and both of the cards she showed...the outstretched arms of the children from Judgment and the mother handing out the popsicles from The World.

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"Take it, break it, share it, love it" bears some resemblance to the Words of Institution used during the rite of Communion - there are similar elements in the formula of the Words of Institution used in both Protestant and Catholic rites.

Peggy pretty much lays out the link when she talks about how the Catholic church "knows how to sell".  The art and copy for the Popsicle ad both serve to reinforce the theme of "ritual" that threads through this episode.  Beside that, there's Don's baptism at the end (hmmm - does he become Don the Baptist?); his confessions to Anna and her absolution (everything he confesses he does wrong, she absolves him of in some way, basically saying "you're a good person"); the ritual of giving Christmas gifts (which Don disrupts by giving Anna her gift the night before instead of Christmas morning, then asks her for a gift - the divorce); the ritual of the tarot spread (Don really should have handled the pack; and,  the ritual of roll call at the start of the partners' meeting.

I'm sure there are more I didn't catch on first viewing.

Excellent comments from all you guys. 
Jack, I like you observations about the rituals and also the cognitive dissonance.  Anne does seem to absolve Don with his confession. 
Adgal, Thanks for the tarot card link. Those things are so diabolical. I guess those cards followed the ritual theme of the episode.

I think the mother in the Popsicle ad mirrors the pose Jesus assumes in the painting "The Last Supper".  They mentioned it when planning the ad, then the company rep noted that something looked "familiar" about it.

The Last Supper... Don is Jesus? Don is the one being baptized... Jesus was baptized before he began his ministry- Don is about to be reborn, but not as Dick, as Don. I think he will finally accept the life he's been "scratching at", take up his mantle as the savior of SterlingCooper, and start performing miracles...

great observations here