Akin to the projective Rorschach test, ambiguous scenes in Mad Men are left to personal interpretation which reveal one’s inner makeup. In this photo, Betty holds a drawing of a smiling blue whale with three harpoons embedded into its body. After seeing a contented Don’s love note to Megan, Betty’s desire for revenge leads her to hurt him through their children, of which there are three - in this case, Sally specifically: Captain Ahab’s (Betty’s) revenge-line as he throws his final harpoon (her reveal to Sally re: Dick Whitman) at Moby Dick (Dick Whitman): “…to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.” —Moby Dick, Chapter 135. “The Chase —Third Day” Ahab’s neck gets looped by his own rope and he dies a victim of his own obsession with revenge; symbolically what happens to Betty once Sally discovers her mother’s twisted action. Akin to the projective Rorschach test, ambiguous scenes in Mad Men are left to personal interpretation which reveal one’s inner makeup.

In this photo, Betty holds a drawing of a smiling blue whale with three harpoons embedded into its body.

After seeing a contented Don’s love note to Megan, Betty’s desire for revenge leads her to hurt him through their children, of which there are three - in this case, Sally specifically:

Captain Ahab’s (Betty’s) revenge-line as he throws his final harpoon (her reveal to Sally re: Dick Whitman) at Moby Dick (Dick Whitman):

“…to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.”

—Moby Dick, Chapter 135. “The Chase —Third Day”

Ahab’s neck gets looped by his own rope and he dies a victim of his own obsession with revenge; symbolically what happens to Betty once Sally discovers her mother’s twisted action.

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