Also, it occurred to me that Henry must be 15-20 years older than Betty, since he has an adult daughter.

Right, you could see Betty calculating all that at the wedding.

I don't see Henry marrying her - but then, I don't see the point of her leaving Don only to marry somebody else. . . somebody that she only has the most tenuous connection to, you know?

On the other hand, she probably feels like she has no other option.

(Do you guys think that Don is feeling - maybe not in a way that he could articulate - that Betty doesn't love him because of who Dick Whitman is and not because of everything else in their marriage?)

I think Henry thinks he wants to marry her, but they've had what - 4 conversations? Maybe a grand total of 90 minutes together?

OTOH, she and Don have 3 kids together and I doubt he knows her any better than Henry does, so maybe it's a toss-up.

(Do you guys think that Don is feeling - maybe not in a way that he could articulate - that Betty doesn't love him because of who Dick Whitman is and not because of everything else in their marriage?)

Yes, absolutely.

I'm not sure that it's because of who Dick Whitman *is*, but I definitely think he thinks it's because of his hiding his past.

I think he believes Betty doesn't love Dick Whitman. I don't think it's occured to him that she also doesn't love Don Draper.

Jessica - that is exactly what I meant.

I'm with Jessica. As fucked up as Don is and his terrible behavior, I really felt sorry for him. He probably is thinking that she seemed into him in Rome, so it has to be Dick.

Yeah, that's part of what's so painful about it. When you think about the carrot that got taken away from Don (London) and how Betty'd responded when he mentioned it to her, Rome makes it really clear about what kind of life she really wants. Modeling could have given that to her. And for a while it seemed like Don could. Maybe now she thinks that Henry can.

But I feel like Henry is, for Betty, a conduit. He's a way to see her out of her marriage to Don. I don't think that Betty necessarily has a long term plan for Henry. I think he's a means to an end with her, just like pretty damn much everything else.

Betty, for Don, is part and parcel of his whole identity, though. Those closing scenes were just heartbreaking because it's clear how lost he will be without her and without the kids. All his affairs are just him reaching out and touching other ways of life, things that aren't his. It interests him, because it's different from him. But Betty is his image of himself. Betty is part of the fiction that Dick created to make himself Don.

Mad Men: Don, with the scheming! Joan! Pete leaving with the rifle! That was... fun! (except for the divorcey bits, obviously). It was odd seeing so much action take place in one episode. How long 'til the next season?

WOW.

WOW.