Matt Weiner has said that the theme for season 3 is "Liberation." We will see it over and over again is subtle and not so subtle ways.

Gene liberated from Gloria, and life itself.
Peggy liberated from her mother and being a "girl."
Joan perhaps being liberated from her rapist husband (we can only hope)
Sal being liberated from living the lie of his sexuality.
I could go on, but you get the idea.

I posted this on the open thread of episode 4, but since someone made a thread for the ant farm here is my humble opinon. I feel that the ant farm breaking is a another foreshadow of the future. The ant farm is a microcosm to the mad men universe. The shook and disarray that the glass breaking to the ants is equal to the shook everyone will have on November 22, 1963.

I wonder where the queen will wind up?

I think it was Don's revenge against Pryce for making him turn down the Madison Square Garden deal. Don couldn't use the "oyster/martini lunch followed by the 24 flights of stairs" gig again. It was subtle and unfortunately we didn't get to see the smile on Don's face when he left the room. Just my thoughts. Cheers.

Adam and D&S, love your thoughts! Seems to be also the breaking of any moral high ground at SC as they took Horace, jr. and are milking him for all he's worth.

Don's noble attempt to steer Horace away from disaster and his touching gesture at episode's end of folding up Gene's bed-- saving Betty that horrible task--confirms his conscience is often in the right place. And it wasn't insignificant that he assured Sal more directing gigs, further proving how much he likes him. No doubt because he empathizes with someone living a lie, but also because he genuinely wants Sal to be happy in the midst of his own despair. I suspect this relationship/friendship will blossom into something very interesting in the coming episodes. And no, I'm not suggesting a bromance.

I think that the ant farm was representative of cooperation, cohesiveness, and working for the common good. There is not a lot of room for individual ego gratification in an ant colony. However, ants have endured for millions of years largely because of the above traits. I agree that this is a powerful bit of foreshadowing particularly since, as Thirteen pointed out, SC's ethics have taken a nosedive in this episode.

I think the breaking of the ant farm just showed how hard jai alai is to play and symbolized the project is doomed to failure. It is clear Don has no faith in it, but he did not break the ant farm on purpose. The ant farm was Burt Cooper's.

Zerelda wrote: "I think the breaking of the ant farm just showed how hard jai alai is to play and symbolized the project is doomed to failure."

LOL! We probably didn't need such symbolism to tell us it was doomed to failure, but yes, you're spot on right! A very clear demonstration of how hard it is to play ;-D

I think the irony was that we saw everyone at that meeting working together like ants to reel in this sucker. They may not be able to play Jai alai as a team, but they were able to play as a team when taking Horace jr. for all he was worth.

The ant farm belonged to Burt Peterson, former Accounts manager, not Bert Cooper.

Of course they're going to take Ho-Ho's money and spend it, possibly with little or no gain, but Don gave Ho-Ho and his father fair warning that they would. That Ho-Ho ends up broke, his face against the sidewalk, is exactly what his father expects to happen and will not be unhappy if it does. Kill or Be Killed. Eat or Be Eaten. Ho-Ho will be unhappy and blame SC, but tht's his problem because no one is going to sympathize.

I thought Pete's best line was, "My father's dead but I'm sure he would have wanted to invest in this." Pete knows Daddy Campbell blew his wife's Dyckman inheritance in bad investments. And Pete says it with such a smile...