Summary and spoilers
At the same time as Walt is laying down the new law to Jesse, telling him that he will do the cooking while Jesse handles the street side of things, and that there will be no more violence, we are flashing forward to what appears to be the aftermath of a bikie rumble, where an almost-bald Walt walks slowly away from the scene, bleeding from the nose.
Later, Walt is in a comfy chair alongside others, all getting their chemo drips. He assures Skyler that he got and deposited a check from Elliott.
At school, it’s painful to watch Walt trying to expend energy in teaching while he is suffering the effects of the chemo.
At a therapy session, Skyler and Walt Jr. confront Walt about where he is spending his afternoons, and why he is coming home late. Walt says he likes to be alone, go for walks, and enjoy nature. Of course, he’s not enjoying nature, except that which he can see from the desert-parked Winnebago as he cooks meth. But his health issues are starting to interfere with his batch-making. Jesse identifies the radiation target mark on Walt’s chest and realizes he has cancer. Walt is unable to continue cooking, but he believes in Jesse, telling him to take over and finish the job. Jesse doesn’t look so sure.
Hank and Gomez have identified that a piece of lab equipment found near the Winnebago site came from Walt’s school.
In a montage of quick edits, we see Jesse frequenting a series of seedy places and selling small quantities of meth to seedy meth users. When he returns to the lab, Walt is unhappy with the total cash haul of 2600 dollars. Walt says they need to move meth in bulk and to think outside the box. Jesse says he does know a distributor, but that he cannot just approach the guy without a referral.
Walt’s ongoing chemo treatments are continuing to make him sick at school. He isn’t cheered up by a visit from Hank. Hank has the gas mask found at the desert cook site and wants some help from Walt. Walt also finds out from Hank that there was a snitch involved (and possibly suspects Jesse?). Hank discovers all the missing items that Walt took to start the lab, but does not yet see Walt as a suspect, preferring to think that a student borrowed the store room keys.
Jesse has found a buddy, Skinny Pete, that will take him in to see the new distributor, Tuco. Tuco likes the meth very much and agrees to a deal, but he wants to take the meth on consignment – without giving Jesse any money up front. When Jesse tries to take the meth back, he is beaten until he is bleeding from the mouth.
Hank arrives one morning at Walt’s school and arrests Hugo, the janitor who had shown true compassion towards a sick cancer patient named Walt. Hank mentions something about a background check. It hurts Walt to have to watch someone else take the blame for his crimes, but it doesn’t hurt enough for him to do anything about it.
Walt is trying to find Jesse but only gets his answering machine message.
A family card game allows Hank to explain more about why Hugo was arrested (he had a record), and to say that he was not the person who stole the lab equipment. Hank and Walt also mirror their real-world cat and mouse game by ending up head to head in a poker hand, and Walt bluffs Hank and wins. The victory is short-lived for Walt, as he discovers later in the shower that his hair loss has begun. Later, he tries to beat the slow thinning by shaving completely.
Walt makes another call to Jesse and tracks him to a hospital, where he lies unconscious, being watched by his ‘friend’ Skinny Pete. Walt grills Pete about Tuco.
Skinhead Walt arrives at Tuco’s, and is able to gain entry to the compound. Walt asks for 50 grand – 35 grand for the pound of meth Tuco already took, and 15 grand for his partner’s pain and suffering. Tuco has no intention of doing any of that, but Walt has a little surprise – the bag of meth-looking crystals he brought is an exploding compound called fulminated mercury, and when he throws a single crystal, it causes a major explosion. Walt grabs the bag and threatens to use it all unless a deal can be made. Tuco agrees to buy two more pounds of meth. Back in his car, Walt celebrates with a throaty roar that only a brush with death can bring.
Comments
The show’s delay/moratorium on selling meth has now been fully lifted, with Walt and Jesse sellng small and large batches as fast as they can make them. So any semblance of morality has also been fully lifted.
With Walt’s chemical expertise and lack of moral fiber, he could make money a lot of ways – such as by supplying home-made explosives to terrorist groups.
Nits
As Walt was leaving Tuco’s, I thought he would get a bullet in the back. This would have been a safe way for Tuco to dispose of him and get his money back. Sure, you say, but Tuco wanted those next 2 pounds of meth. True, but Tuco also stole the first batch of meth with no regard for the opportunity to set up a supply deal with Jesse.
According to Anne Marie’s Chemistry Blog, fulminated mercury would not look like glassy crystals the way it was portrayed in this episode – it is a grayish-brown powder. And it sounds like Anne Marie knows what she’s talking about.
Memorable Moments
- Walt’s chemically-laden orange urine
- Tuco’s maniacal mannerisms
Quotable Quotes
Walt: Yes, yes! That’s what we need, we need a distributor. Now - do you know anyone like that?
Jesse: Yeah, I mean I used to, until you killed him!
"Damn! Chick’s got an ass like an onion…makes me wanna cry."
- Hank
Tuco: It’s your meeting! Why don’t you start talking and tell me what you want!
Walt: 50 thousand dollars,
Tuco (laughs) Oh, man! 50 Gs? How you figure that?
Walt: 35 for the pound of meth you stole, and another 15 for my partner’s pain and suffering.
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