2.01 Seven Thirty-Seven

Summary and spoilers

This episode picks up exactly where the last episode of season one left off: Walt and Jesse have been deeply shaken by watching Tuco brutally beat one of his sidekicks merely because the guy spoke out of turn. Walt recovers quickly and calculates the amount of money he needs (737 thousand dollars) and the time it will take to get it (11 weeks of drug deals at one big deal a week). As the guys drive away, Tuco returns and tosses his beaten and now dying sidekick out of his SUV, yelling at Walt to do something. Walt tries some half-hearted CPR, but it is way too late, and the guy dies. After a few evil stares, Tuco pushes Jesse to the ground and says they can go. They leave as Tuco’s other homey provides a makeshift grave for the dead guy under a pile of junked cars.

Jesse is past scared now. He buys a gun and tells Walt of his plan to shoot Tuco. Walt grills Jesse for specifics and shoots huge holes in the plan, assuring Jesse it will never work. He has a better idea: to use castor beans to manufacture a poison called ricin, a poison so powerful that a miniscule amount can kill a man within 48 hours, and totally undetectable, so they will not be implicated. Walt and Jesse cook the beans and produce a small bag of ricin in powder form. Their new plan is to mix it with a small amount of meth, pass it off as a new blend they want Tuco to try, and then wait to hear the good news.

Marie is still partially in denial about her kleptomania; she’s avoiding her therapy sessions, despite prodding from Hank. Skyler is still angry at Marie and refuses to answer her calls. Hank visits Skyler, attempting to re-start a dialogue between the sisters, but he does little to further his argument when he admits to knowing that Marie had stolen the tiara and had kept this a secret from the family.

Hank appears to be on an inevitable path to discovery that his brother- in-law is cooking. Now he has seen video evidence of Walt and Jesse’s break-in to steal methylamine. Later, he’s at the crime scene where not one but both of Tuco sidekicks are dead. Hank sends a cell phone photo of this crime scene to Walt, just as a joke. When Walt and Jesse see the photo, the assume Tuco killed both men and that he is definitely coming for them next. Walt takes Jesse’s gun and heads for home, suggesting to Jesse that he leave town. Jesse grabs his cash stash and gets ready to flee.

Later, Hank discovers that the second man died from natural causes when the car stack collapsed on him, so perhaps Walt and Jesse did not need to panic (although they do not know that).

Walt arrives home to find Skyler in the bath and Walt Jr. having dinner at a friend’s house. Skyler presses the silent, stressed Walt to talk to her. He seems poised to do so when he hears a sound and sees Jesse’s idling outside. When he walks up to the car to berate Jesse for coming there, he is ordered to get in by the gun-wielding Tuco, who is crouched down in the back seat. Walt complies, and the three of them drive away together.

Comments

This episode was directed by Bryan Cranston.

It may have seemed obvious from the start, but Walt’s original plan to make money by cooking meth as a way of protecting his family from financial hardship was also riddled with holes. It seems there is no way to partially and safely enter the drug arena without endangering yourself and your family. Walt is now unraveling, his relationship with Skyler is deteriorating fast, and the stress he is under is not going to help his health issues.

Hank makes a passing reference to a rival drug gang. This could be who has been watching and calling Hank and Jesse.

When Walt is last at his house, he removes all the cash from the wall vent and places it and his gun in a diaper box – then forgets to hide the box, leaving it askew in full view. I wonder if Walt Jr. or Skyler will find it.

As Walt mentioned, ricin, a poison extracted from castor beans, is a lethal and virtually undetectable poison. In 1978, the Bulgarian secret police used an umbrella to deliver a tiny pellet of ricin into the leg of dissident Georgi Markov, who died in hospital a few days later. It is believed that the KGB supplied the Bulgarians with the technology for this assassination.

Memorable Moments

• Walt returning his night-time companion, a big kitchen knife, back to the knife rack

Quotable Quotes

Tuco: Get rid of him.
Henchman: But, Tuco, we can’t do him like that, man. Buzzards and rats and all that. [pause] Um, I’m just saying, you know. It’s not very Christian.
Tuco: This sounds like arguing

"How can you suggest that we kill a man, and you can’t even open the gun?"
- Walt to Jesse

Walt: I got a better idea.
Jesse: Thank god! Alright, what is it, Mr. White. Lay it on me.
Walt: Beans.
Jesse: Beans.
Walt: Castor beans.
Jesse: So what are we gonna do with them? Are we just gonna grow a magic bean stalk, huh, climb it, and escape?
Walt: We are going to process them into ricin [note: pronounced ‘rice-in’].
Jesse: Ricin beans.