2.05 Breakage

Summary and spoilers

Walt and Skyler’s relationship is still in a severely damaged state. Trust is gone and will not be restored until Walt tells all; this would, of course, cause other, perhaps even more serious issues. So instead, Walt goes to his chemo treatment alone, and when he tries to speak to Skyler about Walt Jr.’s whereabouts, tensions erupt and an argument ensues. Walt confronts Skyler about the empty cigarette pack he found in the toilet. Skyler admits to smoking a few cigarettes but says she tossed the rest. Walt is still, ironically, appalled, but Skyler says it isn’t a big deal.

Walt and Jesse’s relationship is changing as well. Jesse is no longer playing the role of the subservient student partner. He blames Walt and his greed/impatience for the situations with Tuco, and, not wanting a repeat, insists that the division of labor be made clear: Walt does the cooking, and Jesse does the selling. Jesse gets a new rental house, and a new (used) car, and settles his accounts with his brother in law. He lines up his druggie friends as resellers and keeps the operation clean: no drugs at his house; all anonymous drops, etc. Jesse is earning 6 grand a day, but still Walt is not satisfied. When he hears that Skinny Pete was held up by junkies and robbed of an ounce, he gives Jesse his gun back and says he wants him to ‘take care of it’.

Hank’s work at ‘apprehending’ Tuco has earned him a promotion to head a tri-state task force that will see him divide his time between Albuquerque and El Paso. Marie is not pleased with this; she sees El Paso as an armpit, not a city, and views it as a dangerous location on the Mexican border, where drug lords regularly deposit the heads of their enemies. Hank appears rapt on the outside, but he is suffering from nerves and at one point seems close to having a stroke/heart attack. He has gotten jumpy as well; one night, gunshots in his house have him stalking his garage with a gun and breathing heavily, but it’s only his home brew bottles exploding.

At a family barbecue, Skyler has had enough of Marie’s small talk and demands an apology. Perhaps Skyler sensed that Marie’s vulnerability in the face of Hank’s promotion to El Paso instead of Marie’s favored Washington D.C. was a good time to try to get a more favorable response. After the usual series of denials, Marie breaks down and sobs a sincere "I’m sorry".

In the opening scene, two fully-clothed men swim across a muddy river. When they reach the opposite bank, one of them finds Tuco’s bridge. This does not bode well for Hank; how did this happen? The real story is not nearly as bad as this would indicate; we find out much later that Hank tossed the bridge out into the muddy river, perhaps as a gesture of humility (in an effort to change his luck).

Comments

The theme of this episode is ‘relationships’: Walt/Skyler, Walt/Jesse, Hank/Marie, and Skyler/Marie. Each relationship is growing or dieing at different rates. Skyler and Marie have restored theirs; Walt and Jesse have stabilized; Walt and Skyler are spiralling downward; and Hank and Marie could go either way.

Memorable Moments

• The ‘toilet-cam’ shot as Walt uses a plunger to find Skyler’s discarded cigarette pack

Breaking Bad Quotes

Walt: [looking at invoice] I thought we discussed cash discount.
Woman at reception: Absolutely. It’s included.

"Dude, I got nowhere else to go. This is it. And I got no game, alright! I just need a chance. [pause] Look, my folks, they kicked me out, I’m a disappointment, apparently – I don’t meet their expectations, again, so, you know, now I’m person non gratis or whatever, but you know what? I’m a good person and I work hard. I’ll pay you every month, and I’ll pay you on time. I will not mess this up, okay, I swear."
- Jesse

Marie: So…let me get this straight. You call in sick the day after receiving a long-awaited, career-boosting promotion so you can play Oktoberfest in your man-cave. I don’t get it; really, I don’t.
Hank: Babe, relax.
Marie: Please don’t tell me to relax. You know I hate that. Dave said I should express that.

Walt: I don’t vote for this plan. I’m not comfortable bringing unknown entities into our operation.
Jesse: Yeah? Well you don’t get to vote.
Walt: I beg your pardon? This is a partnership, remember?
Jesse: I remem – oh, I remember. Yeah, you cook; I sell. That was the division of labor when we started all this. And that’s exactly how we should have kept it! ‘Cause I sure as hell didn’t find myself locked in a trunk or on my knees with a gun to my head before your greedy old ass came along, alright!
Walt: Alright, I will admit to a bit of a learning curve.

Skyler: Shh. Apologize.
Marie: What?
Skyler: I will not listen to one more word until you apologize.
Marie: For -
Skyler: You know perfectly well, Marie.
Marie: Obviously I don’t -
Skyler: Clear lies – to me – the shoplifting – all of it – I mean, did you really think it was all just neatly gonna go away?
Marie: Well, if you hadn’t tried to return it -
Skyler: Apologize! Now or never, I mean it, or it will never be the same!
Marie: [whispered] Why are you punishing me?
Skyler: If you don’t respect me enough to apologize, to tell me the truth [pause] I need my sister back.
Marie: [pause] [crying] I’m sorry! I’m sorry!

"You asked me what I want you to do. [puts gun on counter] I want you to handle it."
- Walt to Jesse