4.07 Problem Dog

Summary and Spoilers

Jesse’s shoot-to-kill video game brings back memories of his cold-blooded murder of Gale. This is probably a first step out of the loop in which he is stuck; he is aided by the newfound support he has gained from Mike and Gus. While Walt sometimes protects him (and critiques him) like a father, Gus seems to actually respect him and see his value.

Skyler asks Walt to bring Junior’s car back to the dealership for a partial refund. Instead, Walt does a few donuts and accidentally crashes it. He then simply torches it, calls a cab, and lets Saul handle the 50 thousand dollar cleanup chore. No matter – he withdraws another 272 thousand dollars from the safe, which is what he makes every two weeks. Skyler now has to figure out how to launder – or just store - 272 thousand dollars in a business that normally makes about that per year.

While at Saul’s office, Walt asks Saul for the name of a hit man, but Saul is unable to help. Instead, Walt goes to Jesse’s place, to enlist Jesse in the task of killing Gus. Jesse doesn’t seem to need too much prodding to go along with the plan.

Walt prepares a batch of ricin, the same powerful and undetectable poison that Walt and Jesse used to kill Tuco. Jesse hides the tiny vial in one of his cigarettes.

Hank and Junior have lunch at Los Pollos Hermanos. Always the gracious host, Gus himself emerges to praise DEA agent Hank for his fine work. Hank asks for a Diet Coke refill, and Gus fetches it himself. Later, Hank pockets the cup for fingerprints.

It is time for the big meeting of Gus’s mob and the drug cartel that has been ambushing Gus’s trucks. Gus offers 50 million as a one-time payoff. The cartel rep offers a yes (allow yourself to be fully taken over) or no choice only. The meeting ends quickly, and war is about to break out. Jesse is there; he is even given a gun, and he briefly considers either dumping the ricin in the coffee, or shooting Gus, but instead he stays cool. Later, as he and Mike drive back, Mike praises Jesse’s loyalty but says that maybe it is directed at the wrong guy. This kind of talk seems to be swaying Jesse; later, when Walt asks Jesse if he has had a chance to kill Gus, Jesse lies that he hasn’t seen him.

Jesse is back in rehab, but he is really there to confess to his sins. He admits that he returned the first time only to find possible meth customers. And he partially admits to killing Gale, but he substitutes ‘dog’, referring to Gale as a ‘problem dog’. This elicits perhaps a more emotional response from the other group members, because they believe he killed an animal and not a person.

Finally, Hank meets with Gomez to lay out his theory about Gale and Gus. Hank now suspects that Gus could be Heisenberg – the guy who is running a huge meth operation. They think he is drawing a long bow until he pulls out his ace in the hole – fingerprint proof that Gus has been in Gale’s apartment.

Comments

This is a deliberately paced, intensely powerful episode, as virtually every character has to come face to face with a seemingly insurmountable dilemma. Skyler has to figure out how to launder 7.5 million dollars a year. Jesse is trying to overcome the specter of himself as murderer. Gus is faced with a drug cartel that will settle for nothing less than total domination. And Jesse has to decide exactly where his loyalties lie. He is already slipping across to Gus’s camp; you’ll notice a rare lie to Walt about not having had the opportunity to kill Gus. And with the way Walt has treated Jesse, it’s easy to think that he would be making the right choice if he changed sides.

Breaking Bad Quotes

"No, I’m sure he’ll see me."
- Walt to cab dispatcher, as car burns in background

"I’m sorry, did I wake you? I – I caught this thing before it got into the system. That means your record stays clean; the wife never finds out. I’ve been working magic here! I could at least get an ‘attaboy’."
- Saul

Walt: Did he speak to you?
Jesse: it – it was over in ten seconds.
Walt: Would you just answer!
Jesse: He said he sees things in people.
Walt: What things? What people?

Jesse: Drop the sales pitch! I’ll do it!
Walt: You’ll do what?
Jesse: I’ll kill him – first chance I get!

Mike: Alright, what’s the order of the day?
Jesse: Eyes open; mouth shut.

Cartel rep: Is it to be yes…or no?
Gus: A hard way to begin a negotiation.
Cartel rep: This is not a negotiation.

Jesse: He said he sees something in me. Like what?
Mike: If I had to put it in a word, I’d guess…loyalty.
Jesse: Loyalty.
Mike: Although maybe you’ve got it for the wrong guy.

Woman at rehab: He was suffering? It was a kindness.
Jesse: No, he wasn’t sick…he was just like a – I don’t know, like a…problem dog.

"You know I – I couldn’t agree more, guys. Gustavo Fring – blue meth – you know – whole thing is…off the map nuts. I had to be wearing a tin foil hat, you know? Except…I can’t seem to wrap my mind around this one little thing, and that is – what are Gustavo Fring’s fingerprints doing in Gale Boetticher’s apartment?"
- Hank