3.13 Full Measure

Summary and Spoilers

A quick flashback shows us Walt and Skylar house-hunting as a young couple; Skylar is pregnant with Walt Jr. She has picked out a suitable house that fits their budget, but Walt wants more. Always ambitious, he sees them going higher and higher. You can understand why this man was not satisfied with teaching high school chemistry – and why he turned to crime as a way of reaping top rewards.

Walt meets with Gus to discuss what will happen next. On the surface, Gus accepts Walt’s suggestion that they treat this incident as a blip in what will be a long and fruitful career. Behind the scenes, however, Gus re-hires Gale and, soon after, pays him a personal home visit to ask him if he could take over cooking should Walt’s supposed health problems suddenly worsen. Walt also senses that his lifespan has shortened; he gets Saul to arrange a clandestine meeting with he and Jesse to discuss strategy. Walt feels that the only way to prolong his life is to make himself more valuable – and that means getting rid of Gale. Walt tasks Jesse with finding Gale’s home address – and Jesse comes through. As Walt leaves to do the deed, he is intercepted by Victor and brought to the lab. Mike is waiting, there to perform the execution. Walt pleads for his life, trying everything, including agreeing to give up Jesse. Mike is intrigued by this and allows Walt to call Jesse to set up a meeting. But instead, Walt tells Jesse that he must do ‘it’ – kill Gale. Jesse, stoned and shaken, nonetheless owes Walt his life, and goes to Gale’s home. Gale opens the door and is greeted with Jesse pointing a handgun at his head. Now it is Gale’s turn to plead for his life. Jesse fires one shot – toward the camera – and the episode ends.

Comments

It seemed to me that Jesse moved the gun slightly to the right before firing that shot, so he may have purposely missed Gale. I really don’t know if he could do such – kill an innocent, even if he owed his life to someone.

I didn’t notice an advisory warning on this episode, but it could have used one. I always find it quite unnerving to see someone pleading for their very life – that mental torture and anguish is much more difficult to watch than some of the more graphically violent scenes.

Breaking Bad Quotes

Walt: I’m gonna need some – some kind of assurance.
Mike: I assure you I could kill you from way over here if it makes you feel any better.

"Walter. You’ve been busy."
- Mike

Walt: You’ve always struck me as a very pragmatic man, so if I may I would like to review options with you, of which, it seems to me, you have two. Option A: you kill me right here and now. Apparently I have made that very easy for you. You can kill me, no witnesses, and then spend the next few weeks or months tracking down Jesse Pinkman, and you kill him too. A pointless exercise it seems to me, but that is option A.
Gus: What is option B?
Walt: I continue cooking. You and I both forget about Pinkman. We forget this ever happened. We consider this a...lone hiccup in an otherwise long and fruitful business arrangement. I prefer option B.

3.12 Half Measures

Summary and Spoilers

A complex negotiation between Walt and Skylar is a win-win. Skylar gets her preferred money laundering situation – the car wash with her as bookkeeper – and Walt gets a key to the house and dinner four nights a week.

Meanwhile Marie has devised a down and dirty way to get Hank to come home. She bets him that if she can produce an erection, he will leave. Hank takes the bet, sure that she will fail…but soon after, we see Hank being wheeled from the ward, a disgusted expression on his face.

Jesse wants revenge on the two dealers who ordered the death of Kombo. He shares his plan with Walt and requests some more ricin, but Walt wants no part of it. Jesse swears that he will do it anyway. He makes his own poison from a website recipe and enlists his hooker friend to deliver the good via hamburgers to the dealers.

Walt is concerned about Jesse’s plan and tells Saul. Walt suggests that they get Jesse incarcerated for a month until he cools off. Saul agrees and contacts Mike, his PI. But Mike visits Walt on his own to tell him that his employer (Gus) would not that kind of response. Mike tells a long story from his beat cop days about a wife beater whom he tried to scare into leaving his wife alone. The result was that it seemed to work, but soon after the man killed his wife. Mike says no more half measures.

Jesse is just about to go ahead with his plan when he is intercepted by Mike and brought to a meeting with Gus, Walt, and the two dealers. Gus is incensed and tells Jesse that not for Walt, he would have had Jesse killed. Jesse does not back down, insisting that he is in the right for wanting to do away with these dealers that use kids. Gus’s priority is keeping the peace. He tells the dealer to stop using kids, and make Jesse shake hands with them. Jesse goes through with it.

Later, Jesse is at Andrea’s house when she receives the news that Tomas is dead. He has been executed by the two dealers. Jesse gets a gun and fuels his courage with a meth bump. At the same time, Walt has received the news of Tomas’ death via a TV broadcast he receives while having dinner with Skylar and Walt Jr. Walt leaves immediately.

Jesse walks toward the dealers, who also have guns ready. All pull their weapons, ready to fire, when suddenly Walt speeds up and run over the two dealers. When one is still alive, reaching for his gun, Walt picks up the piece and executes him. With a scary, steely glare, he looks at the shocked Jesse and simply says, "Run!"

Comments

This episode was prefixed by a special viewer discretion warning due to the explicit violence in the closing scene.

The episode opens with a montage of Jesse’s hooker friend going through her normal work day, all set to the background music of the song ‘Windy’. Probably the best scene is the woman’s head disappearing beneath the dashboard of a car as she performs oral sex, while The Association sing, "Who’s bending down to give me a rainbow? Everyone knows it’s Windy."

Oh yes, one more thing. Best. Episode. Ever.

Memorable Moments

This is a fantastic episode from start to finish, but I just wanted to give special credit to Aaron Paul (Jesse), whose impassioned performance should be used as a textbook model of naturalistic, sincere acting.

Breaking Bad Quotes

Walt: But I’m noting a little hole in your plot, though. Why would your estranged husband be doing all this for you?
Skylar: Because he loves his family, and desperately wants reconciliation, though it may be hopeless and futile. Then again, he’d try anything.
Walt: I’m just not buying it. You know, I think it would be better if the husband were no longer estranged. Maybe if he were back sleeping in his own bed.
Skylar: Wow! It's suddenly a fantasy story!
Walt: I am at least gonna be a part of this household! Dinner with the family every night of the week.
Skylar: Not every night, no.
Walt: Six nights a week; you get one night off.
Skylar: Dinner two nights, not weekends, with 24 hours notice.
Walt: Five nights a week, with no notice.
Skylar: Three. Six hours notice.
Walt: Five nights a week with two hours notice.
Skylar: Four. Don’t…push it.
Walt: And I want my own key to the house.
Skylar: No.
Walt: For emergencies and appearances, yes. I am going to babysit my own daughter; I am going to help my son with his homework. I am going to be a part of this family. And that is how we’ll sell your little fiction.

"I bought it from the two guys who killed Kombo. They had Kombo shot down in the streets, and now it’s our product they’re selling. Which means they work for our guy, right?"
- Jesse

"No more half measures, Walter."
- Mike

Gus: Listen to me. You have one friend in this room: this man. Those men outside are my trusted employees. And when I learned what you intended to do. If it wasn’t for this man and the respect I have for him, I would be dealing with this in a very different way. Don’t look at him, you look at me! This is what happens now: my men will come back inside, and you will shake their hands and you will make peace, and that will be the end of this.
Jesse: No.
Walt: Jesse!
Gus: Pardon me?
Jesse: They use kids! These assholes of yours, they got an 11 year old kid killing for them. You’re supposed to be some kind of reasonable businessman? This how you do business? [looks at Walt] You okay with this? You got anything to say here?

Marie: I tell you what: if I can get the groundhog to see his shadow –
Hank: It’s not gonna happen, I’m sorry.
Marie: I’m betting it will. And if he does, you check outta here.

Andrea: Bad day?
Jesse: I don’t even know.

"Run!"
- Walt’s one word of advice to Jesse

3.11 Abiquiu

Summary and Spoilers

Through flashback, we are made aware of the rough yet touching synergy between Jesse and Jane. Jane is gone, and Jesse, perhaps yearning for love again, takes up with Andrea, a new girl in the recovering addicts therapy circle. It might be yearning, or it might be the more obvious reason: Jesse is disgusted with Badger and Pete’s inability to move any meth. In fact, Badger has only manager to sell a tiny amount – and that was to Pete. Jesse seduces Andrea, and his motives seem purely evil, but he stops bringing up the idea of selling meth to her when he finds out she has a 6 year old son. In a most bizarre coincidence, Andrea’s kid brother is the drug mule who shot Kombo. Jesse is also getting quite attached to Andrea, and he is interacting beautifully with her son Brock.

Hank has started PT but is terrified of taking that first step. He also is upset (upset is a mild way to put it) when he finds out that he can go home, and that Marie has put a hospital bed in their bedroom. He wants it out – and he does not want to go home until he can walk there. Meanwhile, the first of many huge hospital bills has been delivered to Marie; she passes that on to Skylar, who in turn invites Walt over to dinner to discuss how they will pay it. Skylar is unhappy with the money laundering arrangements and gets right involved. She and Walt meet with Saul and Skylar is less than impressed. She does not think the idea of Walt investing in laser tag is a believable scenario. She has a better idea; Walt should buy the car wash, and Skylar will run it. Walt vehemently does not want her to get involved, but she says she is involved. She also has some big news; she never filed the divorce papers, because a husband and wife cannot testify against each other.

Gus invites Walt to a lovely, one on one home cooked dinner and delivers an ominous warning that must relate to missing amounts of meth: never make the same mistake twice.

Finally Jesse makes a drug deal with the two guys who had Kombo murdered. He is visibly seething, not only at coming face to face with Kombo’s executioner, but also, Jesse is good with and cares about kids, and he is appalled to see that Andrea’s kid brother Tomas holds the drugs while the dealers in the car take the money, ensuring that they cannot be caught for possession.

Breaking Bad Quotes

Jesse: You can’t get your nut up to sell? What’s the point of even coming?
Pete: Homey, I’m on like step five.
Badger: Deuce, yo. I’m catching up.
Jesse: Whatever. Later.
Pete: Dude needs to come into the fold.

Walt: It makes a better story than your laser tag.
Saul: Is that you talking, or Yoko Ono?

"C’mon. You can help me cook."
- Gus to Walt

"Never make the same mistake twice."
- Gus to Walt

3.10 Fly

Summary and Spoilers

Walt seems down, depressed, struggling with the grind of work, because for what purpose is he doing all this? His drive to provide for his family is not appreciated. In times of stress, it seems that his drive for perfection dominates his thoughts. It manifests itself here as a lone fly that invades the lab. Most people would push that insect out of their mind, but for Walt, it is a deal breaker. He will not cook while that ‘contaminant’ is in the house.

Walt discovers and attacks the fly after Jesse leaves for the day. While swatting it, he bashes equipment and bangs his head, then goes even further and falls from the second floor. His fall is only partially minimized by a storage tank.

When Jesse arrives the next day, he is made to understand how important it is that they dispose of the bug. Jesse wonders how long Walt has gone without sleep, and even accuses him of sampling some of their product. Together, they unsuccessfully hunt down the bug. Their inability to work together is highlighted. They hit each other with Walt’s hand-made swatter. When Jesse does not dedicate every moment to getting the fly, Walt locks Jesse out of the lab and vows to do it himself. Jesse retaliates by cutting the electricity. Eventually, Jesse is allowed back in. He returns from no-pest strips and various bug sprays. These are either no good, because they are also contaminants, or do not work.

Jesse wants to get on with the cooking, so he drugs Walt’s coffee to put him to sleep. Before dozing off, Walt talks about life and death, musing about what would have been the right time to die. He seems tired of living and toiling and expresses frustration that he has not been able to explain everything to Skylar. He also comes dangerously close to admitting his role in the death of Jane. Jesse gets the fly just after Walt falls asleep.

Walt discovers missing meth but hasn’t figured out Jessie took it. As the show closes, Walt gently warns Jesse that he will not be able to protect him if he has taken it and is discovered.

Breaking Bad Quotes

 "You didn’t happen to maybe try our product, did you?"
- Jesse

"He’s got some skills – yo – give him that."
- Jesse

"I mean I truly believe there exists some combination of words – there must exist certain words in a certain specific order that would explain all of this, but with her I just can’t ever seem to find them."
- Walt

"I should never have left home – never gone to your house. Maybe things would have…oh, god I was, I was at home watching TV. It was some, some nature program about elephants. Skylar and Holly were in the other room. I could hear them on the baby monitor. She was singing a lullaby. Ah…ah, if I had just lived right up to that moment, and not one second more…that would have been perfect."
- Walt

Walt: Jesse…I’m sorry.
Jesse: Sorry for what? Being a lunatic?
Walt: Sorry about Jane.
Jesse: Yeah. Me too.
Walt: I mean I…I was very sorry.
Jesse: It’s not your fault. It’s…not mine either. It’s no one’s fault. Not even hers.

3.09 Kafkaesque

Summary and Spoilers

An ad for Los Pollos Hermanos focuses on the long tradition of making tender, tasty spicy chicken the old fashioned way. This segues seamlessly from chicken nuggets to nuggets of blue meth. Walt and Jesse must be working hard to make their quota: box after box of meth is sealed and carted away. The assembly line continues, with workers packing the meth into bags, and then hiding the bags deep inside sealed buckets of Los Pollos Hermanos Fry Batter. Thusly are the various franchises used as distribution centers.

Jesse should be happy with his half share of the 3 million, but he has done some quick math and calculated that Gus will make about 96 million from sales of the 3 months of meth they create. He tries to plead his case with Walt, but Walt just says he should be happy with being a millionaire. Walt doesn’t even have the energy or inclination to try to convince Jesse otherwise, by using arguments about how protected they are and how much risk Gus is assuming, or that Gus has other costs for infrastructure, equipment, and distribution.

Marie fusses over Hank. When Gomez pops in and meekly asks to visit, Marie says yes. Gomez tries to cheer Hank up by telling him that the blue meth is popping up all over the place. Walt, who is hanging in the room, perks up when he hears this news. Hank then shares the fact that someone with a voice scrambler warned him about the attack. Now Walt and Skyler perk up, and Skyler throws a few killer looks at Walt. Outside in the car, Skyler wants to know if they are safe and if he is safe. Walt says yes to both questions in his usual confident way.

Jesse daydreams in group therapy until he is prompted to share. He gives a bland lie about working in a laundromat, although the work situation he vaguely describes sound like the Walt-run meth lab. He agrees with the group leader that it all sounds Kafkaesque.

Hank is getting some feeling back in his legs. Marie’s high hopes are dashed when she finds out the care physiotherapy care he will receive will be limited by what is covered under their health plan. She knows that the more care he receives, the faster it starts, and the better the physiotherapist, the more chance he will walk again. She vows to give him what he needs and go outside the plan, which means hundreds and thousands of dollars of out of pocket costs. Of course, there is one obvious person who comes to mind who should pay for all this: Jesse. Just kidding; it’s Walt. Or maybe Gus: what more magnanimous gesture could Gus make than to pay for Hank’s specialized care? He orders him killed, then gets brownie points in the community for helping him.

There’s a segway to a foot being massaged. You might assume this is Hank, but it’s Saul, waiting for a meeting with Jesse. Saul’s news is that the nail salon they are in is now owned by Jesse and is to be used for laundering money. There’s no doubt that Saul knows what he’s talking about, what with layering, placement, etc., but his attempt to close the deal falters when he admits that he will take 17 percent of the laundered money for himself, whereas with Walt he only takes 5 percent.

Walt meets with Gus to ‘clear the air’. Somehow, Walt has guessed that the assassins were meant for him but were steered toward Hank. Walt is there to express his thanks to Gus for saving his life, but also to extend their deal. Gus quickly and quietly agrees to pay Walt 15 million a year, indefinitely. All is well, or is it? As Walt drives away, he floors the car and closes his eyes. He awakens just in time to avoid an oncoming tractor trailer.

Back in therapy, Jesse is asked if he had the chance to do anything he wanted, other than make more money (his first answer), what would he do. He said he would make something, work with his hands, do woodworking. He tells a story about woodworking class in high school, where he quickly built a box for a teacher named Mr. Pike, so he could cut class. But when Mr. Pike said, "Is that the best you can do?", Jesse is inspired to do better. He started again, making elaborate boxes. By the fifth box, he used Peruvian walnut with inlays. Although at first he said he gave the box to his mom, he actually traded it for an ounce of weed.

Back at Skyler’s house, Skyler tries to convince Marie to have a bath and relax while Hank gets through a heavily drugged night of sleep. Ted shows up to find out why Skyler hasn’t been returning his calls. It’s obvious that he loves her, but Skyler doesn’t love him. What’s more, she wants to make sure that Marie does not find out about their trysts. She basically boots him out, even as he is putting more pressure on her to explain why he is not welcome.

Jesse has drinks with Skinny Pete and Badger, and complains about how regimented and responsible his current cooking situation is. He longs for the days when he could cook whenever and wherever is his now crushed RV. He needs to be more of an outlaw and wants to move some meth himself, but his plan does not involve cooking – it involves skimming some meth out of the lab by lying about weights. Cut to Jesse feeding Walt incorrect bin weights so he can skim some meth with (supposedly) no one noticing. And then there are two new people in Jesse’s therapy circle – Badger and Pete – acting like they are trying to quit blue meth, but in reality talking it up as an advertisement to all those struggling addicts.

Marie is passionate about going to the press to tell the story of Hank’s battles with health care. Skyler offers to pay their bills with the money Walt has earned – from gambling. She’s made up an elaborate story about Walt’s system for counting cards in blackjack. Marie falls for the story completely – who wouldn’t? Even Walt is starting to believe it. Walt says they have seven figures of cash, and it is offered to Marie and Hank. Marie accepts, but has to promise not to tell Hank where it came from or how it was acquired.

If Walt thought this lie from Skyler was the beginning of a mending of their relationship, he was very wrong. Skyler also suspects that Hank is there because of Walt.

Memorable Moments

When Skyler is fibbing to Marie how Walt earned thousands of dollars counting cards in blackjack, when she gets to an important part of the story, both Marie and Walt lean forward in interest (since neither knows what she will say next).

Breaking Bad Quotes

"Hey! What’s more important than money!"
- Jesse to Walt

"C’mere. Closer….asshole."
- Hank to Gomez

Skyler: Are we safe?
Walt: Yes.
Skyler: Are you safe?
Walt: Absolutely.

"What’s the point of being an outlaw when you’ve got responsibilities?"
- Jesse

Skyler: Walt – we could always pay their bills.
Marie: Please, it’s tens of thousands of dollars.
Skyler: We have the money. More than enough. Walt earned it.
Walt: Skyler -
Skyler: I think Marie should know the truth.
Walt: Skyler, I – I really don’t think this is a good idea. I – I think that –

Skyler: He earned it gambling.

Skyler: We have the money.
Marie: How much money?
Skyler: Walt?
Walt: Well…it’s into seven figures.
Marie: Oh! Holy Mary mother of God.
Walt: What can I say? I did very well.

"Somehow, something tells me Hank is here because of you. And I’m not forgetting that."
- Skyler to Walt

3.08 I See You

Summary and spoilers

Jesse massages his tender and bruised shoulders and continues to slowly and painfully get dressed in his hospital room. Checkout time means an escorted wheelchair exit to a curbside waiting area. Jesse’s attention is drawn to a passing ambulance. Hank emerges from the back, unconscious and shot in four places. Jesse’s dour mood immediately brightens.

Gale is shocked to find out that Walt is unhappy with his work. Of course Walt has no real reason to fire Gale based on his work – it’s all to make a space for Jesse and to save Hank. Just as Walt is trying to convince Gale that Walt needs someone ‘classical’ and not someone ‘jazz’, Jesse stomps in, bruised and cursing with excitement at his new office. Gale leaves as he must, but he realizes he has been lied to, and I wonder if he will re-emerge in Walt’s life. Walt needs to fill his next 200 pound order in two days. He’s serious about getting started with training Jesse immediately and probably realizes that work is going to harder and production slower with his new lab assistant. Jesse also brings the news of Hank’s injury to Walt, who of course cannot get any cell phone reception within this shielded and secure bunker.

Walt rushes to the hospital and comforts Marie. Marie needs comforting after she finds out that Hank had been suspended just before the incident and did not have his gun. Marie kicks out Gomez and Hank’s boss, and then turns her attack onto Walt for buying marihuana from Jesse long ago. Little does she know the real connection between the two, but Skylar, who is also in the room, does know, and she becomes part of the web of lies.

Back at the lab, Jesse tests the acoustical qualities by yelling and banging on stainless steel equipment. Bored and worried about the cooking deadline, he pages Walt at the hospital. Jesse says he can start cooking on his own. Walt asks Jesse to wait patiently and not to touch any of the equipment. When Skylar walks nearby, Walt acts as if he is talking to a family friend who is expressing condolences.

Marie and gang take a break from worrying about Hank to eat some food. Marie now turns her attack to water spots on a fork, insisting that the silverware in the hospital cafeteria should be submitted to the same strict health standards as the operating room. How can anyone survive in a place like this, Marie wonders. Walt says he survived, and then recaps the story of his lobectomy and the fear that he felt. He convinces Marie that if he could survive this place, Hank could easily do it. The importance of family is also a comfort to Marie.

Juan grills Gus on why the cousins would attack a DEA agent. Gus pleads innocence.

The surgeon can offer no guarantees about Hank’s future. He’s made it through surgery, but the bullet’s proximity to his spine means that the future forecast cannot be determined. Walt volunteers to run home and pick up a few essentials for the vigil keepers. He slows down in the hospital lobby, which is packed with DEA well-wishers. Walt is noticeably squeamish about showing his mug to all these potential investigators. Things get even stranger when Gomez basically insists on bringing Walt upstairs to check out the damage that Hank inflicted on the surviving Salamanca brother. When the brother sees Walt’s face at the door, he drags himself out of bed, despite being a recent double amputee, and drags himself toward the door with hatred and resolve, leaving a trail of blood behind him. He is only halted when two cops physically drag him back to the bed.

Jesse has managed to kill time waiting for Walt by playing with the chairs and lab equipment. When Gus’s lieutenant walks in and sees Jesse playing in an inflated lab coat, he wonders aloud why there is no cooking going on. Soon after, Walt receives another paged call from Jesse. He accepts the call amid a hornet’s nest of DEA agents, so he quickly calls back from outside. While Jesse frets about the missed cooking deadline, Walt pieces together the memory of who Tuco said was coming up to get them – his cousins.

Walt returns to the waiting area. When Skylar and Marie go off to freshen up, Walt and Walt Jr. get some time alone to chat. Walt Jr. is reading about the focuses on the DEA agents that brought down drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. Hank gave the book to Walt Jr. so that he could learn about the DEA. Walt’s chat is interrupted by a call from Gus. Gus diplomatically asks about whether cooking is on schedule, knowing full well that it is not. He accepts Walt’s lies about why they are behind schedule, and takes Walt’s word that they will deliver 400 pounds of product by next week.

Walt stops by to look at the Salamanca survivor and to discuss with Gomez the possibility that more assassins will come with. Gomez expresses the desire to walk into that room and shoot Salamanca in the head. Walt says, "Me too," but of course Gomez does not realize that Walt’s motive for this is self-preservation. Its meal time, and, ironically, Gus has arranged to feed every DEA agent in the hospital, and he’s bringing the food himself. Soon, Gus is sitting down with Marie, Skylar, Walt Jr. and Walt, offering a reward for information about the killers. Gus even makes small talk with Walt, just to put him on the spot even more.

Walt corners Gus and asks, quietly as they are standing within a sea of cops, for answers about the attack on Hank, and for assurance about the safety of his family. Gus says he is sure nothing will happen to them. His comment that the surviving Salamanca is gravely injured and is not expected to survive sounds like a death sentence to me. Not surprisingly, the brother goes into cardiac arrest not long after Gus leaves, and dies soon after, causing no end of pleasure to the cops. Moments later, Mike walks by, and we are sure this was no coincidence.

Juan is under siege by cops and now believes that Gus is behind the attacks. Gus smiles with satisfaction and listens as Juan and his men are assassinated, and then he breaks the phone into two and tosses it into a garbage bin.

Hank has finally stabilized, and the doctor grudgingly lets all of them in to visit him. He is still in a coma, and probably could still go either way. In this touching scene, we see Marie touch Hank’s hand, and we hear the machines working hard to keep him alive, but we never really see his face – we just see the pain, concern, and guilt on the faces of his visitors.

Breaking Bad Quotes

Orderly: Sir. If you’d to smoke then you need to be another 20 feet from the door.
Jesse: So roll me further, bitch.

"Hey, tell your douchebag brother-in-law to head towards the light."
- Jesse to Walt

"I survived this place, and I’m not half the man your husband is."
- Walt to Marie

Gomez: I’d love to walk in there and shoot that bastard right in the head.
Walt: Me too.

Walt: being here – is this some sort of message?
Gus: I’m supporting my community. I hide in plain sight, same as you.

3.07 One Minute

Summary and spoilers

We get a glimpse into what shaped the Snake Brothers. As tweens, they were encouraged to tolerate each other no matter what they did, because family comes first. To prove this point, when the younger brother is persecuted by the older one and says he wishes his brother was dead, Don Salamanca almost drowns the older brother, and forces the younger one to save him. The familial bonds are strengthened, and everything else is secondary. In the present, the Salamanca Brothers light their shrine candles; the photo of Heisenberg has been replaced by one of Hank Schrader.

Jesse arrives home, followed closely by Hank. Jesse tells him that he has nothing to say, and foolishly assumes that Hank is going to abide by the normal rules of law enforcement officers. Instead, Hank sucker punches Jesse, knocking him to the floor, and then proceeds to pummel his face, asking how he got his cell phone number and scammed him about Marie. Hank’s strategy is cruel and illegal, but it just might elicit some key information from Jesse – namely, the Walt connection. Just how much is Jesse willing to put up with to protect this man? But Jesse says nothing, because Hank has knocked him unconscious.

Hank is going to have some ‘splainin’ to do – even his commander officer suggests that he may want to get a lawyer. Meanwhile, Jesse’s lawyer Saul is hovering over his bruised face in the hospital, taking unhappy snaps and trying to make jokes. Jesse may be in pain, but Saul is very happy to tell him that he will never face trial now, as the cops will not want Jesse’s face to be seen in public. Walt creeps into the hospital to visit Jesse and apologize. Jesse is not in the mood for forgiveness; he reveals that he is bent on destroying Hank for what he did. What’s more, Jesse plans on cooking again as soon as he leaves the hospital, knowing that he has a get out of jail free card – he’s plea bargain by giving up the great Heisenberg.

Outside Jesse’s room, Walt assures Saul that Jesse will never give him up. Saul is sure that Jesse will give him up, and mentions having a contingency plan for that situation.

Hank sits before an enquiry and tells his side of the RV / Jesse story, including how he was tricked into believing that Marie had been injured in a car accident. He tells the truth to a point but pleads the 5^th when he gets to the part about driving to Jesse’s house. The investigators inform everyone that Jesse is pressing charges, and that he is a clean, credible witness, despite his history. The investigators photograph Hank’s bruised hands and leave.

In his darkened office, Hank packs a few essentials, removes his security passes, and leaves. Marie is waiting in the elevator, and he breaks down when he embraces her. In the lobby, Hank asks her not to talk to anyone about it. Of course, she has already spoken to Skyler.

Skyler visits Walt to find out if Hank’s investigation of Jesse could lead back to Walt. Walt lies and says there is no danger for him – or her – because of that. Skyler is also there to talk about Hank, to ask Walt to help Hank by talking to Jesse and getting him to drop the charges. Skyler reminds Walt that Hank is family; Walt reminds Skyler, with hurt and anger in his voice, that currently Hank is no longer family. He dismisses Skyler and seemingly turns his back on her and her request. Walt goes into work, still carrying the upset of his previous encounter, but Gale is already there, buoyant, organized, oblivious, and one could say, in love. But the honeymoon is over when Gale sets the wrong temperature (or perhaps Walt told Gale the wrong temperature) and a batch is ruined. Walt asks Gus to get rid of Gale and hire Jesse. Gus is resistant but gives in. Walt then asks Jesse to be his lab assistant. When Jesse says no, Walt ups the stakes and offers him a 50-50 partnership. Jesse still turns him down, and makes sure Walt understands it is personal. And Jesse is smart enough to know that Walt is there to try to save his (former) brother-in-law. Jesse is passionate in his professed hatred of Walt, but behind that there is still the glimmer of the need for approval from a father figure. Before leaving, Walt admits (or lies) that Jesse’s meth is as good as his. A short time later, Walt gets a call from Jesse who agrees to the 50-50 deal.

The Salamanca Brothers are in the market to buy a couple of Kevlar bullet-proof vests from a flamboyant arms dealer who works out of the back of a semi-trailer. To test out the vest’s efficiency, they shoot the arms dealer, who foolishly brags that he is wearing one. The vest holds, although the dealer breaks a rib taking the bullet. The Brothers take their vests and dump a pile of money on the ground. This is about as nice as these guys get.

All dressed up for his interrogation, Hank finally sits down with Marie and admits he has been unraveling. He says he will not lie about what he did to Jesse. He admits that he did the wrong thing. He is about to give up and quit the force. True to his word, Hank writes a statement and admits to everything. He is suspended without pay, but then finds out that Jesse is not pressing charges. Things are looking good – Hank’s guardian angel has arrived. But as he gets into his car, he gets a scrambled cell phone call warning him that two men are coming to kill him. In a panic, he half-hopes it is a scam by Gomez, and he cannot move until a bullet shatters the rear window. Hank moves again and disables one brother by reversing and crushing him, but the other brother begins firing. Hank escapes and fires first shots, but they bounce off the vest. Shot twice, Hank falls, but he is graced by the brother’s need to finish the kill more brutally with an axe. Hank has fallen next to a hollow point bullet, and is able to load his gun and shoot the brother before being cut down.

Comments

That was a very intense and violent episode! It was impossible to stop watching or to escape from the feeling of suspense and terror. Not only was the final shootout spectacular, but Jesse’s highly charged hatred and Hank and Walt was also spellbinding.

Memorable Moments

Hank holds his composure as he enters the elevator where Marie is waiting, alone. He makes minimal or no eye contact and stands next to her. Once the doors close, he breaks down in her arms. When the doors open again, he has composed himself and is once again standing next to her.

Breaking Bad Quotes

Walt [re Jesse]: He’ll come around.
Saul: And if he doesn’t, there may come a time to talk options.
Walt: Options?

Skyler: There must be something you can say. Isn’t it even worth a try? Hank is your family.
Walt: [mumbles]
Skyler: What?
Walt: I said, ‘not currently.’ I’m late; I have to go.