Breaking Bad Open Thread

[Content Note: Descriptions of violence. Spoilers are being VERY SPOILERY in this thread, so consider yourself warned! THERE ARE BIG TIME SPOILERS, is what I'm saying.]


Shorter Recap: !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! HOLY SHIT THIS SHOW.

Longer Recap: This episode DESTROYED ME. After it was over, Iain told me I looked like I'd just been in a fight, because I was so emotionally drained. I AM VERY INVESTED IN THESE CHARACTERS. I texted Deeky last night that when I watched Talking Bad, AMC's recap series, and saw Dean Norris (Hank) who was one of the guests, I felt an emotional relief I didn't even know I needed, just seeing him alive. Vince Gilligan, you devil!

So, the episode opened with a flashback to Walt's and Jesse's first cook in the RV, which just happens to be the same site where Walt buried his money and where the previous episode ended with the shoot-out that we thought wrecked all our shit, until this week's episode unearthed some more shit that needed to be wrecked even harder. "Oh, you thought you didn't have any shit left to be wrecked? SURPRISE!"—This Show.

And it's a terrible and funny scene, which reminds us that, once upon a time, Walt was just a goofy chemistry teacher in his underpants who lied to his wife about having to work at the carwash when he was really cooking meth in the desert, and Jesse was just a goofy kid who pretended to be a ninja when he was bored. Slowly, Walt and Jesse and the RV fade from the screen, and after the green smoke of the opening credits, the empty desert is filled with the aftermath of the shoot-out with the Swastika-necks. Gomey is dead. RIP Gomey. Hank has been shot in the leg, and it doesn't look good.

Hank crawls toward Gomey's abandoned shotgun, as if it will do him any good, and Head Swastika-neck, aka Jack, steps on the gun and points his gun at Hank's head. One of the Swastika-neck minions finds Gomey's DEA badge, and this is the end for Hank. Walt shouts for Jack to stop. He tells Jack that Hank will let them all go, that the DEA isn't even in the loop, but Hank, the constitutional opposite of Walt sniveling cowardice, lies and tells Jack that the calvary is on the way. He glares at Jack with steely resolve, knowing he is a dead man already and resolving to go with dignity, as Walt offers up his buried money—all $80 million (!!!) of it—to Jack if only he'll spare Hank.

Hank tells Walt: "You're the smartest guy I ever met, and you're too stupid to see he made up his mind ten minutes ago." He looks up at Jack from the ground, and tells him: "Do what you're gonna do." A single shot echoes through the desert. And I gasp and say, "No," in the quietest voice, even though I knew that this was going to happen.

Walt crumples to the ground in a stupid heap and cries like a stupid jerk, and I hate him so much.

The Swastika-necks are still happy to help themselves to his money, though! Because Jack is generous, he leaves Walt one barrel of money, and then makes him shake hands to agree that they're square. Walt, who still can't acknowledge his own accountability for anything, turns his rage about Hank's death onto Jesse, and says to Jack: "Pinkman. You still owe me." Jack tells Walt they'll still kill him if Walt can find him, and Walt snarls, "Found him."

Jesse is dragged from beneath Walt's black muscle car, where he has been hiding all along. Jack points his gun at Jesse's head. "Good to go?" he asks. And Walt nods. WALT IS SO TERRIBLE! FUCK THIS GUY! Just as Jack is about to pull the trigger, Todd nonchalantly mentions to his uncle that he be willing to torture Jesse to see what he told the DEA about them, before they kill him. Jack concedes the kid has a good point, and asks Walt if it's okay if they torture Jesse and THEN kill him, and Walt's all, "Sounds great! Have an A-1 day!"

It is at this point, I think: I could not hate Walter White any more than I hate him right now. And Vince Gilligan is all: "HA HA WRONG AGAIN!"

Walt shouts for the minions dragging Jesse away to wait, only so he can inform Jesse: "I watched Jane die. I could've saved her, but I didn't." He is enjoying this moment, as he deals Jesse the final blow of betrayal, and Jesse crumbles. FUCK YOU, WALT, YOU NIGHTMARE OF HUMANITY.

Surely, I think, I couldn't hate him any more than this. But Vince Gilligan isn't done with me yet.

Meanwhile, Marie shows up at the carwash and tells Skylar they need to talk. She tells Skylar that Hank called her and has Walt in custody. It's all over. And she is not gloating. She is just confident. And it is so hard to watch, because we know. OMG. Marie.

She is impossibly kind to Skylar, telling her that she and Hank will help her and the kids in any way that they can, but there are two conditions: 1. Skylar has to hand over every copy of the "obscenity" that she and Walt made trying to frame Hank. 2. Skylar has to call Walt Jr. into her office right now and tell him everything. All Skylar can do is cry.

Cut to Todd's meth garage, where Jesse, who has been severely beaten, is being held in a tiny cage dungeon, cuffed at his wrists and ankles. Todd yanks him out, and walks him to the lab, where he hooks Jesse to a long metal leash. Pinned to a post is a photo of Andrea and Brock, a silent threat to Jesse that he'd better comply if he doesn't want them dead. Jesse has already given them all the information he knows; what else is there? "Let's cook," says Todd.

Clearly, Jesse is being held hostage in order that Todd might deliver the blue meth to Lydia. But for how long? Until Todd learns to do it right himself? Forever?! Why does Todd even want to keep cooking meth when his share of Walt's stolen money is like $10 million?! "I won't really feel like I've made it until I've got $80 million buried in the desert."—Todd. WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

Back at the carwash, we catch up with Skylar and Marie and Walt Jr. just as Skylar has finished telling Junior everything. He is aghast and angry and confused. He accuses her of lying and tries to call his dad and his Uncle Hank. They tell him his dad is in custody, and Hank is "in the thick of it" with Walt. Junior asks his mother why she went along with all of it, and she tells him: "That's a question I'll be asking myself for the rest of my life." Junior storms out. Marie tells Skylar to take the kids home and she'll drop by later.

On the way home, Marie tells Junior to put on his seatbelt, because it isn't safe. "Are you shitting me?" he replies incredulously. He tells her: "If all this is true and you knew about it, then you're as bad as him." There's nothing she can say.

When they get home, they discover Walt is there, frantically packing. He tells them to pack up their shit so they can get out of there. But Skylar knows something has gone horribly wrong, because Hank wouldn't just let him go. Junior peppers him with questions. Walt gets increasingly angry and desperate. Finally, Skylar blurts out: "You killed Hank!" To which Walt replies: "No! I tried to save him!" Which prompts Junior to exclaim: "Uncle Hank is dead?!" It is mayhem. I can hardly bear to watch.

Junior chases Walt down the hall, demanding answers. Skylar fugue-walks to the kitchen, where the phone lies next to a knife block. She slowly withdraws a butcher knife. As Walt comes running back into the living room, Junior in tow, she steps in between them and puts her arm out in front of Junior, wielding the knife at Walt. "Get out of this house," she tells him. He protests; she slashes at him, opening a gash in his hand. They scuffle on the floor, wrestling for the knife, as Junior screams for them to stop.

Junior finally pulls Walt off of Skylar and then shields her, arm out, the way she had just done to him a moment before. He looks evenly at his father, who is holding the knife, and pulls out his mobile and phones the police. Walt bellows: "What the hell is wrong with you?! We're a FAMILY!" The camera holds on Skylar, cowering, and Junior, steadfast. And we all remember that Walt broke bad for his family. He needed $750,000 for them, so they would never want for anything after he died. But he lost his way. His family just became an absurd justification for his being in the empire business. He has utterly destroyed the family he thought he needed to protect.

The only thing from which they needed protection was him.

For a brief moment, we think Walt has come to his senses, but then he grabs his baby daughter on the way out, leaving Skylar screaming desperately, and then we remember that Walt's senses are terrible and he is terrible and now Hank is dead and Jesse is being held hostage and WHO IS GOING TO HOLD WALT ACCOUNTABLE FOR ALL THE DAMAGE HE HAS DONE?!

Cut to Walt on the run with Holly, who asks for her mama. He calls the house, which is now flooded with cops, and then starts yelling at Skylar. He yells that she is a stupid bitch who never respected him, and berates her for trying to stop him, and brags about how he was totally responsible for his drug empire, and ohhhhhhhhhhhh he knows the police are listening and he is trying to protect Skylar from prosecution. Too little too late, asshole. That's the least you can do at this point. He is crying and I am glad.

He tells Skylar that she'll never see Hank again, and Marie collapses and cries. Walt Jr. looks horrified, and reaches out to comfort her, and it is more than I can take. I hate Walt! I HATE HIM.

Walt leaves Holly at a fire station, and then he jumps into the Disappear Van arranged by Saul. And that is the end. And I am wrecked.

WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NOW?! How does their house get destroyed? Who writes HEISENBERG on the wall? Where is Walt for a whole year, and why does he come back, and who is the shotgun for?! Is he gonna kill the white supremacist gang to try to get his money back? Will they have spent it all on choppers and tattoos (Deeky's theory) or sterling silver skull jewelry and hooch (mine) by the time Walt returns? Will Walt be surprised to find Jesse still alive and WILL JESSE KILL WALT I HOPE?! Will I make it to the end of this series with my emotional core still reasonably intact?! THIS SHOW!!!!!!!

Discuss.