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But withthe new season of Vince Gilligans companion seriesBetter Call Saulupon us, were up to the challenge.
The overture strokes Walts chemist ego.
Walt is cooking again.
Smash cut to Walt, sporting tighty-whities and a Ned Flanders mustache as he sloppily brushes his teeth.
Then get the fuck out of here, Jesse says, and never come back.
Hes merely … annoyed.
This is who he is now; his fate is all but sealed.
Like when he decides to sneak the overage from the meth lab Gussmeth lab and sell it himself.
She even offers the Schraders a hunk of Walts winnings to pay for Hanks recovery from the Salamanca shootout.
The episodes message is clear: Anyone can be tempted to break bad.
Green Light (Season 3, Episode 4)Walt says hes done with the drug business.
Gus doesnt see it the same way.
Jesse is a big fan of Skylers green beans with slivered almonds.
They are from the deli at Albertsons, she dismisses.
Well, you know, good work on your shopping, then, Jesse insists.
Elsewhere: Skyler insists on meeting Saul, who wants Walt to buy a laser-tag business.
Skyler insists the car wash is a safer, more logical purchase.
(Another loss for Saul!)
More crucially for Hank: Gus sics the Salamanca cousins on the DEA agent.
May his death satisfy you, Gus tells them.
Bonus: The episodes cold open shows how Tortugas head came to be on that tortoise in Texas.
(No surprise: The Salamanca cousins were involved.)
Bit by a Dead Bee (Season 2, Episode 3)And the underpants return!
And this time, theyre coming off.
Its enough to fool his family most of them, anyway.
Open House (Season 4, Episode 3)Aw, Jesse.
But this episode is stolen by the women ofBreaking Bad.
Instead, he became a high-school chemistry teacher with a car-wash side hustle.
That is, until they turn around to see a young boy on his dirt bike.
Todd takes out his gun without hesitation and shoots the kid, the only witness to their crime.
Its just the tip of how chillingly cold and casual Todd proves to be when it comes to death.
Walt, meanwhile, is busy burying giant barrels of money in the desert.
And back at Hanks office at the DEA, a gift awaits: Jesse, in an interrogation room.
Furthermore, Walt and Jesse get kidnapped by Tuco, leaving every viewer tense with dread.
No, the real gut punch is that Victor is the victim, not Walt or Jesse.
Its chilling, because we can only imagine what hell do to the duo next.
Why was that so good?
Because it was illegal, Walt tells her.
We had a lab.
We had everything we needed, and it all ran like clockwork.
You couldve shut your mouth, cooked, and made as much money as you ever needed.
But, no, you just had to blow it up, you and your pride and your ego!
You just had to be the man.
If youd done your job, known your place, wed all be fine right now.
Walt keeps talking and talking.
Shut the fuck up and let me die in peace, Mike says, and does just that.
Hes also the man responsible for connecting Walt and Jesse with Gus and Mike, for better and worse.
Thank goodness Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan did.
With this final-season premiere, there was little worry the series finale wouldnt stick the landing.
Is Walt motivated by concern for Jesse, seeing Jane as a bad influence on his fragile addict cohort?
Or is he motivated by concern for their business future?
Either way, this pivotal scene is the point of no return for Walt.
Its one of the biggest emotional wallops in a series stuffed with them.
Walt isnt concerned with quashing his wifes fears; hes angry she had them in the first place.
Blood Money (Season 5, Episode 9)
19.
Its the ultimate Gilligan-ian irony: that gorgeous setting threatens to do them in.
The only way to fix this: kill Gale, says Walt.
And its up to Jesse to literally pull the trigger.
Is he capable of killing an innocent man, even if its the only way to save Walt?
Weve come this far … whats one more?
Skyler asks with a coldness that says everything about where shes at right now mentally.
That alone is a sign of Walts need to be in control.
Jesse also opens up, too, by talking about Jane, prompting Walt to … fall asleep.
But after a tussle with the family, an ATM machine topples over, crushing the Spooge paterfamiliass head.
Well, that and a crazy handful of fulminated mercury.
Walt/Heisenberg gets Tuco to make a deal: two pounds of meth a week for $70,000.
Walt also soaks Tuco for Jesses medical expenses.
The rush from his power play gives Walt the biggest goose forward yet on his Mr. ChipstoScarface journey.
Anna Gunn won an Emmy for her powerful, too often underappreciated performance as a depressed, terrified Skyler.
Here, she seizes her own measure of power: What are you waiting for?
an exasperated Walt asks.
Skyler: For the cancer to come back.
That alone is a concept that hooks you.
And the showdown doesnt disappoint, especially when Walt gives his in-laws a DVD containing his confession.
Having found that more than half-a-million dollars of his blood money is missing, Walt just loses it.
That its been used to pay off the IRS debt of the man who had an affair with Skyler?
Well, going temporarily insane seems like a perfectly rational reaction to that situation.
As Gus forces himself to regurgitate his portion, Eladio and his crew start keeling over.
Its a grand payoff for all that time Gus spent cultivating his cool, calm, patient persona.
He finally gets to serve his revenge, straight-up.
Forget chemistry, thats just good math.
Thats the good news for Walt.
He starts thumbing through a nice hardcover copy of Walt WhitmansLeaves of Grass.
To my other favorite W.W. Its an honor working with you.
We still cant hear El Paso or Baby Blue without getting teary.
Hank gets to arrest Walt, and Jesse even gets to spit in Mr. Walts ego has just insured his own downfall fade to black.
