“Whatever you think’s supposed to happen, the exact reverse opposite of that is gonna happen.”
We finally meet Marie’s therapist, Dave.
And Jesse finally gets some lasagna sans scabs. Marie says she’ll heat some up.
This was a tough episode. It’s funny, in my big Predictions post, when I updated after “Confessions,” I was going to write (and at this point I’m not even sure I didn’t) that I had a feeling that “Rabid Dog” might be a bit of a low point, but that everything after (and I’m especially looking forward to “Ozymandias”) is just going to rock. And I’ve seen a lot of complaints already about “Rabid Dog”–and people are upset for a whole variety of reasons–and for me as a viewer, as a fan, it made me uncomfortable. It’s not a fun wild ride like some. It’s unsettling. I couldn’t sleep at all afterward. But after watching it a second time, I see it differently. I appreciated so many things about this hour of television. It’s a bitter wine, but good nonetheless
In a way, that title should’ve been plural. I look at the main characters who were featured in this episode–Walt, Skyler, Hank, Marie, Jesse and Saul–and almost all of them could be described as a rabid dog about something. In a twist, the only one who wasn’t rabid was Walt. That was a surprise.
But, more importantly, almost all of them do something unforgivable in this episode, go beyond what we would ever expect them to do. Skyler floats the idea that Walt should murder Jesse. Marie considers poisoning Walt. Hank uses Jesse as a pawn worse than Walt has. Jesse rolls on Walt. Walt orders a hit on Jesse. But I also think, for each of these characters, this has been brewing and it’s possible to see the reasoning and the buildup behind it, what pushes each of them over the edge. The only exception to this part is Saul. He’s been floating the same idea about many different people for as long as we’ve known him. But for all of the others, they cross these invisible lines we never thought they would cross, even if it was set up and suggested previously. Each of these five do something that goes against their own moral compass, however flawed that compass may be, in a major way.
And that brings me to another point, which is, I don’t think this was an episode that was supposed to go down easy. The days of bad boy criminal fun and narrowly averting disaster or detection, the days of keeping the family and other relationships intact despite all the betrayals, are a thing of the past. The stakes have gotten too high. Season Five has, even last summer, had such a darker feel. Shit’s getting realer than it ever has before. This is leading to the end game. These invisible lines must be crossed. And still, none of them go too far. They each take a big step (instead of a flying leap) across the bounds of their moral code. There is worse they could each do.
But still some of it was hard to stomach. So I’m going to look at each of our five main characters and their unforgivable yet understandable choices one by one. Then there’ll be some discussion of the episode as a whole, some of the funny lines and interesting filming choices. And as always, predictions at the end.
Luckily, this episode had more funny lines than we’ve had in a long time. I laughed the most this summer so far during this one, even as it gave me the worst insomnia.
My very favorite line might be when Saul says to Walt, “Okay, but say, you know, for the sake of argument the kid’s not in the mood for a nuanced discussion of the virtues of child poisoning, what then?”
SKYLER
Walt: How much have you been drinking?
Skyler: Not nearly enough.
Let’s do Skyler first. She was actually the most shocking to me. I never disliked her until last night. Couldn’t believe that Skyler, who was once appalled by Walt’s violence and was terrified of her husband once she learned how he bombed Gus at the nursing home, would suggest killing Jesse. Skysenberg’s no joke.
And still, I get it. She’s been turning for a long time now. Of course she’s been laundering Walt’s money and keeping his secrets for awhile, but ever since the first episode of this season, she’s gone a bit beyond that. When she saw Ted in the hospital in 501, she was a little empowered by his fear of her. I don’t think she liked that in herself but it was there. And then, since Hank found out about Walt, she’s become a bit rabid. She wouldn’t talk to Hank. When Walt suggested turning himself in, she told him not to. She said they should stick it out.
To that end, she essentially let her relationship with her sister go. And she supported Walt’s confession video which would sever any chance of repairing that relationship with Marie and Hank. She did that, I think, because Marie had tried to take Holly and then tried to lure Junior to her house. She wanted to keep her kids and she wanted to keep them in the dark about Walt’s drug dealing and murdering ways. And now she’s committed and she thinks her kids and herself might’ve been in danger from Jesse. So the mama bear claws came out and Skyler did the unforgivable thing of floating the idea that Walt kill Jesse.
On the podcast for this episode, the writers describe her as having The Fallacy of Sunk Costs and the way they explained that expression is that if you’re gambling, and you’re losing, you can’t quit because you’re already down so far. The only move you think you can make is to keep playing and try to get back on top. It’s a fallacy so it may not be the best idea but these aren’t characters who’ve often made good choices, any of them. So that’s what Skyler suggests, keep playing just a little longer. And she has weathered a lot at this point and is probably so run down by all of it, but it’s also the fact that she made that video. She went that far, did that much, and in doing so, lost so much. She can’t quit. And so, once she knows how the gasoline got all over her floor, she’s pushed over that edge.
“We’ve come so far, for us, what’s one more?”
I don’t think she takes joy in it. I don’t think, as things stand now (and they could certainly change quickly depending on how the things put in play at the end of the episode play out) that she would take it far enough to, let’s say, kill Jesse if Walt had stuck by his original inclination not to. In fact, in a strange way I don’t see her decision to tell Walt to kill Jesse as even particularly aggressive, I see this as Skyler collapsing in on herself like a dying star, defeated, resigned to this life she has committed herself to even as it gets worse and worse and compromises her moral code more and more. The Fallacy of Sunk Costs.
Didn’t Vince Gilligan say sometime shortly after the pilot episode that this, Walt’s decision to break bad, can’t end well for anyone?
MARIE
“Dave, can we seriously just focus on my feelings here?” LOVED that line, so funny. And just as good was Dave’s, “Last week you were upset about the new parking rules.” These two lines say everything about Marie in therapy. Betsy Brandt said on Talking Bad that her thought is that Marie’s shoplifting issues never really went away, they’ve just been under the radar, not enough to rile up Hank or get Skyler almost arrested. So we can envision Marie quietly shoplifting in the background.
Marie has always had some moral ambiguities (as do most people). She shoplifts and makes up stories and steals spoons from houses. She’s horrible at keeping secrets. She likes to subtly (and sometimes not so) put down her sister and she’s kind of a snoop. But looking up untraceable poisons for six hours online? That’s a bit…much. She’s done her research too. I’m not sure if she’s actually thinking of trying to poison Walt or just, as she tells Dave, “It just feels so good to think about.” Honestly? I think she’s somewhere in-between.
With her, it’s not too hard to see what led her to this. She’s gone rabid ever since she found out about Walt and specifically once she found out that her sister knew about it and didn’t say anything from before Hank got shot. The fact that Walt may have had (tangential) responsibility for Hank’s attack is that line-in-the-sand dealbreaker. “You have to get him,” she told Hank two episodes ago, and in the last one she told Walt to kill himself. And that was before she saw the confession, saw that she had made things worse for Hank and his chances of catching Walt with the DEA by accepting the drug money from the Whites unknowingly. As far as she can tell, Walt’s won. So she starts looking up poisons. And she’s sincerely worried about the kids living with Walt and Skyler.
And it’s hard to get a handle on how serious she is or not. It could just be indulging in fantasy, which would be understandable, even natural. Sometimes when situations are this hopeless one way to vent the frustration is to think about these things without ever intending to act on them. It reminds me of once, when I was in a horrible, horrible relationship and felt like there was no way out (complicated situation), I thought about writing a story about a woman who murders her husband. Sometimes you gotta release the inner darkness somehow. It’s a far cry from actually doing it (in my case, I never even wrote the story; it was one of those “Just gotta write it down is all” type deals).
But man, Marie’s detailed. She’s found the shellfish poison saxitoxin as a contender. It mimics respiratory failure, which is especially convenient for a man with lung cancer. And notice how she talks about the way it leaves the victim conscious. She wants Walt to suffer. Right now she’s thinking about it, but I feel she’s purposefully, deliberately reigning herself in, as if it takes some effort. Coming up with a fantasy of killing Walt is pretty dark, but with a push she could take it further.
And there has to be a reason for this scene. If the only point was Marie’s thinking about poisons, wouldn’t they just show her googling this stuff? It would take a lot less time in the episode, and for filming. How much is Dave putting together? He wanted more details. Will Marie not reign herself in the next time? Might Dave have to report Marie’s intentions to harm another? If he figures out the “close family friend” Marie intends to harm, he would also, by law, have to inform Walt. I just think this has to play out somehow, coming up soon.
HANK
“We’re not brainstorming here.”
Hank’s been a rabid dog ever since he saw the inscription in that Leaves of Grass book book in Walt’s bathroom. Ego is a big issue on Breaking Bad, and I think along with all the feelings of outrage and betrayal that Hank and Marie have been experiencing, there’s also the humiliation that they’ve been had. Hank has been hunting Heisenberg for over a year and never figured it out, even though Walt was right under his nose and there were numerous clues he didn’t put together. He didn’t see Walt for who he really was. He couldn’t. And you can see it eats at him.
And ever since, Hank, who for the most part, though often a blowhard and sometimes a total asshole (remember his recovery?) is mostly, not perfectly, a moral man. He’s made a difficult choice once before to own up to what he did that was totally out of bounds (beating the crap out of Jesse) for his job, when everyone else suggested he cover his own ass. But Hank has hubris and ego, and it was wounded by learning the truth about Walt. Skyler called him on it two episodes back when he tried to prevent her from talking to a lawyer. He wants Walt at all costs. In the last episode, he tries to talk to Jesse despite his history with him, he puts Gomie’s guys on Saul and Jesse even though it’s something he clearly can’t justify to his boss Ramey, and he makes it clear at that dinner that he’s not going to back down. No appeal about the kids or Walt’s cancer, or suggestions of Walt committing suicide are going to slow him down.
So he tails Jesse himself and follows him to the White house and catches him trying to burn it down. He puts a gun on Jesse and has him come with him to the Schrader house, gets Jesse’s confession on tape and then sets up a “sting” on Walt by putting a wire on Jesse. When Jesse’s afraid Walt wants to kill him, Hank talks him down, tells him he has no choice, and then confides in Gomie that if Walt does indeed kill Jesse, so what? Sure, Hank’ll put Jesse’s seatbelt on (awkward!) but when it comes to whether his life matters, Jesse’s just “Oh, you mean the junkie murderer that’s dribbling all over my guest bathroom floor?” He’s using Jesse worse than Walt ever did, because as bad and manipulative as Walt’s been to Jesse, I don’t think he’s ever been this cold, ever not cared if Jesse would live or die.
And using Jesse this way, as much as he has always thought Jesse was a little shitstain, has to be against his moral code. He could rationalize it sure, tell himself what he told Jesse, that he didn’t think Walt wanted to hurt him, or that Jesse was the egg that was broken to cook an omelette, means to an end. But he felt guilty beating him up, and I think if Jesse did go through with the plan and got killed, Hank would suffer guilt later. But now? All he sees is getting Walt.
And honestly, Hank’s plan isn’t all that great. Walt wants to explain why he poisoned Brock. Maybe while having “a nuanced discussion on the virtues of child poisoning” Walt could end up talking about killing Gus, but I don’t even know how likely that would be. Walt always talks in euphemisms and business terms. He could easily say that it was necessary for moving forward, working on their own terms, saving Jesse from the evil influence of Gus, vague terms like that without directly admitting to killing Gus, or to cooking meth, or any of it. They’re in public after all. It’s not like Walt’s going to, in the course of this discussion, start talking about all the meth they cooked, all the people they murdered, where he buried the money, or any of that. The only thing Hank would probably get is a confession about poisoning a kid who is now totally fine. Less useful than Jesse’s confession which Hank says he can’t use.
“Just the word of one nutjob methhead vs. Mr. Rogers has a lung tumor.”
Hank’s getting reckless. He’s going roguer with the DEA, now involving Gomie too without contacting their superiors. Holding Jesse at his house. Hatching this not-so-thought-out plan and using his only willing witness as murder bait. Getting a little rabid for the glory of catching Heisenberg isn’t he?
Gomie’s ideas might be a little better, a little more cautious and rational. Go after Lydia (she’d implicate Walt in a heartbeat to save her ass), look into Drew Sharpe (no evidence there), look into Vamonos (would Todd and his Uncle still be using that as part of the viable operation Walt left and as a cooking cover? Even if not, there are plenty of people there, Ira and all, who could identify Walt). You know, actual detective work, building a case. But that would take time, and might not go anywhere. Hank wants to get Walt now, no matter what it takes.
How far might he go?
JESSE
“I first met Mr. White, Walter White, in junior year chemistry. He was my teacher.”
Holy fucking shit, Jesse rolled on Walt. Out of all the extreme, almost out-of-character decisions these characters make in this episode, this was probably the easiest to see coming. Of course, it goes against Jesse’s criminal moral code, that his word is his bond, he’s no snitch, not a guy who rolls. But we always knew that if he were ever to find out about Walt’s complicity in Jane’s death or that Walt poisoned Brock, the dynamic duo would be over. Even before that though, this turn was a long time coming.
“What, I’m like, under arrest?” Then, “Yeah, sitting around in DC waiting to be a witness against Mr. White is gonna go great for me.”
It was so expected that I think I’m actually more disappointed that Jesse’s back on meth.
It was sad to watch though, Jesse’s roll. As horrible as Walt has been, and often to Jesse, it felt like a major loss. Walt hasn’t deserved Jesse’s Old Yeller level of loyalty in awhile, and Jesse had every reason to break his own code and turn, but still it was brutal. On the podcast, Vince Gilligan said that the DVD version of the final season will include Walt’s uninterrupted confession video (without the reaction shots of Hank and Marie) and Jesse’s full confession to Hank.
Drew Sharpe changed things. Kids are Jesse’s Achilles Heel, as we’ve seen over and over. And then when he saw Walt whistling happily while he worked, that’s when Jesse’s view of Mr. White changed, and Jesse started to distrust this man he’d been so loyal to. Walt said he was upset, kept up at night by the boy’s death but his actions weren’t bearing that out. Then there was that horrible, awesome argument when Jesse wanted to get out in 507 “Say My Name.” Walt’s manipulations, taking one tack then another, were so obvious. Then Walt orchestrated the killing of the ten guys in two minutes at three different prisons. In the extra scene on the DVD of Season Five Part One, Saul tells Jesse about this and gives Jesse a gun for self-protection against Walt. Jesse figures out that Walt must’ve killed Mike, his “other dad” because there’s no way Walt could’ve orchestrated the prison killings if Mike were still alive (Lydia deduces the same thing the same way). And then he figured out the Brock thing and Saul confirmed it, and it involved a kid, and not a random stranger he didn’t know, like Drew Sharpe, but someone in Jesse’s “instant family,” someone Jesse loved. And then Hank catches him and puts a gun on him, telling him to put away the lighter or be killed. Hank finds him right after Jesse learns about Brock. The scenes don’t follow each other directly in the episode, because of the way they play with time in this one, but in the time of the story, they do. Jesse is overripe to say something.
“He can’t keep getting away with it! He can’t keep getting away with it!”
So Jesse rolls. In the last episode, before he figured out Brock, it was all over his face that he wanted so badly to unburden his soul, to confess to his crimes, to stop Walt, but he didn’t. But the Brock thing, and how badly he was played, pushes him far enough. But even as he does, he basically tells Hank, I can tell you about all this but it’s not going to help you, he’s retired, he left no trace, he’s smarter, he’s luckier. “You guys are just guys.” Basically, you’re no match for him.
“Mr. White, he’s the devil.”
Jesse goes a step further though. He threatens Walt. Earlier he said that he thought Walt wanted to kill him, that he was a threat and Walt has a zero tolerance policy for threats. So what is his game here? What’s the plan? He’s playing with more fire than he did when he had that lighter hovering over the gasoline in Walt’s living room. But Jesse knows Walt, possibly better than anyone and he’s come up with some good plans in Season Five. So his plan, it could be something. Why is he goading Walt though? What’s the point? I’m scared. For Jesse.
When Walt sees Saul’s face and asks if Jesse did that, Saul says, “Yeah but you gotta understand, deep down he loves me.” Of course, he’s playing off something that victims of domestic abuse will often say, and there have been a lot of parallels between the Walt and Jesse dynamic and an abusive relationship. One has the power. One continually manipulates the other. One gets the other, over and over, to stay, against all better judgment. One has caused the other to become more isolated from his support system. But to add to the complexity of this situation, what Saul says is actually true about Walt and Jesse. Deep down, Walt does love him, to a point. But Jesse’s had enough.
Another thing that was finally clarified is that Jesse does want to live. Hank says to him, “I don’t want to kill you and you don’t want to be killed.” And he doesn’t. In the last episode, I think Jesse could’ve gone either way with his will to live. He was so scared of Walt that I think in some way he was just waiting around for the day that Mr. White would waste him. He didn’t seem that invested in living at the start of that desert scene and he called Walt on some shit knowing full well Walt might, and could, kill him for it. But now he’s awake and he wants to live. He’s been getting stronger and that came to light here. He essentially tells both Hank and Walt that he’s not playing by their rules. About time, bitch!
“I’m not doin’ what you want anymore, okay asshole?”
Ohhhhhhhh shit.
WALTER
In the last scene of the episode, Walt orders a hit on Jesse via Todd’s Uncle Jack. Everyone’s telling him to kill Jesse–Saul, Skyler–but he holds out. In a reverse of expectations, what’s surprising is not what Walt does that goes against his compass, deciding to have Jesse killed, but that it takes him so long to get there. Everyone is thinking about murder and death–Walt’s and Jesse’s–except Walt. He’s the calm one, the non-violent one, while everyone else is getting a little rabid. Until Jesse threatens him anyway.
At its heart, this is the crux of this episode, to get Walt on board with killing Jesse, and to get Jesse ready to…well, whatever his plan is.
At first, Walt won’t consider it. He gets mad at Saul. “You’re full of colorful metaphors, aren’t you Saul? Belize, Old Yeller, you’re just brimming with advice. Do not float that idea again.” He defends Jesse, tries to protect him. When Skyler asks Walt, bitterly, if Jesse’s ever hurt anyone, Walt says no, he hasn’t and tries to distract Skyler with talk about Baby Holly. When Skyler doesn’t let go, Walt says that Jesse didn’t go to the house to hurt anyone. It really sounds, in this conversation, like he is talking about a wayward son. He tries, as he always does, to use talk and reason to get others to submit to his plans or way of seeing things but Skyler won’t have it. Even so, he plans to try the talking strategy with Jesse.
My favorite line of that Walt and Skyler scene might be when Walt says that Jesse is upset “over something he thinks I did,” and then corrects himself. “I did do it.”
When Walt leaves that message for Jesse about meeting in the civic center, I thought he meant it. And I kind of loved Walt for that, for going that far to not kill Jesse, to say that if Jesse wanted to come put a bullet in his head so be it (though really it was a public square so how likely was it really?), and said he was in Jesse’s hands.
Until that phone call. Jesse says he’s going to get Walt “where you really live.” And that’s it. Walt’s in. Call neo-nazis, stat.
I totally understand why Walt wants Jesse dead now, he probably thinks his family is in danger, but it’s a little cowardly to try to do it through Uncle Jack. I think if Walt wants Jesse murdered, he has to do it himself, and if he does, he will suffer. That is the one murder, aside from a member of his family, that I think even if Walt finds necessary, will seriously hurt him psychologically to carry out.
One thing’s for sure. Uncle Jack will not kill Jesse. There isn’t enough dramatic payoff in that, Uncle Jack is too minor and too new a character. Still, Walt has made the unforgivable but understandable decision to have Jesse killed.
THE EPISODE AS A WHOLE
So much is at play here. So many characters have murder and death and letting others get killed on the brain. So many characters are rabid. So many relationships on the show are fractured–Walt and Skyler with Hank and Marie, Jesse with Walt–and I can’t state enough how much I think all of this was totally necessary. This wasn’t supposed to end well for anyone. There’s just no way that Walt gets away with what he’s done and keeps everyone on his side. Eventually the fallout of what he’s done has to start falling out. Families and friendships get torn apart by a hell of a lot less. Even the devil’s luck runs out. Or it doesn’t and he “wins” but loses too many people around him.
I do still wonder if Skyler and Walt will have a falling out of some sort. Skyler’s so committed, but I just think of how shaky and unsettled she was after the last episode. And let’s be dark and honest, Walt dying would sort of solve things for her. She might be able to repair her relationship with her sister and Hank if Walt were dead. She could claim she was too scared to go against him, or something. Her family wouldn’t be under any threat anymore. She said it herself when she was holding on, waiting for his cancer to come back.
I also wonder about Walt and Jr. Jr still doesn’t know the truth about his father (totally called it from that preview that Jr was asking about the gasoline on the carpet, not Walt’s criminal activity). Last week Walt hugged his “other son” and this week Walt hugged Jr in a very sweet hug. And Jr was heartbreaking early on, afraid that his father had passed out because of the cancer and didn’t want to admit it. It was also a better story.
These fallouts have been happening in order, moving closer and closer in. Walt’s lost his in-laws, then Walt loses his surrogate son. Something has to happen, and soon, to Skyler or Jr. Either the relationship Walt has to either one of them or both is severed beyond repair, or one of them dies in a way that makes Walt feel responsible. Walt “loses” one or both of them in some way. And soon. Seems like the natural progression the course of the story is taking.
But that’s really dark. There were still a lot of funny lines from the episode that haven’t been discussed yet.
The way Walt says he got gasoline all over “my arms, legs and my, my groin.” And of course he’s in tighty-whities once again. Walt!Saul: I never shoulda let my dojo membership run out.
Walt calls Badger “Beaver.”
Kuby (about putting a bug in Skinny Pete’s place): For three hours straight, all he talked about was something called Babylon 5.
Jesse’s Hello Kitty cell phone is still funny, and now we have the ringtone too!
Jesse sleeping with his mouth open and drooling is kind of funny to me, but also freakin’ adorable (can’t help it).
Jesse meeting Marie at looking at all the details of the Schrader house. “The lady, your wife.”
It was a little mercy as the writers tormented us to include any humor, and over at my place we were cracking up over every drip of it. So, so important as the story turns so dark.
There were also some great artistic and camera angle choices worth noting:
-Great angles as Walt walks through his house with his gun, looking for Jesse. Opening the sliding door and the doorknob stand out most.
-The pool scene was so rich in color, gorgeous.
-Also great color and lighting in the scene where Walt gets in the car with Saul and Kuby. Loved the green tones.
-What an amazing, visually awesome hotel.
-Angle on Jess at the payphone
“This is a person.”
What’s heartbreaking about this episode, for me anyway, is that no one gives a shit if Jesse lives or dies…except Walt until the end. He doesn’t have anyone. He and his parents gave up on each other so long ago. He’s been isolated from Skinny Pete and Badger for awhile now. Walt manipulated him into breaking up with Andrea and Brock. There is no one looking out for him. Skyler wants him dead, Hank doesn’t give a fuck if he dies as long as it’s in the interest of catching Walt. Saul wants Walt to put him down, and now Walt’s on board with that too. Everyone else has someone, at least for now. Walt has Skyler and Jr. Hank and Marie have each other. Saul has his A-Team. It’s the thought that Jesse has no one that does me in.
I couldn’t sleep the night after this episode and it was mostly because I was so worried about Jesse. I know some people think he deserves to die because he rolled, I read a lot of that, and I understand it. And the great thing about this show is that everyone has such different opinions because so much exists in gray areas and there are so many different angles to take. But I want Jesse to live. I’m loyal like Old Yeller (in real life too, maybe that’s why I relate to Jesse in some way. I also relate to some of the family issues). Walt may often get my respect for his intellect, and sometimes (and actually lately it’s been often) my sympathy, and my mind with his chemistry, but Jesse has my heart and soul. I’m not even mad that Walt ordered the hit–the great thing, again, is that there’s such complexity that it’s possible to see where even conflicting characters are coming from–but I desperately want Jesse to live.
It could go either way. Walt is our protagonist and this whole episode, as it involves Walt, was about convincing Walt to have Jesse killed, and we as audience naturally identify with that protagonist. And we have that rolling, which Walt doesn’t even know about. I thought that maybe the writers were setting us up to accept Jesse’s death. It’s a pretty good possibility. It was all I could think about as I tossed and turned Sunday night. All I wanted was someone to hold me and tell me Jesse would be okay. And yes, I knew it was ridiculous, that I was way too concerned over a show and its fictional characters, but it’s a testament to the acting, the writing, to get this invested.
But my guess, and trying to be objective (ish), is that Jesse lives for at least awhile more. I discussed in the section on “Granite State” in my Predictions post why I think Jesse has to be a major player in the end game, looking at it simply from the storytelling angle. He better have a good plan, yo.
The other aspect that’s so prevalent in this episode is that characters are in the dark about things. None of this, if known, might matter or change anything, but still. Skyler doesn’t know what the thing that Walt did do was, that he poisoned a child, that Jesse has saved his life before, that Jesse has become like a son to Walt. Walt doesn’t know that Jesse is working with Hank. Jesse doesn’t know that Walt’s cancer is back. Jesse doesn’t know about the “confession” DVD Walt made. Walt doesn’t know it was Hank who stopped his house from being burnt down. I don’t think anyone other than Dave knows about Marie’s extensive internet research on untraceable poisons. Jesse doesn’t know that, against all odds, Walt actually truly cares about him and meant him no harm. That’s the saddest one. Walt is the only one in this episode who sees Jesse as a person.
In the argument between Hank and Jesse, when Hank points out all the ways Walt’s demonstrated how he cares about Jesse–the rehab, making him an equal partner, running over the child-killing drug dealers to save Jesse’s life–and Jesse points out all the ways Walt has ripped him off and run games on him, they’re both right. For Walter White, feeling love for people and manipulating them aren’t at all mutually exclusive. But Jesse can’t see the other side.
“Yeah, Mr. White’s gay for me, everyone knows that.”
For the second time ever in the series, Jesse refers to Walt as something other than Mr. White. I’m not sure how significant it was because he didn’t say it to Walt directly, just for the video, so he might’ve just used Mr. White’s full name in order to be all official and shit.
Another interesting parallel was Walt and Hank dealing with their wives. Both are getting them out of the house and originally don’t divulge all the details of why. Both men eventually do fess up to what’s going on. Walt’s story isn’t half-bad. It’s way, way better than the coke machine latch bit, but he just talks too much. When Walt gives himself away, it’s almost always through too much verbal diarrhea.
Walt had some strange hubris about his cancer when talking to Jr by the pool. What was that about? He’s not just thinking he can run out the clock but what, beat the cancer and ride off into the sunset?
“Thinking there’s another way. To get him. There’s another way. A better way.”
PREDICTIONS
Usually I give a warning here that some of this is based on previews and next episode pics but that’s NOT the case this time. They were totally useless as far as figuring anything out.
I’m going to take a total wild guess and predict that neither Walt’s hit on Jesse nor Jesse’s plan on Walt work out as expected. If one does, it’s Jesse’s. Like I said, no way Jesse gets killed by Uncle Jack, because it would rob a Jesse death (if that should be part of the story) of its dramatic potential. There is NO WAY that’s happening. If Jesse dies in the next episode, it’s not a Jack hit.
There could be a death, and I think it’s either Sky/Jr, or Jess, in that order. Something really bad and dramatic and huge has to happen to set up Walt leaving ABQ, and I just think that has to mean something happens to someone in his remaining inner circle.
I really think it’s either at the end of the next episode, 513, or the beginning of 514 that Walt leaves town. So stuff has to really heat up for Walt between now and then. It could be Jesse’s plan. It could be stuff with Lydia and Todd and Jack. It could be Marie trying to poison him. It could be all of the above and then some. I also think there could be some of that loss in Walt’s immediate family that I was talking about earlier. Someone dies, or Jr finds out and disowns his father, or something pushes Skyler to take off with Jr and Holly. Walt’s crimes could become public. I know I’m not making any specific predictions here, really just looking at the overall shape of the story. My guess? It’ll be a few of these things, and Walt puts the plan in place to skip town. He goes back to To’hajiilee to get the money, I think for Saul’s guy.
I think it’s also possible that Todd and his guys don’t just agree to Walt’s job. It’s of course possible that they do and Walt goes back to dig up money to pay for that. But maybe they want something in exchange, like Walt getting involved again. This next one will be the episode when the Todd/Lydia/Jack storyline ties in again, strongly, to the Walt/Sky/Hank/Jess world. They may want Walt’s help in exchange for the hit. Or maybe Walt ends up selling Jesse into servitude cooking with those guys (reference to what Walt says Hank did to him with Gus in his false confession) so as to get rid of Jess in a way that makes both parties happy. Jesse told Hank that “I’m the only near as good as him.” That’s been said too much since Jesse got “out” of the business for it not to come back into play somehow.
Another thing that is not happening? Jesse physically hurting or killing one of Walt’s family members. I’m not sure what he means about burning Walt down where he really lives but he doesn’t mean killing his wife or child, he just doesn’t. He might mean telling Jr about his dad. He might mean somehow going after Walt’s ego and meth recipe (not sure how), maybe trying to get Walt cooking again so he can get caught. He might mean going after the money, the “empire” Walt has built in some way. Or going public somehow with Walt’s crimes. Or who knows, maybe it’s just a threat and doesn’t relate to the plan.
Wouldn’t it be hilarious if Jesse somehow pretended he was Heisenberg and that’s how the “I’m the only one near as good as him” comes into play? That would certainly go after Walt’s ego and legacy, where he lives, and it would drive Walt insane, worse than when Hank thought Gale was the genius mastermind. I don’t think Walt could take it! It’s probably so unlikely, but what the fuck? I’m calling it. You heard it here. And if Jess goes that route, he might also try to use the Todd crew. Wouldn’t that be funny?
Like I said, not many real specific predictions, more overall shape. And a few things that I would bet some fat stacks won’t happen.
“Do not float that idea again.”
~Emilia J
More About “Rabid Dog”
- Tucker’s Hole
- Sidekick Reviews
- Insider Podcast
- AMC Talk Forums Topic for “Rabid Dog”
- Weak Interactions – The Science of Breaking Bad
- Tim Goodman – Bastard Machine Deconstruction
- If “Rabid Dog” Took Place Entirely on Facebook
More Breaking Bad Topics
- Season 5 Part 2 Predictions and Detective Work – updated frequently
- Hank’s Dilemma in All its Dimensions
- Chekhov’s Ricin
- Walter White’s Moral Demise and the People Jesse Pinkman Loves
- How Walter White Poisoned Brock and What Happened to the Ricin Cigarette
Previous Episodes
- 511 “Confessions”
- 510 “Buried”
- 509 “Blood Money”
- 508 “Gliding Over All”
- 507 “Say My Name”
- 506 “Buyout”
- 505 “Dead Freight”
- 504 “Fifty-One”
- 503 “Hazard Pay”
- 502 “Madrigal”
- 501 “Live Free or Die”
Previous Seasons
April Julia 
Just watched the 12th episode:Spoiler Alert : Don’t read further if you haven’t watched “Rabid Dog”
The gloves are off now : Horrible, no one gives a s*** about Jesse ( not even Hank who uses Jesse to get to Walt) The tragedy of all this is, that Jesse lost his only true Ally, Walt because of his rage and emotionally instable compass. Yes Jesse was used by Walt …but still Walt was a better Father to Jesse than Mr Pinkman ever was. we are vitnessing a Greek tragedy unfolding, with Jesse turning against his “father”-figure, whilst being used as pawn by others ( Hank). Skyler , who suffers from Stockholm syndrome is becoming Skysenberg more and more each Episode. You can forgive her for not having the same emotional attachement to Jesse like Walt ( or the viewers)
Can’t wait for your review, Emilia.
Marcel
Hi Marcel,
I was thinking the same thing. It’s so sad that no one cares if Jesse lives or dies. Hank was freakin’ cold. All I could think was Walt said about Jesse to Skyler, “This is a person.” Jesse is a person. He’s someone’s child. And in fact Hank has met Jesse’s mother before. Jesse sure is a screw-up in a lot of ways but I hated seeing Hank be that callous with Jesse’s life. Or anyone’s. As much as he has hated Jesse in the past, this doesn’t seem like Hank, especially after Jesse was the only person helping him. That’s why I say Hank is rabid here. He’s so focused on getting Walt that he will sacrifice another person. Not cool.
~EJ
ps However Jesse is finally freeing himself from the mental prison Walt has put on to Jesse since day one and is taking charge for his “fait” the first time: Which could indicated,that he might be the one who might end up alive after the last big final “shoot out”
Marcel, I hope you’re right! I do think we’re seeing the re-emergence of the strong, hard-edged Jesse that emerged in the latter half of Season Four and the first half of Season Five. The Jesse who came up with ideas and stood up to Walt, and Gus and cartel chemists.
I can’t wait to see his plan! It better be good Jesse!
~EJ
Your explanation of the ricin/lily-of-the-valley explanation is the best I’ve read anywhere! Thanks!
Thanks Karen, happy to help out!
~EJ
re: “Skyler was actually the most shocking…” A lot of people have reacted that way. This far, I haven’t seen anyone include the other factor (which in this case is quoted):
“Walt: How much have you been drinking?
Skyler: Not nearly enough.”
And there’s the answer. In part, this is the booze talking. There are at least three empty bottles of booze on the nightstand and possibly one or two more behind the ones that are clearly visible. Skyler is drunk, and with that comes a reduction in inhibitions and a more reactionary emotional response, which in this case is mostly selfish anger.
re: when Saul says, “Yeah but you gotta understand, deep down he loves me.” It seems clear to me that Saul is being sarcastic.
re: “In the last scene of the episode, Walt orders a hit on Jesse via Todd’s Uncle Jack.” That’s the assumption they want us to jump to. He says he has another job, and it’s a reasonable assumption. But Walt doesn’t yet know that Jesse is working with Hank (for now).
re: “One thing’s for sure. Uncle Jack will not kill Jesse.” I agree. I think Todd, Jack & Kenny are all going to be out of the picture very soon, either dead or (more likely) arrested, when something goes wrong in their effort to do whatever Walt wants to Jesse.
re: “I think it’s also possible that Todd and his guys don’t just agree to Walt’s job. It’s of course possible that they do and Walt goes back to dig up money to pay for that. But maybe they want something in exchange, like Walt getting involved again.” I agree. What better way to force Walt to go back to dig up some of the money than that? On the other hand, he also seems to have plenty stashed with Saul, who acts as his ATM machine. The never showed what happened to Jesse’s ‘going away’ money… he carried the duffel with him on foot, but was not shown to have it with him when he barged back into Saul’s office. He must have dropped it somewhere, and at his house (which is now unguarded) would be the most likely place.
It seems very likely that Todd & Jack would also require that Walt to tutor Todd as part of the deal. Digging up some of the money puts all of it at risk (if Walt is followed or tracked – and that could happen without a tracking device on his car), and working with Todd puts Walt at risk by establishing a connection that might give Hank what he needs to make his personal investigation an official investigation. At this point, Walt probably thinks his video “confession” that implicates Hank has stymied Hank to a much greater extent than it really did. This will be another case of Walt’s hubris being his undoing.
I think I have figured out how this might end.
Maybe I should post it in the comments to the ‘Breaking Bad Season 5 Part 2 Predictions’?
Hey Nomad,
As always, such a great contribution.
Skyler – she really went to town on that hotel mini-bar, didn’t she?
Saul – yes he was absolutely being funny when he said that. It just struck me that it really is true about Walt’s thoughts on Jesse. I didn’t mean to imply Saul was seeing it that way. Saul was just being his funny Saul self. And it was a great line. Almost as good as, “Okay, but say, you know, just for the sake of argument he’s not in the mood for a nuanced discussion of the virtues of child poisoning, then what?”
Walt ordering a hit on Jesse – he doesn’t know Jesse’s working with Hank but Jesse just threatened him, said burning the house down wouldn’t be enough, which I’m thinking gives Walt the motivation he needs to flip his switch. On the podcast the writers seemed to confirm that ordering a hit on Jess is indeed what Walt did, but I think there will be some twists, or that maybe there is more to it.
Interesting thought re: Todd’s crew getting arrested. I still think they may be the group that the M60 is for, but maybe that’s too obvious. Maybe the M60 is for the Czech contingent? It wouldn’t be too surprising if those guys did get arrested, some of them have been to jail a lot in the past, right?
I do think somehow in the next episode, Walt or Jesse will get involved with that crew somehow, and not because either of them wants to. I def think Walt will need to dig into those barrels and that that could put things in jeopardy. Saul said a few eps back that the money is the only real evidence. Perhaps Jesse’s plan will lead Walt to go for the cash? As for Jesse’s money, some have noted that it’s with Jesse at Hank’s hosue, though I need to go back and look for that, never noticed it the first time.
Walt – his hubris gets him every time. The devil has some weaknesses.
And def put your prediction for the end game on the 5-2 predictions page. I need to get caught up over there. I keep getting behind!
~EJ
re: “Walt ordering a hit on Jesse – he doesn’t know Jesse’s working with Hank but Jesse just threatened him, said burning the house down wouldn’t be enough, which I’m thinking gives Walt the motivation he needs to flip his switch. ”
That’s why I say it’s a reasonable assumption, because Walt doesn’t yet know Jesse is working with Hank (I shouldn’t have used the word “but” there). Surely he would plot another course than a hit on Jesse if he had any idea that Hank is now acting as Jesse’s “shepard.” Walt still thinks Hank is mostly boxed in by Walt’s phony “confession” video, when all that actually did was make Hank double down, becoming even more personally invested in Walt’s capture than he was before.
Ahhhh gotcha. I think I read your post wrong the first time. I think we’re on the same page.
And like you pointed out before, Walt’s hubris is at play. His brilliant confession video was so perfect and flawless it’ll most certainly keep Hank at bay (Walt’s thinking).
~EJ
re: “I still think [Todd’s crew] may be the group that the M60 is for, but maybe that’s too obvious. Maybe the M60 is for the Czech contingent?”
It seems kind of unlikely to me that there is enough time left to introduce an entirely new crew (members of which have to make it into the US) to do Lydia’s dirty work, when there is already a proven team in place. But maybe if Todd & Jack & Kenny get nabbed or killed, Lydia may bring in somebody else. But her immediate problem would be how to keep the product flowing. Maybe Lydia somehow manages to kidnap baby Holly in an effort to draw Walt back in to run the lab?
Except for the fact that Walt asked the gun dealer if there were any instructions, I wouldn’t even be too sure that Walt intends to use the M-60 himself. But since the pivotal scene near the end of “Scarface” has Al Pacino’s character taking care of business with an M-16, and since VG has said what he has about that movie (Walt becoming like Scarface), I guess we’ll have to assume that Walt plans on using it himself. Maybe they’ll come up with a good reason for Walt to want something like that M-60, but it’s not exactly something one man can use easily (while also carrying the ammo) while on the move in a fluid situation (as in some kind of rescue op). And it’s far from ideal for “reaching out and touching” someone from long range either (as in some kind of assassination attempt).
Hahaha I was joking earlier today (not on here) that Walt needing the M60 is going to turn out to be a promo or tie-in to the new AMC show Owner’s Manual.
I do think it’ll be Walt that uses it, just makes the most sense. Which means it could go somewhat wrong, too. Now that would be a callback to the pilot episode, remember Walt with the gun in that one? It also probably means he’s got a lot of targets. Seems like more than just Lydia, Todd, Jack and Kenny. So I can think of three viable options:
-Uncle Jack involves a bunch of other people from his crew.
-Lydia’s Czech people come in for some reason, going apeshit about the terrible meth or something and wanting to do some face-to-face business.
-A resurfacing of the cartel
I think they’re in order of likelihood. Like you point out, it’s getting late in the game here. Whoever it is has to show up in the next episode, or have the seed strongly planted. The only other factor to consider is in the time-line of the story, there’s still seven or eight months until Walt’s 52nd birthday. One or more of these episodes is going to feature some time-jumps. So there’s more time in the story than we’d usually have with four episodes left, but I still think whoever he’s going to take out can’t be some big surprise foe thrown in at the last minute. And it can’t be just two or three people.
Some think it’ll be a DEA squad but that’s less plausible to me story-wise. What would be the real purpose? He’ll already be living out of town with a new identity, I just don’t see any realistic reason he’d come back to take out a whole bunch of DEA dudes or what purpose it would serve.
I want to know so badly what’s going to happen but it’s so sad that the ride is almost over.
~EJ
Yep, I can’t see the M-60 being for a confrontation with the DEA.
An M60 is far more difficult to come by (and far more expensive) than some other much more portable full-auto alternatives that fire the same cartridge. We’ll just have to wait and see if it gets used for something that was worth going to that incredibly large expense, if ends up being used at all. I think maybe the choice of that particular weapon was because VG wanted a “bigger, badder” gun than a typical M16/AK47, so practicality may be sacrificed somewhat in order to achieve that impression. Maybe VG is serving up a little homage to ‘Rambo’ as well as to ‘Scarface’
I guess it would be ironic if, after something goes wrong with one of Todd’s cooks (which burns down the house he was in and also destroys the house-undergoing-fumigation cover story) that their next meth lab is out in the desert… …near where Walt buried his money!
Naaaah!
Yeah I just can’t see it with the DEA, can’t see it making sense. Of course, this story shifts all the time, so almost nothing’s impossible.
VG did say they wanted an M60 because Scarface used an M16 and they wanted something bigger and badder. The question might be: What’s worse, Todd’s cooking or Walt’s operation of the M60? I can definitely see things going wrong. We’ll probably have a lot clearer idea about the end game after the next episode because I really think any element that’s going to be involved in the end will have to be introduced by 513.
I hope we find out soon where Todd is cooking. Are his guys using Vamonos? I think they actually might not be. The operation clearly moved to Arizona and the underground bus after Walt quit. So in coming back to ABQ, are all the contacts still in place with Vamonos? That was set up through Saul originally and he doesn’t seem to be too involved with Todd, and not at all with Uncle Jack. Also not sure I can see those guys, without Walt’s guidance, doing all of the setup and wheeling stuff in and out in instrument cases. Maybe Todd’s just cooking in a house, or an RV, or something else. That’ll probably be revealed too.
~EJ
re: “So in coming back to ABQ, are all the contacts still in place with Vamonos? That was set up through Saul originally and he doesn’t seem to be too involved with Todd”
You’re right about that. I had just assumed they would go back to the old scheme but that opportunity may have been lost when the operation was moved to Arizona. As you say, Todd (and probably some other member of Jack’s crew) may not be able to set up and take down a mobile lab quickly enough.
After taking down Declan & his crew, Jack is shown telling his crew to load up everything (Declan already had a production operation before Walt sold out). But that doesn’t mean the portable stuff is no longer available. Based on what Walt told Lydia, I guess we should assume that Walt & Todd’s mobile production equipment was part of the ‘viable operation’ that Walt left Lydia with.
It may be that the help Todd needs from Walt will be to even get going again. Jack’s crew may not have been very careful or meticulous in how they disassembled Declan’s lab (since they’d have every reason to haul ass away from that murder scene) and that may have left Todd unable to even set up a new lab.
There are just so, so many questions. Todd seemed pretty slow on the uptake when Walt first cooked with him and Jack’s crew has criminal experience but not meth-cooking experience, which seems clear when they ask Todd about cooking and running the lab. Even with Declan, it didn’t sound like Todd was ever running things. I think Todd in charge of his own lab is going to be a bit of a disaster. That’s why I think they may want something non-monetary (or in addition to money) in exchange for Walt’s hit on Jesse.
~EJ
I guess the reason I assumed Todd would go back to the scheme of cooking in houses tented for fumigation is because:
1. Todd/Jack/Kenny are shown bringing the trailered tank of of Methylamine back from Arizona to New Mexico
2. As far as we know, they have no existing lab nor any other location to set one up
3. IIRC, Todd originally met Walt because Todd worked for Vamanos Pest… and Todd did something to cover for some slip-up that proved to Walt that Todd wasn’t as straight-laced as he looked, and that he could be trusted.
But you’re right that setting up and taking down a mobile lab quickly enough is likely beyond what Todd is capable of without expert help. And since Todd may not even have all the right pieces after the hasty dis-assembly of Declan’s lab, I’d bet that what Walt wants from Todd & Jack (to find or kill Jesse) will come at the cost of Walt having to help Todd set up the new lab. It won’t be a matter of improving the production quality. I’d bet that they are currently not even producing any product at all, which will cause Lydia to be putting pressure on the situation (because her Czech buyer might go elsewhere). So if Walt wants Todd/Jack to get to Jesse, he’s going to have to do something for them that is very risky for him (only Walt doesn’t really know how risky that is, because he still thinks that video has Hank pretty much bottled up).
Considering the way VG likes his story arcs to come full circle, I suspect that Todd’s new lab might be set up near the same location where Walt & Jesse originally cooked, thus the title of the next episode.
That seems more plausible than Walt being tracked to the money in that same area. Jesse has no way to know that anything he does will cause Walt to go after his main stash… unless…
Maybe Jesse could get Hank to have somebody else hold a press conference announcing some seizure operation or something that would make Walt think that *MAYBE* his money was in jeopardy? So maybe they announce a ‘record drug money seizure’ and show a huge pile of money, without saying exactly where it came from due to the “ongoing investigation.” Seems unlikely in the real world that the DEA would allow Hank to get away with such a fake-out move, but let’s just call it plausible for the sake of this discussion (because “it’s a TV show”).
Of course then the question in Walt’s mind will be, “Is that MY money?” and since he’s the only one who knows where it is, he’ll have to go see if there’s a big hole in the ground where his money used to be.
I really hope we get to see what Todd’s doing in the next episode. Someone at the AMC forum was saying that though this is a show about meth, we haven’t yet seen the kind of meth-cooking fire that you see in the news so maybe one is in store for us.
It’s prob a toss-up if he’s still using Vamanos or not.
I do think Lydia is going to put pressure on them b/c her Czech buyer sounded like a hardass.
Ha, I actually like that idea about making Walt think he might have lost his money. He would have to check.
~EJ
Hi Emilia,
Jumping on your predictions: After ordering the hit on Jesse, uncle Jack and his crew somehow get to Jesse but before killing him , Jesse suggests, that it would be a great mistake to kill the best meth cook and offers to cook for them. This might drive Walt crazy so the could be a falling out with Todd, Lydia and Uncle Jack about that.
However I am not sure how Hank and Gomie will be invilved in that “triangle”
greatings
Marcel
Not as long as Hank keeps Jesse on a very short leash.
Maybe Jesse’s new ‘better way’ plan will require him to be on a much longer leash, though.
I don’t see Jesse deciding to cook again by choice, and I don’t think he’d ever want to work with Todd. What is he going to come up with that Hank will be okay with?
~EJ
Yep. NO WAY Jesse would ever have anything to do with Todd. He wouldn’t even be around him, except maybe to express his displeasure at what he did (same as Jesse did to Saul), though right now all of Jesse’s anger is focused on Walt.
re: “What is he going to come up with that Hank will be okay with?” That is the million dollar question. It has to have something to do with destroying Walt’s public image as a “fine upstanding family man” but I have great difficulty figuring out how Jesse could do that. About the only think I could think he might be able to do is appear on some news show/interview (of the type where the interviewee is in the shadow and has his voice disguised) and basically makes public a lot of the stuff he told Hank, in order to destroy Walt’s image. But I don’t see how some unknown junkie would possibly have any credibility to do that, nor would any news station air such an interview, because they’d have too much liability… That is, UNLESS Jessie has some that corroborates his story. I’m not sure if there is any evidence left behind from their original cooks in the location that is the title of the next episode (To’hajiilee)… For instance, what happened to the video that Walt made in the original episode? Maybe some other potential evidence was left behind when they made their hasty retreat in the RV (when it ran off the trail)? Maybe one of the gas masks from the high school was left behind? I don’t know if there was anything but that sure would tie in neatly with “To’hajiilee” because the only other thing that we know for sure is there is the money… And maybe Jesse has come up with some scheme to force Walt to access his money, but Jesse has no way to know (or even suspect) that Walt has not by now dispersed/converted all that cash into “safe” bank accounts or some other form.
If Jesse has anything to do with Todd, it will be against his will.
I’d be surprised if there’s any evidence from the first cook. I think the videotape was destroyed (but might have to rewatch the pilot to find out for sure), and Hank already got ahold of the one gas mask that was left behind. He tracked it to Walt’s school and told Walt he had to keep a better eye on his lab equipment!
Is it Sunday yet??
~EJ
Another thought about the M60: It is much better as a defending device rather than attacking. It is best used in a entrenched or fortification situation. So the Question is, where will the M60 go …. to a place were someone is hiding ? Walts family? Should be interesting to see everything unfold logicaly.
Marcel
Yeah, I can’t wait to see how it’ll play out. I’m still thinking about that article where Bryan Cranston says VInce Gilligan told him that Walt is coming back to ABQ to help someone. Someone else needs defending?
I’m not sure it’s the family partly because it seems they have all left. So either they all leave ABQ together (may be in hiding together or separately), or Sky takes the kids and runs away from Walt, or Sky and/or Jr don’t make it. If something happened to cause Walt to leave his family behind (which I think would be hard to do), then the others would still be in the house. At least that’s my logic of the moment. Who the hell knows?!
~EJ
I think that since Walt is shown in the flashforward having taken the last name “Lambert,” it means Skyler is dead. Also, Anna Gunn stated that one major cast member would die, so…
Of course, who knows? Maybe Walt didn’t use the vacuum repair guy’s “disappear” service after all. Taking Skyler’s maiden name “Lambert” was a pretty foolish thing to do for somebody on the lam… unless Skyler had a brother (dead or otherwise) who donated the ID. It would still be pretty foolish, but also expedient, and therefore plausible under the circumstances.
It’s definitely sloppy. That’s one reason I think he’s “lost” her, either to death or desertion, it seems to be a very emotionally motivated decision that could come out of morning. Definitely not logical or prudent.
~EJ
At the end of the S5E13 promo, someone says, “Remember, no fear.” but it’s not Walt’s voice.
Did anyone else recognize who says that?
Sounds like it’s either something that was on TV or maybe in a flashback…
Did Gus ever say that?
I’ll need to listen to that again, Nomad. It sounded like Walt to me but others have also said it’s not. It’s definitely not Gus. Some have suggested Jack. I might try to listen with headphones to see if I can get a clearer listen. I’m usually really good with voices but clearly not so much this time.
~EJ
I listened again and it’s definitely not Gus.
But I’m pretty sure it’s not Walt either, especially not the words “no fear” which sound like a different voice than the word “Remember” m the preview. It sounds like two different clips put together.
They do really like to put different clips together, or mix the audio of one scene with the visuals from something else entirely. I still need to go listen but yeah, it’s definitely not Gus. He had a really distinct voice.
~EJ
Apparently, several seasons ago, Walt & Walt jr. wore matching “no Fear” T-shirts for some event they participated in. Maybe that clip is from way back then.
Oh wow, do you know what episode that was in?
~EJ
re: “Oh wow, do you know what episode [Walt & jr. wearing “no Fear” T-shirts] was in?
I saw somebody mention it (as if they were pretty sure about it) on another site. They indicated that Walt & Jr. were participating in some event (maybe a walkathon or something like that?)
I’ve tried to find it using key word searches but come up empty.
If it happened, it had to be early on, pretty soon after Walt’s diagnosis, before his remission.
Hmm I don’t remember any event like that but it’s been awhile since I watched the first season.
I’ve listened to it again and again and I still think it’s Walt. I know I’m most likely wrong but it just sounds like him to me, like he’s putting on the Heisi voice, like the same tone as when he said “RUN.” In most of the other clips he sounds very Walt.
~EJ
Awesome review Emilia!
“And Jesse finally gets some lasagna sans scabs.” That’s so funny, I totally forgot about that.
I think you nailed everything especially with Skyler. She’s such a tricky character for me to figure out since she doesn’t say much and her expressions are hard to read into. It must tear her up to sever her relationship with Marie, but it makes sense since she would want to protect and maintain custody of her kids.
The funniest line for me was about Babylon 5, even when Badger and Skinny Pete are off screen they’re still hilarious lol.
Again, loved reading your post I always come away feeling a bit more enlightened :)
I always love reading yours too Sidekick!
The Skinny Pete line was great. I hope we get to see some more of those guys at some point. Seems we will if they’re still being mentioned. And it looks like Walt will be looking for Jesse in the next episode, so they might show up.
Skyler is tricky, I agree. And then when she goes on a drinking spree, that makes it worse. I thought the whole idea of “the fallacy of some costs” was really helpful in the podcast.
~EJ
Your analyses have become a must-read for me after each show EJ. I’m no ace on predicting, but some clues are right there. Rabid Dog emphasizes the poignant scene of Walt & Jr. Sets the stage for them to be torn apart. In Talking Bad I thought RJ leaked several spoilers in his false start answers, one of which is when Jr. dies. My bet is he goes to Hank and Marie’s house (he’s talked about going there twice recently). At the same time the hit crew tracks Jesse there, there’s a shootout, and he gets in the crossfire. Cranston has said “There’s a good case for that, that maybe that’s the fitful end. And yet, what if the thing he wanted the most — which was the togetherness of his family — what if he lived, and they didn’t? Wouldn’t that be a worse hell to be in?” Have to expect misdirection from him, but the poetic ending of this show would be that rather than Walt dying and his family has the money, they die and he is left with it…and it will mean nothing to him. What’s left to do but stage a meeting with Uncle Jack & crew and riddle their car with the machine gun when they show up. It’s not for the Czechs (they have no beef with him) and he’s using that gun because he’s outnumbered. Of course that too will not go as planned. At the same time Jesse’s “other way” to get Walt is unfolding…he’s telling Hank about it so Hank will go along, but it won’t be meth (Jesse hates Todd and doesn’t even know where he is). Seems like it would be the money but how would Jesse think he could find it. By the way, the cops kept Jesse’s money; it’s what they do in real life.
Hi Loki, thanks for reading!
It’s funny, I’m totally torn on Junior. I thought it could very well be a goodbye hug. On Talking Bad, I thought he was joking about Jr dying. Just the way he said it sounded like a joke. But there were several times when he was talking about Jr finding out about his dad and then corrected himself and said, “I mean IF he finds out…” So maybe they get torn apart by Jr finding out? Maybe Jesse via Hank tells Jr? That’s the ONE thing that Sky has been holding out hoping won’t happen. When they had that dinner, a lot of it was about not letting Jr find out. It seemed a big part of why Sky was going along with Walt and the DVD. But if he found out, and she wasn’t trying to stop that anymore, and her son was hurt and upset, might she change her mind and go against Walt? Give her own confession? That would be very bad for Walt.
I don’t know, just throwing out ideas.
As for the money yes the cops have what Jesse threw around. But I think he still has the “money shaped bag” that Saul gave him when he was going to disappear. At least some viewers have said it was with him at Hank’s which I haven’t double-checked.
~EJ
re: “But I think [Jesse] still has the ‘money shaped bag’ that Saul gave him when he was going to disappear. At least some viewers have said it was with him at Hank’s which I haven’t double-checked.”
After putting Jesse in his car, Hank tosses in what sure looks like the same grey & orange duffel bag that Saul gave Jesse. I can’t believe Hank would not look inside it though, so we should assume that Jesse no longer has that money either. The irony of that might be that by holding on to that money while keeping Jesse ‘off the books’ Hank could inadvertently provide some proof of the claims made by Walt on the “confession” video.
Wouldn’t Hank get in serious trouble if he just took money from Jesse when Jesse wasn’t under arrest or anything? And especially in Hank’s own car and home?
~EJ
I found this on another site:
“So, where does Walter White really live? That’s the central question of Breaking Bad in a nutshell. Does Walt still care about his family, or is he driven purely by his lust for power? Jesse, who takes a dim view of both child-killing and Walt’s motives, probably assumes the latter. Walt’s a dying man, so there’s only so much vengeance to be had in sending him to prison. In order to really get back at Walt, Jesse’s going to have to humiliate him.
Maybe Jesse has decided to go after Walt’s money. Walt says he wants the money for his kids, but really, dying with a big pile of cash is Walt’s way of winning. Earlier this season, Walt seemed more upset about losing his cash than about his own impending death. Besides, money is evidence.
Jesse doesn’t know where Walt’s cash is, but he knows Saul has some idea. At any rate, Saul knows enough about the Crystal Blue conspiracy to convict Walt and exonerate Hank, and the vaults of Saul’s office are treasure troves of hard evidence. Saul normally relies on attorney/client privilege to conceal his crimes, but attorney-client privilege doesn’t apply if a client hires a lawyer to commit a crime. The DEA doesn’t usually know what clients and lawyers talk about behind closed doors, but in this case, Jesse can tell them what really goes on in Saul’s office.”
ref.: (http://inthesetimes.com/duly-noted/entry/15555/breaking_bad_recap_season_5_episode_12_rabid_dog/)
…to which I would just say, Jesse doesn’t actually have to go after Walt’s family. All he has to do is make Walt THINK he is going to go after Walt’s family.
Even better if this happens while Hank tries to make Walt think the DEA may have found his buried money.
As for humiliating Walt, that would probably be effective too, but I’m hard-pressed to come up with a plausible way that Jesse can do that. If he tells his story to the news media, they aren’t likely to run with it unless he has something to corroborate it, and anything that does that also leaves himself open to prosecution. Hank may be focused solely on Heisenberg, but the APD investigates murders too.
Great find!
What complicates everything is that there are so many moving pieces. Jesse doesn’t know about the false confession so something he thinks could be a good idea might not sound that way to Hank because Hank may still feel threatened by that DVD. Jesse also doesn’t know (I think he’s the only main character who doesn’t) that Walt’s cancer’s back. He’s in the dark about a lot of things but somehow I think he will have a good plan. Not good enough to catch Walt but good enough to push him to escape.
Hmmmm.
~EJ
I think that everyone was a Rabid Dog in the last episode.
The best part is that everyone is now Breaking Bad. Only Walt JR and the baby are not (so far). Skyler Broke Bad last year. Walt was the original breaker. Hank and Marie are Breaking Bad this year. Vince’s point is that everyone has their breaking point. Walter needed cash and started cooking meth. Skyler wanted to survive so she fell in line.
Jesse was ironically one of the only “lowlifes” in the show; he was arguably already badly broken from the onset. Walt made him a better person for a while – cleaned him up and gave him confidence and self respect. He seems to be the voice of morality and reason now. Saul has not changed, he was always bad. He may Break Bad on his own if shit gets real bad…
Jesse will now hit Walter where it hurts the most … he will blow his sugary sweet cover for all to see. I suspect that he is the one who spray painted Heisenberg on the White’s house. He will out Walter which will put him in danger. Once the world knows who Heisenberg is, his life will be in danger.
Walter will have his hands full when the danger comes from all sides. I bet we will truly see him Break Bad on a scale that will make his previous actions seem tame by comparison. I can’t wait….
I don’t think Jesse spray paints “Heisenberg” inside Walt’s house, at least not before whatever happens that causes Walt to go on the lam. It will take a lot more than Jesse spray-painting the inside of Walt’s house to blow his cover, especially with Skyler in on it, and helping to shield jr. from the implications.
Most likely some of the same kids who are shown in the flash-forward riding their skateboards in Walt’s pool are the ones who trashed the inside of Walt’s house, including also spray-painting “Heisenberg” inside.
Even if Jesse were to somehow manage to get the news media to cover his public statement about Walt (i.e.: a press conference), then Walt’s would immediately release more copies of the “confession” DVD to the same news media, just before disappearing (making it look like Hank killed him). That’s the entire purpose of making that “confession” DVD and giving it to Hank – to make sure he realizes the consequences, which Walt believes will be mutually assured destruction. Something like that could happen later on, but probably not in the next episode.
Jesse will do something that draws Walt out, but unless it’s simply the fake-outs I’ve previously mentioned, I still can’t figure out how he can do that, not as long as Hank will have to approve anything he does.
It still seems to if what Jesse’s already done (telling Walt he’s coming to get him where he really lives, i.e.: making him THINK he may be coming for his family) isn’t enough, one of the few other plays Hank would go along with is announcing a huge drug money seizure (and that might require too much official DEA participation to be plausible).
Hey Heinz and Nomad,
I really like your analysis of how/when the characters break bad Heinz.
Jesse probably isn’t the one who paints Heisenberg only b/c as Nomad says it wouldn’t have enough of an impact. I do think that blowing Walt’s cover might be what Jesse is thinking. I still am thinking that revealing who Walt is to his family is part of it somehow.
~EJ
Hi Emilia
Great recap as always. So much information to go through but you always do a wonderful job of taking the reader through the whole episode.
My predictions:
I think this next episode will be the crossroads of Todd/Lidia/Psychos and the main characters. Jesse is breaking badder like everyone else so I see his phone call as him being the new Jesseberg…Remember that in this season, he brought up the train heist plan and the magnet plan to Mike and Walt…I see his phone call as a way to manipulate Walt into taking drastic action…To me, he knows that Walt will use Todd’s family and incriminate himself by going after Jesse. This, I think, is the last we’ll see of Todd in whatever interaction takes place and then things go crazy from here….Jesse is held responsible for this by Todd’s psycho family but Lidia needs Jesse to keep the meth lab going. So I see a showdown with Walt and the Psycho’s in an attempt to protect Jesse.
What do you think?
Juan, I think you could be right on with A LOT Of that! This has to be the time that the Lydia/Todd/Jack storyline finally gets mixed in with Walt and Jesse.
I freakin’ LOVE Jessenberg, that’s great!
He’s definitely up to something. I keep thinking that he must in some way WANT Walt to come after him or why make that call? Why say he’s coming after Walt? He could’ve said a lot of things without making threats but he made threats. So maybe he wants to set up Walt to go after him and catch Walt in the act, but that is a scary, risky thing Jess is doing. Maybe there is more to the plan than just that. I think it’ll be a good plan but we know Walt must somehow get away because he’s not dead or in jail in that flashforward. But also, there are a lot of other ways to hurt Walt, like showing his confession to Junior. Some have said Skyler too and at this point she knows a lot of Walt’s dirty deeds but still it could have an impact. Or what if Hank shows it to both of them. That could hurt Walt more than getting arrested perhaps. And it would explain the shocked looks of Sky and Jr at the carwash in the preview…
So much to speculate on!
~EJ
You know, I was thinking too conventionally when I commented that Jesse would not be able to get any news media to do an interview with him (or otherwise reveal his story).
Probably all Jesse would have to do is post his confession video (maybe with his face concealed) online. Even if youtube took it down due to concerns over slander, it would be too late because a video like that would quickly go viral and be picked up by all sorts of alternative media outlets. Of course, this is assuming he doesn’t mind setting himself up for multiple murder raps. Since we haven’t seen what’s on Jesse’s video, it’s possible that it’s all about the bad things Walt/Lydia/Todd have done, omitting the details of Jesse’s worst crimes.
All that naming names and places would certainly make all the rats come scurrying out of their holes. Of coursed it would also put a huge target on Jesse’s back, but as long as Hank keeps him hidden and ‘off the books’ I don’t think they could find Jesse.
Something like that could totally be the plan. It would serve a lot of purposes. Like you said, it’d call out everyone else from the woodwork. Even people like Skinny Pete and Badger know Walt is Heisenberg. We know he mentioned Lydia, Todd killing Drew Sharpe and Vamonos Pest so those people will all be looking out for their own interests in all this.
And as of my last post I’m thinking that Jr finding out could have a big impact on Skyler. She’s doing so much of what she’s doing in hopes that he won’t ever know the truth about his dad. If he finds out, she could flip. Or she could really want to implicate Hank with that false confession DVD. I could see it going either way but if Jr finds out, it’s like one of the main things she’s been doing all this for is gone. In that dinner scene, Walt and Sky both talk about how important it is for Jr not to find out.
I think Jesse admitted to everything. Hank called him a murderer and Jesse’s only killed two people–Gale and also Joaquin in “Salud”–so he must’ve fessed up to one if not both. And Jesse, he really wanted to confess, I think for a long time, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he said it all. And I don’t know if he even cares that much if he goes to jail or not because there have been times he’s seemed like he wanted to be punished for his crimes. I think in Jesse’s mind, there are worse scenarios than prison.
I don’t think he’ll go to prison though. I just don’t see any of this story (unless it’s covered in some strange way when there will be inevitable upcoming time-jumps) playing out in court. So maybe Jesse does get somehow taken hostage by the cooking crew who need help cooking without setting fires? How long do you think he can stay at Hank’s? I do think it’s one place that for now, Walt won’t look. I keep wondering how they are going to get him a change of clothes, hahaha.
~EJ
re: “I think Jesse admitted to everything…”
Yep. I forgot that Hank did call him a murderer, so it seems clear that Jesse’s video doesn’t intentionally omit much. Since Skinny Pete and Badger know Walt is Heisenberg, they could corroborate Jesse’s story, but I doubt that he implicated them in his video, since I’d have to think he still thinks of them as his friends.
As you say, Jesse has reached his breaking point. He is responding emotionally, and wants something so badly that he will go to almost any length to get it (almost like an addict craving another fix).
The thing Jesse wants most (after ‘Walt can’t keep getting away with it’) is to get it all off his chest, clear his conscience, not matter what consequences that may bring him.
Like you, I don’t see them wasting any of the precious little time remaining on a criminal prosecution of Jesse Pinkman, but I do think that if he’s still alive at the end, that might be in prison… unless VG is going to sell us Jesse’s redemption happening just because he came clean, and brought down the kingpin. I can’t see Hank letting him go, but he might escape… …maybe to Alaska?
But wouldn’t it be too much of a cliche to include Johnny Horton’s “North To Alaska” along with Marty Robbins’ “Feleena” or “El Paso” in the final episode? ;)
I really want Jesse to end up in Alaska.
We also just don’t know what’s going to happen, if Hank is going to take this to the rest of the DEA, or even live to do so. Or if Jesse will live. Or what will happen in the meantime. I just don’t think anything in this world will end up getting settled in a court of law. Or something horrible will happen like Hank really does get framed and HE ends up in prison.
~EJ
Since Emily Rios appears in two upcoming episodes, maybe it becomes clear that whatever it is that Jesse does puts Andrea and Brock in jeopardy too, and all three end up in the Witness Protection program? …in Alaska? …maybe after Jesse does a short stint in prison (people who are incarcerated can be in Witness Protection too).
What episode had Walt in a diner, forming a 52 out of bacon? I thought it was the first episode of this season. But when I re-watched On Demand, it wasn’t there.
That was S5E01, which aired last year
Your on-demand service may have designated the current set of eight episodes to be Season 6.
I have never read a blog about a tv show before, but I really enjoy yours! (Plus I’ve never been so addicted to a show before…) one of the things I enjoy is that you have taught me things about chemistry. So please don’t be offended when I try to return the favor by letting you know that Skyler’s thinking is the fallacy of SUNK costs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_costs#Loss_aversion_and_the_sunk_cost_fallacy)
Thanks so much! I was going off of what I thought on the podcast. I’ll update the post and include the link. Again, thank you so much for the clarification!
~EJ
Thanks again! It’s fixed now :)
~EJ
Pingback: The science of Breaking Bad: Rabid Dog | weak interactions