If, like me, you thought that things would slow down a bit after last week’s tense standoff between Hank and Walt, well, we were both very wrong.
The momentum just keeps building for these final few episodes and the only thing I know for sure is that things aren’t going to end up nice and neat.
The episode picked up where last week’s ended: in the driveway with Hank staring down Walt/Heisenberg.
Walt speeds away from the Schraders’ in his sleek black car in an attempt to reach Skyler before Walt does. (I loved the allusion to the first episode of the second season, “Seven Thirty-Seven,” when Hank runs over the little kid’s remote control car in the middle of the street. Perhaps to signify that Walt is still in control, he comes this close to crushing the same kid’s car, but doesn’t.)
It turns out that Skyler isn’t nearly as pissed off at Walt as she was last season. When Hank confronts her, she is reluctant to implicate Walt – or herself – in the situation. In a typically Skyler fashion, she freaks out and starts screaming “AM I UNDER ARREST?” in the middle of the diner. She needs a serious Xanax prescription, and for good reason.
The most “oh shit” moment of the episode is when Lydia (talk about needing Xanax) plots the murders of Declan and his crew. She and Todd are going to seriously screw something up. Todd is a loose canon (and is a big part of the reason why Jesse is bonkers) and there is just no telling what he is going to do. These two are almost comical.
Later in the episode, Marie tries to pry details out of Skyler, but she smartly doesn’t say a word except for “I’m sorry” when Marie asks if she knew about Walt’s meth situation before Hank got shot by the terrifying cartel twins.
In an extremely uncharacteristic move, Marie slaps Skyler HARD across the face and then tries to take baby Holly away from them. Hank, on the other hand, knows what Walt is capable of and is simply terrified of what Walt could do if they take his daughter away, stops Marie from essentially kidnapping Holly.
When the two get back into their car and Marie says, “ You have to get him,” it is clear that there is now a showdown between Hank and Marie versus Skyler and Walt.
The only outlier in this situation is Jesse – whose side is he going to chose? Will his conscience dictate his decision? Will he fess up to Hank and point it all on Walt? Or will he stay loyal to Walt and keep his mouth shut like he has in the past?
Jesse is losing his shit. When someone starts throwing millions of dollars out the window and staring blankly into the sky on a merry-go-round in a pitch-black park, things are not going well for that person. Who knows what he will do at this point.
If things keep moving as quickly as they have so far, we will find out at the beginning of next week’s episode.
Other notable moments:
- There hasn’t been enough Saul Goodman so far this season, right?
- Saul brings up the possibility of “sending Hank to Belize,” a la Mike. Think Walt’s going to do it?
- Who can possibly blame Huell for wanting to lie on top of a pile of millions and millions of dollars? We’ve all had Scrooge McDuck dreams.
- Lydia has nice shoes.
- I screamed when the screen cut to black after Hank walked into Jesse’s holding cell. “Breaking Bad” does cliffhangers so well.
- I would bet that the lotto ticket with the GPS location of the barrels of money is going to make a reappearance.
- Those two Albequerque cops who have questioned Jesse throughout the seasons are great.
