Recap:
Walt, Jesse and Mike meet the dealer, Declan, from last time. Walt says he won’t sell his Methylamine, but he will let him take Mike’s place as their distributor and partner, and gain 35% of their profits. Notably, while Walt tells Declan that Mike is retiring, he implies that Jesse is still in as a cook. Walt also reveals himself as the cook that killed Gus Fring, and makes them say his name—Heisenburg.
It seems the deal went down like they wanted, though Jesse is unhappy that Walt is so apprehensive about letting him out, which Walt justifies as “needing help during the transition.” Mike says goodbye, taking his money and warning Walt and Jesse about getting the bug in Hank’s office before there’s a sweep. Jesse hopes he’ll see Mike around, which Mike doubts will happen; he tells Jesse to look out for himself.
At the currently closed carwash, Walt retrieves the Methylamine tank from there, to Skyler’s dismay. Jesse notices Skyler’s nervousness and frustration at the situation; Skyler fears the person Walt was hiding the tank from could kill for it.
The lawyer mike was working with in “Hazard Pay,” Dan Wachsberger, heads to a bank and fills a number of safety deposit boxes with Mike’s cash—each deposit box for one of the nine men in prison, plus a new one for Mike’s granddaughter, Kaylee, on her 18th birthday. Afterwards, Mike disposes of all his guns and materials he used during his employment in a pipe in the desert, and keeps one last safety bag in a car in an airport parking lot. When the DEA arrives at his house with a warrant, they find nothing.
Jesse confronts Walt about his inability to get his $5 million to get out. Walt avoids his questions at first, offering Jesse an entire lab to double the amount they’ll cook. Jesse keeps pressing that he wants to get his money and get out, and Walt starts degrading him, telling him that he has nothing else in his life other than the business, and will probably just start using again. Jesse calls out Walt for not being truly upset about the boy being killed; Walt talks about how they’re both going to hell regardless. Jesse is done arguing and simply asks for his money, but Walt turns the tables and asks why he’d want it—it’s “filthy blood money,” so he has too much “emotional depth” to accept it. Walt asks once more for him to stay, and Jesse finally accepts that he won’t be paid and walks out on him, telling Walt, “It’s on you.”
Hank becomes distracted by a case file during a meeting at the DEA, and is told by his higher ups to stop focusing on the Fring case since he’s supposed to handle multiple cases now. During a talk with Gomez, Hank determines that someone must still be paying off the men in prison, since none of them are talking. He realizes that all the perps are being represented by Dan Wachsberger—who does not represent Mike. Hank decides to have Wachsberger followed. When Wachsberger heads to the bank to make his regular money drop-off, which the DEA witnesses it.
Meanwhile, Walt trains Todd to be his new assistant. During dinner with Skyler, Walt tries to talk to her about his life, and she silently walks out on him. This, however, gives Walt more fodder to cry about when he goes to Hank’s office and feigns another breakdown to get the bugs out of his office when he’s distracted. However, Walt overhears that the DEA finally has the evidence to nail Mike.
Mike receives a call from Wachsberger and gives away his location; Walt calls right after, warning him about Wachsberger. Walt, Jesse and Saul try to figure out what to do, and while Jesse is convinced Mike won’t ever sell them out, Walt is afraid his nine guys in prison will when they don’t get their money. Mike, having barely escaped the cops, calls Saul and asks him to get his bag; however, the DEA knows Saul is his lawyer and are probably tracking him, too. Mike doesn’t want Jesse to go either, so Walt decides to do it. Walt finds the bag, also noticing Mike’s gun in it. Mike and Walt meet up, but Walt will only give him the bag after receiving the names of the nine men. Mike refuses to give him the names, and says they need to leave town; Walt refuses, citing his inability to leave because of his family. They argue about it, leading to Mike telling Walt it’s his fault for killing Fring, blowing up a good setup because of his pride and ego. Mike takes the bag from Walt anyway, but realizes his gun is missing when he gets in the car. Walt storms back and shoots at Mike’s car; Mike speeds off and manages to escape to a river bank. Walt catches up with him and realizes he’s already been fatally shot. In that moment, Walt realizes he could have simply asked Lydia for the names. Mike tells him to “Shut the f*** up and let me die in peace,” and topples over.
Review:
Let’s put this out here first: this is a big episode for the show, and still good television overall. There are many moments in this episode are great for us to appreciate. We’ve been watching this show for a while now, and know what to look for and why certain things are significant. So it’s completely evident that what we’re watching is devastating in the realm of the show, and that’s completely fine. But the biggest problem with this episode is that it’s not quite devastating to us, or at least not as much as it should of been.
It’s not to say what they were going for wasn’t well done. But the problem here is that things were so quickly thrown in and piled up to reach this goal, it became evident from very early on that Mike wasn’t going to survive. What’s good about this is it provides an insane amount of tension during the wait for Mike to be killed. But what’s bad is that it happens pretty much as we expect it to happen. Maybe not right down to every detail, but it’s clear that Mike’s going to get caught before he can fully get out, and Walt is going to be the one to kill him. He does, and that’s great for the show’s momentum and fitting in the universe, but it doesn’t quite make it fantastic television. And it’s sad to say that, because it does work so well thematically and in concept.
Part of the problem is that, in a show so rife with karma and irony, having Mike’s somewhat incompetent lawyer be what throws everything to the dogs is just kind of random. We met him very, very briefly back in “Hazard Pay,” but it still felt forced that he’d become the weak link that causes all of this to collapse. It stands out for a show so typically well-plotted with huge focus on the details. Is this really a detail Mike would have never considered? Would the DEA never have investigated this lawyer before? It’s a stretch, and it’s not even an ironic “Ted hitting his head” kind of random—it’s just a fast way of getting Mike caught. And since that was really the only purpose Wachsberger ultimately served, it made the entire story sadly predictable. And because it was so predictable and the events leading up were contrived, Mike’s actual death lost much of its emotional impact or shock. And that in itself is depressing, since Jonathan Banks as Mike has been used so magnificently this season. But for what it’s worth (which is a lot), Banks got some great material in his last episode. Particularly, his final scene with Walt was very fulfilling, as he’s the only one with the balls to really, truly call Walt out and peg exactly what his problem is. Not that it’s going to make a difference to Walt.
The entire situation gave us a more clear standpoint of where Walt is at now. There’s been a couple of moments alluding to his ego and rage overpowering his intellect, and it’s finally biting him in the butt now. The Walt of previous seasons could have concocted some kind of harebrained scheme to get Mike out of danger, if he was dedicated enough. But he’s far too focused on getting his empire up and running, and unable to keep his ever-growing disdain for Mike in check. Now he’s made the simplest of common sense mistakes—if Mike didn’t answer his question, he could just ask someone else. But at the same time, he did feel remorse for Mike. While that doesn’t say much for our unlikeable protagonist, at least we do know he’s not yet a complete monster. He’s got a set of ethics in his head somewhere, it’s just rare for him to actually live by them.
A line he’s certainly riding with those ethics now, though, is Jesse. Walt had been pretty smart about keeping his machinations with Jesse subtle and relatively hidden, but he’s not even trying anymore. I’ve suspected that Jesse is the only person Walt really truly still has feelings for (and maybe his kids, too) and that seems even more likely here. We haven’t seen Walt be truly desperate at all this season, so it’s telling that the first time he blows up and lets his emotions get the best of him is not his confrontation with Mike, but when Jesse refuses to stand by his side. It’s not at the point where their relationship is ruined—after all, they had no issue being in the same room during Mike’s ordeal—but it’s getting close.
The argument itself was a high point of the episode, scene-wise, but Aaron Paul really nailed Jesse’s consistent realizations that Mr. White is not the man he once was. Similarly, Jesse’s apparent sympathy for Skyler is an interesting development that will hopefully yield some great stuff. I don’t know if I’d have ever expected a Jesse and Mrs. White duo, but if it becomes the two of them against Walt by the end of the show, it’ll surely be entertaining.
It sucks that this wasn’t a more perfect episode for Mike’s departure, though it’s not for lack of trying. Jonathan Banks’ final moments are visually stunning, and while the emotional resonance wasn’t as high as it should have been, hearing him topple over is still heartstopping, even if for a moment. And if anything, Walt and Jesse’s individual character development and the results this episode’s events should yield still hold it up just fine. Not necessarily the best plotted episode of the series, but its significance nothing to ignore.
Some stray tidbits:
- A number of providers listed this episode’s title as “Everybody Wins,” which I’d assume was the title of the original script. As much as I like “Say My Name” being emphasized (and it was a worthy moment), “Everybody Wins” had a really nice ring to it for such a tragic episode.
- Todd’s quite an enigma. He’s sociopathic enough to kill a child in cold blood, but he’s absolutely dedicated to this business. Then again, I guess you’d have to be slightly sociopathic to be this dedicated to an illegal meth empire. Still, there’s got to be more to him.
- The smile on Gomez’s face when he catches Wachsberger redhanded is perfect.
- While I like how supportive Hank and Marie have been this season, it was great to see Hank so visibly jaded and annoyed by talking to a sobbing, whining Walt again.
- Saul’s inferred pissing match with Wachsberger is hilarious.
- A number of viewers noted on Twitter last night that it was contrived that Walt would be the only one that could deliver Mike’s bag (and that Mike would allow it.) But considering Mike’s got to be desperate at this point, and has no idea how much information his lawyer spilled to the DEA about other connections, Walt would honestly be the most logical choice, since no one really knows he’s in on it. So I’m more forgiving of this.
- Is it just me, or is Walt using his “I have a family to support!” excuse even more than he did when he was actually dying and needed to leave his family money? And to people who also have a family to support, no less!
- ”Vamanos.” “I wish.”
1 Comment
Beautiful review, however your comment “should of been” should have been “should have been”.
Think of the semi-literate children who might inherit this mistake.