Summary: As the show generally proclaimed to be “the best most perfect show ever in the history of the universe” reaches its final stretch, it slows down a bit, threatening to “tread lightly.” It then stops treading lightly.
Recap
After finding Gale’s signed Leaves of Grass book in Walt’s bathroom, Hank connects the dots. The shock causes a panic attack, in turn causing him to crash his car. Despite Marie’s pleas for him to see a doctor, he decides to use it as an excuse to take a vacation from work…and go over the Heisenberg case on his own time.
Walt and Skyler contemplate expanding the car wash business to help the launder the money more quickly and easily. Lydia shows up, pleading for Walt to come back as their quality and sales are dropping, but Walt refuses. Skyler demands Lydia to leave and never return. Walt, meanwhile, is revealed to be back in Chemo–his cancer has returned.
Jesse is racked with guilt after hearing Walt call his money “blood money” last season, due to the death of Drew Sharpe in “Dead Freight”. He tries giving all his money to Saul to deliver to Mike’s granddaughter (he suspects Walt may have killed Mike) and Drew Sharpe’s parents, but Saul refuses to risk bringing attention to them. Walt delivers the money back to a still depressed Jesse, who in turn randomly tosses out his money amongst the neighborhood to get it out of his hands.
Walt notices that his Leaves of Grass book is missing, and his paranoia prompts him to check his car, where he finds a GPS tracker. He confronts Hank in his garage, and in a bout of rage, Hank punches Walt and lays everything out. Walt reveals that his cancer is back, and it that even if he could convince anyone that he is Heisenberg, it wouldn’t be worth prosecuting him since he’ll be dead in six months anyway. However, when Hank threatens to have Skyler bring the kids to there, Walt threatens him to “tread lightly.”
If you have not seen this episode yet and don’t wish to be spoiled, tread lightly.
Review
There have been more and more essays and analyses written about Breaking Bad as it’s approached its end, specifically that question of why it’s so good to so many people. Its Shakespearean take on characters, its deconstruction and reconstruction of clockwork storytelling, its attention to detail, etc. are all valid points for why Breaking Bad is so satisfying. “Blood Money” suggests two very simple reasons for why people can’t get enough of this show, though: its longterm pacing, and its restrain for shock killing main characters.
Because really, the confrontation between Walt and Hank could have easily (and on many other shows, surely would have) gone two different ways: Walt and Hank have their tussle, and Walt shockingly kills Hank. Or more likely, they have some vague conversation, and both raise their own suspicions, but don’t confirm them so they can play a cat and mouse game until the finale. Neither of these would be bad at all; in fact, both would be validated and could yield good story. But Breaking Bad is not pulling any stops, is it? We’ve been waiting five years for a confrontation between Hank and Walt, and it won’t just end in the premiere in that garage.
But there’s no foot dragging either; I fully expected the episode to end with the crane shot of Walt finding the GPS tracker. It would have been a fine ending for an otherwise slow, but solid episode. And when Walt entered the garage, the should could have easily cut to black before anyone said anything, only to backtrack next week, and it would have been fine. But instead, it all gets out in the open first thing. There’s no reason to doubt that these writers couldn’t make it work, but it’s still satisfying to see it play out so well. The big battle has started, and the final scene, with Walt’s “tread lightly” line, is up there with season four’s meme-inducing “I am the one who knocks” speech. It’s frightening to see Hank put in a somewhat “helpless” position similar to that of Skyler after she found out the truth; Hank has moves he can make, but anything he does could potentially have blowback for him, his career, or his family. It’s a tricky position he’s been put in, and that he’ll have to play it smart to take Walt down from here on out should yield some great TV.
Dean Norris does an intense, contemplative stare like no other, and boy does he utilize it to his fullest this week. Hank’s panic attack, while definitely a way to prolong the tension until the end, fits in just fine with his previous character struggles. The guy’s always had a big soul underneath his exterior, and as smart and strong as that makes him, it also means he’s easily shaken. It’s admittedly something we’ve seen multiple times before by now, but the circumstances justify another Hank breakdown in this case.
Much as the long-awaited Hank/Walt confrontation is at the core of the episode, “Blood Money” manages to throw in some surprising developments to jumpstart the final episodes. The titular blood money is what Jesse is trying to get rid of, and that dilemma forms the backbone of the episode, thematically. Both Walt and Jesse are shedding their former criminal lifestyle, but while Walt’s blinding pride lets him feel totally justified in his decisions, Jesse–ever the one with a conscience–is racked with guilt over, well, everything. Specifically, he’s still reeling from the child killed in “Dead Freight”, and his suspicions that Walt killed Mike. That Jesse connected the dots based only on his own experience with Walt is a good example of his growing awareness, and I’m glad that Mike’s exit will have a lasting impact. Like Hank and his breakdowns, Jesse has allowed guilt and depression to overcome him multiple times over, so it’s not new to see him like this. It does, admittedly, make his journey less riveting; it’s perfectly understandable that he’d be this way after season 5’s events, but we’ve seen about as much brooding Jesse as we ever could. That said, it feels more like he’s reaching a climax here rather than just another bout of depression, so it will likely lead to some internal revelations for him by the end of the series.
Anna Gunn didn’t get a lot of screen time as Skyler this time around, but seeing her openly defend the new life she and Walt have built was lots of fun. I’ve expressed my love for poor, neurotic Lydia in the past, but Skyler going full-on mama bear on her was satisfying for the year of torture she’s had to endure. Surely the worst is yet to come for her, but it’s nice to finally see her in a place of power and control, at least in some sense.
The reveal that Walt’s cancer is back was also a shocking, but still subdued, development. It’s odd that this returns into the fray now when we know Walt will be alive to see his 52nd birthday, but it adds yet another ripple in the Hank vs. Walt scenario. That its return happens after Walt has sworn off cooking, and now that Skyler probably isn’t wishing him dead anymore, is just another of those big karmic coincidences this show loves to throw out.
Outside of continuing last year’s developments, there really isn’t much to “Blood Money”, ultimately. And while not a lot really goes on, the final scene delivers the satisfaction we’ve been waiting for, while managing to keep things hanging for what’s next. And being light on plot is a good thing in this case; there aren’t too many loose ends that need to be tied up over the next eight episodes, so appropriate time can be focused on the way things need to go. There’s ample wiggle room to throw out the final twists and carry these characters to their final bows, which means the show has the capability to go all-out–no need to tread lightly, after all.
Odds & Ends
It was good to see Bob Odenkirk getting lots of screentime after Saul got put mostly on the backburner last year.- Considering the state the White house is in one year in the future, you’d think Carol would have just moved away. That present-future parallel was hilarious, either way
- The giant lava lamp-like technicolor screen Jesse has at his place is a cool detail.
- Walt and Skyler White both wear white as they attempt to live more purely. Wouldn’t expect any less.
- No, Walt, it doesn’t make sense for Bubble Gum to be with any of the pine scents. None at all.
- Hank obviously took Leaves of Grass with him out of desperation, but I have to wonder if what amounts to stealing evidence without a warrant would yield his investigation moot (and get him into big trouble) until he can find hard evidence. Then again, his career is probably ruined already just because his brother-in-law has been Heisenburg under his nose to begin with, and it’s not like Hank has never broken the rules before, so why not go down swinging?
- On that note, if you’re a DEA big shot, you can just get evidence boxes from a huge, ongoing criminal case delivered to your house when you’re on sick leave? That’s a pretty nifty work-from-home benefit.
- After rewatching most of the series recently, it’s interesting how often a character swears “right hand to God” to prove they’re telling the truth.
- Do we even have to say anything about Badger’s Star Trek fanfiction?
