Episode Report Card Joe R: B+ | 5 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Putting It Down
By Joe R | Season 4 | Episode 7 | Aired on 08.28.2011
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Walt continues to act out against things like responsibility and good sense this week, starting with exploding the new Challenger rather than sending it back to the lot. But Walt's true focus this week is getting someone to assassinate Gus for him. And since Saul is too afraid of Mike to try and find an assassin among his pool of Mike-connected hitmen, Walt decides to manipulate Jesse into using his newfound access to Gus to their mutual advantage. He cooks up some ricin for Jesse to use on Gus at his next opportunity, which comes when Mike brings him along for that cartel summit that was mentioned last week. Jesse has an opportunity to dose Gus's coffee, but when Mike entrusts him with a gun and some responsibility, Jesse keeps the ricin in his cigarette pack. Where it will totally not come into play later this season at all.
Later, Jesse goes back to group therapy, where he admits to killing Gale (though he talks about it in the guise of the titular "problem dog"). But he flips out and storms off when the no-self-judgment edict becomes too much to bear.
Meanwhile, Hank and Junior grab lunch at Pollos, where they're greeted by Gus, who offers Junior future employment and Hank a free drink. Hank secretly pockets the Pollos cup Gus hands him as evidence. Later, Hank goes to visit Gomez, as he takes the Gale case to the DEA. As he explains, he's worked the number that Gale wrote on the Pollos wrapper to an air filtration system, which got shipped to Gale. Hank tracked down a corporate connection between the air filtration system and Pollos and ultimately points the finger at one Gustavo Fring. Gomez thinks he's reaching. BUT! Hank used that Pollos beverage cup to get Gus's fingerprints...which he then found in Gale's apartment. Big Gulp.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!It's another gun-centric cold open this week, with Jesse in his semi-cleaned up house (the walls are still spray-painted, but there about a thousand garbage bags filled with God knows what) playing a first-person shooter game (don't ask which one -- I am not your guy for that question) with a gun controller. As Jesse stalks the computerized halls of whatever dungeon or space station this game is supposed to convey, he can't stop picturing Gale's face at the moment Jesse's bullet shot through his eye. The plastic prop in his hand keeps getting swapped out (in Jesse's head) with a real gun. It's all very harrowing. Ultimately, Jesse loses, and he's left, panting and sweating, with the question posed by the video game: Restart or Quit? Pointing the gun at the screen, ready to pull the trigger on "Quit," Jesse ultimately changes his mind. He's going back in.
Title card.
At the car wash, with Pretty Poison's "Catch Me I'm Falling" hilariously playing on the PA system, Skyler is updating Walt on Junior's reaction to having his car taken away (it's exactly the reaction Skyler anticipated). In a conversation that's relatively free of rancor, Skyler tells Walt that she made arrangements with the dealership for him to return the car and get most of his money back, save for an $800 restocking fee. It sticks in Walt's craw that he has to pay $800 for two days worth of a car, but Skyler notes that the law says the dealership doesn't have to take it back at all, not that Walt's been overly concerned with the law these last few years. Skyler also reminds Walt to talk to the general manager, Glenn, when he returns the car. The pure hatred in Walt's voice as he scoffs, "Glenn!" immediately made me think of GLENN. Skyler also instructs Walt not to "tangle" with anyone, since she can see he's in a mood. A mood that is not enhanced by the way Skyler reminds him to tip the guy who just finished washing the car. Oh, NOW Walter's pinching pennies?
But if you suspected that Walt's objection to returning the car has less to do with finances and more to do with the blow to his ego, you won't be surprised to see that, en route to the dealership, Walt found an empty parking lot, wherein he can do donuts while a Pretenders song plays on the soundtrack. I know Walt is no stranger to expressions of impotent male rage, but this is a pretty appropriate crystallization of that, right? This season has really broken the record for Walt's immaturity. He's shown plenty of bad characteristics before, but this season has really seen him regress emotionally; I guess with his feelings of infantilization re: Gus, it makes some sense. His donut spree ends with him getting the car jacked up on some parking barriers. So how's he supposed to get it back to the dealer now that he can't move it? He decides to do the Walt-iest thing possible -- he rolls up a newspaper, sticks it in the gas tank, and lights it on fire. He tries to do the Cool Guys Walk Away from Explosions thing, but reality isn't quite as cool -- it takes a lot longer for the flame to hit the gas. So he sits down across the lot and eventually calls for a taxi. He gives his location, and as he's asking how long it'll take, the car explodes. Finally able to say the cool thing he's been waiting for, he tells the dispatcher, "I think he'll be able to find me."