Episode Report Card Joe R: B+ | 23 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Gliding Over All
By Joe R | Season 5 | Episode 8 | Aired on 09.02.2012
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Lots of ground covered in this midseason finale: Walt (with Landry's help) disposes of Mike's body and then gives Jesse the brush-off so he can do what he needs to do about Mike's nine guys, all of whom are most definitely going to testify. Walt meets Lydia to get the names, and she smartly makes a counter-offer: work with her and Madrigal to begin exporting meth to the Czech Republic (where, seriously, EVERYBODY is doing meth). Walt agrees, and so begins The Great Meth-Producing Montage of 2012. Which is, of course, preceded by the Great Snitch-Killing Montage of 2012 (Walt uses Landry's uncle's prison connections to take out all nine within two minutes, Godfather-style).
So business is booming. Enter Skyler, who is seriously feeling the pangs of the weeks and weeks away from her children. She invites Walt to the storage locker where she reveals a pile of bundled cash the side of a washer-dryer set (an industrial washer-dryer set). It's too much for her to even count -- it's more money than they'll be able to spend in ten lifetimes. She asks him when is enough; when does she get her family back? The next thing we see, Walt is delivering Jesse the money he's owed, and he's telling Skyler that he's out of the business. How does he manage to extricate himself now that he's in so deep with Madrigal? Who knows?! Who cares?! This episode has a place it needs to be before we hit the hour mark!
At the end of the episode, the newly reunited Whites and the Schraders are enjoying themselves lawfully in the Whites' backyard. No one but the audience can sense the dread. So we can't be all that surprised when Hank excuses himself to take a #2 and while on the toilet, picks up Walt's copy of Leaves of Grass. The inscription "to W.W." jogs Hank's memory of going through Gale's things with Walt last year. Wasn't there a mysterious "W.W." there too? And so, with a blue flash of stone-cold realization, Hank finally figures it out: Walt's the guy he's been looking for. Now get off that crapper and do something about it!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously: Mike met his end at the hands of -- oh, the indignity -- Walter White.
As the episode opens, Walt's sitting in the office at Vamonos, staring at a fly that's perched on a lamp. Oh, hell, not this again. Despite my expectations, the fly does not get squashed, but Walt's focus remains on the insect as Landry get dropped off by a taxi and calls out for Walt. Finally, Walt addresses him, though he doesn't turn around. He asked if Landry disposed of the car like they talked about -- no one tailed him? Junkyard Joe didn't ask any questions? Nope. And Landry thought it was pretty cool, watching a car get crushed into a cube. So now it's time to do "this other thing." The fly buzzes by, but Walt's finally able to tear himself away. Does this count as progress? Walt finally able to quit obsessing about something?
Walt and Landry open the trunk of Walt's car, and of course there's poor Mike's body. "I don't want to talk about this," Walt says, with seemingly honest regret in his voice. "It had to be done." Landry is as agreeable as ever. So out comes the barrel and out comes the solvent. They're about to get to work when the garage door starts to open. It's Jesse. Trunk goes down. Jesse tersely sends Landry away so he can talk to Walt. What's the story? Did Mike get away? Walt diplomatically skirts the issue and says, "He's gone." Jesse doesn't tweak to anything weird about that, so he changes the subject to Mike's nine guys. "What are we gonna do?"
Any possible feelings of guilt or shame on Walt's part instantly evaporate at the opportunity to be shitty, so Walt turns cold and sarcastic to Jesse: "We? There is no 'we' anymore. I'm the only vote left, and I'll handle it." Jesse stares him down a bit, all "I guess that's how it is?" Walt lowers the garage door on his old partner, and then gets to the work of dismembering his old partner's mentor's corpse.
After the credits, Walt is showering (G-rated, thank goodness). As he reaches for a towel, he brushes past his copy of Leaves of Grass, and I'm sorry, this is just too much. Leaves of Grass is NOT a bathroom book. Somebody get Walt a "Best of Ziggy" immediately.
Up in the hoosegow, Prisoner Dennis (if you recall) is sitting at a table with his lawyer, opposite Hank Schrader and the DEA attorney, working out some kind of plea deal. Dennis's lawyer wants charges dropped and blanket immunity in exchange for his testimony about Fring's operation. The DEA lawyer haggles, and it's all very insidery. I would VERY much like to know what this "Queen for a Day" stipulation they're talking about pertains to. What if it's just an actual day in jail where everybody treats you super nice? Sure, you're still in jail, but it must be a pretty good day, as far as jail goes. [Note: Apparently, it's another word for a 'proffer agreement' which is an agreement between prosecutors and individuals under criminal investigation which allows the imprisoned person some assurances that they'll be protected against prosecution... thought Dennis is already in jail, so who even knows? -- Rachel.]