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Walt packs up his family and sends them into DEA custody at Hank and Marie's house, while Walt himself barricades himself up and home and prepared for Gus to come after him. Meanwhile, Hank convinces Gomes to go and check out the laundromat. They don't find anything, but it's yet another red flag to Gus that Walt and his kin need to be taken out immediately. Saul summons Jesse in a panic so he can hand over all of Jesse's money he's been holding in preparation for skipping town. While doing so, he mentions the threats Gus made against Walt's family, which gives me pause.
Then, Jesse's world comes crashing down around him when Andrea calls from the hospital -- Brock is sick. They don't know what it is, but it started out like the flu. While we all feel that pit in our stomach, Jesse doesn't catch on until he goes out to smoke and notices his ricin dose is missing. Just ... the worst thing ever.
After telling Andrea to tell the doctors it's ricin, Jesse goes to see Walt. While Walt mopes around about his impending doom, Jesse picks up his gun, points it at Walt, and accuses him of poisoning Brock. It doesn't make sense -- Occam's razor says Brock snuck a cig from Jesse's pack and ended up poisoning himself -- but what follows is a paranoia-fueled showdown where Walt ultimately decides that Gus must've poisoned Brock, in order to get Jesse to come kill him. They decide to take care of Gus together.
So while Walt is doing some home chemistry, making some kind of explosive device, Jesse is at the hospital, refusing Tyrus's demands that he go to work and finish the cook. This draws Gus to the hospital, where he meets with Jesse. At first, he insists that Jesse return to work, but after Jesse explains Brock has been poisoned, he allows Jesse to stay until week. Then, as Gus returns to his car in the parking garage, he gets spooked and stops in his tracks. Good thing for him, because Walt was sitting on a roof across the road, ready to remote detonate a car bomb. Walt begs the universe to let Gus continue to the car, but Gus turns around, leaving the balance of this showdown to play out in week's finale.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Last we saw Walt, he was laughing maniacally from beneath the floorboards of his home at the thought that his entire family might be done in because Skyler gave his money to Ted Beneke. In Walt's defense, that is pretty funny. Now, ominous black vehicles are descending upon Walt's home. The good (ish) news is that they're cops, not assassins.
Meanwhile, Skyler and Walt and frantically packing their shit, only Walt tells Skyler he's not coming with her and the kids to Hank and Marie's. He needs to keep them safe, and as long as he's with them, not even DEA protective custody will keep them safe. He's the real target here. Skyler, beyond freaking out at the implications of what happens to Walt if he stays, doesn't know how she's supposed to explain this to the family. Walt's like, "You'll find a way." The one positive about staring death in the face for Walt is that he doesn't have to be the one to worry about cover stories anymore. Skyler says there has to be another way, and Walt, not entirely kindly, says there was, but not anymore. Ouch. She then asks him how long until he's safe and out from under threat. He looks at her with total pity (it's nice that he gets to be intellectually superior one last time) and says, "Oh, Skyler." She gets it. "I have lived under the threat of death for a year now," he tells her. "Because of that, I have made choices. I alone should suffer the consequences of those choices." And those consequences are coming.
Outside, Skyler packs Holly into the back of a police SUV, while Walt's on the phone with Hank, trying to convince him that it's fine that Walt isn't coming along. Turns out it doesn't take much convincing, since Hank thinks all this protective custody shit is just an overreaction. Walt does a deft little tap dance, playing on these feelings of Hank's while simultaneously trying to tell him to, you know, actually be vigilant. After hanging up, he goes to kiss his daughter goodbye, doing that adorable parent thing where they cup their child's face in their hands and kiss their forehead. Skyler can't even bear to embrace him before she and Holly shove off. It's interesting to wonder how Walt and Skyler would've dealt with this DEA protection if they did have the funds to make their escape. Alas, it's a brave new world now and Walt is home and undefended.
After the credits, Walt is sitting out back, at the fateful pool. Site of extreme calamities as plane-crash debris and setting a grill full of money on fire. [Note: And then frantically pulling that money out of the fire, because Walt is a giant wuss -- RS.] Walt is sitting to a table with his gun on it. Occasionally, he spins the gun. The first time, it lands with the barrel facing him. Second spin, same result. Is this the universe trying to tell him something? Remember that time he said he should have died before things got terrible? Maybe this is another such crossroads. But Walt is not satisfied with the universe's messages, so he spins again. This time, it points across the way at a potted plant. That plant is having a terrible day.
At Hank and Marie's, where there are lots of DEA agents and scary music, Junior is busy spurting anger in all directions over his father's absence. Dad's going to risk his life over a stupid car wash? Did Skyler even TRY to talk him out of it? Poor kid. So scared. Marie's on Junior's side, hectoring Hank for not having his DEA pals forcibly round up Walt. And don't tell her she's being a fascist about it, either, because she doesn't want to hear it. Hank figures this is an idle threat from people who want him to drop the investigation. Investigation? This is news to Steve Gomez, who is there with the DEA officers. Hank comes clean about his further investigation into Gus. Marie and Skyler both freak out at the idea that Gus is the mastermind of the meth trade in New Mexico. Gomez, meanwhile, is wide-eyed that Hank has been looking into this all this time. They don't even have a shred of proof! Hank tells Gomez that he can start looking for proof at the laundry. Gomez says he obviously can't get a search warrant. Hank taunts, "What happened to good, old-fashioned knock and talk? Oh wait, I forgot you were never very good at those." Oh, like Gomez is going to fall for that.
Cut to Gomez falling for that. He's actually pretty good at playing dumb and convincing heretofore unseen Gus employee Dennis that they're investigating the claim of some chef they busted who says the drugs the DEA found on him came from the place that laundered his chef's whites. Gomez says the story is horseshit, but this (imaginary) chef's father is a senator, so he needs to rule this theory out. He's super chatty and congenial, and it works ... eventually. Dennis says he needs to check with his boss, so Gomez threatens (nicely) to go get a warrant, which would result in a daylong shutdown. So Dennis caves -- just Gomez and his partner? That'd be fine. Of course, Gomez's partner immediately brings the drug-sniffing dog out of the car. Dennis, you done fucked up. Lucky for him, the dog doesn't seem to be finding anything. That superlab is well insulated.
We pan underground to Tyrus and Jesse in the lab, waiting it out. Jesse, as he gets in stressful situations, is talking a lot. How long we gotta be quiet down here? Then what? This blows. Are we gonne be down here forever? Tyrus gets a phone call -- it's Gus for Jesse. Gus tells Jesse this is all Walt's fault, but Jesse, after admitting freely that Walt is "a complete and total dick," he refuses to sign off on Gus killing "Mr. White." And if he does it anyway, "we are going to have a problem." Gus's solution, in that case? "There will be an appropriate response." Ohhhhh, no.
Gomez and partner pack it in, and once they're gone, Dennis immediately calls Tyrus to say the coast is clear. And the cook resumes! After some of that patented Breaking Bad time-lapse, Jesse is dropped off at his car in the middle of nowhere by a laundry truck. That is worst parking spot I have ever seen. Clearly tormented by what Gus told him before, Jesse calls Walt's phone, but he gets no answer. He does have about six voice mails from Saul, though. Each more agitated than the last.
When Jesse arrives at the strip mall, he's greeted by Huell's overly aggressive pat-down. Saul calls him off, then leads Jesse into his completely disheveled office and dismisses his secretary, who he's taken to calling "HT," for "Honey Tits." She doesn't seem to be taking it in the "endearing" way Saul insists it is. He tells Jesse he's clearing out -- "like a fart in the wind" -- and he wants to give Jesse the money he's been holding for him. Jesse doesn't understand, and Saul's like "You haven't talked to Walt, have you?" He explains about Gus's threats to Walt's family, which kind of throws Jesse for a loop. Saul then, fairly abashedly, asks Jesse to put in a good word for him with Gus. "I can't afford to butter the wrong bread here," he admits. Jesse, freaked, leaves without another word.
At Hank and Marie's, Skyler looks over Hank's shoulder as he peruses Gomez's photos. He's found nothing, and Skyler looks pretty relieved at that. She heads to the kitchen and tries to call Walt again, only to go direct to voicemail. Then she heads out to the porch to grab some air and hang out wordlessly with some DEA riflemen. She bums a smoke from the one guy and stares out at the desert.
Meanwhile, Jesse's at home, flicking his own lighter. Suddenly, he gets a phone call from Andrea, and after a moment, he bolts upright. "What's wrong with him?" he asks. "What hospital?" Cut to Jesse rushing into the hospital to find Andrea filling out insurance forms. (I wonder what kind of insurance she gets from the corporation of My House Is Paid For by Secret Drug Money.) She tells him the doctors don't know what's wrong with Brock. "It's like he's got the flu, but it just keeps getting worse." Jesse doesn't pick up on it right there, but I bet everybody watching did. Personally, I screamed "OH SHIT!" and went white as a ghost. Andrea is just so scared. She can't get past the fact that Brock was fine this morning. A nurse comes out and says they're going to admit Brock to pediatric ICU. Jesse can't go in, because he's not family, so he steps outside to smoke. He looks down at his pack and finally realizes it: the special upside-down cig isn't there. The ricin cig. The cigarette that's supposed to make a person get the flu and never get better. Jesse breaks open the whole pack, but he can't find it. He screams, "NO!" and races back inside.
After the break, Jesse runs into the EW, followed by the frenetic handheld cam. He finds Andrea, and they're both pushed out to the waiting room. He tells her he thinks Brock may have been poisoned and says to tell the doctors about ricin ("it sounds like rice"). He's dry-sobbing as Andrea asks him what he's not telling her. He can't say, he just begs her to tell the doctors about ricin and says he has to go. He runs off, leaving Andrea confused and frantic.
Meanwhile, Walt's at home with his gun, waiting out what may be his final minutes. There's a knock at the door, and even though Walt peeks out and sees it's Jesse, he's extremely wary about letting him in. Eventually, he pulls back the coffee table barricade and pulls Jesse in. After Walt berates Jesse for a bit for not knowing the "full scope" of what's happening. He tells him how he was dragged into the desert where Gus threatened his family. Exhausted, Walt sits on the couch, places his gun on the pillow, and puts his head in hands. "It's only a matter of time now," he despairs. Jesse is speechless, as he has been since he's stepped inside. When Walt's paranoia kicks in again and he goes to check the windows, Jesse silently picks up the gun from the couch and points it at Walt's back. Walt turns around and -- eventually -- notices Jesse. He stops in his tracks. Jesse proceeds to accuse Walt of poisoning Brock. Walt has no idea who Brock even IS and asks Jesse to put down the gun. But Jesse persists, saying that Walt, after seeing Jesse with Brock the other night, dosed him with the ricin, and now he's dying. After all, only he and Walt knew about the ricin. Walt says maybe Brock got the cigarette himself, out of Jesse's pockets. "NO!" Jesse screams. He had the pack in his bag this morning. The last time he saw Brock was last night, and he switched the cig into a new pack this morning. Walt's like, "Well there you go, then. When could I have possibly gotten my hands on your cigarettes?" Jesse immediately jumps to Saul. Oh, so Saul just randomly called him up with a dire need to meet with him? He theorized Baby Huell probably lifted the cigs when he was patting him down. "Was that the plan?!" he screams at Walt through the tears. Walt's also on the verge of tears as he tries to convince Jesse that he would have no possible motivation to do this. Jesse thinks to get back at him, one last fuck-you to Jesse for betraying him. "I did not do this!" Walt screams, but Jesse shoves him to the floor and tells him to shut up and stop lying. Walt persists that he would have nothing to gain from ... he stops in mid-thought and then starts laughing maniacally for the second time in two episodes. After Jesse threatens him to stop laughing, he explains: "I've been waiting all day for Gus to send one of his men to kill me. And it's you." Walt sets forth his own theory: Gus poisoned Brock. After all, he's used children and their disposable lives as pawns before, right? He knew that he couldn't get Jesse to sign off on killing Walt without something major. And now, look, Jesse's ready to kill Walt. Convenient, no?
You know, there were more than a few theories floating around the Internet this past week about who really poisoned Brock. Including one fairly reasoned and credible one that says Walt really did poison Brock, as a last resort to get Jesse back to a place where he would kill Gus. Personally, I don't think any of the theories are true. I think Brock found Jesse's cigarettes and dosed himself, and this here is just two men grasping at straws for two very different reasons. Jesse has to believe someone's more responsible for Brock maybe dying than he is. And Walt needs to find any way at all to keep Gus from killing him. Does that give Walt an excellent motivation to murder Brock? Sure. I just don't think he did.
Anyway, Walt continues to press Jesse to buy his version of events: Gus found out about their ricin plan from all the cameras in the lab. Today, while he and Tyrus were at work, Tyrus lifted the cig off of him while Jesse's stuff was in the locker. Walt's using what remains his best weapon: the fact that, deep down, Jesse still looks to him to be the smarter one. "THINK about it, Jesse," he says. "It makes sense!" Walt grabs Jesse's arm, puts the gun up to his forehead, and dares him to do it, if he's so certain. Maybe right now he's also playing on Jesse's trauma over shooting Gale. Betting he won't do it again. Either way, a trembling Jesse puts the gun down. He then marches to the door -- he's going to find Gus and kill him. Walt tells him not to go charging into certain death. Jesse: "I'm going to do this one way or another, Mr. White." Walt looks at his old protégée. "Then let me help."
After the break, Jesse returns to the hospital, though from the looks of it not for the first time. Brock is on a respirator in ICU while Andrea and her mother stand by his bedside with masks over their mouths. The nurse tells Jesse that he can't keep coming back to the ICU, that unless the family wants him here, he can't stay. Andrea stares out of Brock's room at Jesse as the nurse throws Jesse out. Looks like the family doesn't want him there.
The morning, Jesse is startled awake by Tyrus. Apparently Jesse spent the night on a chair somewhere in the hospital. Tyrus, unamused as ever, says Jesse should've been at work by now. There's a batch that's going to be ruined, but Jesse could give a shit. "And if Gus has a problem with that, he can tell me himself." Tyrus tries to compel him physically, but Jesse yells for security. I love that Jesse isn't afraid to be a weaselly little shit in a fight. After Tyrus grumps away, Jesse texts Walt, while simultaneously, Tyrus calls Gus.
Back at the White residence, Walt's making with a little home chemistry. (And as somebody who has seen The Help, I am compelled to note that one of the ingredients is Crisco oil. Is there ANYTHING that stuff can't do?) On the stove sits a bubbling cauldron of something thick and gray and bad news. This doesn't have the jaunty music of Gale in the kitchen, but it's not bad. Walt checks his phone; Jesse's message reads: "I think I got his attention." Pleased, Walt experiments with a computer chip/battery remote trigger. He has to hit the switch about five times, but it eventually works, triggering a tiny explosion in the chip.
At the hospital parking garage, Gus and a goon exit their car. Cut to Jesse, looking in on the ICU from outside the door. Tyrus approaches and says Gus would like to speak to him. Jesse refuses to leave, but Tyrus says he's downstairs. I'm surprised he's not on the hospital board with an office on a high floor somewhere. No, they meet in the chapel, because why pass up an opportunity to watch criminals conduct their business in ironic settings. Gus is understanding of Jesse's situation, but he's running a business, and he needs him to complete the cook. Then he can return. Jesse says he can't. Brock is dying, and he can't be away if something happens. Gus is very sorry, and -- HE IS ON THE BOARD! He tells Jesse he can recommend doctors, get Brock the best treatment possible. But Jesse says he's not sick, he was poisoned. Gus asks how. He seems honestly thrown by this, though I could be wrong. He suddenly changes his tune and tells Jesse that, considering this current batch is surely ruined now, they'll scrap it, and Jesse can stay. He can start a new batch when he's ready to return, week. What a great boss, you guys!
Back in the garage, Gus and company return to the car. But Gus's gears are already turning. We cut to Walt as he watches through binoculars from a building across the street. But Gus has definitely twigged to something. Is it quiet, too quiet? Whatever it is, Gus stops in his tracks. Walt, from afar, freaks out and keeps repeating, "Why are you stopping?" to himself, like a crazy person. Gus, as if he can hear Walt (he can't) looks out to the surrounding buildings. Walt ducks down, out of sight, but still, Gus knows something's up. Walt peeks out again, in time to see Gus lead his men away. At which point Walt melts down. "DON'T GO! NO!" Safe to say Walt's not laughing this time, as he collapses in exhaustion on the roof. Time for one more plan, it looks like.
Joe R knew Jesse would have to pay for Sonic fun times last week. He can be reached for lavish praise and nothing but at joseph.reid21@gmail.com.
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