There is a theorem within the entertainment industry which states that there is no television series or motion picture, no matter how good it may be, which cannot be made at least a little bit better by the additional presence of Danny Trejo, and the accuracy of this theory was once again proven with tonight’s episode of “Breaking Bad.” You may recall Mr. Trejo rearing his head…pun totally intended…during Season 2, but tonight we got a bit more insight into his character…including, most importantly, why he’s called Tortuga. Never has someone who works in the criminal underworld ever suggested that you “come around back” and seen it result in something good happening, and, unsurprisingly, this was no exception to that rule, particularly since it was a flashback, but now we know how far back the Cousins have been involved in Walt’s affairs.
But let’s be honest: although they may have played a key part, tonight’s episode wasn’t really about the Cousins. It was about the power struggle within the White house. We’d seen this coming, with Skyler demanding that Walt stay not only out of the house but, indeed, out of her life altogether, while Walt was refusing to accept this position and offering dipping sticks as a peace offering. It wasn’t until good ol’ Saul Goodman’s pep talk last week, though, that the little light bulb above Walt’s head suddenly went off, leading him to decide that she was bluffing in her claims that she’d call the police on him. So what does he do? Well, first, he gets the pizza off the roof, then he ensconces himself inside and declares that he’s not leaving. It’s an intense war of wills between the two of them, and it’s rough going for us viewers, too, because, hell, who knows where the hell this is going? They’ll do any damned thing on this show!
Skyler calls the police. Is she going to hang up? No, she isn’t, but she’s hemming and hawing as she waits for them to come on the line, listening to Walt say, “This family is everything to me: without it, I have nothing to lose.” Is that enough to make her hang up? It is not: when they finally answer, she lays it on the line and tells them to come on over. It’s not exactly the sort of scene that usually makes it onto “COPS,” though, with father and son bonding over grilled cheese sandwiches. For as little as was really going on during the scenes at the White house, it was still incredibly intense from an emotional standpoint, trying to predict how frustrated Skyler was going to get and if she’d reach a point where she’d admit to the police that Walt was a meth dealer, especially given all of the opportunities the officer gave her to let loose with that particular revelation. When Walt Jr. blurted out that the blame for the situation lay solely on Skyler’s shoulders, I really thought she’d snap. It’s a testimony to how much she wants to keep her son out of the situation that she didn’t, I guess.
Hank: adrenaline junkie or man with a death wish? He gets the opportunity to go back to El Paso, but the next thing you know, he’s twitching at the idea of not being able to handle a situation the way he wants and goes after his quarry without weaponry. Yeah, the man’s looking for some tush, all right…as in to kick some. It’s been awhile since I’ve watched Season 2, and there’s been a lot of TV whizzing past me since then: are we supposed to perceive these actions as the aftereffects of everything he endured last season?
Jesse has become the most pitiful character on the show, wallowing in depression over the death of Jane, listening to her voicemail over and over and over again, getting progressively more depressed every time, even though it’s clearly the only thing keeping him going. The fact that her number is now disconnected…which, if I’m to be honest, I kind of expected would’ve happened long before then…means that he really has nothing and no one left to live for. So what do you do then? Well, apparently, if you’re Jesse, you go back to the one thing you’ve learned to do well and start making meth again…or do you? I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
Ol’ Gus had a hell of a meeting this week, with Tuco’s uncle – Don Salamanca – and the Cousins coming by the office with…um, what’s the other guy’s name? Have we even been told his name? Well, anyway, if you watched, you know the guy I’m talking about, because he’s the same one who told Danny Trejo to come around back at the beginning of the episode. Clearly, no one’s very happy with Gus’s decision to keep Walt / Heisenberg alive and well until such time as he’s no longer valuable to the business at hand. I’m forced to wonder if poor Gus is going to be outvoted on this matter sooner than later, as the Cousins are in no way attempting to paint themselves as patient businessmen.
Skyler’s patience has also run out: she finally tells someone – her divorce attorney – about Walt’s meth-making. It’s gotten so bad that Skyler is basically hoping for Walt to die sooner than later, so as to have things work themselves out in a no-muss, no-fuss manner. That’s dark, man. Meanwhile, the sight of Walt peeing in the sink was, in its own way, almost as pitiful as Jesse’s moping, but it also served as another wake-up call for him.
Walt’s heartfelt speech to Skyler is as close to laying it on the line as he can possibly manage, and it’s more than Skyler can handle. He’s being too honest, giving her too much information, but as much as she hates him for his admissions, she can’t argue with his motives. So how does she deal with it? She gets revenge the only way she possibly can: by fucking Ted. Immediately prior to that revelation, I couldn’t help but notice how Walt referred to “our talk” and “what we talked about,” as if Skyler had anything to say (or any opportunity to say it) within their earlier “conversation,” but with those three little words, she clearly has shown that, for all of the money he may have brought into the family, he doesn’t wear the pants. She does…and she’s not taking them down for him anytime soon.
