At the end of the previous episode Gus, Mike and Jesse were fleeing from the massacre at the cartel leader's hacienda; Gus was suffering the effects of the poison and Mike had been shot. It becomes clear that Gus had prepared for such an eventuality as this episode opens with them driving to a well equipped makeshift hospital in the Mexican desert. After being treated Gus tells Jesse that he thinks he is ready to be the cook now; Jesse doesn't disagree but he makes it clear that he won't do it if anything happens to Walt. Back in New Mexico Hank's investigation starts to get even closer to the operation when he asks Walt to drive him to another suspicious building... the laundry where the lab his hidden! In an act of desperation Walt 'accidentally' crashes into another car. This may delay Hank's investigation but it won't stop it and Gus makes it clear to Walt that Hank has to go; and if he tries to do anything about it his family will be killed! If that wasn't enough drama the Ted Beneke tax evasion subplot comes to an end.
'Breaking Bad' keeps getting better... The early scenes in the desert cemented the fact that Mike has replaced Walt as the father figure in Jesse's life while showing us that he hasn't completely abandoned Walt. Walt's scenes, first with Hank then with Gus, showed us just how close he is coming to total destruction and the Beneke story's conclusion provided some strangely tragic light relief. As always the whole cast did a fine job but it was Bryan Cranston's portrayal of Walt as he broke down towards the end that impressed the most. Without giving too much away the ending was tense in a way that made me wonder if I'd watched the wrong episode; surely such scenes would be saved for a stunning season finale... but no; there is more to come; if they use such a dramatic ending in a regular episode I can't guess how the actual finale will end!
'Breaking Bad' keeps getting better... The early scenes in the desert cemented the fact that Mike has replaced Walt as the father figure in Jesse's life while showing us that he hasn't completely abandoned Walt. Walt's scenes, first with Hank then with Gus, showed us just how close he is coming to total destruction and the Beneke story's conclusion provided some strangely tragic light relief. As always the whole cast did a fine job but it was Bryan Cranston's portrayal of Walt as he broke down towards the end that impressed the most. Without giving too much away the ending was tense in a way that made me wonder if I'd watched the wrong episode; surely such scenes would be saved for a stunning season finale... but no; there is more to come; if they use such a dramatic ending in a regular episode I can't guess how the actual finale will end!