So Near And Yet So Far

In season four's penultimate Breaking Bad, "End Times," a lot of close calls.  Also, as far as relationships are concerned, a bit of a return to form.

Last week we left Walt laughing hysterically.  Gus had threatened him, his family and Hank.  Walt was ready to disappear Skyler, Junior and Holly when he discovered he had no money left thanks to Ted.  So what to do?  Walt always thinks best when he's about to die.

We see some vehicles coming up to the White residence.  But they're not from Gus.  They're DEA agents ready to whisk the Whites over to Hank's place where they can all be protected.  I'm assuming this was Walt's plan (though it could have been Skyler's, or even the DEA) to get Marie paranoid and have her insist they come over.

But Walt tells Skyler he's not coming.  He's been causing trouble long enough, he'll face it by himself, while his family and Hank (at least for now) are protected.  He says goodbye to Skyler.  After spending so much of the season trying to be Heisenberg, Walt is showing the decent family man we'd almost forgotten about.  We're also seeing the love Skyler and Walt once had, now that they're in this together.  Skyler understands this may be the last time she sees Walt alive.

So they leave and Walt sits by the pool, gun at his side, waiting for the trouble he know will come.  Meanwhile, the rest of the clan is gathered at Hank's. This is one of those scenes that BB does so well, where everyone has a different level of knowledge.  Junior and Marie are going nuts about Walt not being there, and blaming Skyler for not doing enough to convince him.  Skyler knows all too well what's going on but can't say anything.  And Hank tries to convince them it's nothing.  He also believes he brought this down upon himself because he's investigating Gus Fring.  When he let's out that little nugget, everyone is shocked.  Most because they think it's a ridiculous obsession, but Skyler because she realizes (I think) this is what's caused so much trouble.

Good old Steve Gomez is there, and he still doesn't believe.  After all, it was the cartel that hit Hank.  Hank goads Gomie into checking the laundry, and doing it the old-fashioned way, without a warrant.

Gomez has never seemed as good an agent as Hank, but he gets his biggest scene yet. He and another agent go to the laundry and sure enough Gomez bullshits his way in.   Good for him. (I'm curious as to how much the workers and the manager know.  They must know something is going on, but do they have any idea just what?  I was surprised he felt he had the authority to let check things out.)

So Gomie, the other agent and a dog sniff around and take photos. But the lab is well hidden, and they find nothing.  Meanwhile, Jesse and Tyrus stop cooking and stay quiet while Gus watches on video.  Gus calls Jesse and explains this is Walt's fault.  He's trying to get permission to kill Walt, but Jesse hasn't signed on yet.  He explains to Jesse he will take appropriate action for this invasion of his privacy.  What could that mean?

Gomie goes and time to cook the donuts again. A new batch and Jesse's out of there.  He calls Mr. White, who isn't picking up.  Then he checks his messages and it's a bunch of calls from Saul, each more urgent than the last.  He visits Saul who explains it's the "end times." He wants to give Jesse his money now since he's leaving after hearing Walt's story of how Gus is on the rampage.  This is news to Jesse.  Not good news, either.

Hank looks forlornly at the photos of the laundy--his last hope and he doesn't seem to see anything.  Skyler comes by to commiserate, but she's also checking to see if he's figured out anything. (By the way, nothing about Ted's death this episode.  I suppose she'll find out eventually but there are bigger fish to fry.) She calls Walt just to talk to him, but he's not picking up for anyone.  All she can do is wait, and bum a smoke from one of the agents protecting her.

At Jesse's place he's sitting around trying to figure out what's going on.  He gets a call from Andrea. Brock is sick.  Right away I knew it was the ricin.  We've been waiting almost three seasons for someone to get hit by it.  At the hospital, Jesse is there for support.  He goes outside for a smoke (just like Skyler) and can't find his magical killer cigarette.  Uh oh.

He rushes back into the hospital and tells Andrea about ricin, though doesn't explain how he knows.  Poor Jesse.  First he figures he got Jane killed, then Andrea's kid brother, and now maybe Brock?  I figured Jesse would blame himself for not being more careful, but it turns out he's been watching that cigarette closely, so knows someone else must have done it.  And who else knows?

He rushes to Walt's place. Walt let's him in once he's convinced he's alone.  Some fans have been surmising there'd be a showdown between Jesse and Walt, and it looks like we may have it.  Walt immediately becomes his high-handed self, lecturing Jesse on the trouble he's been through with Gus, while Jesse stands there silently.  Walt (foolishly) puts down his gun and keeps talking.  When he's spent, Jesse has the gun aimed at him, and starts telling the story of Brock.  Mr. White, only you and I knew about the ricin, so you killed him.  Now admit it.

Walt, always good when cornered, explains it couldn't be him (and is telling the truth, of course). He doesn't do that sort of thing and didn't have the opportunity. Who does do this sort of thing?  Gus must have known about the ricin.  He's been watching them all along (maybe listening).  He never did anything about the ricin until now. Tyrus had the time to pull the cigarette in the lab and see to it Brock was poisoned.  It's Gus trying to split Jesse off.  As Walt notes, he's been waiting for a killer from Gus, and all along it was to be Jesse.

Walt (in a nervy move that happens more in the movies then real life) begs Jesse to kill him, but Jesse realizes this isn't the man. It must be Gus.  So he's going to kill Gus.  Walt's been through that already and tell Jesse to wait.  Let me help you.  If nothing else, it looks like W&J are a team again.  And this time they actually have a little knowledge that Gus doesn't have--Gus thinks he's fooled them but they know what really happened.

So they have a plan, though we're not sure what it is.  Jesse goes back to the hospital but Andrea and her mom don't want to see him. She must know that Pinkman brought this down upon Brock.  So Jesse waits at the hospital, even if he can't be in the ICU. (Don't know how much the doctors have done with the info about the ricin, but if there's anything I know from House, once you get that diagnosis right the rest is easy.  Then again, everyone lies, and it could be some other poison.)

Jesse falls asleep in the hospital and Tyrus shakes him awake, threatening that he better come to work.  (Tyrus is a lot like Victor--a scary guy who's contemptuous of cooks.) Jesse says he won't leave and he won't talk to his errand boy.  Tyrus calls Gus about the situation. Meanwhile, at chez Walt, he's cooking up something.  Looks like a remote explosive.

Gus and Tyrus come to the hospital.  (Gus is on the board of the place. He's got pull.  Is this the hospital where Hank and the Mexican Brothers stayed?) They have a talk in the chapel.  Jesse lies, at least a bit, about what's going on.  Gus needs him to come back to work, but eventually gives up and says you can return when you're ready--the batch is ruined anyway.  Hmm.

Gus and his crew walk back to his car.  Walt has rigged it and is watching from a nearby rooftop. Gus stops and surveys the scene.  I'm guessing he's figured how odd the situation is. Pinkman didn't act how he thought he might. And he's been pulled away from where he knows he's safe.  Walt is good with physics, and he knows that gangsters die in car explosions.  So he pulls back and walks away, to Walt's (and my) consternation.

A great episode, even if nothing quite worked out as anyone expected.  I can only hope that the show is saving Gus's death for the grand finale, because that was frustrating.  Something has to happen, since Gus knows that Walt (and Jesse, I assume) are out to get him, and he can't let that state of affairs last.  Also, will Mike come back into the picture, and what part will he play?  Some have suggested he'll appreciate Jesse, who saved his life, a lot more than Gus, who left him behind.  And for that matter, will Hank, who sees things other people miss, notice anything from those photos?