********SPOILER ALERT********
If you haven't watched this week's episode of "Breaking Bad" you really shouldn't read any further. This recap is bursting at the seams with spoilers. I know, you're shaking like Skinny Pete after a week off of the blue, but you really should wait until you've seen the episode before reading this. You've been warned.
This week's episode of "Breaking Bad," "Buried," started off exactly where "Blood Money" ended with Hank and Walt facing off in the garage. The two alpha males had a standoff for a second that was reminiscent of the shootout at the OK corral; instead of pulling six shooters they each reached for their cell phones to call Skyler.
The centerpiece of the episode was the meeting in the diner between Skyler and Hank. Hank is trying his hardest to be the caring brother-in-law while making the pitch to Skyler that she and the kids need to move in with him and Marie. Yet, as we have seen in the past, subtlety is not one of Hank's strong suits, and within minutes he has the tape recorder on the table and is trying to coerce Skyler into spilling the beans on Walt without a lawyer present.
While in many ways Hank has been through Hell and back on this show it's always been a little difficult to ever fully be on his side. He's done some heroic things in the past and he seems to care very honestly and deeply about his family. Yet whenever it comes down to doing actual police work he tries to cut corners whenever possible. While Hank is nowhere near what would be considered a "crooked cop," it's still infuriating whenever he abuses his power like he does when trying to sweet talk Skyler into talking to the tape recorder, or as we see at the end of the episode when he wants to go in to intimidate Jesse.
Getting ahead of ourselves, sorry. Last week we spent a lot of time praising the acting skills of Bryan Cranston. This week all of the accolades have to go to Anna Gunn. She is teetering on edge for the entire episode. As Hank is explaining everything he knows and calling Walt a monster, a statement Skyler has made numerous times throughout the series, you can see the wheels turning in her head as she tries to decide how complicit she is in the money laundering (very) and whether or not she thinks Hank will be able to catch Walt.
Once she starts demanding a lawyer it was clear that she had made her decision; she's going to stick with Walt. She's going to do everything in her power to keep the family together mere weeks after she told Hank she was waiting for the cancer to kill him. Skyler's flip out in the restaurant is only a precursor to her completely losing her mind when Marie tries to leave with the baby. After the day that she had finding out that Walt's cancer is back didn't even seem to faze Skyler.
Any time that Saul and his cronies get involved in the dealings a little light hearted fun gets thrown into a season that is looking like it's going to get darker by the episode. It's clear that Huell had spent a little bit of time daydreaming about how he would act if he ever saw that much money and he made the moment perfect by just laying down on top of it.
As a quick aside, how great would it be if Walt ends up winning the lottery with the numbers he bought to remember the GPS coordinates?
One of the lingering questions since Walt decided that he was retiring from the drug business is who will fill the void he leaves. In this episode there is an answer and it is more than a little surprising that Lydia appears to be stepping up to fill that void. Of course, she's too squeamish to do the dirty work herself, or for that matter even look at all of the men she just ordered killed, so it'll be interesting to see how long she remains in that position of power.
Which brings us to Jesse. The slow pace of the opening sequence combined with the shot of the car in the playground almost had me believing that Jesse was dead; I was already scribbling a "hate letter" to Vince Gilligan in my mind. Instead he's just laying down on a merry-go-round staring at the sky, alive and well, for now.
The more Jesse screws up, the more nihilistic he seems, the likelihood that he survives the next six episodes seems to plummet. Now that he's being held by the police he is the one real threat of sending Walt to prison. It wouldn't be a shock if when Hank walks in at the end of the episode that Jesse isn't waiting to connect every dot for the DEA agent desperate to make a case. We know that Walt had to go back to get the ricin and ricin sure would be a fine way to kill a potential witness. . .
Just speculating a little bit. There are six episodes left in the show. We'll be recapping ever one of them here at HNGN. Feel free to argue with us and share your impressions of the show in the comment section.
