While the deal goes off without a hitch, Walt ends up missing the birth of his daughter. This is actually impressive as Skyler later says that she ended up going through a natural childbirth as opposed to the C-section. It makes you wonder just how slowly does Walt drive? More importantly, Skyler is surprisingly forgiving about the fact. Just a quick reminder that we're two seasons in and I've only got one legitimate strike against the character so far.
Suffice it to say, Walt isn't too happy with Jesse (who actually forgot that Walt sold the supply and thought that they were robbed). Tensions increase and Walt ends up holding Jesse's cut of the money hostage, as he doesn't trust his druggie partner anymore. While Walt raises some good points (Walt doesn't want to fund an overdose), and you could chalk some of it up to being angry about missing the birth, I do wonder why he's suddenly drawing the line now. He knew Jesse used drugs from the beginning, but now all of a sudden it's a deal breaker.
It takes Jane blackmailing him, but Walt does eventually deliver the cash. While it seems like the business relationship is done, Walt does make a last ditch effort to appeal to Jesse. It falls on deaf ears, but it does show that there is still some loyalty there.
With a small fortune, the couple decide to get clean and start a new life. It almost has you believing that they'll be able to ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. It's a nice idea, and you do find yourself rooting for this future to come to fruition, but in the back of your mind, you know that it is just foreshadowing for something bad to happen, and sure enough, it does.
Walt's pulled some stuff before, but I think the end of this episode marks his coldest act to date. I mean, that's messed up. Even killing Krazy-8 comes off less ruthless as that was more in desperation than this. Walt may not have gotten along with Jane, but she didn't deserve what she got.
While all the uplifting talk foreshadowed Jane's passing, the episode did add another bit as the idea of choking on vomit is brought up twice. At first, I figured it was just a funny gag as the preventative tactic that Jane employs is the same one that Walt used with his newborn daughter, but the end takes it to the next level.
This episode actually had a few funny bits, most of them just quick one liners like Jesse asking if New Zealand was in Australia. Saul also adds a fair bit of humor to the scene where he appears. Again, he proves resourceful as he knows a guy (who knows a guy who knows a guy) who can use the crowdfunding website that Walt Jr sets up to siphon the drug money into Walt's accounts via anonymous donations without raising suspicion.
I also rather enjoyed the scene between Walt and Jane's father. It was a great character moment, but the two got on rather well, even though they remain unaware of the fact that they are linked. I don't know if the two characters will run into each other again, but it would be interesting to see the friendship grow.
This was a strong episode. It managed to showcase several characters and move things forward on several fronts. Jane's father in particular got a lot more to do and I think it helped the episode. Not only is it good to see John De Lancie get more screen time, but it fleshed out Jane's character a bit more as well.
Not surprisingly, the most resonating moment is that final scene. With a show like this, I think it works best that way, especially when you're coming up on the season finale.
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