It turns out that seeing someone get an ATM machine dropped on their head stays with you for a while. Once again, you can't help but feel bad for Jesse. He locks himself away and just wants to hide from everything. Oddly enough, even after learning what happened, Walt doesn't seem too sympathetic.
On the contrary, he soon learns that it could work to their advantage. While Jesse is upfront about the fact that he didn't kill anyone, word on the street is that he did. That makes him a feared figure who customers don't want to cross.
More than that, Walt wants to use the opportunity to expand. He wants to bring in more dealers and even suggests moving outside their territory. Apparently, he forgot what working with other dealers was like and now wants to work against them. To his credit, Jesse points out the flaw in the plan, but Walt doesn't seem to listen.
Instead, he gives Jesse a bizarre motivational speech and compares him to a blowfish. Thus, I have decided that Walt's nickname should be changed from Heisenburg to Hootie.
Couldn't they split the difference and bring in more dealers, up the price, and just stay in their territory? I mean, as demand rises, they would have to bring in more people anyway, right? Then again, Walt can only cook so much in any given amount of time.
On top of that, Heisenburg is now a figure of international repute and Mexican cartels aren't too pleased with it. While he doesn't know it, having more people would also help should other dealers want to move into Walt's turf.
Oddly enough, the operation turns into a bit of a pyramid scheme. The way Jesse describes the expanded setup is very much in that vein. Maybe they were going for corporate hierarchy, but it came off more like pyramid scheme to me.
On other fronts, Skyler goes to get her old job back to help cover expenses. While it's never brought up, I do wonder if the job would offer better benefits than the school. Maybe it's a moot point as it might not kick in for a while, but depending on how long Walt lives, it could even be beneficial on that front on top of the extra direct revenue.
Speaking of new jobs, Hank's doesn't seem to be going so well. He's out of his element and his methods don't seem to work as well as they did on his home turf. As such, he ends up on the receiving end of some mockery from his coworkers.
It's weird, the others belittle him for being a crass loudmouth, which wouldn't be an inaccurate criticism, but then they go and display similar crude mannerisms when a snitch ends up getting decapitated with his head placed on the shell of a tortoise.
I should note that said snitch was played by Danny Trejo. Sadly, he's only in one scene, but it was still amazing. It's a pity that he met the fate that he did, I would have liked to see him make more appearances.
While Hank's panic attacks get him more grief, they do end up saving his life as the cartel apparently loaded the turtle with explosives. It was a weird plan, but it worked as several of Hank's team are killed and one is severely wounded.
The episode isn't all grimdark, however. Jesse starts off the episode in a depressed funk, but he is soon brought out of it. He starts to open up with his landlady, revealing his full name. He doesn't tell her what he does, but she is smart enough to know that she doesn't want to know and doesn't really seem to care as long as he keeps it away from the house.
The two start to bond and by the episode's end, it seems like romance is brewing. It was a nice moment as the two hold hands while they watch a blank TV screen.
This episode had a lot going on. Several characters had their own arcs, but it was all balanced pretty well. It's not an easy feat. Often times, one sub-plot would feel undeveloped, but I think they all got a fair shake.
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